I really wish I was in Norman, Oklahoma this week. # 5 Notre Dame is taking on # 8 Oklahoma. It's been almost a decade since Notre Dame has even had a remote shot at the National Championship. It will be a battle of one of the best Defenses in the country versus one of the highest scoring offenses. I am expecting one hell of a game.
The Notre Dame Football program has been rather disappointing since 1996 when Holtz finished his tenure as the head coach. He coached for 11 seasons and left the school with a record of 100 wins and 30 losses. I personally think the program went downhill the moment Lou Holtz was forced out and Bob Davies took over. Till this day I still have trouble watching ND games in which Bob Davies is commentating. Thankfully 2001 was Davies fifth and last season. His won/loss was 35-25 and does not accurately reflect the damage he did to the program in my opinion. ND then hired George O'Leary, but he did not coach a single practice or game and resigned five days after for misrepresenting his academic credentials. Obviously Notre Dame did a very thorough background check. Next up, Ty Willingham. He started to turn around the program, but not fast enough for the rich alumni so they fired him and brought in Charlie Weis. Willingham was forced out after only 3 seasons and left the school with a 21-15 record. In 2005 Weis' immediate success could be greatly attributed to the phenomenal recruiting Willingham did. 2003 was one of ND's 10 best recruiting classes of all time. Big names such as Brady Quinn (Chiefs), Maurice Stovall (Jaguars), Tom Zbikowksi (Colts) , Jeff Samardzija (pitcher for the Chicago Cubs), Trevor Laws (Rams), Ryan Harris (Broncos), John Carlson (Vikings) and Chinendune Ndukwe (free agent but played for the Bengals and Raiders). Before coming to ND Weis had a very successful stint as the Offensive Coordinator of the New England Patriots, during which they won 3 Super Bowls. Weis did an okay job as head coach at ND, but I think his efforts would have been better suited in a different capacity. Head Coach at ND proved to be a bit too much for him. He left in 2009 (basically an early buyout by the alumni) after coaching for 5 seasons with a record of 35-27. That brings us to current Head Coach Brian Kelly. Kelly worked his way up the college football ranks head coaching at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan and Cincinnati. In his 3rd season Kelly seems to have righted the ship and ND seemingly has returned to its old self as one of the winnings schools of all time in college football. As a lifelong ND fan I hope great things are ahead for us for a long time to come.
Interesting facts from the attached article,
- The Irish Defense has allowed only 6 TDs this season
- Notre Dame has won eight Associated Press national championships, one more than Oklahoma
- The Irish rank third in all-time victories with 860. The Sooners are sixth with 826.
- The saying "Play Like a Champion Today" (ND players tap the sign every time they pass it on the way out to the field) originated in Oklahoma with Bud Wilkinson in 1947
- The teams have played 9 times prior. The first time in 1952 and the last in 1999, but this is the fifth time both schools come into the game ranked in the top 10. In the four prior games in which the teams both ranked in the top 10 ND won.
- The most famous matchup was in 1957 when ND came into Norman and won 7-0 ending Oklahoma's 47 game winning streak
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8550102/college-football-notre-dame-fighting-irish-oklahoma-sooners-glorious-history-promising-future
ESPN will be broadcasting College Game Day from Norman, OK this weekend. This looks to be a great game between 2 teams with a storied history.
GO IRISH!!
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