Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Strong needs this victory badly, and just when everything was coming down on him this past year after a 50-7 loss at TCU, his Longhorns stunned College Football Playoff-bound Okla- homa (24-17) the following week, plus won at Baylor in the finale, too. Texas will be ultra-hungry to turn around its 2-9 all-time series record against Notre Dame (just like Okla- homa with its 1-9 ledger versus the Irish in 2013), is not lacking in talent and landed its desired offensive coor- dinator in Tulsa's Sterlin Gilbert, mak- ing this a dangerous opener for the Irish. The Coliseum has been a House of Horrors over the years for Notre Dame, and this is the one game in 2016 where Kelly's crew could be the un- derdog. All the other games, Notre Dame will be the probable favorite. The start and finish will determine whether it will remain a top-10, New Year's Six Bowl and maybe even a College Foot- ball Playoff contender. 4. TEAM VS. PROGRAM This has been a topic long covered in our pages. "Teams" have a good season and then falter. That's been Notre Dame since at least the turn of the century: 9-2 and Fiesta Bowl bid in 2000 … and then 5-6 in 2001; 10-1 start in 2002 … and then go 5-10 in the next 15 con- tests; 10-1 start in 2006 … and then 3-9 the next season, with at least five losses five straight years. The memorable 12-1 campaign in 2012 was then followed by pedestrian 8-4 and 7-5 regular seasons. "Programs" like Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma generally keep roll- ing, but maybe better examples for Notre Dame in recent years are the aforementioned trio of Clemson, Mich- igan State and Stanford, all of which also struggled for about 20 years be- fore prospering. Entering the 2015 College Football Playoff, Clemson had five straight sea- sons with at least 10 wins, and was 45-7 (.865) the last four. Meanwhile, since 2010 (the year Kelly arrived at Notre Dame), both Michigan State and Stan- ford were both 65-15 (.813). If they can do it, Notre Dame is ca- pable as well, and this year displayed its development and recruiting by overcoming numerous injuries. Attri- tion will inevitably rear its head — in- cluding the potential early draft entries of linebacker Jaylon Smith and wide receiver Will Fuller — everywhere, but "programs" can withstand them most of the time. The 2015 season should be the start of 10-win (or more) seasons be- ing the rule, not the exception. "We are going to be in this position every year now for a number of years, because we've built the depth within the program necessary to roll out an- other great group of players the next year and the year after," Kelly said this summer. "As long as we continue to recruit the way we've recruited and develop our players, we'll be in this position every year. "Now — you have to win some close games and a couple things have to go your way." Consistency usually finds a way to prevail. ✦