Notre Dame Tries To Avoid Another Dubious Downfall

If Notre Dame is to avoid its 14th losing season in its football history (including 0-1 and 1-2 in its first two years in 1887 and 1888), and the first since 2007, it has to be victorious in its remaining three regular season games to be bowl eligible — and then win the bowl game, too.

While head coach Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish are an early two-touchdown favorite this Saturday in their Shamrock Series game against Army in San Antonio, they next would have to vanquish No. 18-ranked and 7-2 Virginia Tech Nov. 19, and then archrival USC in the Los Angeles Coliseum Nov. 26. The Trojans have caught fire with five straight wins to move up to No. 26 in the “also receiving votes” Associated Press poll, although this week they have to play at No. 4 Washington.

At the start of September, it would have seemed unfathomable that a 10-win Notre Dame team from 2015 that began this preseason ranked in the top 10 could finish under .500, especially with the way its opposition has faltered. As it stands now, it has a chance to make some dubious history as one of six Irish teams to win at least five fewer games than the previous year.

Here’s that list, and what ensued:

1. 2007: From 10-3 to 3-9

This was the most precipitous fall off all while occurring under third-year head coach Charlie Weis. It was not a complete surprise because Notre Dame had lost a huge volume of stars from the 2006 team, most notably quarterback Brady Quinn, and its 2004 and 2005 recruiting classes were the worst in school history — and those two groups had only 17 total players remaining by the time the 2007 season opened.

The Irish began 1-9 before closing with wins against Duke (28-7) and Stanford (21-14). This year’s team has yet to win two in a row.

Epilogue: Weis never recovered from the meltdown that season, finishing 7-6 and 6-6 the next two seasons before getting fired.

2. 1956: From 8-2 to 2-8

Like Weis, third-year head coach Terry Brennan had a good first two seasons (9-1 and 8-2) before the bottom fell out in year three. Again, it was related some to a tiny senior class, plus much higher academic standards imposed by Rev. Theodore Hesburgh C.S.C., who became the school president four years earlier.

Epilogue: Brennan bounced back the next season with a No. 10 finish in the AP poll that was highlighted by ending Oklahoma’s NCAA-record 47-game winning streak. But when the expectations grew again in 1958, he was fired after a 6-4 record and No. 17 placement in the AP poll.

3. 1950: From 10-0 to 4-4-1

After four straight unbeaten seasons (36-0-2) and three national titles from 1946-49, head coach Frank Leahy’s dynasty took a spill when football scholarship cutbacks by the university began in 1947 and caught up by their senior years.

Epilogue: Leahy returned the Irish to prominence his final two seasons in 1952 and 1953 with No. 3 and No. 2 finishes, respectively, before leaving coaching for good at the tender age of 45.

4. 2003: From 10-3 to 5-7

Head coach Tyrone Willlingham’s “Return to Glory” debut in 2002 took an immense nose dive the following year, including 38-0 and 37-0 demolitions to Michigan and USC, respectively, and closing with a 38-12 loss at 5-6 Syracuse.

Epilogue: Because the Irish followed with a 6-6 ledger the following year and the recruiting had taken a monumental turn for the worse (see No. 1 on this list), Willingham was ousted after only three seasons at the helm.

5. 1994: From 11-1 to 6-5-1

Head coach Lou Holtz built a juggernaut from 1988-93 with a 64-9-1 record (5-1 in major bowls), a national title and two debatable near misses while consistently playing highly ranked schedules. But the recruiting gravy train began to slow down in 1991, and by their senior year it caught up.

Epilogue: Holtz followed with 9-3 (1995) and 8-3 marks (1996) before stepping down. Notre Dame has never quite regained its mojo since losing as the 10-0 and No. 1 team to Boston College (41-39) in the 1993 regular-season finale.

Honorable mention: In 1980 under Dan Devine, Notre Dame began the year 9-0-1 and in line to play for the national title before finishing 9-2-1. With about 17 starters returning under new coach Gerry Faust in 1981, the Irish were ranked No. 4 in the preseason and moved to No. 1 in the first week — before finishing 5-6.

It was the beginning of a rocky five-year regime under Faust.

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