Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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54 SEPT. 7, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED A fter 34 years at Blue & Gold Illustrated, I still find myself to be ri- diculously child-like when it comes to publishing game predictions. I 've a lways fe l t t h e re should be two categories for this: one from the head or the logic side (believed to be contained on the left lobe of the brain), and the other from the heart or the raw emotion side (perhaps the right lobe). When we put in our fi- nal predictions almost two weeks prior to this year's opener with Michigan, I was the lone wolf who selected the Wolverines — and in- stantly had buyer's remorse about it once it was published. This intense regret only expanded as game day neared when I began to sense I had made an egregious error. When you are engulfed in the Notre Dame en- vironment where optimism is generally going to reign, especially when inter- viewing the players and coaches and having a vested interest in their success, it is easy, if not almost obligatory, to get caught up in the hype. Emails and calls arrived wanting me to explain myself, and my invariable re- sponse was, "Don't take this stuff se- riously. I wouldn't have to work for a living if I truly knew." However, I will now confess to what goes into most of my "predictions" in toss-up situations. It is three-fold. One, I am not really much into the X's and O's aspect. My leanings are to- ward the intangibles such as "law of averages" (within reason, of course) or "what is due." One example was the home game versus Oklahoma in 2013. I picked the Sooners for only one reason: it was ri- diculous they were 1-9 all time against Notre Dame. They were "due" to win in the series (and did, 35-21), especially with a top coach like Bob Stoops. The exact same feelings permeated me when the Irish traveled to Texas for the 2016 opener. It was ludicrous for Notre Dame to be 9-2 against an opera- tion the caliber of Texas — and 4-0 in Austin, no less. The Longhorns were "due," and I told everybody that. However, as is often the case, I talked myself into believing Notre Dame should win and took the Irish. S a m e t h i n g i n 2 0 1 7 a t M i a m i . Throughout the preseason and regular season, it was the game I feared most and said a loss was imminent because the Canes were "due" against Notre Dame after losing four straight, espe- cially in heartbreaking fashion the year prior (30-27). They were aching for re- venge at home. Again, though, I convinced myself into believing the Irish were College Football Playoff bound, and so I gut- lessly had the change of heart because of my internal wish. Oh, and the one game I was absolutely certain Notre Dame would win in 2017 was the regular-season finale at Stan- ford, where they had lost four straight and were "due." Wrong again! So that's what resulted in my half- baked logic versus Michigan: Jim Har- baugh is too good a coach to lose four in a row, Notre Dame was 5-0 in home night games versus Michigan ("due" for a loss), and the Wolverines had lost 16 straight on the road to ranked teams — with the last such win coming at No. 2 Notre Dame in 2006. Let's see, the Irish were the last team to beat Okla- homa before they also ended the Sooners' record 47-game winning streak in 1957, and Notre Dame also was the last team to defeat UCLA before the Bruins' 88-game winning streak ended at Notre Dame in 1974 … so therefore Notre Dame in 2006 and 2018 would sandwich the Wolver- ines' 16-game losing streak on the road versus ranked teams. Now do you understand why you should not to take my predic- tions seriously? The second factor is a form of a de- fense mechanism. Especially against Michigan, my attitude going in is "bet- ter to fear the worst and be pleasantly relieved than get all hyped up and exac- erbate potential disappointment." Finally, it is important to me not to be perceived as a shameless homer (al- though I confess there always will be an inherent bias) who will always select Notre Dame. What fun would that be to a reader to know you will get the same pick every time? Now that the Michigan game is over with, win or lose (this was written and submitted before the game), I feel really good about the rest of the season. That's because the Irish are due to beat Stanford, due to end the losing streaks on the road versus ACC teams (Virginia Tech), due to win the regular- season finale in California, due to end a 25-year streak without winning a major bowl, due to end a 30-year drought sans a national title … ✦ BEST OF THE FIFTH QUARTER ✦ LOU SOMOGYI ✦ SEPT. 10, 2018 Confessions About The 'Due' Process EDITOR'S NOTE: The late, great Lou Somogyi possessed an unmatched knowledge of Notre Dame football, and it was his mission in life to share it with others. Those of us at Blue & Gold Illustrated would like to continue to provide his wis- dom and unique perspective from his more than 37 years covering the Fighting Irish for this publication. Michigan may have been due for a win against Notre Dame, but the Fighting Irish still took down the Wolverines, 24-17, in the 2018 season opener at South Bend. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA