Despite that, ND could've done as well as 7-2 in 1963
by ShermanOaksND (2019-06-11 13:33:00)
Edited on 2019-06-11 13:43:25

In reply to: way, way off the front page *  posted by olson

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They went 2-7, but 4 of those losses were by single-digits to pretty good opponents -- Wisconsin (5-4), Purdue (5-4), MSU (6-2-1), and Syracuse (8-2). If I recall correctly, ND lead at some point in each of those games. ND did lose badly to its two best opponents -- Navy (9-2) and Pitt (9-1), and in the season's biggest flop, lost by 10 at Stanford (3-7) -- a game ND led at halftime, 14-10. But they upset Southern Cal (7-3) and easily beat UCLA (2-8, with one of the wins coming at Stanford).

It's interesting to ponder how well ND could have fared in 1963 if Ara had come one year earlier than he did.

Even without Ara they might have gone 7-2 ...
by BIGSKYND  (2019-06-12 11:11:16)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Devore literally had a bunch of guys playing exactly the wrong positions. I would add that the game which was cancelled because of the Kennedy assassination would have been against a 3-3-2 Iowa team, so 8-2 would not have been implausible.