Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME version with about three min- utes left. Linebacker Bob Olson deflects the pass to preserve the win and a final No. 5 ranking. Irish assistant Tom Pagna al- ways treasured a quote by a Mi- ami linemen afterwards: "In the fourth quarter, I was really hang- ing and figured they're not used to the heat as I am. But they'd break the huddle, sprint to the line and bust a gut coming after you. I knew then why they were Notre Dame." It was a sharp contrast to the "The U." 20 years later. 10 Years Ago: Nov. 23, 2002 Tyrone Willingham becomes the first Notre Dame head coach to win 10 games in his initial season after a 42-0 romp against Rutgers on Senior Day. Jesse Harper (1913) and Scarlet Knights. Quarterback Carlyle Holiday Frank Leahy (1941) were both unbeaten in their debut sea- sons with 7-0 and 8-0-1 re- cords, respectively. Terry Bren- nan (1954) and Ara Parseghian both were 9-1 in their inaugural years while finishing No. 4 and No. 3, respectively, in the final Associated Press poll. With the benefit of a 12- game regular season, though, Willingham's record is upped to 10-1 and the Irish rise to No. 7 with the whitewash of the 1-10 Entering the Nov. 17 home game versus Wake Forest, head coach Brian Kelly was on the cusp of his first unbeaten season in Notre Dame Stadium — and the first by the Fighting Irish since 1998. Kelly was 13-5 at home through three years going into the contest, and one of the benchmarks of build- ✦ GIMME FIVE ing the program into elite level was finishing unscathed at home. He pointed to the 77-3 record Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops had at home in his first 13 seasons from 1999-2011 before losing to Kansas State and the Fighting Irish this year. "Everybody in the program felt that if you want to take that next step in terms of success, you've got to win at home," Kelly said. "… We want to have that kind of [Oklahoma] legacy. We want to build that kind of dominance at home." Since the opening of Notre Dame Stadium in 1930, here are the five best records at home by Irish coaches who were on the job at least three years: Coach (Years) 2. Frank Leahy (1941-43, 1946-53) 37-6-1 .844 3. Elmer Layden (1934-40) 4. Lou Holtz (1986-96) 5. Dan Devine (1975-80) 1. Ara Parseghian (1964-74) 25-5 .833 51-13-1 .792 25-7 .781 Record Pct. Or Ties 51-6-1 .888 6 2 3 1 No Losses 4 ties a school record with four touchdown passes (38 and 63 yards to Arnaz Battle, 37 yards to Omar Jenkins and 26 to freshman Maurice Stovall), Ryan Grant becomes the sev- enth Notre Dame player to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season, and cornerback Shane Walton records his seventh intercep- tion of the season, returning it 45 yards for a touchdown. It is fourth pick-six of the year for the Irish, tying the school record of the 1966 national champs. — Lou Somogyi Note: Bob Davie (1997-2001) was right behind Devine with a 24-7 (.774) ledger.