Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 35 Brennan's Irish went from losing 40‑0 at home to Oklahoma the pre‑ vious year to stunning them on the road the next. However, Willingham and Co. lost three of the last five contests this year, including a 31‑point rout at USC and a 22‑point defeat to North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl. 2017 Bottom Line: A 9‑4 record this year by Kelly would make it the fourth time ever the Irish won at least five more games than in the year prior. 4T. FROM THESE ASHES, NOTRE DAME ROSE — 1988 Record: 12‑0 Previous Year: 8‑4 Win Difference: Plus 4 Head coach Lou Holtz's second year at Notre Dame (1987) saw his Fighting Irish lose their last three contests while getting outscored 80‑30 to finish 8‑4 after a promising start. One year later Notre Dame was the consensus national champ with the first 12‑0 ledger in school history. It also became only the fourth team in college football annals to vanquish four foes that finished in the AP top 10 — Rose Bowl and Big Ten champ Michigan, defend‑ ing national champ and 11‑1 Miami, Pac‑12 champion and then 10‑0 USC, and then 11‑0 West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. Also making this remarkable march to No. 1 noteworthy was that in the previous seven years Notre Dame was a pedestrian 43‑36‑1 (.544 winning percentage) and finished in the AP poll only once (No. 17 in 1987). 2017 Bottom Line: A four‑game improvement in wins this year would likely lead to a status quo 8‑5 mark. In seven seasons under Kelly, the average Notre Dame record has been 8.4‑4.4 (not including possible forfeit of wins being appealed by the school). 4T. ROCK(NE) & ROLL — 1929 Record: 9‑0 Previous Year: 5‑4 Win Difference: Plus 4 Knute Rockne's worst season in his 13 seasons as head coach oc‑ curred in 1928, his 11th year, concluding with consecutive setbacks against Carnegie Tech (27‑7) and eventual national champ USC (27‑14) to finish 5‑4. One year later Notre Dame was 9‑0 and won the program's second consensus national title, conquering all four teams that had beaten them a year earlier. Particularly notable is the Irish never played at home that season because Notre Dame Stadium was under construc‑ tion and set to open in 1930. 2017 Bottom Line: About the only comparison here is that Cam‑ pus Crossroads on Notre Dame Stadium has been under construction the past two years and will be unveiled this season. 4T. TEMPORARY REPRIEVE — 2008 Record: 7‑6 Previous Year: 3‑9 Win Difference: Plus 4 Like Brennan in his third year, fellow Irish third‑year coach Char‑ lie Weis finished six games under .500 in 2007 when massive recruit‑ ing shortages from 2004 and 2005 caught up with the Irish against an onerous schedule. Like Brennan, Weis won seven games the next year. However, 7‑6 in 2008 was not nearly as impressive as Brennan's 7‑3 mark in 1957. The Irish finished the regular season 6‑6 before crushing Hawai'i in the Hawai'i Bowl, 49‑21. Like Brennan, Weis was then fired in year five after another 6‑6 regular season (losing the last four). 2017 Bottom Line: Finishing with only seven wins this year would have to prompt serious consideration again about whether a change in the head coach would be required. 4T. KELLY'S HEROES — 2012 Record: 12‑1 Previous Year: 8‑5 Win Difference: Plus 4 Like Holtz in year two, second‑year coach Brian Kelly finished with eight wins, losing the final two. Like Holtz in year three, Kelly likewise followed with a 12‑0 ledger. Unfortunately, the 2012 Irish had to play one more game — a 42‑14 loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game. 2017 Bottom Line: With at least eight wins in 2017, Kelly would become the first Irish coach to twice have a minimum of four or more victories from one season to the next. That might be considered more negative than positive in some circles because it would speak to a lack of consistency as a football program. ✦ In 2002, first-year head coach Tyrone Wilingham guided the Irish to an 8-0 start en route to a five-game improvement from the previous campaign. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS