Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Senior Legacy MURPHY'S LAW DAN MURPHY Fifth-year senior wide receiver John Goodman aided Notre Dame's early momentum with a clutch grab dur- ing the game-winning drive at Purdue and this one-handed touchdown catch at Michigan State. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA M or a turnover can wash away every- thing that came before it. Sometimes all it takes is a serendipitous bounce to reroute a team or send a game spin- ning 180 degrees in the other direction. The six remaining members of Notre omentum changes in the blink of an eye during a football game. A long pass, a big sack Dame's 2008 recruiting class had no such luck. There was no epiphanous moment, no sudden reversal of for- tune under this coaching staff or the last. The heavy downward inertia of a football program is harder to change, but during the course of their five years in South Bend this group did exactly that. The first great accomplishment on their record is simply showing up. Somehow amidst a dismal, pro- gram-worst nine-loss season, Notre Dame and then-head coach Charlie Weis clung to one of the country's top group of high school football players on the promise of early playing time and the chance to lead a resurrection. The 23 other seniors on this year's ros- ter made an almost equally impressive leap of faith following a marginally less disappointing 7-6 season the fol- lowing year. Notre Dame's slump was not the type that could be busted with a big play. The program needed a new direc- tion. And while Brian Kelly provided the compass, it was this collection of faithful and patient seniors that did the heavy lifting. With sparks shooting from beneath their heels, they grinded