Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/841614
BY LOU SOMOGYI T his June, Las Vegas set the over-under Notre Dame win total during the 12- game regular season at 7.5. If it's any consolation, a year earlier in 2016 that figure was 9.5. The only college football teams that were projected to win more contests last season than the Fighting Irish were eventual national champ Clemson and Boise State at 10.5 each, while Alabama, LSU, Michi- gan and Oklahoma were all at 10. Those who bet the "under" in 2016 for Notre Dame earned a quick payoff during a mind- boggling 4-8 campaign. If eighth-year head coach Brian Kelly's Irish were to finish 8-4 in 2017 and thereby reach the "over" this year, the improvement of four more wins from one year to the next would put this year's edition in a five-way tie for fourth place in the football program's history. One of them already has occurred under Kelly. Only three times has Note Dame improved its win total by more than four games in a season, so reaching 9-3 in 2017 — an upgrade of five victories — would put it in even more select company. Here are the standards the Fighting Irish will at least attempt to replicate, if not eclipse, in 2017: 1. ERA OF ARA BEGINS — 1964 Record: 9-1 Previous Year: 2-7 Win Difference: Plus 7 The mother of all revival campaigns at Notre Dame came from 41-year-old former Northwestern coach (1956-63) Ara Parseghian, who was 4-0 versus the Fighting Irish while he was with the Wildcats. With the same Notre Dame roster that was 2-7 under interim coach Hugh Devore in 1963, the Irish began 9-0 and were ranked No. 1 before losing a 17-0 lead at USC in the finale in an 11th-hour 20-17 defeat. It was Notre Dame's first winning season in six years, or since it went 6-4 in 1958. This remains the gold standard of turnarounds for at least three other reasons: • In 1963, Notre Dame lost to Wisconsin, Purdue, Stanford, Navy, Pitt and Michigan State by a combined score of 119-57. Under Parseghian a year later, the Irish outscored those same six foes by a combined 184-50. • Although Notre Dame lost the heart-wrenching regular-season finale at USC, it won a share of the national title from one of the NCAA's four recognized outlets. Alabama won the Associated Press and coaches' (UPI) polls de- spite losing the Orange Bowl to Texas, but back then national titles by the wire services were awarded after the regular season and did not factor in bowl results. Unbeaten Arkansas won the Grantland Rice Trophy presented by the Football Writers Association of America, while Notre Dame was awarded the MacArthur Bowl, emblematic of a national title by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. However, the university recognizes only "consensus" national titles, and does not include 1964 among them. • Reserve and little-used players as juniors in 1963, quarterback John Huarte won the 1964 Heisman Trophy (before even receiving his first monogram from the school) while wide receiver Jack Snow placed fifth in the balloting. 2017 Bottom Line: To break this record, Notre Dame would need to win 12 games. That would at least help atone for the football sins from 2016. 2T. REVIVAL MEETING — 1957 Record: 7-3 Previous Year: 2-8 Win Difference: Plus 5 This was the best football revival at Notre Dame under the same head coach. Recruiting shortages caught up with third-year head coach Terry Brennan in 1956 when the Irish plummeted to 2-8 after finishing 17-3 his first two seasons as the successor to four-time national champion Frank Leahy. Although the 1956 team possessed senior quarterback and Heis- man Trophy winner Paul Hornung at quarterback, the youth-laden team was no match for the treacherous schedule. Six of the losses were to opponents that finished in the Final AP top 20, including a combined 135-22 score versus No. 1 Oklahoma (40-0), No. 3 Iowa (48-8) and No. 9 Michigan State (47-14). BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 33