Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE T he Lou Holtz of yesteryear con- sidered Wednesday his favorite day of the week while he was evolving from just the latest Irish foot- ball coach into a legendary Irish foot- ball coach a quarter of a century ago. The mood always improved on Wednesday, the orneriness returned, Holtz could even finally sit down and eat dinner with his family. "The food definitely tasted better by the time Wednesday came around," Holtz said during a recent phone in- terview to recognize the silver anni- versary of the best winning streak in program history. "I could finally relax a little and enjoy some time with my family." Exactly 25 years ago this week, Holtz was preparing his team for win No. 22 of what became a school-record 23-game winning streak, a run that stretched through all of the perfect 12-0 national championship season in 1988 and into the first 11 games of 1989. The streak was ultimately broken in a tough 27-10 loss to No. 7 Miami in the last game of the '89 regular season. But even beyond that defeat — during 34 games from '88 and through most of the '90 season — Holtz lost only twice, a stretch that included wins over 14 teams that finished in the top 18 of the final Associated Press Poll after those three seasons, 10 of those finishing in the final AP top 10. In other words, almost one-third of those 32 wins came against eventual top-10 teams. Great players were obviously criti- cal to the success Holtz and his Irish enjoyed during their magical run 25 years ago. In fact, 24 players were drafted to the NFL off the three Irish teams from 1988-90, highlighed by 'Hunger' Drove ND's Record Win Streak Head coach Lou Holtz and the Irish lost only twice in 34 games from 1988-90, a stretch that included a school-record 23-game winning streak. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS