Ok, I know I have been away from posting on this site for a while, but I always read the excellent posts on here and I have much respect for those who frequent this site. Keep it going, its very enjoyable and informative for the ND nation!
I'm an alum, graduated in '98, and like all of you have been a die hard fan my whole life. The past several years have been very difficult to try and hold your head high as an Irish fan, but you do it anyway, because you LOVE, not like, but LOVE Notre Dame.
This weekend's loss was awful, no doubt about it. In the midst of my initial emotional turmoil, I was among the many calling for Charlie's head and giving up on the season. But now that I've had some time to calm down, and to vent with fellow Domers, I want to remind everyone of the 2005 season - I cannot recall if we started out ranked or not, but if we did it was only barely. No one knew what kind of team to expect, Charlie's first year at the helm and Brady Quinn very much a question mark as a junior starrting qb. Coming off an awful season under Willingham the year before, very little to hang our hopes on. But then we come out of the gate firing! Big win at Pitt, but that certainly doesn't jet us to the top of the ranks. The next week, a BIG win against Michigan (I believe they were ranked #5 at the time??) in the big house, and we are off to a great 2-0 start. I think we then cracked into the top 25, but you will all likely remember that that was failry short lived. I myself attended the following weekend's game, home against MSU, lost a heartbreaker in a multi-overtime affair. Just awful. All of a sudden, we are now 2-1, having lost to a decent but certainly not highly tauted MSU team, and we come crashing back down to earth in a hurry. BUT....and this is the main point I want to make....I still recall that, after we got back on the horse and beat Purdue and Washington the next two weeks, we were heading into the bye week with USC around the corner, exactly as we will be doing this year, with a 4-1 record, and perhaps the MOST HYPED game ever that I can recall ND being involved in - remember they had to hold the pep rally in the stadium and Joe M spoke that night?? I know they hold them in the stadium all the time now, but that was novel at the time, and I still remember that they showed highlights of the pep rally on ESPN that night!!!
We all, of course, remember the heart break of the Bush-push debacle, but that is not the point. Just remember our record and relative standing that season prior to that USC showdown - we were 4-1, had lost a heartbreaking game to a good Big Ten opponent, and yet the weeks leading up to that showdown with USC were filled with hype and chatter unlike any other game I could ever recall (except maybe FSU in '93), and that is eerily similar to what could very well happen to the Irish this season. Very similar if you think about it - one loss to a Big Ten team, heartbreaking loss at that, excellent Junior QB at the helm, bye week before SC, etc.
I know this team has a long way to go, but don't count them out yet. This season could harken back to the '05 season, only hopefully with a much different outcome when USC comes to town.
Go Irish!
