The announcement that Notre Dame and Northwestern are renewing their football series has me feeling good today. It just might be the sign that I’ve been waiting for 10 years to see.The end of the Lou Holtz era was creeping up, Notre Dame had 8 consecutive winning seasons and would go on to win 9 games in the 1995 campaign. But it didn’t start well, with a 17-15 loss to Northwestern – who at the time were, let’s just say … not highly regarded. Going into that game - Notre Dame and Northwestern had played 46 times – with the Irish doing the Victory March 37 times, versus only 7 losses and 2 ties.
Their fortunes would change as Gary Barnett took the Wildcats on some wild rides, including a trip to the Rose Bowl later that season - a new experience for the Cats. The NU squad was led by LB Pat Fitzgerald, currently the Head Coach in Evanston. (Ironically enough, the week after they beat the Irish, Northwestern played future Head Coach Randy Walker and his Miami of Ohio squad).
I was there – crying in my Irish Coffee – as the 28-point underdogs came into South Bend and shocked the world! Let’s just say – when I arrived at the Soldier Field Press Box the next day for the Bears season opener with the Vikings, there were more than a few NU grads happy to rub my face in it (SEE: Henry Henderson and Julie Sweica of WSCR). Even those who didn’t back either team felt fine with talking all kinds of smack – and I deserved it. To that point, my experiences with ND Football were pretty damn good.
Just one year prior, I watched as Ron Powlus made his Irish debut – throwing 4 TD’s against Northwestern in a 42-15 thrashing at Soldier Field. I was expecting much of the same in 1995. Instead, it was the beginning of the end of the Notre Dame team I grew up watching – and adoring. That seemed to be the slippery slope that Notre Dame Football is attempting to recover from – more than 10 years and 78 losses later. Perspective: Notre Dame’s football program has only 280 regular season losses in its history – spanning 123 years.
Perfect Timing
The Irish appeared ready to jump back into the National Championship picture on a yearly basis with the arrival of Ty Whillingham. Then again with Charlie Weis. Both of those were fool’s gold. But with Brian Kelly at the helm, ND closed out a season with victories – over USC and Miami even! Now comes the announcement that Northwestern is back on the schedule, which means redemption is in the air. Is this an omen for the return of the glory days in South Bend?
