Notre Dame Athletics Shine In First Week Of New Year
In Notre Dame athletics lore, and even in NCAA history, it’s unlikely any school will ever achieve what the Fighting Irish did over a three-week stretch in January 1974.
• On New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 1973, Notre Dame defeated No. 1 Alabama 24-23 in the Sugar Bowl to finish 11-0 for the first time, end unbeaten and untied for the first time in 24 years, and officially win the consensus national title in the polls released Jan. 2.
The euphoria went into New Year’s Day, and beyond.
• On Jan. 18, the Notre Dame hockey team crushed No. 1-ranked Michigan Tech 7-1 in the north dome of what is known as the Joyce Center.
• One day later in the south dome, the unbeaten Notre Dame men’s basketball team ended No. 1-ranked UCLA’s NCAA-record 88-game winning streak — and consequently Notre Dame moved to No. 1 itself in the Associated Press poll (begun in 1948) for the first time ever.
Three different Notre Dame teams vanquished No. 1 in a span of 20 days, an unprecedented achievement in NCAA annals that remains. Nothing will match January 1974 at Notre Dame … but the first full week of January 2018 sure has been quite eventful. Unfortunately, the negatives might stand out more to some:
• First-year defensive coordinator Mike Elko agreed to an ultra-lucrative deal at Texas A&M and bolted.
• On Jan. 2 it was announced men’s basketball All-American and National Player of the Year candidate Bonzie Colson would be sidelined at least eight weeks because of impending foot surgery. Shortly thereafter, a sprained ankle to star point guard Matt Farrell also would lay him up at least a week.
• Women’s point guard Lili Thompson incredibly became the fourth player on the team in the last nine months to incur a season-ending ACL tear.
• Top 2016-17 rusher Josh Adams and top 2016-17 receiver Equanimeous St. Brown both announced they would forego their senior seasons to try their hand at the NFL.
Is this a harbinger of how 2018 is destined for doom and gloom at Notre Dame? Upon further review … not necessarily.
That’s because seldom has the school’s athletics program had so much to laud in the first seven days of a New Year. With thanks to longtime Notre Dame senior associate athletics director John Heisler, who prompted the idea, consider:
Jan. 1
With the thrilling 21-17 comeback victory over No. 17 LSU in the Citrus Bowl, the No. 14-ranked Irish ended a nine-game losing streak in the month of January and a six-game losing streak in the state of Florida.
Furthermore, there is a chance that for only the third time in the last 24 seasons, Notre Dame could finish in the Associated Press top 10 when the final poll is released tomorrow. The game-winning 55-yard touchdown with 1:28 left from sophomore quarterback Ian Book to junior wide receiver Miles Boykin also is now one of our 10 most famous clutch passes with two minutes or less left in school history (look for the countdown later this week).
Jan. 2
On campus, the famous Grace Hall No. 1 atop the edifice was lit when the hockey team, with the nation’s longest winning streak, was elevated to No. 1 by USA Today/USA Hockey poll.
Jan. 3
Men’s basketball head coach Mike Brey’s 394th career win at Notre Dame, an 88-58 thrashing of North Carolina State — which would defeat No. 2 Duke three days later — eclipsed Digger Phelps’ previous standard of 393. Phelps, the architect of the monumental aforementioned upset of UCLA in 1974, shared in the moment on court.
Furthermore, the Irish achieved it minus Colson and Farrell, with the latter missing the final 25 minutes with his injury.
Jan. 4
After falling behind 16-5 at home to Miami — one of only two ACC teams to defeat the Irish in five years of ACC play — head coach Muffet McGraw’s No. 2-ranked Irish pulled away from a fourth-quarter tie to prevail again in another hard-fought victory, 83-76, with five Irish players scoring in double figures.
Jan. 5
The setting was ripe to end Notre Dame’s 13-game winning streak in hockey. First, the Irish had not played in 27 days. Second, at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor it was Red Berenson Rink Dedication Night to honor the coaching legend who directed 11 Frozen Fours and two national titles for the Wolverines.
Instead, the Irish won 2-1.
Jan. 6
After missing their first 10 shots, trailing the majority of the game and finishing only 30.4 percent from the field, Notre Dame amazingly grinded out a 51-49 win at Syracuse on junior guard Rex Pflueger’s put-back basket off the fast break with 2.6 seconds remaining.
Not only was it the first Irish victory at the Carrier Dome since 2007, and in six tries, but they did it without Colson and Farrell to put themselves in a three-way tie for first place (3-0) with Virginia and Clemson in the cut-throat 15-team ACC.
Jan. 7
First, the Irish women blazed to an amazing 48-18 halftime lead at Georgia Tech — which barely lost to unbeaten and No. 3 Louisville — before coasting to a 77-54 rout to remain at No. 2.
Then the hockey team completed its sweep of its six Big Ten opponents in the first half of the league schedule with another 2-1 win versus the Wolverines, this time at Compton Family Ice Arena at home. Now 18-3-1 overall and 12-0 in the Big Ten — sweeping Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan — head coach Jeff Jackson’s troops have won a national-best 15 straight contests, last losing Oct. 26 at home to Nebraska Omaha.
They matched a program-best winning streak 15 consecutive wins from Nov. 4, 1983 to Jan. 21, 1984, when it was a club team, and extended their best as a Division I program.
All was not ideal the first week of January in Notre Dame athletics. However, when it came to actual performance on the field, hardwood or ice, nobody did it better through the initial week of 2018.
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