Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1426496
8 NOV. 13, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Top Four Means More By Tyler Horka Bowl season is a joyous time for all involved. It doesn't matter if you root for a 6-6 team participating in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stiffel (yes, that's a real name) on Dec. 18 or a double-digit win team playing in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day. It's the holiday season, and your team is playing postseason football. That's enough to bring a smile to anyone's face. But the College Football Playoff? That's a different story. Only four fan bases per year can boast that their program is a part of it. A 20-point loss in the CFP means more than a win of any margin in a New Year's Six bowl — or any other bowl, for that matter. The goal for Notre Dame every year is to win a national championship. The Fighting Irish can't do that without reaching the playoff. Losing to Clemson in the CFP in 2018 and to Alabama last year showed more progress toward achieving that goal than winning the Citrus Bowl in 2017 and the Camping World Bowl in 2019. Obviously, those aren't New Year's Six bowls. Punching a ticket to the Fiesta Bowl or Peach Bowl would be a bit better of a feat. But it still wouldn't match making the CFP. Going to the playoff for the third time in the past four years and losing to the likes of Georgia or Alabama or Ohio State would be better for this program than beating Wake Forest or Michigan in an exhibition game. Period. Give Me The Win By Todd D. Burlage With two College Football Playoff appearances in the last three seasons, Notre Dame fans have expectedly become a bit spoiled and raised program expectations to where anything short of making the national semifinals is a disappointment. But one thing we learned in those two losses — a 30-3 drubbing to Clemson in 2018 and a 31-14 defeat to Ala- bama last season — it's that the playoffs aren't necessarily all they're cracked up to be, and maybe there's a better fate for this young Irish team this season. Instead of sweating out a CFP berth for a chance to likely play either Ala- bama or Georgia as a prohibitive underdog, Notre Dame should instead hope to play and beat a more manageable opponent such as Michigan, Michigan State or Oklahoma in a New Year's Six Bowl, in part, to boost confidence for 2022 when it opens the season at Ohio State. Shockingly, it's been 28 years with nine straight losses since Notre Dame beat Texas A&M in the 1994 Cotton Bowl and claimed its last win in a premier bowl game. Irish head coach Brian Kelly has lost in each of his four tries. Playoff appearances are obviously prestigious and the common goal all elite programs share to start each season. But for this particular Notre Dame team, finally beating an elite opponent in a premier New Year's Six bowl game would bring a more rewarding end to this season and a better vibe heading into 2022 than suffering another forgettable fate as a token playoff participant. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WOULD IT BE BETTER FOR NOTRE DAME TO MAKE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF AND LOSE, OR WIN A NEW YEAR'S SIX GAME? Nathan Bush didn't know exactly what reaction to expect the night of Oct. 23, when the lively light and sound presentations he helped produce and coordinate were cut loose inside a sold-out Notre Dame Stadium before and dur- ing the USC game. The positive feedback that Bush, the lead producer of live events for Fighting Irish Media, received cer- tainly helped to validate all of the hard work he and the entire FIM pro- duction team put into the project. Trying to pump more energy and elec- tricity into the stadium — quite liter- ally — Bush helped to create two fresh light and sound presentations, the first for when the Irish players took the field before the game, and the second at the end of the third quarter — a game break opportunity in between quarters that many arenas and schools around the country use to boost crowd enthusiasm and engagement. Player highlights along with patterns of flash- ing lights ran across Notre Dame's giant stadium video board, while multi-colored streams pul- sated along the ribbon boards. The light shows were paired with some tradi- tional stadium songs such as the "1812 Overture," and some high-octane debut tunes such as "All of the Lights" by Kanye West. Bush, 32, explained that these energetic sta- dium endeavors were born out of conversations and input last summer by everyone from Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick down to the Irish football players and team managers. Blue & Gold Illustrated caught up with Bush to talk about this night of unique presentations and how it all came together. BGI: What inspired these entertain- ment enhancements? Bush: "I think it was a collaborative effort. It was kind of the football pro- gram, Coach [Brian] Kelly and Jack Swarbrick, kind of challenging us to try and create something cool and unique in different settings and circumstances. "But what was most important in trying something new was that what- ever we decided on, we wanted it to be awesome but also to represent Notre Dame well." BGI: How worried were you that something might go wrong when the presentations began? Bush: "This isn't something our athletic tech services team wasn't uncomfortable with at all, so that made everybody feel confident about it. This what they do at basketball games, this is what they do at hockey. "I trust their expertise. When they said every- thing was good to go, that was fine by me. They're really talented and are always great to work with." BGI: And what was your level of satisfaction after pulling off this unique stadium endeavor? Bush: "Personally, any time we can have a cool moment and make it iconic for the student-athletes and the fans, in the hopes that they cherish that memory for the rest of their life, that's the mission. "It doesn't always matter what happens in a game but those are memories that you will never forget, especially coming to a Notre Dame football game. That's something that I take the most pride in is that there were so many people so excited about it." BGI: How much did you anticipate all of the positive feedback and interest? Bush: "When we were testing the week before USC, we all thought it was going to be really cool, so I wouldn't say I'm surprised at how much posi- tive feedback we've gotten. "I think it's reassuring to the group that I've worked with, and the people that I've worked with, and the football program, that we're go- ing down a road to hopefully something that is meaningful to our fans and our student-athletes." BGI: Irish back Kyren Williams busted a 91-yard touchdown run shortly after the third-quarter video presentation, should you get any inspirational credit? Bush: "Ha, I haven't talked to Kyren, nor really do I talk to Kyren, but I will say that if that sparked him for that run — which I don't think it did — but if it did, that's even better. "We want to create the ultimate home-field advantage for our football program." — Todd D. Burlage Five Questions With … NATHAN BUSH, LEAD PRODUCER LIVE EVENTS FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA BUSH