Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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54 OCT. 31, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED A sentence from the Notre Dame athletics office in its weekly football re- lease prior to the Oct. 24 Pitt game on the road caught my attention: "Notre Dame has won 22 consecutive games at home, setting the modern- era record for longest home- win streak." The overall longest win- ning streak in Notre Dame Stadium, which opened in 1930, is 28 games from 1942-50. Apparently, that span of time is now deemed (hopefully not intentionally) an archaic era, not applica- ble to current trends or the modern game. When I was growing up in the 1970s, the "modern era" of the football program back then was defined as "after World War II." That also happened to coincide with the Fighting Irish run of four consec- utive unbeaten seasons from 1946-49 (36-0-2), so that was an excellent de- marcation point to have. However, as time progresses, so do the definitions of what entails the modern era. I'm sure that in the 1940s when Notre Dame was the dominant foot- ball program in the country, it wasn't comparing itself to the 1905 team that won a game versus American Medi- cal by a 142-0 count. Different era, different game. By the 1990s, the "modern" times of college football to me became 1964. After all, that was the first year the game went strictly to having two platoons for the players rather than playing an "Iron Man" role on both offense and defense. For example, in 1961 Angelo Da- biero led the Fighting Irish in both rushing on offense (637 yards) and interceptions on defense (five), while the top two tacklers, Myron Pottios and Nick Buoniconti, also started along the offensive line. I also liked to use 1964 because that's when the Ara Parseghian era began at Notre Dame — another fabulous demarcation point in the program's history. By the time 2000 rolled around, I sensed that more and more people were using the early 1980s as the separation point of what "modern football" entailed. In 1980, Georgia was able to win the national title while its quarter- back, Buck Belue, completed only 1 of 12 passes for seven yards to de- feat Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl (17-10). Could you imagine achieving such a feat today with those kind of passing numbers? In 1982, Penn State became the ini- tial national champion to pass for more yards than it ran during the season, and in 1983 and 1984 Miami and BYU, respectively, won their first national titles with prolific and so- phisticated aerial-dominated attacks that ostensibly modernized the game even more (although Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Colorado and Nebraska still won titles all the way through 1997 with power I/option schemes). In the same way that top programs in the 1970s were copying Texas' vaunted wishbone attack or had other derivatives such as the veer, the meteoric rise of Miami and Florida State into prominence via the pass also helped significantly alter the game. This summer, I read a piece from CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli that had a new demarcation point of what de- fined "modern" in college football: 1992. That was the year schol- a r s h i p s w e r e r e d u c e d from 95 to the 85 limit we know today, the season the Southeast Conference be- gan the inaugural confer- ence championship format, and when the Bowl Coali- tion was introduced. From a Notre Dame stand- point, that is somewhat humbling because in those 28 seasons since 1992, the Fighting Irish were not one of the 14 teams that had won a national title, and have fin- ished in the AP top 10 only five times (1992, 1993, 2005, 2012 and 2018). In other words, a full gen- eration has grown up be- lieving that Notre Dame's glorious history on the gridiron is an ancient remnant — much like I did in the 1970s when people would talk about the glory days of Army football in the 1940s with Earl "Red" Blaik, Doc Blachard, Glenn Davis … Okay, maybe it's not that dramatic, especially give the appreciable resur- gence of the program since 2017. Regardless, with each passing year the word "modern" is redefined. I imagine that by the time 2030 rolls around, the modern era will more and more be constituted by the start of the College Football Playoff in 2014. As we grow older, we trade our youth for memories and — hopefully — wisdom, perspective and inter- nal peace. That's part of growth and change. The achievements of the past can and should be celebrated as part of the heritage rather than just be dis- missed as ancient history. Still, Notre Dame's modern foot- ball dossier sure could use a boost of that past championship spirit, including this Nov. 7 when it faces powerhouse Clemson, if it is to truly wake up the echoes in yet another brand new era. ✦ Defining Notre Dame's 'Modern' Era THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com In the most recent version of the start to the modern era of college football — now considered maybe 1992 — Notre Dame has finished in the AP top 10 only five times (1992, 1993, 2005, 2012 and 2018) during those 28 years. PHOTO BY KRISTIN BLAKE