Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/699309
BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 5 UNDER THE DOME Knute Rockne Year Seven: 1924 Result: 10‑0, consensus national title Although Rockne had steered the George Gipp‑led units to un‑ beaten seasons in 1919 and 1920, this resulted in the first consensus national title campaign in the school's history. The program also was becoming "America's Team" with its na‑ tional schedule, traveling East to play traditional power Army — the game in which sports writer Grantland Rice coined the immortal Four Horsemen backfield — and West to defeat unbeaten Stanford, coached by Glenn "Pop" Warner in the Rose Bowl, 27‑10. Rockne coached 13 seasons before his death in a plane crash at age 43 on March 31, 1931. Elmer Layden Year Seven: 1940 Result: 7‑2 With the weight of immense expectations overwhelming him, 7‑2 was not good enough, so Layden resigned a couple of months after this season to become commissioner of the NFL. His career record at Notre Dame was 47‑13‑3 for a .770 winning percentage, better than Hall of Famers Lou Holtz (.765) and Dan Devine, who was .764 in six seasons from 1975‑80. However, unlike Holtz and Devine, Layden never won a national title, with his No. 1 Irish losing in the finale at USC in 1938 (13‑0). Layden is the one former Notre Dame coach whose career seems to mirror Kelly's, now that he too is in his seventh year and came close to a national title in 2012 before his No. 1‑ranked team lost to Alabama (42‑14) in the finale. Frank Leahy Year Seven: 1949 Result: 10‑0, consensus national title This concluded an astounding run for Leahy in the 1940s when his record was 71‑3‑5 (.930), including 11‑0 in his final season at Boston College (1940) prior to accepting the Notre Dame post. (He served overseas in World War II in 1944 and 1945). Including 1943, this was Leahy's fourth national title in the five seasons he coached from 1943‑49, and the only time he finished with 10 wins at Notre Dame while playing mainly nine‑ or 10‑game seasons. Ara Parseghian Year Seven: 1970 Result: 10‑1, No. 2 finish Led by quarterback Joe Theismann, the Heisman Trophy runner‑ up, and a defense that allowed only 9.7 points per game during the regular season, the campaign concluded with a 24‑11 upset of No. 1 and defending national champ Texas in the Cotton Bowl, snapping the Longhorns' 30‑game winning streak. The national title was awarded to 11‑0‑1 Nebraska, which rallied in the fourth quarter of the Orange Bowl to defeat SEC champ LSU, 17‑12. Lou Holtz Year Seven: 1992 Result: 10‑1‑1, No. 4 finish Like Parseghian's 1970 team, this one capped the campaign with a resounding 28‑3 Cotton Bowl triumph against another unbeaten team, 12‑0 Texas A&M. On paper, this actually might have been Holtz's most talented team. Eleven of the 22 starters on offense and defense were first‑ or second‑round draft picks, including the backfield comprised of quarterback Rick Mirer, fullback Jerome Bettis and tailback Reggie Brooks, who finished fifth in the Heisman voting. PHOTOS COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS A VERY GOOD YEAR (FOR MOST)