Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
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17-game winning streak in 1992-93. Then it began to descend, leading to Holtz stepping down, and at the end in 1999 it was 5-7. Epic Moment: The aforementioned win over then No. 1 FSU in 1993 — the last truly watershed victory for the program. 2000-09 Record: 70-52 (.574) AP Top-10 Finishes: 1 Best Season: The highlight was the first top-10 finish in 2005 (No. 9) in 12 years under first-year head coach Charlie Weis — and it would take another seven seasons to do it again. Plain and simple, it was the worst decade for the Notre Dame football operation since the start of the 20th century. Worst Seasons: Each of the three coaches had a losing campaign: Bob Davie in 2001 (5-6), Tyrone Willingham in 2003 (5-7) and Weis in 2007 (3-9), the latter with the most losses ever in a season. Epic Moment: None. The closest were pul- sating losses to No. 1 Nebraska in 2000 (27-24 in overtime) and No. 1 USC in 2005 (34-31). 2010-19 Record: 92-37 (.713) AP Top-10 Finishes: 2 Best Seasons: The 12-0 regular seasons in 2012 and 2018 resulted in playing the BCS National Championship Game in the for- mer (a 42-14 loss to Alabama) and an invite to the four-team College Football Playoff in 2018, a 30-3 semifinal loss to eventual champion Clemson. Worst Season: The 4-8 outcome in 2016 resulted in massive changes within the infra- structure, including six new assistant coaches plus a new strength and conditioning staff. Epic Moment: There were no one-for-the- ages victories, but winning regular-season fina- les versus so-so USC teams in 2012 and 2018 provided Notre Dame the chance to compete for the national title in the postseason. The top upset was in 2012 at Oklahoma (30-13), which was favored by nine to 11 points even though it had one loss and was ranked behind the Irish. ✦ Which 2010-19 Team Was The Best? If you could have only one Notre Dame team to represent the school in a 2010-19 College Football Playoff, which would it be? • The 2012 edition that played in the BCS National Championship Game had the best defense, led by linebacker Manti Te'o. The 12.77 points allowed per game remains the best at Notre Dame since 1980 (10.7, including the bowl). However, the offense was only 78th while producing the lowest scoring output of the decade at 25.77. Losing 42-14 to Alabama in the finale, a game not as close as the score, put a damper on an amazing journey. • The 2017 unit became the first at Notre Dame since 2002 to defeat four teams that finished in the Associated Press top 25: No. 12 USC, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 18 LSU and No. 23 North Carolina State. It was so dominant during its 8-1 start that it rose to No. 3 in the CFP rankings. But then it was crushed 41-8 at Miami and fell in two of its last three regular-season games, although it capped the year with a thrilling 21-17 victory versus LSU in the Citrus Bowl to finish No. 11. • The 2018 squad that finished the regular season 12-0 was more prolific on offense than in 2012 with a 31.3 scoring average, and defeated three teams that finished in the top 25 (No. 14 Michigan, No. 15 Syracuse and No. 21 Northwestern). Yet it wasn't quite as dominant while struggling to home wins versus lesser foes such as Ball State (24-16), Vanderbilt (22-17) and Pitt (19-14). If we were to engage in "fantasy football," however, the single most all-around tal- ented Notre Dame team from 2010-19 might have been the 2015 outfit that finished 10-3. The two regular-season losses were last-second heartbreakers on the road to the teams that finished No. 2 (24‑22 at Clemson) and No. 3 (38‑36 at Stanford), plus a defeat in the Fiesta Bowl to No. 4 Ohio State (44-28). That 2015 offense featured a line with three first-round NFL picks (Ronnie Stanley, Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson) and one in the second (Nick Martin), a first- round game breaker at wide receiver (Will Fuller), a second-round quarterback (De- Shone Kizer) and three running backs (C.J. Prosise, Josh Adams and Dexter Williams) who stepped in for an injured Tarean Folston and later played in the NFL, as did tight ends Durham Smythe and Alizé Mack. The defense was headlined by Butkus Award winner Jaylon Smith at linebacker to go with eight other starters who would play in the NFL, including the entire line with Shel- don Day, Isaac Rochell, Romeo Okwara and first-round pick Jerry Tillery. Our "fantasy league" would include 2018-present defensive coordinator Clark Lea instructing the 2015 defense — which would provide the best of both worlds. — Lou Somogyi Jaylon Smith, the Butkus Award winner as the nation's top linebacker, was part of the 2015 Irish squad that finished 10-3 and was perhaps the single most all-around talented Notre Dame team of the past decade. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Lou Holtz orchestrated a school-record 23-game winning streak in 1988-89, earning the national championship in 1988 (12-0) and finishing No. 2 in 1989 (12-1) while defeating seven teams that finished in the top 10 those two years. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 31