Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/76097
rules, new scandals, new uniforms, a new playoff system — and that's just football. Despite the tidal wave of momentum, T he past 12 months were filled with an unprecedented amount of change in the typically static landscape of college sports. New affiliations, new Notre Dame finds itself in an almost identi- cal position as a year ago. The Irish football team enters the new academic year with a quarterback controversy and an 8-5 record hanging behind them. The basketball court hosts a national runner-up and a group of overachievers who once again under- achieved in the madness of March. The athletic department as a whole is stuck in its own perpetual state of madness, sorting through the constant stream of realignment rumors and dodging the pressure to sur- render its football independence. Don't be fooled, though. It's been any- thing but a dull and uneventful year in Tommy Rees (No. 11) held on to the starting quarterback job through the last 12 games of 2011, but he will have even more competition during the 2012 campaign. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND AUGUST 2012 94 The most pressing questions from the past year remain unanswered heading into August BY DAN MURPHY TOP STORIES OF 2011-12