The 2005 season was easily the most exciting of the last four years for Fighting Irish football.  Coming off a .500 2004 season, there were expectations from some to justify the firing of Ty Willingham, but Charlie Weis' first campaign as head coach went better than most would expect.  The team only ended up being 9-3 after a half-hearted effort against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, but the team was a grand total of six points away from facing off against Texas in the Rose Bowl.

I have the theory, and this is very much speculative and not even really debatable since it exists exclusively in a world of fantasy, that if Justin Tuck had returned and Rhema McKnight not injured his knee it would have been Notre Dame that  Vince Young was running and throwing all over on that memorable January night.  The front seven of the defense would have been nearly impregnable with that defensive line being backed up by Brandon Hoyte and Corey Mays, and no quarterback would be safe with Vic and Tuck descending on them from both sides.  On offense, Brady Quinn would have more options than he could use, making the prolific 2005 even more impressive.

Obviously Tuck, the all-time Notre Dame sack leader, made a pretty wise decision, as he was a first day draft pick, got himself a fat contract extension and was named Super Bowl MVP.  When I occasionally toss this theory out in  bar discussions, someone always mentions that if Rhema hadn't hurt himself, Jeff Samardjiza wouldn't have had the same impact.  While I doubt The Shark would have put up All-American-type numbers, but it's not like Weis and Quinn weren't already aware of Samardjiza's abilities.  He caught three balls, including one for a touchdown, against Pitt, and was already part of the gameplan against Michigan the next week when Rhema went down, hauling in four catches, including another one for a touchdown.

Of course, this massive hypothetical situation I laid out in front of you wouldn't be important if the regular season Irish losses weren't literally a play or two away from being victories.  With a heavy heart, I will now recount for you two very crushing losses.

September 17, 2005 vs. Michigan State: A Comeback of Epic Proportion Signifying Nothing

Brady Quinn threw for 487 yards and five touchdowns, but at the time, I called it "the Least Efficient 487-Yard Passing Game Of All Time," as there were a lot of miscues that helped the Spartans put themselves into position for a 38-17 lead.  Thankfully, John L. Smith was and probably still is an awful coach, going totally conservative when there was no way Notre Dame's secondary was stopping Drew Stanton (a cool 16 for 27 for 327 and 3 scores, plus 48 yards and another TD on the ground).  This allowed one of South Bend's best receiving combos ever - MoSto and the Shark - to get the Irish back into it.  Stovall caught eight for 176 yards and a touchdown while Samardjiza caught three scores and put himself on the map as a top-tier receiver.  Just for fun, Anthony Fasano (7 for 93) and Matt Shelton (6 for 87) also had fantastic games, and it was enough to get the game to overtime, tied at 38.

Overtime was short and very sour, as Notre Dame kicked a field goal after a woeful offensive possession and Stanton optioned to Jason Teague for the game-winning touchdown on only the second play of the Spartan possession.  I'm not sure if they used up all their energy coming back from the three touchdown deficit, but the Irish offense was awful in their last two possessions, unable to convert a Tommy Z-forced towards the end of regulation and then gaining a whopping negative one yard in overtime.  Quinn was 0 for his last 5 after finding Samardjiza for the game-tying touchdown, but he apparently learned a few lessons about closing out games before the next Notre Dame home game one month later...

October 15, 2005 vs. Southern Cal: I Need Not Say More

It's tough to try and formulate prose about this game, as there's so much to talk about.  In the days leading up to the game, there was buzz about the pep rally (we were all pretty sure Springsteen would be there) and stories of random celebrities popping up on campus as fans from across the nation descended on South Bend.  It was an absolutely crystal clear autumn day, and a large contingent of Trojan fans made it an absurdly fun atmosphere between the defending national champs, who had won 27 straight times, and the upstart Irish, whose sole blemish on the season was the overtime loss to Michigan State.  You had a trio of Heisman candidates with Bush, Leinart and Quinn all on the field, plus the pageantry and tradition of the most storied rivalry in college football.  Gameday was there, along with everyone who was anyone in media, and just as Weis had promised, Notre Dame had returned to glory, if only for that one weekend.

If I had to take one thing away from the game itself - not the nearly inconsolable heartbreak felt after the conclusion - was how good Reggie Bush was.  Nothing was scarier than Bush in space, a human joystick bouncing away from defenders as if the very idea of someone touching him, let alone tackling him, was sacrilegious.  He had 160 yards on 15 carries with three scores (four if you count Leinart's final pirouette into the endzone), and on a day where LenDale White was stuffed and Leinart was totally ineffective, Bush won his team this game basically single-handedly, just as he would do a few weeks later against Fresno State.  For all of the talk of tarnished Heismans and elicit Trojan goings-on, nothing can take away how absolutely fantastic Bush was.

Tommy Z's punt return before halftime to give the Irish the lead, Brady Quinn's perfectly orchestrated drive to retake the lead and Vic's sack of Leinart on the Trojans' final drive were some of my fondest memories of the day, which was almost too stressful to be enjoyable at times.  The time of possession difference was also massive, with the Irish holding a 38:40 to 21:20 advantage.  For both Brady Quinn and Weis, if they never find any further success, this game will serve as the high point for both of their careers.

There were a bunch of things that could have happened to change the outcome of this game just in the final few minutes.  Quinn could have been called down on his go-ahead touchdown scramble, running the clock under two minutes and giving the Irish third and goal from the one-inch line.  Ambrose Wooden could have raised his arm a few inches, knocking the 4th-and-9 pass away from Dwayne Jarrett.  Or he could have been less dogged in his pursuit, letting Jarrett score and giving the Irish the ball back with over a minute left and an offense that only a lack of time could stop.  I don't even want to discuss the events that transpired on the goal line moments later, but there were obviously a lot of things that could have gone differently there.

The worst part of this game was the incredibly sour reaction of some Irish fans who found an arcane rule that no one has ever seen called to try and paint the Trojans as cheaters.  While I would have loved to win this game by any means (cheating, bribery, cheap shots, Bruce Bowen, etc.), can you imagine having your game-winning touchdown called back because a running back pushed the quarterback into the endzone?   Clock management and replay perhaps betrayed Notre Dame on that day, but the "Bush Push" not being flagged is fine by me.

Of all the things I've mentioned I'll always remember from that day (the same one where Penn State fell at the gun to Michigan and the world met Pat White and Steve Slaton as they beat Louisville in Triple OT) is how we recovered.  A few of my friends from Penn State had joined us for the weekend, and as we went through our own five stages of grief, one movie brought smiles to our faces: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.  So remember, kids, when you find yourself curled in the fetal position, body sapped of all energy and soul destroyed by some crimson and gold wearing bastards, just sing along to some Wilson Phillips and everything will be alright.