Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the Nanooks the weekend of Jan. 27-28. The Irish came away with a split in the series, and three days later back home in South Bend the temperature outside was more than 100 degrees higher during an unseasonably warm January in northern Indiana. -52 in school history. For the first time ever, the Irish men's and women's basketball teams both de- feated top-10 teams on the same day. The men upset No. 10 Louisville (67-65 in double over- time) on the Cardinals' home court for the first time since 1958, while the women vanquished No. 2 Connecticut (74-67). Later that night, the Irish hockey team won at No. 3 Minnesota (3-1). 3 Different top-10 teams Notre Dame de- feated Jan. 7, which is believed to be a first year seniors Braxston Cave and Mike Golic Jr. during their college careers. John Latina instructed them as freshmen in 2008, followed by Frank Verducci (2009), Ed Warinner (2010-11) and now Harry Hiestand, who comes from the University of Ten- nessee after Warinner left for Ohio State. 4 gram at the Joyce Center/ Purcell Pavilion against a No. 1 team after defeating Syracuse 67-58 Jan. 21. That is a new NCAA record for a school in its own arena, breaking the tie the Irish had with Maryland. The Terrapins won six times against No. 1 in old Cole Field House, the last in 2002 against Duke. 7 Victories by the Irish men's basketball pro- 18/1 23 national title — despite the Irish posting five straight seasons with at least five losses. Amaz- ingly, only seven other teams are ahead of Notre Dame: LSU (4/1), Alabama (5/1), USC (9/1), and Florida State, Georgia, Oklahoma and Oregon (12/1). Arkansas is tied with Notre Dame for eighth. Odds given by Las Vegas of Notre Dame winning the 2012 gether by Mark Schlabach. He has the Irish listed there even though five of the Irish opponents are Ranking for Notre Dame in ESPN's "Way-Too-Early Top 25" in 2012, put to- www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Different offensive line coaches for Notre Dame fifth- Degrees in Alaska when the Notre Dame hockey team traveled to face BY THE NUMBERS UNDER THE DOME ranked ahead of them: at USC (No. 2), at Okla- homa (No. 5), at Michigan State (No. 9), Michigan (No. 11) and Stanford (No. 17). The Irish have not finished in any top 25 the last five seasons, one behind the school record of six from 1981-86. 25 42 Tim Brown, who on Jan. 13 was feted in India- napolis as one of six NCAA Silver Anniversary award winners for their career achievements 25 years after graduation. Brown was joined by ESPN analyst Doris Burke, former Cal basketball star Kevin Johnson, current New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, current Knight Commis- sion executive director Amy Perko and former NBA and Navy basketball star David Robinson. Years since the graduation of 1987 Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner Points allowed by Notre Dame men's basketball in its 55-42 victory at Seton Hall Jan. 25. That set a new standard for fewest points al- lowed in any Big East basket- ball contest by Notre Dame. The previous low was 45 by Pitt in a loss to Notre Dame on March 11, 2010. 44 Tennessee women's bas- ketball team Jan. 24 during a 28-point defeat at Notre Dame. The total was the few- est from a program that has won nine national titles un- der head coach Pat Summitt. The margin of defeat was the second worst for the Volun- teers, behind a 31-point loss to Texas in 1984. Points scored by the University of PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND against Pitt Jan. 17. Earlier in the year, Notre Dame scored 128 in a non-conference victory at Mercer, but this one against the Panthers set a Big East league record for highest margin of vic- tory (76) and most points scored by the Irish in a home game. Eight Notre Dame players finished with double-digit scoring in the contest, tying a school mark. women's basketball team in its 120-44 romp at home 120 Points scored by the Irish when he reached that milestone in a home game against Connecticut Jan. 14. Meyer began his ca- reer at Notre Dame in 1979 under head coach Dig- ger Phelps and the record over those first 1,000 was 609-391. 1,000 Games for Skip Meyer as Notre Dame men's basketball trainer Contract Extended Two Years Brian Kelly's football coaching contract extensions are cel- ebrated as "strong votes of confidence" and a referendum that the program is "headed in the right direction." To cynics on the outside, they might instead be In college football media relations departments, viewed as "the kiss of death," or "buyout packages." Regardless, on Jan. 10, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly was rewarded with a two-year contract extension that would carry him through the 2016 football season. The Irish are coming off consecutive 8-5 cam- paigns in Kelly's first two seasons. The first in 2010 ended with a flourish, notably a 4-0 finish with vic- tories at USC (20-16) and in the Sun Bowl against Miami (33-17), plus a strong finish in recruiting with a 24-man class that was a consensus top-10 haul. While Kelly's second season ended with the same record, the ending was different. Notre Dame finished the regular season with a 28-14 loss at Stanford, squandered a 14-0 second-half lead to lose 18-14 to Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl, found itself unstable at the crucial quarter- back position and sputtered to the finish line in recruiting, signing only 16 players in a class that is considered solid but not championship caliber. Although the Irish fell well short in 2011 of their stated goal of a BCS bowl, Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick expressed confidence in the program's trajectory. "While Coach Kelly and I are focused on the additional work that must be done to reach our goals, I am very pleased with the progress we have made during the past two years," Swarbrick said in a released statement by the school. "Our football team's performance on the field, in the classroom, and in the community reflect Coach Kelly's com- mitment to building a program that will be able to sustain success in the long run, and to doing so in a manner consistent with Notre Dame's values and tradition." The last two Irish football coaches to receive contract extensions came up five years short of reaching the end of the deal. After a 5-2 start in 2005, "highlighted" by a 34-31 loss at home to No. 1 USC, Charlie Weis received a 10-year extension through 2015. Weis was fired after five seasons in November 2010. In December 2000, on the heels of a 9-2 regular season and a BCS bid to play Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl, Bob Davie's contract was extended five years through the 2005 campaign. The Irish then lost 41-9 to Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl and finished 5-6 the next season, leading to Davie's firing. For more on Notre Dame's coaching staff, changes, job titles and reshuffling, see pages 59-61. — lou Somogyi MARCH 2012 9