Blue and Gold Illustrated

January 2016

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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BY LOU SOMOGYI F or the third time ever, N o t re D a m e c o n ‑ cluded a regular sea‑ son with a 10‑2 record. That's in part because 12‑game regular seasons didn't start becoming the norm until 2002. The first two were in 2002, head coach Ty‑ rone Willingham's first season, and 2006, Char‑ lie Weis' second as the boss. In both cases, Notre Dame was 10‑1 (just like this year), and was then ranked No. 7 in 2002 and No. 6 in 2006. Both regu‑ lar seasons also ended with blowout losses at USC, 44‑13 in 2002 and 44‑24 in 2006. D i m i n i s h i n g t h o s e years even more were bowl game implosions. The 2002 Irish outfit was rocked by North Carolina State in the Ga‑ tor Bowl, 28‑6, to finish No. 17. The 2006 edition was trounced by LSU in the Sugar Bowl, 41‑14, and also finished No. 17. What were vastly dif‑ ferent between the two UNDER THE DOME GOOD SEASON, GREAT CHANCE A major bowl victory is needed for the season not to be like 2002 and 2006 The emergence of sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer, who was on the third team in the spring, helped make 2015 a good regular season. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA

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