Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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54 NOV. 30, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T here is something about a 10-1 record heading into Thanksgiving weekend that has inspired both glee and leeriness among Notre Dame football faithful. The glee comes from ap- preciating it's a feat not to be taken for granted. Since 1974, when Notre Dame first added an 11th game to its regular sea- son, getting to 10-1 has been accomplished only eight times, or about once per five seasons. Howeve r, t h a t i n i tse l f doesn't necessarily make it a fulfilling campaign, which is where the leery aspect emerges. The higher one climbs, the steeper the fall can become at the end, which comes with the risk of "dar- ing to be great." Finishing the mission is the most difficult part in any sport, and Notre Dame especially has learned it over the last half-century when Thanksgiving weekend arrives in California, versus Stanford this year. Under head coach Ara Parseghian (1964-74), the Fighting Irish traveled to California — specifically USC — three times over the holiday with national ti- tle implications on the line. Both of his 9-0 teams in 1964 and 1970 were upset by 6-3 and 5-4-1 USC teams, thereby just falling short in the final Associated Press rankings. In 1974, another trip to USC had the Irish 9-1, set to face 11-0 Alabama in the Orange Bowl for the national title, and all seemed well when the Irish jumped to a 24-0 lead. But … finishing is the toughest part, and USC scored the next 55 points within 17 minutes to end yet another title aspiration. In Dan Devine's final season as the Irish head coach in 1980, the Irish were 9-0-1 and No. 2, and already matched up to play No. 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl for the national title. Unfortu- nately, there was still that detail of play- ing at 7-2-1 USC. The Irish lost there, 20-3, and in the Sugar Bowl, and suddenly a wonderful 9-0-1 campaign became sullied with a two-game losing streak. This also has occurred the last three times Notre Dame reached 9-1 or even 10-1 during the regular season. • In 1998, the 9-1 Irish under second- year head coach Bob Davie finished 9-3 after a 10-0 setback at USC in which in- jured quarterback Jarious Jackson could not play, and then falling to Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl (35-28). • In 2002, the 10-1 start that led to first-year head coach Tyrone Willing- ham being named "Sportsman of The Year" by Sporting News finished with blowout defeats at USC (44-13) and in the Gator Bowl to North Carolina State (28-6). • In 2006 under second-year head coach Charlie Weis, the 10-1 Fighting Irish were left vastly unfulfilled again after losing at USC (44-24) and get- ting crushed in the Sugar Bowl by LSU (41-14). In each of those three seasons, the return to glory themes became replaced by a two-word summary at the end: fool's gold. It wasn't until 2012, when No. 1 Notre Dame finished the regular-season job with a 22-13 win at USC for a 12-0 led- ger that there was a euphoria of com- pleting a task. The BCS National Champi- onship Game fiasco, a 42-14 loss to Alabama, dredged up past ghosts of not putting the final touch on a memorable campaign. Yet that season is one that will remain cher- ished by the most recent generation of Notre Dame followers as the years pass. Now, to be in the hunt on Thanksgiving weekend for the national title for the sec- ond time in four years pro- vides a form of contentment (but not necessarily satisfac- tion) that the Fighting Irish have once again become a more stable, or even stand- out, figure on the college football scene. With a potential College Football Playoff bid on the line at most recent nemesis Stanford, where the Irish have lost three straight, four di- rections could be taken. One is those 1998, 2002 and 2006 routes where late-season collapses leave the unfulfilled "we still have a ways to go" angst. Two is losing to the Cardinal but still having the opportunity to have a grati- fying major bowl win, like in 1970 or 1974, to classify it an overall successful campaign. Three is vanquishing Stanford, still being left out of the College Football Playoff but finishing with a major bowl win for the first time since 1993 and taking on the TCU 2014 or Notre Dame 1989 or 1993 arguments that "we're as good as anyone." Finally, there is the opportunity to be in the four-team College Football Play- off and risk heartbreak. It's a risk one will take and embrace every time — and one where thanksgiv- ing is apropos. ✦ BEST OF THE FIFTH QUARTER ✦ LOU SOMOGYI ✦ NOV. 30, 2015 Finishing The Home Stretch 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. In 2018, Chase Claypool and the Fighting Irish held off a 5-6 USC team for a 24-17 win in Los Angeles to clinch a trip to the College Football Playoff. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA