Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/616353
Furthermore, those 10 major bowl wins over those 25 years were the most among any school, eclipsing the eight by Oklahoma, Penn State and USC over that same time span (Penn State wins in the 1977 and 1980 Fiesta Bowl are not included because the Fiesta didn't become a "major" until 1981). However, in the 22 years hence from 1994-2015, Notre Dame failed to win a single "major" in six attempts. Adding salt to the wound is that its average margin of defeat in those games was 20.5 points, most recently the 42-14 de- bacle versus Alabama in the BCS Na- tional Championship Game following the 2012 campaign. While the foremost goal at Notre Dame always is to strive to one day capture the national title again, which it hasn't in a school-record 27 years, ending the drought in major bowl vic- tories (in the College Football Playoff or otherwise) would help it be taken a little more seriously as a current college football power rather than a school that is just living off its glorious past. A victory against 11-1 and defending national champion Ohio State in the Fi- esta would make it seem like old times for the Irish. A defeat would continue the frustration/status quo and increase the major bowl drought to 23 years. ✦ Notre Dame recorded 10 wins in major bowl games from 1969‑93, including the 1978 Cotton Bowl when tight end Ken McAfee and the Irish defeated top‑ranked Texas 38‑10. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS NOTRE DAME IN MAJOR BOWLS Season Bowl Opponent Result 1924 Rose Stanford W, 27-10 1969 Cotton Texas L, 21-17 1970 Cotton Texas W, 24-11 1972 Orange Nebraska L, 40-6 1973 Sugar Alabama W, 24-23 1974 Orange Alabama W, 13-11 1977 Cotton Texas W, 38-10 1978 Cotton Houston W, 35-34 1980 Sugar Georgia L, 17-10 1987 Cotton Texas A&M L, 35-10 1988 Fiesta West Virginia W, 34-21 1989 Orange Colorado W, 21-6 1990 Orange Colorado L, 10-9 1991 Sugar Florida W, 39-28 1992 Cotton Texas A&M W, 28-3 1993 Cotton Texas A&M W, 24-21 1994 Fiesta Colorado L, 41-21 1995 Orange Florida State L, 31-26 2000 Fiesta Oregon State L, 41-9 2005 Fiesta Ohio State L, 34-20 2006 Sugar LSU L, 41-14 2012 BCS* Alabama L, 42-14 2015 Fiesta Ohio State ? * National Championship Game played in Miami