It was a threatening Saturday morning with heavy rains forecast for game time at 2:00pm. Tailgating was very light and it lacked a real “Gameday” feel. However, perpetual South Bend host Pat Flynn ND ’78 –and his Class President all four years– had his gathering located just behind Legends on the grassy island.
Remember…for all your tailgating needs, contact President Pat Flynn at Indiana Beer (574. 234.6075)
The first formal stop was the Rockne Heritage Fund reception featuring Coach Kelly with very positive and uplifting remarks. He offered “inside information” if the 450 attendees could keep a secret… “One of the freshman QB’s is likely to be the MVP today.
Coach Kelly was followed by the featured Student-Athlete speaker—ND senior and National Champion from the Women’s Soccer team—Julie Scheidler from Indianapolis (and my niece). Julie is an exceptional student (Dean’s List) and an excellent model as an elite athlete and community-minded young student. She started 129 games in her ND career since Freshman year and was instrumental on Defense in the march to the National Championship where ND knocked-off #1 seeds North Carolina and Stanford outscoring their five opponents in the tournament 16-1.
Two of Knute Rockne’s grandsons were also in attendance. One re-told the story of Fr. Julius Nieuland imploring young Knute to continue his work in the Chemistry department, but he would not give Knute a $5/week raise. The rest is history as Knute left academia to pursue coaching.
Onward to the Stadium where I was fortunate enough to have Field Passes.
Before the game and during warm-up, Coach Kelly was very playful and loose. He went up and down the sidelines joking and shaking hands with everyone. The music blaring from the stadium speakers was a hip-hop mix of urban rap. Surprisingly, players of all sizes, shapes and colors were swaying during calisthenics to the beat. Eminem was a favorite.
Not surprisingly, we saw a lot of the freshman QB’s and Hendrix and Golson showed poise, promise and potential. Neither will start next season, but either can play capably. There is no reason to believe Crist and Rees won’t compete for the starter role. Both deserve the chance. It will be interesting to see if they redshirt Golson as they did Andrew Hendrix. This will not be like last year where we had early QB questions. (BTW—Is Nate Montana the only college player in America with his name on the front and back of his jersey?) We will miss Joe and Jennifer at our tailgaters next year. They really are very genuine and fun.
For those of us who easily get nostalgic for the great Devine defenses with stars like Browner, Bradley, Fry, Calhoun, Dike, Harrison and Golic… we’d love to see current players like Manti Te’o (the Hurtin’ Hawaiian), Aaron Lynch (simply terrific Saturday), Louis Nix (NG) and Ishaq William (OLB; and #1) step-up to punish people.
Watch for ever-improving OT Zack Martin from Indianapolis and Center Braxton Cave.
Brian Kelly and his coaching staff are not ND rookies any more. Look at the players with another year of experience. And several newcomers are sure to make contributions.
The Spring game is less than serious, but it is still real in many respects. ND is so much better 365 days later.
Can’t wait for September 3 and South Florida. Bet the house on ND that day. We are back.
See you this fall.
Abe