Is everyone excited about beating UCLA Saturday night and celebrating a victory for the first time this season? You should be. For the seniors, juniors and sophomores, it was a welcome reminder of what victories in South Bend are like on Saturdays. And it's the first time you freshmen have tasted an Irish win since coming to campus in August.
But, please, as an alumnus and diehard fan of Notre Dame - the team, school and program - don't let the excitement spill over to embarrassment this weekend if the Irish knock off Boston College. Don't storm the field.
Sure, beating BC would be a huge moment. It's the No. 4 team in the country. It's undefeated and energized. The Eagles have a Heisman Trophy candidate and likely NFL first-round pick in Matt Ryan. They will come into our stadium with a swagger, a sense of confidence that will piss off diehard Irish fans.
And a win Saturday would be a huge moment in our season. Upsetting a top-5 team would be another step in building the confidence of our younger guys, and it would give our upperclassmen another great memory about playing for the Irish.
But there's a reason we refer to Boston College as Fredo, and bull-rushing the field against our weaker, inferior little brother would be embarrassing. We would be showing them a sense of respect that they don't deserve. Storming the court against BC in basketball was bad enough when we ended their 20-game winning streak in the 2005-06 season. Let's not surrender to the same temptation and make the same mistake in football.
In 1993, Boston College came into Notre Dame Stadium and abruptly ended our National Championship aspirations. Let's do the same thing to them this season. Let's make a statement during the game and scream louder than we have since the 2005 game against Southern Cal, giving our team the second-half energy they will need to earn a win.
But after we win, let's keep our excitement in the stands. Storming the field is about being an underdog, and Notre Dame is never an underdog against Boston College - regardless of our record. We should never expect to lose to Boston College. And when we beat them this weekend, let's act like we've done it before.
Because we have.
The writer was assistant managing editor of The Observer during the 2006-07 term.
Bob GriffinClass of 2007Oct. 8
