Notre Dame football: The most disappointing modern season

Having no short supply of disappointing seasons in the 21st century, this is a look at the most disappointing of those seasons by Notre Dame football.

Part of being a program like Notre Dame, with over a century of being one of the game’s elite programs, means that each season carries heavy expectations. With those expectations comes a lot of disappointment when things don’t go as well as they should have otherwise.

Just look at the 2019 team. Coming off an undefeated regular season, most fans knew a repeat was unlikely. A 10-2 regular season was the result, and there was a large outcry of disappointment from fans. A tough bowl bid didn’t help matters there.

However, 2019 was hardly the most disappointing Notre Dame team in modern history. So, what was the most disappointing modern season?

First, define modern. Is it post Lou Holtz? What about post-Dan Devine? Well, for our purposes it’s the 21st century. The turn of the century was during the Bob Davie era and had seen a downturn in the caliber of teams each season.

Things were clearly different. Expectations may still have been high, but hope had begun to fluctuate. Notre Dame has been able to tease fans with great seasons and remind them of past glories.

There’s plenty of seasons that ended up being nothing more than teases. The 2003 season was Tyrone Willingham’s second season at Notre Dame, and he had won 10 games in his first. The team started out ranked 19th in the country but would miss out on going to a bowl. The 2007 season showed off what a Charlie Weis Notre Dame team looked like without Brady Quinn. The 2013 season saw Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame team go 8-4 as a follow up to 12-0 in 2012. Then, there was the disappointment of 2016, which forced Kelly to overhaul his staff.

Still, none of those were as disappointing as the 2006 season in South Bend.

Notre Dame had finished 9th in 2005, which was Charlie Weis’ first season at the helm of the Notre Dame team. He and his “decided strategic advantage” had fan’s hopes soaring like Icarus. Then you add in that Brady Quinn seemed like a sure thing to be a Heisman finalist, while stud talents like Tom Zbikowski highlighted the defense, and nothing could hold the Irish back.

Somehow, it just didn’t quite work out.

Entering the season ranked 2nd in the country, there were National Championship expectations on the Irish. The warning signs came while they held that number two ranking. It took what can only be described as surviving to beat Georgia Tech in week one. Then, in week three, they lost by 26 to Michigan at home.

The Irish fell back in the rankings but regained their footing. Soon, that loss to Michigan seemed like a fluke. Notre Dame’s offense was dominating and it was clear that Brady Quinn deserved his preseason status as a Heisman hopeful.

They were number six, and getting ready to head to USC and avenge the Bush Push. With a win at USC, a jump to top two in the polls wasn’t out of the question. Only Ohio State was still unbeaten at that time, after all.

So, of course, Notre Dame couldn’t even keep the game close. They lost 44-24.

Their consolation prize was the Sugar Bowl. That’s no small consolation prize by any means, but it’s not like Notre Dame was able to win that either. In fact, they couldn’t even keep it close against LSU. The final score was 41-14 in an ending to the season that only confirmed for many that Notre Dame is college football’s past and not its future.

None of this is to say that the 2006 Notre Dame team was bad. They were a good team, who would finish 17th in the country. They went to the Sugar Bowl after all. It’s just they didn’t improve. On paper, the team was better. In reality, they just couldn’t beat other good teams. In fact, they weren’t close to the level of those excellent teams on their schedule.

It’s the issue that’s persisted with Notre Dame in the 21st century, an inability to get over the hump. The 2006 season was this issue to an unholy degree. Embarrassed by Michigan. Trampled by USC. Humbled by LSU. All three losses were blowouts.

In a season where Notre Dame had National Championship potential, they laid egg after egg after egg when the lights were brightest on them.