Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
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30 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW win. One year after losing at home to the Sooners 40-0 — still the worst Irish defeat in Notre Dame Stadium — this win propelled a No. 10 finish in the AP poll. 1960-69 Record: 62-34-4 (.640) AP Top-10 Finishes: 6 Best Seasons: Under first-year head coach Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame won a share of the 1964 national title while getting awarded the MacArthur Bowl, and then was the con- sensus national champion in 1966 (9-0-1). Worst Seasons: In the four years (1960-63) prior to Parseghian's arrival, Notre Dame was 14-25, beginning with a 2-8 ledger in 1960 under head coach Joe Kuharich, and then 2-7 in 1963 with interim coach Hugh Devore. Epic Moment: The week after the bal- lyhooed 10-10 tie at No. 2 Michigan State, on Nov. 26, 1966 the Irish crushed No. 10 and Pacific-8 champion USC 51-0 in Los Angeles to clinch the national championship. 1970-79 Record: 91-22 (.805) AP Top-10 Finishes: 5 Best Seasons: The Fighting Irish cap- tured consensus national titles in both 1973 and 1977 by defeating No. 1-ranked teams in bowl showdowns. The first was versus Alabama in the Sugar Bowl (24-23), and the second versus Texas in the Cotton Bowl (38-10), thereby vaulting all the way from No. 5 to No. 1. This was easily the top overall decade since the 1940s, with Parseghian producing a 47-8 mark in his five years from 1970-74, highlighted by the 1973 national title, and Dan Devine following with a 44-14 output the next five, notably the 1977 national title. Notre Dame also was a remarkable 5-1 in the major bowls — and four of the wins were versus unbeaten and No. 1-ranked teams. Worst Season: A 7-4 record in 1979 marked the only time in this 10-year stretch Notre Dame had more than three defeats and did not finish in the top 20 of either the AP or UPI polls. Epic Moment: In addition to the two bowl wins to capture national titles, the lone two victories from 1967-82 versus archrival USC — 23-14 in 1973 and 49-19 in the 1977 — were the impetus behind the title marches. 1980-89 Record: 76-39-2 (.658) AP Top 10 Finishes: 5 Best Seasons: Notre Dame posted a school-record 23-game winning streak in 1988-89, winning the national championship in 1988 (12-0) and finishing No. 2 in 1989 (12-1) while defeating seven teams that fin- ished in the top 10 in those two years. Worst Seasons: For the first time, Notre Dame had a sub-.500 finish three times in a decade from 0 to 9, fin- ishing 5-6 in 1981, 1985 and 1986. Epic Moment: The 1988 na- tional title was spearheaded by a 31-30 victory over No. 1 and reign- ing national champ Miami on Oct. 15, ending the Hurricanes' 36-game regular-season winning streak. Under the direction of head coach Lou Holtz (1986-96), the 1980s finished with a school-re- cord 23-game winning streak and featured the 1988 national title. This decade was similar to the 1960s in that the Irish sputtered badly at the outset from 1981-85 under former Cincinnati Moeller High School head coach Gerry Faust before the hiring of a premier, proven head coach turned around the fortunes. 1990-99 Record: 84-35-2 (.703) AP Top-10 Finishes: 3 Best Season: In 1993, Notre Dame fin- ished 11-1 and No. 2 — despite defeating No. 1 Florida State on Nov. 13 (31-24). Worst Season: The decade closed with a 5-7 mark in 1999. It was the opposite of the 1980s, in that this time the decade started off strong, notably a Despite being stationed overseas during World War II, Frank Leahy led Notre Dame to four national champi- onships during the 1940s ('43, '46, '47 and '49). PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA After producing a pair of national crowns in the 1960s ('64 and '66), Ara Parseghian led the Irish to a 47-8 mark and another title ('73) from 1970-74. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA