No ND wasn't close in 2005, not like in 1993. In '93 I believe ND beat a #1 team. And considering that we got blown out in the BCS game in '05, we would have no business playing in a championship game.
In 1993 Notre Dame crushed FSU. The game was never close. The next week they went out and lost on a field goal to BC. Both ND and FSU won their bowl games. FSU was voted NC. When they asked Bobby Bowden whether he wishes he would have played ND in a New Years Bowl he replied, no way. We played them in November and they beat us bad. If we played them in January, they would have still beat us bad.
The 93 Championship was the Bobby Bowden lifetime achievement award.
As Notre Dame is a private Catholic Independent University, everything is in the hands of the board and the president. These are very political entities; however, they do flirt with intrigue. Twice presidents, Hessburgh and Malloy, have sought to de-emphasise football and have succeeded. Only then did they find out they killed the goose that laid the golden egg, so to speak.
In '55-56 Hessburgh, after cutting schollarships significantly, fired Terry Brennan, one of the best young minds in football. The results were catastrophic and the university suffered until Ara took over in '64.
In '95 Malloy hired a hatchet man to fire Holtz, and finally forced him out. They hired the scumbucket assistant who helped by purgering himself in Bob Davies. Davies and Weis, weren't the problem in the down years. O'Leary (never coached a game) and Willingham (spent more time on the golf course than recruiting) were. Under the care and tutilage of Maloy, White and others from the administration, with the misstep of hiring a coach who lied on his resume, the coaching prospect promoted by a Secretary of State, who recieved a Masters at UND, Ty Willingham, was alowed to drive ND football into the ground. I belive Weis may have eventually succeded, save the incredible hole in talent he ran into which cost Weis the famous 3-9, 2007 season. So no Arkansas has never had that lack of talent, all at once.
The next difference is Arkansas, much as I love you, has worked on a basis of having about a hundred and twenty-five plus players to pick from. It is easier to have three stars work for you in that scenario. Also, ND had a serious point where there were quite a few two stars recruited. The famous Willingham class washout, I believe around 18 left was the key to seven to ten years of bad football. ND couldn't develop linemen, Sam Young is a perfect example, because they had to start them as underclassmen.
Finally, there has been an attitude of privlige among the athletes playing football at ND. That is now gone. There were a few players that left before they played their fifth or final year, that were the end of that sort of attitude. This years team should show a marked difference.
Edit: I went back and read TP's post. It had some good points. Many of which dovetail with mine. Weis had three problems; he followed Willingham; he trusted others to pick his assistants, because he was removed from the college world; and he had no team discipline. The same corruption that spilled down from above covered his assistants and players.
Kelly has ended that. But remember, the whole chain of command is Jenkins, Swarbrick, Kelly, and all assistants except Alford who was an outsider with Weis. The last remaining party attitude is gone from the team, or so far drowned out that the players can get serious about football.
TP nailed the Tulsa play. That was his signature move. And it set the tone. I cursed it when it happened and immediately knew it was wrong.
The other thing that TP brought up is the old alumni. It isn't necessarily those in the stands, it's those with the checkbook. The board and president do what they want, but thousands of large checkbooks bend their wills. That ain't happening so much in '12, so there is a chance we play well!
