Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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54 OCT. 19, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED N otre Dame legend Ara Parseghian (1964-74) once told me that when he was a young coach starting out, it wasn't easy to accept four things beyond his control. First was the weather — in spite of the popular "Ara, stop the rain!" chants from the student body. Two was offici- ating, three was turnovers or "funny bounces," and finally four was injuries. In 2019, another "uncon- trollable" to add is schedules and how they are perceived. In March 2017 when the 2019 Notre Dame slate was first unveiled, the reaction among many Fighting Irish faithful was one of horror: Louisville, Georgia, Michigan and Stanford all on the road, plus USC and Virginia Tech at home. At the time it seemed insane, and even director of athletics Jack Swarbrick admitted there were certain aspects be- yond his control when it came to piecing together the schedule. At the time, there also was a different context. Notre Dame was coming off a 4-8 season and the Brian Kelly era ap- peared to be on the brink of collapsing. Meanwhile: • Louisville was a top-20 operation un- der Bobby Petrino that just produced a Heisman Trophy winner (Lamar Jackson). • Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was deemed nearly in the same company as Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, having made Stanford a top-10 program, taking the moribund San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl and losing on a controver- sial call at Ohio State in 2016 that could have resulted in a berth to the four-team College Football Playoff (CFP) in just his second year at his alma mater. • USC had just finished No. 3 in the country under head coach Clay Hel- ton, secured a top-five recruiting class — and was in the process of inking the No. 3 class with five five-star prospects. • Virginia Tech first-year head coach Justin Fuente won the Coastal Division of the ACC, defeated the Irish in Notre Dame Stadium and was considered per- haps a highly promising figure for the Irish to look at in the future. • Stanford had just defeated Notre Dame for the sixth time in eight years and had become a top-10 fixture while averaging 11 wins per season from 2010-16, first under Harbaugh and now successor David Shaw. So, lo and behold, here we are in the middle of the 2019 football campaign with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish ranked No. 9 — and the biggest misgiv- ing about its chances for returning to the CFP is (and I paraphrase): "The schedule is not good enough and has no wins on it in the future that move the needle." Really? Who could have or would have predicted this prior to 2017, when the sky was falling and the walls were caving in on the Irish? Whereas Kelly and Co. have achieved a significant about-face since 2016, so many of the 2019 opponents (other than Georgia) have had a dramatic reversal in their own fortunes. Petrino, once considered one of the 10 best coaches in the game — he had led both Louisville (2006) and Arkansas (2011) to top-five finishes — was ousted in the midst of a 2-10 meltdown last year. Helton is deemed a dead coach walking at USC, while Fuente is not only coming off a losing season in 2018 that included a loss to Old Domin- ion, but he began 0-2 this year in the ACC — including a hu- miliating 45-10 loss at home to Duke. Michigan's Harbaugh is now ridiculed as the coach who "can't win the big one," sport- ing a 1-10 record versus top-10 foes, most recently falling be- hind 35-0 at Wisconsin after getting outscored 103-54 in the last two games of 2018. Shaw has peaked at Stan- ford, which could be heading for its first losing season since 2008, while its 2018 recruit- ing class was ranked 57th. There are at least two mor- als to the story. O n e , wh e n p e o p l e s ay "Notre Dame doesn't play anybody," that in many ways is a compliment to it returning to a level where it needs to be. Prior to Parseghian's arrival in 1964, Notre Dame lost four straight to North- western (coached by Parseghian), eight in a row to Michigan State, five of six to Purdue, four of six to Pitt and three of four to Navy. Thus, the schedules were labeled "too hard." When they started beating them rou- tinely under Parseghian, then they were deemed "too easy." Two, judging schedules too far in ad- vance can be an exercise in futility. I had the Irish finishing 10-2 in 2019 (loss at Georgia, and then 1-1 in the USC/ Michigan matchups this month), and then winning a major/Big Six bowl (either Cot- ton or Orange this year) for the first time in 26 years for its first-ever 11-2 finish. It is out of my control, but more im- portant is the Fighting Irish regaining control as a consistent contender. That way, the schedule always will look and seem easier. ✦ BEST OF THE FIFTH QUARTER ✦ LOU SOMOGYI ✦ OCT. 12, 2019 Schedules Always Look Easier When You're Better 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. USC's struggles from 2018-21 — when the Trojans posted a 22-21 overall record — are a prime reason why judging schedules too far in advance can be an exercise in futility. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS