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Trev Alberts echoed the thoughts of many in the country when he took a stand on “College Game Day,” stating that Notre Dame had NO CHANCE against Michigan and the Fighting Irish would be embarrassed by the far superior Wolverines.
It was trendy this past week for members of the media to take a shot at Notre Dame football and their recent troubles. Everyone could point and laugh at the college football giant who had seemingly fallen so far, playing their worst stretch of football since 1960, getting blown out by any good team they played in the process.
The week of the game, Jim Rome asked if anyone really thought Notre Dame had any chance for anything other than a nice ass kicking at the hands of Michigan.
During that week before the game, I felt like was only one in the country, outside of the players and coaches for Notre Dame, who thought the Irish would win this. Obviously, part of this is because of the age old stance that Notre Dame is either a team you love or hate, but even most of the people who loved Notre Dame thought this would be a blowout.
Some of the criticism from Notre Dame fans is understandable, as the team has underperformed in the past 15 games. However, most Irish fans are as pessimistic as Jerry Falwell. Seeing Notre Dame fans overreact is as surprising as seeing Britney Spears fall from pop princess to trailer-park trash.
Almost every ND fan I know thought the maize and blue were going to make the Irish look like the French. With the game in South Bend, they should’ve known better, but they didn’t, and hopefully they will get back on the bandwagon now. My biggest problem is with the former players
Rocket Ismail, whose great career started with a breakout game against Michigan, a game which landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated, openly criticized the team, citing a lack of talent and saying that only two players on the current Irish roster would’ve even played in his day. Aaron Taylor told one newspaper "the wheels are coming off."
Rightfully so, it didn’t sit well with Irish tight end Jerome Collins, whose punt block helped turn the tide in the Michigan game.
“You never want to be written off, especially so early in the season," Collins said. "We were watching certain sportscasts, even our own alumni said we couldn`t do this."
This is unbelievable. It’s one thing for the fans to give up, or start whining and crying after one loss. But for the players who have been on that field, who have played in the house that Rockne built, who have been through the tunnel and have slapped that ‘play like a champion today’ sign, to come out and openly abuse and doubt this team, is a disgrace.
The players should know, better than anyone, what can happen in South Bend. Especially with a game against Michigan, a team that, despite having boasted some very talented line-ups in past years, hasn’t won at Notre Dame since 1994.
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A star was born in South Bend on Saturday, in the shape of super-frosh Darius Walker, who gained 115 yards in his first three quarters of college ball, scoring two touchdowns on his way into Irish lore. Paul Hornung must’ve been proud of the latest playmaker in Willingham’s offense, and they didn’t even have to lower admission standards to get him.
Hopefully this game will help quell the abundance of the asinine “fire Willingham” talk. Notre Dame fans need to realize that Willingham can, and will, bring ND back into the spotlight. More than likely, they won’t accept that. They will continue to complain about how ND should’ve hired former Holtz-assistant turned Utah Coach Urban Meyer and how Willingham is the next Gerry Faust.
“Outside the program, outside the guys on this team, people don`t seem to believe in us,” Collins said.
The fact of the matter is that it doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks. As long as everyone in that locker room believes, the rest of us will come around later.
I know that this is still one game, but I think it will be the first step of Notre Dame returning to glory. Either way, it is still too early to tell how Willingham’s era will turn out.
The recent criticism of Notre Dame does remind me of a certain speech by Lou Holtz.
“In 1986 people were saying Notre Dame would never win again. The academics were too tough, the standards were too high, times had changed. Well, we proved them wrong.” – Lou Holtz
Notre Dame is in a similar situation today. Many think that if they don’t lower their standards then they will go the way of the other Ivy league schools and service academies. People keep saying the times have changed. Well, Notre Dame proved them wrong under Holtz. Notre Dame proved them wrong against Michigan. And Notre Dame will prove them wrong again.
Mark Chalifoux is a weekly columnist for Sports Fan Magazine. You can hear his commentary every Monday night at 8:30 pm on the Monday Night SportsZone (Mondays 7-9pm www.sportstalkcleveland.com) You can email Mark at Rockne48@und.com with any comments, criticisms, or questions and he will hit you back if he isn’t watching the tape of Darius Walker’s breakout game.
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