Notre Dame Fighting Irish Slappy Awards: Best Play of 2018-2019
By Paul Walsh
It is hard to adequately describe the significance of the Notre Dame and Michigan rivalry. The teams first battled in 1887 and have met 43 times in total. Since then, the programs have come to be two of the most successful in the history of the college football. The teams combine for 1,850 wins and 22 national titles.
What made last year’s installment of the series all the more appealing was the fact that the game was the season opener for both teams. For Irish fans specifically, the prime time match up in South Bend made the game even more exciting. It had been years since either team opened up their season against an opponent of this magnitude. Whoever would go on to win this game would immediately garner the attention of the college football world and set the tone for the rest of the team’s season. The importance of winning this game could not be emphasized enough.
For this reason, Chris Finke’s phenomenal reception in the end zone has been awarded the Slappy for the Best Play of the 2018-2019 Notre Dame athletics season. The play put the Irish up two touchdowns early against their storied rival, putting the Wolverines at an early deficit that was too much to surmount. The win immediately solidified Notre Dame as a College Football Playoff contender and gave them the confidence they needed to navigate the rest of their schedule. As we all know, they went on to do this flawlessly and reach the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history.
It is hard to look back at Notre Dame’s season opener against Michigan and not see the game as the most pivotal of the season. And Wimbush’s pass to Finke was the best play of this most pivotal game.