A shot of the scoreboard at Notre Dame Stadium, via Porter, the lucky bastard. He promises me he'll have a better picture up soon enough.
Connecticut 33. Notre Dame 30.
Who could have ever dreamed this would ever be possible in the 1960s, when Yale used to mop the floor with ol' State U?
Who could have ever dreamed this would ever be possible in the 1990s, when UConn lost to New Haven and had no real commitment for the football program?
Who could have ever dreamed this would ever be possible in 2001, when UConn made the jump to Division I-A, a backwater school with no tradition, recruiting out of crappy trailers in the shadow (physical and otherwise) of Gampel Pavilion?
Hell, who could have ever dreamed this would ever be possible in the first half Saturday afternoon, with UConn down 14-0 after a string of demoralizing losses?
But the picture above - or at least the idea of the picture - doesn't lie. UConn has beaten Notre Dame in football. I don't care how mediocre the Irish are this season. People know that UConn plays football now. The people who made "UConn" one of the top 10 Twitter trends this afternoon know it.
I feel great - vindicated, even - as a UConn football fan. I feel great for UConn football fans, who get a lot of grief, but who also showed up en masse in South Bend to make their voices heard. I feel great for Randy Edsall, who has been absolutely exemplary as a father figure and coach in the face of tragedy (his postgame tribute to Jazz was incredibly moving). And I feel great for the players, who make up the most resilient team I've ever been privileged to follow.
But most of all, I feel great. Thank you, UConn.