Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1158434
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2019 61 schools: Washington State's Bill Doba (a 29-26 overtime win in 2003), Pitt's Dave Wannstedt (a 42-21 win in Charlie Weis' initial game in 2005), and then Temple's Matt Rhule (28-6 in 2013) and Geoff Collins (49-16 in 2017). MAJOR OFFENSE Among 129 Football Bowl Sub- division teams last year, Louisville finished 127th under former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder (now at Bowling Green) in scoring defense with a 44.1 aver- age — and surrendered 54.8 points a contest during the nine-game losing streak to end the season. There is virtually no place to go but up for the Cardinals. However, it will be facing not only a veteran Fighting Irish offense to open a new campaign, but the fact that in the last five years (2014-18) under head coach Brian Kelly that unit has played well in openers while averag- ing 41.2 points per game. Granted, two of them were home blowouts of Rice (48-17) in 2014 and Temple (49-16) in 2017, but Notre Dame also operated well on offense against Texas in both 2015 (38-3 win) and 2016 (50-47 double-overtime de- feat). Last year against a Michigan team that was advertised to have one of the most powerful and experi- enced defenses in the country, Notre Dame's rebuilding offense saw its first two series result in 75- and 96- yard touchdown drives. A little later in the half another 75-yard march upped the advantage to 21-3. The Irish went to a more conserva- tive mode in the second half because of their defense playing so well in the eventual 24-17 victory, but once again the offense began the year with plenty of fireworks in the opener. Starting strong on the road ver- sus a team with a new coaching re- gime and during a "Black Out" in the stands would be an ideal way to diminish the enthusiasm of the home crowd and demoralize a team that went into a horrid tailspin last season. MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL REVISITED Since the start of the 20th century, this will be only the sixth time a Notre Dame football season doesn't begin on a Saturday, and the first time the Fighting Irish will play on Labor Day Monday. It will also open on Labor Day Monday at Florida State in 2021. • This will be the third Monday night opener for Notre Dame, with the other two occurring in head coach Ara Parseghian's final season in 1974 and then successor Dan Devine's de- but in 1975, both on ABC-TV. The reigning national champion Fighting Irish won at Georgia Tech in 1974 by a 31-7 count and defeated Boston College in the former Schae- fer Stadium (now Gillette Stadium) the following year, 17-3 — with a game then awaiting at Purdue five days later. • The 1989 season, which saw Notre Dame as the reigning na- tional champion again, opened on a Thursday night Aug. 31 in the Kick- off Classic in New Jersey. The Irish roared to a 33-0 halftime lead versus Virginia before coasting to a 36-13 outcome. • In head coach Lou Holtz's final season in 1996, Notre Dame opened on a Thursday night as well, this time trailing 7-6 in the fourth quarter at Vanderbilt before prevailing with a 14-7 win. • In 2016, the Fighting Irish de- buted in their first Sunday night out- ing ever, a 50-47 double-overtime defeat at Texas. It would be the har- binger of a 4-8 season under sev- enth-year head coach Brian Kelly. ✦ GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE Fifth-year senior cornerback PJ Mbanasor is part of a Cardinal defense that will be attempting to bounce back from surrendering 54.8 points per contest during its season-ending nine-game losing streak in 2018. PHOTO COURTESY LOUISVILLE