FanPost
There’s a big kerfuffle going on around college football this offseason. Matt Rhule cancelled Nebraska’s Spring Game and has presumably locked his remaining top talent in a silo outside of Omaha. Either that, or Nebraska is going hard on that Husker Games gimmick. Other programs have followed in Nebraska’s footsteps, making this the first time in two decades that The Cornhuskers have led the nation in anything related to football. I’m not here to talk about that, though. No, I’m here to talk about what Spring Games really mean and no conversation about the Blue and Gold Game can happen without mentioning one man:
Junior Jabbie
In 2007 over 50,000 fans descended upon Notre Dame Stadium. The press box was filled with reporters from Connecticut to California. While this amount of attention on a scrimmage might seem strange to some of you now, the reason for this attention will become clear a little later. All you need to know at this moment is all of these fans and reporters got to watch Junior Jabbie have himself a day.
An unheralded running back from Princeton, New Jersey, Jabbie came to Notre Dame as a safety. He switched to running back later on and was around 4th on the depth chart heading into this “contest”. Jabbie wasn’t deterred by his position on the depth chart. He went out there and ran the ball 13 times for 87 yards. I couldn’t find any video and there are very few photos of this game on the internet, but all of the reporting indicated that Jabbie looked the part of a lead back.
Charlie Weis claimed that Jabbie had lived up to his expectations for the game saying, “Where everyone wants to talk about Travis (Thomas) and James (Aldridge) and obviously Armando (Allen) is the new blood. That’s what we’ve seen out of Junior the whole spring. He’s played himself into deserving to be in contention,” Weis said. That’s a pretty glowing endorsement if you ask me.
He’s not the only one, either. According to UHND, “ he weaved in and out of blocks showing good vision and good cut back ability. He also showed a nice little burst on his runs with knowing when to hit the gas and when to wait for the hole to develop.” Between the praise from the coaches and the glow up from reporters, there was a lot to be excited about Jabbie for 2007.
So what did this achievement produce?
Not much. Jabbie would only carry the ball 10 times for 35 yards the whole season. He did catch 14 passes for 123 yards. That’s not bad but certainly not what some reporters had expected coming out of that Spring. As a result, Junior Jabbie would be used as a means of tempering Irish fans expectations.
- Gunner Kiel looked good in limited play as an early enrollee? Junior Jabbie says he’ll be transferring before next Spring.
- Kendall Moore led the team in tackles? Junior Jabbie says he’ll be largely ineffective in limited play.
- Greg Bryant had 7.9 yards per carry in 2014. Junior Jabbie says Tarean Folston will be the starter.
It seems that someone every year has a Junior Jabbie performance. That got me thinking. Was Junior Jabbie the first player to do this?
Christian Olsen
In Spring 2003, Notre Dame was coming off a very good year. They were a shit the bed loss to Boston College and ass whooping by USC in 2002 away from playing in the National Championship. They had a number of players back and the hype felt real. Coming into the Spring Game, Caryle Holiday was the presumed starter for the Irish. However, a battle would take place for the backup role. Pat Dillingham and Chris Olsen would get the majority of snaps at QB to determine the Will Riker role for ND.
Olsen thrilled the crowd, going 11-25 for 146 yards compared to Dillingham’s paltry 5-12 and 2 interceptions. It should also be noted that Olsen led the Irish to 23 of the 31 points scored on the day. If that sounds weird, well you need to know that Spring games are known for this kind of thing. Dillingham and Olsen swapped teams at half so they could play with the full compliment of players. Olsen clearly outclassed Dillingham and some wondered if the man whose name literally means Follower of Christ would challenge for the starting role in the upcoming season.
So how did that turn out? He ended up 4th on the depth chart behind incoming freshman Brady Quinn and would transfer shortly after that designation. He’d spend the rest of his career with the Virginia Cavaliers, starting a handful of games but never fulfilling the promise of that Spring day in 2003. It is his singular greatest achievement in college football, to dominate the Blue and Gold Game and delight the fans who witnessed it.
So why do we not associate false spring hopes with Olsen? A player having a great game at the highest profile position should have gotten some traction, but most ND fans probably don’t know remember Olsen. National sports writers didn’t clamor to their pen pads, keyboards or typewriters nearly as much for Olsen as they did for Jabbie? What’s the deal? Maybe it was because Olsen wasn’t a high profile recruit? Neither was Jabbie. Maybe it was at a time when online reporting was still in its infancy? 2007 wasn’t much better. Maybe people were still cautious on the Irish after the Davie years? And they weren’t after the Willingham years and the exodus of players to the NFL following 2006?! What’s the deal? It can’t be that we just like to say the guy’s name, right? What got fans and reporters so jazzed up about Junior?
Jimmy Clausen
James Richard Clausen announced his commitment to Notre Dame at the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He did so rolling up in a stretch Hummer, sporting the frosted tips of a Nick Carter look-a-like, and flashing enough bling to get entry level position in the No Limit Soldiers. The hype was huge and people wanted to witness every moment of this kid’s career.
That included the 2007 Spring Game. The reason ND broke the attendance record for the B&G was people wanted to see Clausen. The reason sports reporters from all over the country filled the press box was to write about Jimmy Clausen. Jimmy was the whole reason for the spectacle. You know what Jimmy did? He played like dog shit.
Clausen – and really none of the ND QBs – did good that day. This should have probably been a harbinger of things to come that season but that’s an article for another day. The reporters witnessed Jimmy missing passes and looking overwhelmed in the pocket in his limited play. Those reporters and those fans needed something to glom onto. The reporters couldn’t write a 2000 word article about misfired passes and poor pocket presence. Fans couldn’t regale their friends and coworkers with tales of deer in the headlights and slow footwork. These people needed a story. They needed a hero. And one man stepped up.
Junior Jabbie gave the fans and reporters something to talk and write about. He showed up and showed out. He competed. He fought. He entertained. His hard work didn’t turn him into the next Reggie Brooks or Darius Walker. Junior was never that guy. He went out there and created a memory for us all that day. Like Olsen before him and so many others before and after, Jabbie entertained us in the middle of the desert of offseason football. That’s what Notre Dame does every Blue and Gold Game. That’s what Spring Games really mean. It’s their purpose.
So while Nebraska and other programs hide away this April, enjoy the Blue and Gold game for what it is: an entertaining romp that doesn’t mean anything but kind of makes you feel good. It’s not meaningful but it is fun. Because it’s football. And I’ll take that over whatever the Huskers Games is any day.