Can Notre Dame Break Their Big Bowl Win Drought?

Notre Dame has had some trouble winning that big bowl game for over 20 years.

For a long while, Notre Dame was being damned nationwide for having not won a bowl game since the January 1, 1994 Cotton Bowl game against Texas A&M. Finally, in 2008, Notre Dame ended that streak by beating Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.

Demons sent back to hell?

Hardly. For Notre Dame, it isn’t a mere bowl win that puts things back on the right side of things, it’s winning that big bowl game (Cotton, Fiesta, Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Peach Bowls).

That has been THE struggle for Notre Dame and its main adversary in that struggle between 1993 and 2008 seasons. During that period, the Irish lost nine straight bowl games with five of those games being in a major bowl. The closest game in one of those major bowls in that time frame was the 1995 Orange Bowl against Florida State by losing 31-26.

In most of those other games, Notre Dame was outmatched and pretty much just in the game because Notre Dame fans travel and spend money, money, money.

Overall, Notre Dame is 17-18 in all bowl games and 11-12 in the major bowls. Remember, after the 1924 Rose Bowl victory over Stanford, Notre Dame opted to not play in a bowl game due to the academic calendar for 45 years. It’s first game back was against Texas in the Cotton Bowl in 1969, a game in which the Irish lost 17-21.

Now with the playoff system, the caliber of opponent in one of these major bowl games is even greater than what it may have been just a few years ago. Can Notre Dame find a way to end this now 23 year streak of losing in a major bowl? For a program that prides itself on the high number of accolades throughout the history of the game, this one sticks out like a sore thumb, the idiot brother, the drunk uncle, and the pregnant mom at a wedding reception.

The time is now, but will that time pass us by or will the alarm bells ring victory? We get another shot this season.