Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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in the trenches andrew owens show who you are as a team," fifthyear senior captain Zack Martin said. "Going out with a win is huge. … Especially me and the seniors, I don't want to go out with a loss in my last game, so we're going to do everything we can to prepare the way we need to, to get the win." Besides, a win (or, rather, avoiding a fifth loss) itself would help set the stage for 2014. No, not because of the "this win provides momentum heading into the offseason" myth. To debunk that theory, look no further than the success of the 2012 season after losing the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl and the struggles of the 2011 team after winning the 2010 Sun Bowl to finish with a four-game winning streak. Your momentum can change as quickly as a fumble at the 1-yard line in the opening drive (2011) or a 27-0 lead in the opener (2012). In this case, the positive effect of a win would be avoiding the negative energy of naysayers pointing out that Kelly has gone 8-5 in three of his four seasons. Kelly said the Irish will hold 10 prebowl practices that serve as an opportunity to play freshmen and sophomores more times than the regular season afforded, but it is not enough to make much more than a dent in 2014 development. "We want to win the football game first," he said. "I want to send out our football team and build momentum into 2014 with a win. In particular, our seniors going out with a win, I think that's very important. They've meant so much to the program. "That's first and foremost, getting a win for our seniors, and the momen- tum it builds going into 2014." Not included in the bowl preparation is Everett Golson, and in my estimation that is a good thing. Golson would not be allowed to practice until after the completion of final exams Dec. 20. On Dec. 23, the team flies to New York, where Golson would not be eligible to practice. That would leave him with at most two days of practice time that would do more harm than good. He would become the main focus of attention from the media and fans rather than the more pressing issue at hand: winning the game. A 9-4 finish would feel a lot different than stumbling to an 8-5 finish by losing three of the final four games. Kelly can certainly blend 2014 development into the Pinstripe Bowl preparation, but sending the seniors out in winning fashion should be the main objective. "If we don't play well, they'll beat us," Kelly said. "We have everything to lose. We want to win the football game. "I don't know what goes into that kind of thinking [that nothing can be gained from beating Rutgers]. I'm a football coach, so I don't think in those terms. We have to prepare our football team. We want to win for our program to get to nine wins. We want to win for our seniors. In that preparation, if we can get some of our younger players some work during this bowl practice, this is a worthwhile time for us, and very helpful for our program." ✦ Andrew Owens has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2013. He can be reached at aowens@blueandgold.com