That was the text message of friend of mine sent me during Notre Dame's 49-21 victory over the Hawaii Warriors Wednes-day in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Well my friend, it may be close.
Watching sophomore quarterback Jimmy Clausen toss the ball 26 times, throwing just four incompletions en rout to 401 yards and five touchdowns, really made it feel like I was watching a good team.
Sure the big win came over a 7-7 Hawaii team, but for a squad that improved to 7-6 with the win, it was pretty good.
Showing a skill set unknown to the team this year, Notre Dame set nine school bowl records in the contest, including: Clausen's passing yards (401), passing touchdowns (five), completion percentage (84.6); the team's total offense (478) and points scored (49); sophomore Golden Tate's receiving yards (177), receiving touchdowns (three) and longest touchdown connection Clausen and Tate (69); as well as the team's longest kick return by sophomore Armando Allen (96 yards).
With those kind of numbers, and all of the records set by sophomores, Irish fans finally left a bowl game with a positive feeling.
Not since Notre Dame's 24-21 win over Texas A&M on Jan. 1, 1994, a span of nine bowl games, have the Irish faithful experienced a final game victory.
Having not seen an Irish bowl win since I was 13 years old, I was pretty sure Notre Dame could beat Hawaii, but the rest of America didn't seem to think so. Watching the pregame on ESPN, a graphic of fan voting was shown, with every one of America's 50 states giving the edge to Hawaii.
This was one of the first times I had seen a clean sweep of the 50 states. Even Indiana voted in favor of Hawaii. Usually the home state will be sappy enough to vote for their team. Heck, if a vote between rain or shine was asked, even Washington may go with the wet stuff.
Despite that, the feeling at my friend's house was cautious optimism.
The reason for this is that we're the type that kind of spazzes out and gets really, really negative with our favorite teams. Pretty much all my friends and I are.
You should have seen the text messages going back and forth between us all while the Chicago Bears were floundering against the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football. Sure the Bears pulled it off, but that doesn't mean the messages before a game-winning field goal in overtime were of a positive nature. In fact, they made me blush a couple of times.
Another example of the love/hate affair we have with our teams, is probably when my friend and I had to burn our brand-new Fiesta Bowl T-Shirts three years ago after the Ohio State loss. Sure it may have been over the top, but what were we supposed to do? Where a shirt of a bowl game we lost? I don't think so.
So even with all that, I was faking super-optimism for the Hawaii Bowl.
Asked what I thought the outcome would be, I said, quite soberly, Notre Dame by 27. Man, was I off.
Watching the Irish jump out to a quick 14-0 lead, everyone in attendance got a little optimistic. But, then Hawaii scored, cutting the lead to 14-7.
"Here we go," was the new bleak text I got.
But just as it looked like the Warriors were making a bit of a comeback, I had to puff the chest and say, "That's all right. We'll get those seven points right back here."
What happens? Clausen to Tate for a 69-yard touchdown. Bam! Sure it wasn't too prophetic, but I was all kinds of happy.
From there, everything was pie - and a lot of party mix.
Touchdowns came at ease, as did eight sacks on Hawaii quarterback Greg Alexander. (See, that's what happens when you rush four people instead of three.)
Now, I'm not saying the team from South Bend has turned a corner, but ending a season with a convincing win does feel alllllll righttttt.
Sure all of Tyrone Willingham's players are now gone, but Notre Dame will just have to forge on without David Grimes, Terrail Lambert, Justin Brown, Maurice Crum, David Bruton and some other guys. Something tells me those fellas may be able to be replaced.
With a team led by sophomores and freshmen this year, one would think it would take a big leap forward in 2009, but that would have also been thought for this year as well.
So time will only tell how the team shapes up next season.
Perhaps Clausen can leave freshman back-up quarterback Dayne Crist on the sideline, and coach Charlie Weis can keep the critics at bay too.
Whatever happens next year, Notre Dame fans ended this one with a positive feeling. A feeling that fans of a good team get to experience.
