Notre Dame: Bloodied but unbowed

The Golden Dome. The Four Horsemen. Rockne, Leahy and Parseghian.

Few institutions in the world of sports have the storied tradition and mystique as does the University of Notre Dame football program.

Laden with memories of 11 consensus national championships, seven Heisman trophy winners, and legendary coaches, the excellence which is synonymous with Notre Dame is as unmistakable as it is undeniable.

Ryan Leahy knows a thing or two about excellence and tradition. After all, the 6'4", 285-pound senior offensive guard has the lineage to prove it.

For the Leahy legacy is well documented in the annals of Fighting Irish sports history.

Frank Leahy, Ryan's grandfather, played on the 1929 national championship team. He then went on to coach Notre Dame and would amass an 87-11-9 record in 11 seasons. His reign as coach would also see the Irish garner four national titles.

Ryan's father, Jim, was a member of the 1966 national championship squad.

Brother, Pat, was a standout pitcher, compiling a 25-7 career record at Notre Dame.

So it is that the torch has been passed, and Ryan Leahy is proud to be the bearer.

"It's a huge honor for me to play here and continue on the family tradition. Some might think it would be a chore. But I feel fortunate to play football while attending such a great school," Leahy said in a recent interview.

Leahy was granted a fifth year of eligibility because he did not play in his freshman season.

After earning an economics degree in May, in which he maintained a 3.0 grade average, Leahy is enrolled in graduate courses for the fall semester.

Then there is the matter of some unfinished business on the playing field.

The close of every collegiate football season will usually find Notre Dame entrenched somewhere near the top of the rankings.

Last season was a different story for the blue and gold.

Bedeviled by a multitude of injuries to key players, along with inexperience at several positions, the Irish struggled to a 6-5-1 record.

And nowhere were the myriad of injuries more devastating than along the offensive front.

Forced to endure a season-long juggling act, the O line would see nine different starting combinations in 12 games.

This in itself would be enough to sound the death knell for the Irish.

For success at Notre Dame in the Lou Holtz era usually comes courtesy of a dominating offensive line which, in turn, allows for a punishing ground game.

In 1994, a consistent ground game never surfaced. Consequently, the offensive unit as a whole sputtered, as the Irish, offensively, would be nowhere near as prolific as past campaigns.

But inexperience and injury were not the only culprits in '94. Complacency would rear its ugly head in South Bend.

"Last year, we did have a lot of injuries. But we also got complacent. What happened on the field taught us not to take anything for granted.

"Teams won't roll over and die just because we're Notre Dame," Leahy said.

While a 6-5-1 season may not necessarily cause waves of anguish at other schools, this is not the case at Notre Dame.

Annually, the expectations are high. Excellence is presumed.

"It really is national title or nothing here, and that's the way we want it. We know what we have to do to get back on top, and it starts with getting back to smash-mouth football. We have to line it up and take it to people."

But as so often is the case, it would be easier said than done.

On Sept. 2, the Northwestern Wildcats rolled into South Bend for the '95 season opener.

And it was supposed to be easy. The Wildcats, 28-point underdogs, were to be the start of the climb back for Notre Dame, a chance to wash away the memories of last year's ills.

But instead, the nation watched as Northwestern pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in college football history, defeating the Irish 17-15.

To find the date of the last Wildcat victory over Notre Dame, you would have to scour the record books back 33 years, to 1962.

From the opening snap, it was evident that some of last year's problems had hitched a ride into the '95 campaign.

Defensively, the Irish played soundly, but failed to come up with any crucial "game altering" big plays.

Offensively, the running game showed signs of regaining consistency. However, quarterback Ron Powlus was sacked four times and the Irish were unable to convert on two crucial short yardage plays in the second half that would prove to be pivotal.

The sobering defeat has many scratching their heads, wondering if '94 wasn't an aberration after all.

Whatever the answer to that question, Notre Dame finds itself at a crossroads of sorts.

The task of resurrecting the football fortunes in South Bend now seems more daunting than ever.

The Irish are teetering on the cliff, trying to avoid tumbling into the abyss of mediocrity.

After the loss, Leahy vowed to see to it that it doesn't happen again.

He told Blue and Gold Illustrated that some real soul searching was in order.

"Take a good look at ourselves. Take a look in the mirror. Do a gut check. Whatever you want to call it. We're going to have to look at each other and get it done.

"We've got to get it turned around. There is no way I'm going out a loser and there is no way that anybody on this team is going out a loser. When we walked out of the locker room, that was the last thing we said," Leahy said.

The Irish seem thirsty for that kind of leadership. The time is ripe for another name to go down in that storied book of Notre Dame football lore: to stand up, seize the moment, and wake up the echoes.