Four seasons ago, Notre Dame was ranked as the second-best team in the country. Brady Quinn, Travis Thomas and Tom Zbikowski were on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The Irish were a true national championship contender, had the Heisman frontrunner under center and a top-tier recruiter and playcaller on the sidelines.
Four seasons later, the Notre Dame football experience has been nothing we thought it would be. This senior class has been through a whirlwind of improbable successes and sudden failures, and we’ve learned to take nothing for granted.
Our first home game was a 41-17 stomping of No. 19 Penn State. This followed a shaky opener at Georgia Tech, but after routing Joe Pa and the Nittany Lions, the title talk was reignited — only to be doused by Michigan a week later.
And even though 2006 was largely a disappointment, we took for granted everything that was good about that team.
Sure, we were dismantled by our two biggest rivals and against LSU in the Sugar Bowl, but we were ranked in the top-10 all year.
We had the comeback at Michigan State in the rain and, subsequently, a celebration in Stonehenge. We enjoyed a last-second win against UCLA and yelled “Beat SC” for half an hour after an unbelievable senior class played its last game in green at Notre Dame Stadium.
And more than anything, we had hope and optimism. We were 19-6 and in BCS bowls during two seasons with Charlie Weis, and while we would definitely take a step back with Brady, Samardzija and Co. leaving, our junior and senior years looked to be full of promise.
But our sophomore year, we fell a lot further than expected. We were humiliated by our biggest rivals and became a national punch line. We lost to Navy for the first time in 44 games, and we couldn’t keep the game close at home against Air Force. Our coach suddenly seemed a little lost and confused, but we still had some hope left. So we blamed it on the poor recruiting of the last coach.
At least we had talented young players, we thought, and as gifted a quarterback as anyone in the nation. It looked like we would start to put it all together again, and prove sophomore year was a fluke on the way back to prominence. There was a win over Michigan for the first time, and a 4-1 start to begin that junior campaign.
Everything quickly went downhill again, though, beginning with small disappointments in the close losses to North Carolina and Pittsburgh, and ended with the Senior Day loss in the snow to Syracuse and yet another crushing at the hands of the Trojans.
Then, suddenly three years had flown by. For this group, and for us students, it was the last try. The last home opener, last chances at beating Boston College and USC and now the final home game in these seats — although I’m not discounting sneaking back in the student section the next few years.
This season again hasn’t been what we expected, but I think by now we’re starting to get used to a little disappointment. A program like Notre Dame should have higher standards than its performance over our four years and the last decade, but we’re a new generation of students.
The last year Notre Dame won a national championship was the same year many of us were born. We shouldn’t tolerate lowering the standards of the greatest college football program and tradition in the country, but we’ve grown to accept that that was long ago, and we’re a long way away from the days where we expected to compete for titles every year.
Instead of looking back at this season in frustration and calling it another failure, I want to remember the great parts of Notre Dame football we were a part of. We saw two of the greatest quarterbacks at a school with a history of great quarterbacks. We had numerous last-second wins and have seen some of the most phenomenal receivers in program history.
And really, in the end, I just want this one to end on a good note. One of the worst parts about the Syracuse loss was thinking how terrible it would be for the seniors that were on the field and in the stands to have that be their last home game as students.
This could be the last home game for a few players that aren’t seniors, too, and I hope as a team they just get this one. As a gift for the seniors playing their last game on that field, and for the seniors standing together one last time.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Contact Michael Bryan at mbryan@nd.edu
20 comments
Quote: "I do have a problem with one of the posters who feels he should resign and forgo the $ I guess he has coming if he plays out the string so to speak. .
Here I feel it is immaturity speaking and not realism. The man has a contract that spells out his duties , his obligations and the University , ND , in good faith offered him certain things in renumeration. I am sure they knew what they were doing and to ask him, the coach, to give up some benefits for himself and his family because the University feels they would be better served with some one else in that position is to me unrealistic and silly. Again, I can only say, get real people."
YOU WERE SURE THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING GIVING A 10-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION TO A PERSON WHO NEVER COACHED AT THE COLLEGIATE LEVEL AS HEAD COACH BEFORE THE END OF THE FIRST SEASON, BECAUSE THEY WERE SOME 'NFL RUMOURS' AND SOMEHOW IT WAS JUST IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE A QUICK PRESSER AND DISPEL THE RUMOURS?? PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN POVERTY ON $1 A DAY IN THE WORLD BUT A SO-CALLED CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY HAS TO PAY SALARIES IN THE MILLIONS _TO ONE OF THEIR OWN ALUMS_??? ABSOLUTE HYPOCRISY AND GREED.
First thing I have to say is , from friends who went to the game from the Nutmeg state, they all told me the reception of the ND fans was right on, no problems, little booing but really a class act and I want to thank you for that. You are members of a great institution, one of the finest in the land and one does not have to be a alumnus or of the Catholic faith to know that.
Our team, Uconn, has had as most of you know , a season of great trauma and loss. Games, five of them, lost in minutes left on the clock but much more then the games was the loss these young men have gone through with the tragic and untimely death of "Jazz Howard" that for some , will be with them for the rest of their lives.
For a program likes ours, yep, as a alumnus and a supporter , I feel a part of what is building in Storrs, the traditions that are coming together for us and the way the program is shaping up. Never in my earlier life did I feel we would ever be playing at this level and most importantly , a team with the history of ND. To go to Indiana and win? " Get real folks."
I see that some are upset with your coach , who I understand is really on the hot seat. He seems like a classy guy by the way, I like the way he held off from speaking to our quarterback so as to not want to put him in a bad situation before the biggest game of his career, That is a class act and speaks well of him. Also speaks well of the University he works for to hire a guy with such class actually.
I do have a problem with one of the posters who feels he should resign and forgo the $ I guess he has coming if he plays out the string so to speak. .
Here I feel it is immaturity speaking and not realism. The man has a contract that spells out his duties , his obligations and the University , ND , in good faith offered him certain things in renumeration. I am sure they knew what they were doing and to ask him, the coach, to give up some benefits for himself and his family because the University feels they would be better served with some one else in that position is to me unrealistic and silly. Again, I can only say, get real people.
Thanks again for the reception of my team, it is and was appreciated by the fans and most importantly the team and coaching staff of the University of connecticut. Class act. u were. See ya on the basketball court, now there is a place for some payback.
First thing I have to say is , from friends who went to the game from the Nutmeg state, they all told me the reception of the ND fans was right on, no problems, little booing but really a class act and I wantto thank you for that. You are members of a great institution, one of the finest in the land and one does not have to be a alumnus or of the Catholic faith to know that.
Our team, Uconn, has had as most of you know , a season of great trauma and loss. Games, five of them, lost in minutes left on the clock but much more then the games was the loss these young men have gone through with the tragic and untimely death of "Jazz" that for some , will be with them for the rest of their lives.
For a program likes ours, yep, as a alumnus and a supporter , I feel a part of what is building in Storrs, the traditions that are coming together for us and the way the program is shaping up. Never in my earlier life did I feel we would ever be playing at this level and most importantly , a team with the history of ND. To go to Indiana and win? " Get real folks."
I see that some are upset with your coach , who I understand is really on the hot seat. He seems like a classy guy by the way, I like the way he held off from speaking to our quarterback as to not want to put him in a bad situation before the biggest game of his career, That is classy and speaks well of him. Also speaks well of the University he works for to hire a guy with such class actually. I do have a problem with one of the posters who feels he should resign and forgo the $ i guess he has coming if he plays out the string so to speak. .
Here I feel it is immaturity speaking and not realism. The man has a contract that spells out his duties , his obligations and the University , ND , in good faith offered him certain things in renumeration. I am sure they knew what they were doing and to ask him, the coach, to give up some benefits to he and his family because the University feels they would be better served with some one else in that position is to me unrealistic and silly. Again, I can only say, get real people.
Thanks again for the reception of my team, it is and was appreciated by the fans and most importantly the team and coaching staf on the University of connecticut. class act. See ya on the basketball court, now there is a place for some payback.
I think it's fairly apparent from his astonishing ignorance that RH didn't go to school. And I'm an SEC fan.