Notre Dame-Georgia: History In The Making
History can be achieved by the Notre Dame football program when the Fighting Irish have their showdown at No. 3 Georgia this Saturday night (8 p.m., CBS).
Not including bowl games, which are located at neutral sites, it could be the school’s first football victory ever at night at a top-five opponent’s on-campus home site.
Over the past 20 years, these were the seven other instances of Notre Dame facing a top-five team on its home turf at night, and all had inauspicious results and ramifications, particularly for the head coach:
• In 1999, the No. 24-ranked Irish lost 38-14 at No. 4 Tennessee.
It was the start of a four-game losing streak under third-year head coach Bob Davie to finish the season 5-7 — the most defeats in one season in 36 years (2-7 in 1963).
• To open the 2001 campaign, No. 23 Notre Dame was defeated 27‑10 at No. 5 Nebraska.
It began a 5‑6 campaign that would result in the firing of Davie, even though 11 months earlier he had signed a five-year extension, or buyout, whichever you prefer to call it.
• The 2004 regular season ended with a 41-10 setback at No. 1 USC — and the ouster of head coach Ty Willingham a couple of days later.
• Likewise in 2006 and 2008, Notre Dame lost in the finale in the Los Angeles Coliseum at night to a top-five Trojans squad. The No. 6 Irish were throttled 44‑24 by No. 3 USC in 2006, and the reeling 2008 unit was crushed 38‑3 by the No. 5 Trojans.
In the latter, Notre Dame did not even pick up a first down until the final play of the third quarter. For the next few days following that 35-point defeat, questions loomed on whether fourth-year head coach Charlie Weis would be retained for a fifth season in 2009.
• Under current head coach Brian Kelly, there have been two such contests: a 28-14 loss at No. 4 Stanford in 2011, and the controversial setback at No. 2 FSU in 2014 (31-27), when Notre Dame was 6-0 and ranked No. 5. A touchdown pass from Everett Golson to Corey Robinson in the closing seconds was nullified when it was ruled that running back C.J. Prosise created offensive interference while blocking on a “pick play.”
“It was pretty clear what happened on the play,” Kelly said the following day after reviewing the tape. “Florida State blew the coverage and got rewarded for it. It’s unfortunate.”
There also was the officiating crew ignoring an FSU penalty of removing one’s helmet on the field of play on that same fateful call. Kelly took another lesson from that defeat, specifically about playing on the road against a top foe.
“When you get a team like this and outplay them, you’ve got to put them away,” Kelly said. “You never want to let the game be decided by a referee. You want to control the game yourself. … If you've got the champ, you can’t win by split decision — you’ve got to knock him out. I think that’s what we want to take away from this.”
Another opportunity awaits Saturday.
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