Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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to "fit" the West Coast of- fense brought in by new head coach Ty Willing- ham, star running back Julius Jones was aca- demically ineligible, and the defense lost second- round NFL pick Anthony Weaver up front and top linebackers Rocky Bo- iman and Tyreo Harri- son. RESULT: Notre Dame started 8-0 and moved up to No. 4 before finish- ing 17th with a 10-3 re- cord. Still, Sporting News named Willingham the National Sportsman of The Year. 8. 1973: FROM THESE ASHES … 1973: The Irish had com- mitted a whopping 38 turnovers a year earlier and were still consid- ered young and "a year away" with only five se- nior starters total on of- fense and defense. RESULT: The 11-0 Irish coach Ara Parseghian's worst season at Notre Dame (8-3) concluded with a 45-23 loss at No. 1 USC and a 40-6 demoli- tion versus Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Par- seghian vowed, "From these ashes, we will rise." PERCEIVED PROBLEMS IN PREVIOUS YEAR: Head won their second consen- sus national title under Parseghian after defeat- ing No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, 24-23. It's not like the program had been in dire straits, but it was a dramatic rebound. 1980: The Irish had grad- uated all-time leading rusher Vagas Ferguson, had little experience at quarterback and needed to replace four starting offensive linemen. The returning defense hadn't finished higher than 50 in any of the four major cat- egories. Head coach Dan Devine announced three weeks before the opener that he would be retiring at the end of the season, giving him lame-duck status. RESULT: The Irish Dame's 7-4 finish in 1979 was its worst since the 2-7 campaign in 1963. PERCEIVED PROBLEMS IN PREVIOUS YEAR: Notre 7. 1980: DEVINE INTERVENTION started 9-0-1 and de- feated two teams that finished in the Associ- ated Press top six (Mich- igan and Alabama), while playing mainly with a freshman quar- terback (Blair Kiel) and relying on a defense that set a school record by not allowing a touch- down for 23 straight quarters. The Irish finish 9-2-1 and No. 9 after losing at USC and 17-10 to No. 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. 2005: The schedule was considered the most dif- ficult in the country for first-year head coach Charlie Weis, leading to projections of a 1-5 start (maybe even 0-6) and an- other sub.-500 finish. RESULT: Quarterback ham was fired amidst consecutive 5-7 and 6-6 seasons in which the Irish lost six games by at least 25 points. PERCEIVED PROBLEMS IN 6. 2005: WEIS GUYS PREVIOUS YEAR: Willing- Brady Quinn and receiv- ers Jeff Samardzija and Maurice Stovall head- lined a record-setting aer- ial assault that resulted in a 9-2 record — with the lone losses 34-31 to No. 1 USC and in overtime to Michigan State — and a No. 5 regular-season fin- ish. Despite a 34-20 setback to Ohio State in the Fi- esta Bowl, Notre Dame finished in the AP top 10 (No. 9) for the first time