Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/350567
YEAR IN REVIEW BY ANDREW OWENS A new semester begins at Notre Dame in less than one month, but we pause to look back at the most noteworthy stories of the 2013‑14 school year, in chronologi‑ cal order. IRISH JOIN ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE On July 1, Notre Dame officially departed the Big East for the Atlan‑ tic Coast Conference (ACC) for every sport but hockey and football, the lat‑ ter of which committed to games with five ACC opponents per year. The transition was a smooth one for most sports, with men's soccer win‑ ning the national championship and women's basketball reaching the title game. Men's basketball (15‑17 in its first losing season since 1998‑99) and baseball (9‑21 in conference play) ex‑ perienced a bumpier road during their maiden voyage in the new league. The football program's ACC commit‑ ment begins this fall with games on the road against Florida State and Syracuse, and at home versus North Carolina and Louisville. Since they are playing just four ACC games in 2014, the Irish will play six in 2015 before settling into an annual five‑game slate. TOMMY REES BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT Without quarterback Tommy Rees' relief appearances in 2012, the Irish do not reach the BCS National Cham‑ pionship Game. However, junior Ev‑ erett Golson was expected to take the jump from an at times inconsistent sophomore season to the full‑time sig‑ nal‑caller without need of a bullpen in 2013. That plan unraveled when Golson was suspended for the fall se‑ mester. Enter Rees, one of the most polar‑ izing figures in recent Irish history. He started each of Notre Dame's 13 games last fall in an eventual 9‑4 finish. When his career concluded, he ranked sec‑ ond in school history with 61 career touchdown passes and had a mature perspective on playing football at Notre Dame despite the criticism that he was not a BCS‑caliber quarterback. TOP STORIES OF 2013-14 The 10 moments and milestones we'll remember most from the past year