Looking through the annals of Notre Dame football, back to the World War II years, fans will notice that the Irish played some interesting competitors in those days. Teams from places such as Great Lakes Naval Base in the northern suburbs of Chicago, or the Iowa Pre-Flight Academy provided some fierce competition for the Irish. In fact, the "Blue Jackets" of Great Lakes were the only squad to defeat the national champion Irish of 1943, while the Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks were on the losing end of Notre Dame's second #1 vs. #2 game of that 1943 campaign. The strength of these military training facilities in the world of college football belied a fundamental change in the reality of the sport during World War II. Traditional football powers throughout the country saw prime talent leave their campuses for training bases in order to prepare for the massive military mobilization that the nation underwent in those years.
Despite this reality of the World War II era, Notre Dame continued to flourish, both on the gridiron, and as a university as a whole. In fact, during the four seasons of World War II (1942-45), the Irish went a combined 31-7-3 (.7927), despite only playing nine home games in those four seasons, due in large part to travel restrictions in place during those years. Five of the seven losses, and two of the three ties in that period came at the hands of Army, Navy, or Great Lakes. Meanwhile, the university as a whole continued to function as well as could be expected with the tremendous diversion of so many college-aged men into the armed forces. In great measure, this could be attributed to the U.S. Department of the Navy selecting Notre Dame as one of its five stations for the training of officers during the war. This move by the Navy essentially spared the university from financial ruin during the lean war years. As the story goes, as a sign of gratitude and goodwill, since World War II Notre Dame has left open on its football schedule a spot for the Naval Academy, a gesture that Navy continues to accept each year.
Of course, the Notre Dame-Navy series dates further back than World War II. Every year since 1927, when the Irish and the Midshipmen first met in Baltimore at Municipal Stadium, these two schools have squared off on the gridiron, making Notre Dame-Navy the longest continuous intersectional series in the country. The Irish have met no opponent more frequently than the Middies; this Saturday marks the 80th meeting between the schools. Overall, the Irish hold a 69-9-1 record over Navy. The 69 wins over Navy are the most for the Irish over any one opponent. Since junior QB Roger Staubach led the Middies to a 35-14 win over the Irish in South Bend in 1963, Notre Dame has won every game between the schools. The 42 consecutive wins by the Irish over the Midshipmen marks the longest such streak by one opponent over another in the history of major college football.
The early years of this series were marked by titanic battles between powerful teams. Navy was the opponent for the Dedication Game at the original Notre Dame Stadium in 1930. Between 1944 and 1950, Navy was one of only two teams to defeat the Irish (Army was the other). In more recent times, the disparity of talent between the schools has become more accentuated, but Navy frequently finds a way to give Notre Dame a tough game. During the teams' last meeting in Baltimore in 2002, the Irish needed to come back in the fourth quarter to pull out a 30-23 meeting. Irish QB Carlyle Holiday completed two fourth quarter TD passes to WR Omar Jenkins, giving #9 Notre Dame the come-from-behind victory. Two seasons ago, in the last neutral site game in the series, Notre Dame dispatched Navy with little difficulty, winning 27-9 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-The Irish last started 7-1 in 1998.
-Charlie Weis holds a 15-4 record through his first 19 games as Irish coach, just one game off the 16-3 standard of excellence for modern coaches set by Ara Parseghian in 1964-65.
-Notre Dame faces all three service academies this season. Overall, the Irish hold a 126-22-5 record against Air Force, Army, and Navy.
-Notre Dame holds a 43-6-1 record over Navy in games played at neutral sites.
-Saturday marks the 21st meeting between the schools in Baltimore. The Irish are 16-4 in the previous 20 series games played in Baltimore. Navy's last win over N.D. in Baltimore came in 1956 (33-7).
-The Irish have won 22 consecutive games against Navy played at neutral sites.
-Interestingly, the Middies have never hosted the Irish at their home stadium in Annapolis.
-The Irish are 33-1 against service academies since the start of the Holtz Era in 1986. The sole defeat was the overtime loss to Air Force at home in 1996.
-The Irish have scored 2,140 points against Navy, making them Notre Dame's most scored-against opponent.
-These teams will continue to meet annually, as they have each year since 1927.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is how things stand after last weekend:
#2 Michigan defeated unranked Iowa at home, 20-6, moving their record to 857-280-36 for an all-time winning percentage of .7460. This week, #2 Michigan hosts unranked Northwestern.
#10 Notre Dame came back to defeat unranked UCLA at home, 20-17, moving their record to 817-267-42 for an all-time winning percentage of .7442. This week, #11 Notre Dame meets unranked Navy in Baltimore.
Michigan's lead stands at a shade over 17/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish look to make it 43 in a row this weekend. The game kicks off at noon EDT on CBS.
Go Irish! Beat Navy!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Notre Dame vs. UCLA
In recent times Notre Dame football fans were experiencing what many of them thought was the lowest of low times for the Irish. Former head coaches Bob Davie and Ty Willingham combined to lead the Irish to three losing seasons in five years, the only time in the long history of the program in which the Irish did that. Certainly, Ty Willingham's tenure, which saw the Irish go 5-10 in one fifteen-game stretch, and outscored 566-511 in his last two seasons as Irish coach, is one of the lowest points the program has ever seen.
Fans of a bit older vintage, however, remember a time that might have been even worse. Between 1954 and 1963, the Irish experienced the program's worst ten-year stretch, going a paltry 51-48 (.5152). (Compare this with 1995-2004, when the Irish went 73-47 for a .6083 winning rate.) Starting with 25-year-old rookie head coach Terry Brennan in 1954, N.D. football would nearly be run into the ground. Brennan would win a mere 64 percent of his games in five years, leading to his firing after the 1958 season. With the hiring of former Washington Redskins coach Joe Kuharich shortly thereafter, a trap door opened, sending the Irish spiraling even further downward. During his four-year tenure, the Irish would set a new standard for futility in South Bend, going 17-23 (.425). In the 1960 season, the Irish actually recorded an astounding eight-game losing streak (think about that for a minute) on the way to a final 2-8 record. Fans, who in 1956 thought it couldn't get any worse than the program's first-ever five-game losing streak that season, were proven wrong a mere four years later. Perhaps Kuharich saw the writing on the wall at the end of another mediocre season in 1962, his third 5-5 season in four years, and decided to leave Notre Dame for a position with the NFL office in New York.
With the hasty departure of Kuharich in February 1963, Notre Dame was left to scramble to fill its highest profile position. With the once proud football program in total disarray, Fathers Hesburgh and Joyce, the university's president and executive vice president who had so terribly botched the previous two football coaching hires, knew that they had to hire the right man this time. Instead of rushing through the process, Hesburgh and Joyce tabbed assistant coach Hugh Devore, a Notre Dame graduate and former recruit of Knute Rockne, to lead the team as an interim coach for the 1963 season. The decision was a short-term disaster, as the Irish went on to a Kuharichesque 2-7 campaign in 1963, losing their final five games of the season. Only the cancelation of their game against Iowa because of the assassination of President John Kennedy prevented the Irish from being an even worse 2-8. Of course, the pain and humiliation of that season would pay off in a way, as Hesburgh and Joyce took the time to find the right man for the job. Following the 1963 season, Ara Parseghian was named the new head coach, leading to one of the best periods in the history of the program.
During that 1963 season, referred to by Hall-of-Fame DL Pete Duranko as "the winter of our discontent," the Irish commenced a rare two-game home series against UCLA. The Bruins were one of only two teams that the Irish beat in 1963, along with arch-rival Southern Cal. (Just to show that fate can have a funny sense of humor, the Trojans would be the only team to defeat the Irish in the following 9-1 near-miss season of 1964.) Like several other members of the Pac-10 Conference, Notre Dame and UCLA have played sparingly on the gridiron. Those two games in 1963 and 1964 are the only ones staged between these two schools. The Irish won both games (27-12 in 1963, and 24-0 in 1964), giving them the all-time series lead, 2-0. Interestingly, both games were played in South Bend.
This Saturday, the series will resume for the first time since the Beatles were taking the world by storm and Lyndon Johnson was in the White House. Forty-two years ago, John Huarte and Jack Snow led an offensive showcase against the Bruins. This weekend, Brady Quinn, Rhema McKnight, and Jeff Samardzija look to do something similar.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-It has been 42 years since the Irish and Bruins last met on the gridiron. The Irish have taken breaks longer than 42 years between games in only seven other series: Rutgers (75 years, 1921-96); Baylor (73 years, 1925-98); Kansas (61 years, 1938-99); Ohio State (59 years, 1936-1995); Rice (58 years, 1915-73); Penn State (48 years, 1928-76); and Washington (46 years, 1949-95).
-The Irish are 10-3 at home against Pac-10 teams since 1997. All three losses came at the hands of Southern Cal (1997, 2003, 2005).
-Notre Dame is 75-39-6 (.650) versus opponents from the Pac-10 Conference all-time. At home, their record is 43-14-1 (.750) versus the Pac-10.
-Aside from schedule "regulars" Southern Cal and Stanford, the last Pac-10 school the Irish faced was Washington last season. The Irish won that game, 36-17.
-The Irish are 7-3 (.700) at home since Charlie Weis became head coach.
-Brady Quinn needs only 10 passing yards to become the 32nd player in college football history with 10,000 or more passing yards.
-These schools are scheduled to meet again next season in Notre Dame's first game in the Rose Bowl since 1925.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last weekend:
#4 Michigan defeated unranked Penn State on the road, 17-10, moving their record to 856-280-36 for an all-time winning percentage of .7457. This week, #2 Michigan hosts unranked Iowa.
#9 Notre Dame was idle. Their record stands at 816-267-42 for an all-time winning percentage of .7440. This week, #10 Notre Dame hosts unranked UCLA.
Michigan's lead expands to 17/10,000ths of a point.
The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. E.D.T. on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Bruins!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Fans of a bit older vintage, however, remember a time that might have been even worse. Between 1954 and 1963, the Irish experienced the program's worst ten-year stretch, going a paltry 51-48 (.5152). (Compare this with 1995-2004, when the Irish went 73-47 for a .6083 winning rate.) Starting with 25-year-old rookie head coach Terry Brennan in 1954, N.D. football would nearly be run into the ground. Brennan would win a mere 64 percent of his games in five years, leading to his firing after the 1958 season. With the hiring of former Washington Redskins coach Joe Kuharich shortly thereafter, a trap door opened, sending the Irish spiraling even further downward. During his four-year tenure, the Irish would set a new standard for futility in South Bend, going 17-23 (.425). In the 1960 season, the Irish actually recorded an astounding eight-game losing streak (think about that for a minute) on the way to a final 2-8 record. Fans, who in 1956 thought it couldn't get any worse than the program's first-ever five-game losing streak that season, were proven wrong a mere four years later. Perhaps Kuharich saw the writing on the wall at the end of another mediocre season in 1962, his third 5-5 season in four years, and decided to leave Notre Dame for a position with the NFL office in New York.
With the hasty departure of Kuharich in February 1963, Notre Dame was left to scramble to fill its highest profile position. With the once proud football program in total disarray, Fathers Hesburgh and Joyce, the university's president and executive vice president who had so terribly botched the previous two football coaching hires, knew that they had to hire the right man this time. Instead of rushing through the process, Hesburgh and Joyce tabbed assistant coach Hugh Devore, a Notre Dame graduate and former recruit of Knute Rockne, to lead the team as an interim coach for the 1963 season. The decision was a short-term disaster, as the Irish went on to a Kuharichesque 2-7 campaign in 1963, losing their final five games of the season. Only the cancelation of their game against Iowa because of the assassination of President John Kennedy prevented the Irish from being an even worse 2-8. Of course, the pain and humiliation of that season would pay off in a way, as Hesburgh and Joyce took the time to find the right man for the job. Following the 1963 season, Ara Parseghian was named the new head coach, leading to one of the best periods in the history of the program.
During that 1963 season, referred to by Hall-of-Fame DL Pete Duranko as "the winter of our discontent," the Irish commenced a rare two-game home series against UCLA. The Bruins were one of only two teams that the Irish beat in 1963, along with arch-rival Southern Cal. (Just to show that fate can have a funny sense of humor, the Trojans would be the only team to defeat the Irish in the following 9-1 near-miss season of 1964.) Like several other members of the Pac-10 Conference, Notre Dame and UCLA have played sparingly on the gridiron. Those two games in 1963 and 1964 are the only ones staged between these two schools. The Irish won both games (27-12 in 1963, and 24-0 in 1964), giving them the all-time series lead, 2-0. Interestingly, both games were played in South Bend.
This Saturday, the series will resume for the first time since the Beatles were taking the world by storm and Lyndon Johnson was in the White House. Forty-two years ago, John Huarte and Jack Snow led an offensive showcase against the Bruins. This weekend, Brady Quinn, Rhema McKnight, and Jeff Samardzija look to do something similar.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-It has been 42 years since the Irish and Bruins last met on the gridiron. The Irish have taken breaks longer than 42 years between games in only seven other series: Rutgers (75 years, 1921-96); Baylor (73 years, 1925-98); Kansas (61 years, 1938-99); Ohio State (59 years, 1936-1995); Rice (58 years, 1915-73); Penn State (48 years, 1928-76); and Washington (46 years, 1949-95).
-The Irish are 10-3 at home against Pac-10 teams since 1997. All three losses came at the hands of Southern Cal (1997, 2003, 2005).
-Notre Dame is 75-39-6 (.650) versus opponents from the Pac-10 Conference all-time. At home, their record is 43-14-1 (.750) versus the Pac-10.
-Aside from schedule "regulars" Southern Cal and Stanford, the last Pac-10 school the Irish faced was Washington last season. The Irish won that game, 36-17.
-The Irish are 7-3 (.700) at home since Charlie Weis became head coach.
-Brady Quinn needs only 10 passing yards to become the 32nd player in college football history with 10,000 or more passing yards.
-These schools are scheduled to meet again next season in Notre Dame's first game in the Rose Bowl since 1925.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last weekend:
#4 Michigan defeated unranked Penn State on the road, 17-10, moving their record to 856-280-36 for an all-time winning percentage of .7457. This week, #2 Michigan hosts unranked Iowa.
#9 Notre Dame was idle. Their record stands at 816-267-42 for an all-time winning percentage of .7440. This week, #10 Notre Dame hosts unranked UCLA.
Michigan's lead expands to 17/10,000ths of a point.
The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. E.D.T. on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Bruins!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Bye and By
This week's installment will be relatively brief because, like the Irish, I am taking a reprieve from the wear of the college football season.
The Irish are at the mid-point of the 2006 regular season and are taking a much-deserved week off from the gridiron grind. At 5-1, Notre Dame's record is respectable, particularly considering the difficulty of the first five weeks of their schedule. Keeping in mind 0-6 Stanford's record, N.D.'s six opponents have gone a combined 21-9 (.700) in games played against opponents other than the Irish, particularly impressive considering that all six opponents come from BCS conferences. Georgia Tech is ranked #13 and sits atop its division in the ACC. Penn State's only other loss was on the road at #1 Ohio State. #4 Michigan remains undefeated heading into this weekend's game at Penn State. Michigan State has started its mid-season swoon a few weeks early, but their record still stands at 3-3, while Purdue is 4-2 after laying an egg against Minnesota last weekend. Stanford is woeful at 0-6, really this season's only "gimme" so far.
So what of N.D.'s 5-1 start? Two-thousand-six marks the sixtieth time in the 118-season history of Notre Dame football that the Irish have won at least five of their first six games. In the previous 59 seasons of 5-1 or better starts (5-1-0, 5-0-1, or 6-0-0), Notre Dame has a combined record of 503-69-19 (.8672). Looking beyond mere wins or losses, N.D.'s overall point differential through its first six games is the third lowest of any team with a start of 5-1 or better (+40). Only 1998 (+35) and 1939 (+29) saw the Irish start with such a good record, but yet score so few points in relation to its opposition through six games. What does this mean? Many statisticians have observed that a team's overall point differential is a better prognosticator than its record at any given point. If that's the case, then we might expect the Irish to finish the regular season with a record of 9-3, given that other N.D. teams with similar point differentials ended up with winning percentages at or near 75%. Of course, it is also difficult to account for the quality of Notre Dame's opposition this season, as well as Coach Weis's propensity to "call off the dogs" when a game is apparently out of reach, as was the case with the Purdue and Stanford games the past two weeks.
As always, it is interesting to see how an Irish team takes a unique personality from year to year. This year's unit is maddening at times, seemingly content with their pre-season accolades, looking listless and disinterested at times. Yet, they showed a great deal of heart in winning at Georgia Tech, a win that looks more impressive with each passing week, and at Michigan State, where they came from 16 points back to win in the closing minutes of the game. The season's second half gears up next week with UCLA's first visit to South Bend in 42 years, as the Irish face a slate of five very winnable games before the season finale at Southern Cal.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is how things stand after last weekend:
#6 Michigan won at unranked Michigan State, 31-13, extending its record to 855-280-36 for an all-time winning percentage of .7455. This week, #4 Michigan travels to unranked Penn State.
#12 Notre Dame won at home against unranked Stanford, 31-10, extending its record to 816-267-42 for an all-time winning percentage of .7440. This week, #9 Notre Dame is idle.
Michigan's lead over Notre Dame stands at 15/10,000ths of a point.
Enjoy the open weekend!
Go Irish!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
The Irish are at the mid-point of the 2006 regular season and are taking a much-deserved week off from the gridiron grind. At 5-1, Notre Dame's record is respectable, particularly considering the difficulty of the first five weeks of their schedule. Keeping in mind 0-6 Stanford's record, N.D.'s six opponents have gone a combined 21-9 (.700) in games played against opponents other than the Irish, particularly impressive considering that all six opponents come from BCS conferences. Georgia Tech is ranked #13 and sits atop its division in the ACC. Penn State's only other loss was on the road at #1 Ohio State. #4 Michigan remains undefeated heading into this weekend's game at Penn State. Michigan State has started its mid-season swoon a few weeks early, but their record still stands at 3-3, while Purdue is 4-2 after laying an egg against Minnesota last weekend. Stanford is woeful at 0-6, really this season's only "gimme" so far.
So what of N.D.'s 5-1 start? Two-thousand-six marks the sixtieth time in the 118-season history of Notre Dame football that the Irish have won at least five of their first six games. In the previous 59 seasons of 5-1 or better starts (5-1-0, 5-0-1, or 6-0-0), Notre Dame has a combined record of 503-69-19 (.8672). Looking beyond mere wins or losses, N.D.'s overall point differential through its first six games is the third lowest of any team with a start of 5-1 or better (+40). Only 1998 (+35) and 1939 (+29) saw the Irish start with such a good record, but yet score so few points in relation to its opposition through six games. What does this mean? Many statisticians have observed that a team's overall point differential is a better prognosticator than its record at any given point. If that's the case, then we might expect the Irish to finish the regular season with a record of 9-3, given that other N.D. teams with similar point differentials ended up with winning percentages at or near 75%. Of course, it is also difficult to account for the quality of Notre Dame's opposition this season, as well as Coach Weis's propensity to "call off the dogs" when a game is apparently out of reach, as was the case with the Purdue and Stanford games the past two weeks.
As always, it is interesting to see how an Irish team takes a unique personality from year to year. This year's unit is maddening at times, seemingly content with their pre-season accolades, looking listless and disinterested at times. Yet, they showed a great deal of heart in winning at Georgia Tech, a win that looks more impressive with each passing week, and at Michigan State, where they came from 16 points back to win in the closing minutes of the game. The season's second half gears up next week with UCLA's first visit to South Bend in 42 years, as the Irish face a slate of five very winnable games before the season finale at Southern Cal.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is how things stand after last weekend:
#6 Michigan won at unranked Michigan State, 31-13, extending its record to 855-280-36 for an all-time winning percentage of .7455. This week, #4 Michigan travels to unranked Penn State.
#12 Notre Dame won at home against unranked Stanford, 31-10, extending its record to 816-267-42 for an all-time winning percentage of .7440. This week, #9 Notre Dame is idle.
Michigan's lead over Notre Dame stands at 15/10,000ths of a point.
Enjoy the open weekend!
Go Irish!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Notre Dame vs. Stanford
Each fall on the Notre Dame campus, many freshmen are indoctrinated into the culture of the university through the airing of the classic 1940 film, Knute Rockne All American. Starring Pat O'Brien in the title role, the film features a number of memorable scenes, including future president Ronald Reagan delivering George Gipp's famous deathbed plea to "win one for the Gipper." One scene that is perhaps overlooked, but interesting nevertheless, features a bevy of Hall of Fame coaches discussing with Rockne an upcoming Congressional inquiry about the future of college football. Among the luminaries in that scene are Southern Cal coach Howard Jones, Chicago coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, and Stanford coach Glenn "Pop" Warner. Each of the coaches had relationships with Rockne to varying degrees. Jones, for example, owed his job at USC to a recommendation that Rockne proffered when university was looking to find a new head football coach, while Stagg could claim Rockne as part of his coaching tree through Stagg's pupil and Rockne's mentor, Jesse Harper, who played for Stagg at Chicago and coached at N.D. from 1913 through 1917.
Pop Warner's relationship with Rock was highlighted by their teams' lone meeting on the gridiron in the 1925 Rose Bowl. Notre Dame's first football game on the west coast served as a sign of the program's growing national popularity. In addition to the two coaching legends on either sideline, Notre Dame and Stanford each had rosters boasting tremendous talent. The Indians' biggest star was future Hall of Fame QB Ernie Nevers. Notre Dame, meanwhile, boasted one of the most famous backfields in college football history with QB Harry Stuhldreher, HBs Don Miller and Jim Crowley, and FB Elmer Layden, collectively known at "The Four Horsemen." Less heralded, but no less important was the offensive line, known to history as "The Seven Mules," led by Hall of Famers Adam Walsh and Edgar "Rip" Miller. The two teams were widely known for their offensive firepower, so everyone expected a shootout. It is ironic to note, then, that two defensive plays decided the game. In one of the greatest individual performances in school history Layden scored N.D.'s lone offensive touchdown, but is best remembered for returning interceptions of 70 and 80 yards for touchdowns. Stanford was left reeling from their offensive miscues and N.D.'s ability to capitalize on the Indians' mistakes. Layden's three-touchdown heroics gave Notre Dame a commanding 27-10 victory in their only bowl appearance until 1970, and solidified Notre Dame's claim on its first of eleven consensus national championships.
Despite the ancient beginnings of this series, Notre Dame and Stanford have not been frequent opponents until recent times. Before 1988, when the current series began, the schools had played only four games (1924, 1942, 1963, and 1964) in which the Irish compiled a 3-1-0 record. Since 1988 the schools have played one another every season, with the exception of 1995 & 1996, when Stanford left N.D.'s schedule to make room for a home-and-home series against Washington. Notre Dame leads the series, 14-6-0.
Much like Notre Dame's series with Purdue, the games that stand out in the Stanford series tend to be Cardinal victories, primarily because Notre Dame traditionally has owned the series. In 1990, "Touchdown" Tommy Vardell scored four touchdowns (all from one yard out) to lead the Cardinal to a 36-31 victory over the #1-ranked Irish at home, N.D.'s first home loss since 1986. That game would start a disturbing trend of higher-ranked Lou Holtz-coached Irish squads losing to inferior competition, particularly at home. In 1992, the #7 Irish were still in the thick of national title contention when they took a 16-0 lead over Stanford. The Cardinal, led by head coach Bill Walsh, stormed back to score 33 unanswered points, stealing victory at Notre Dame.
In the last series game played at Notre Dame, Ty Willingham continued his mastery over his former school, winning 23-15 in his final season on the Irish sidelines. Last year, the Irish executed a flawless two-minute drill to score the go-ahead points in the final minute, winning in the last game at old Stanford Stadium, 38-31.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-The Irish are 6-3 at home during the Weis Era.
-Saturday's game against Stanford will be the first of three games pitting the Irish against Pacific-10 teams this season. After a bye week, the Irish will host UCLA, and later will finish the season at Southern Cal during Thanksgiving weekend.
-So far, all six of Notre Dame's opponents this season have series with the Irish that date back to the 1920s or earlier.
-The Irish have won four consecutive games against Stanford. The Cardinal's last series win came during Thanksgiving weekend in 2001. Interestingly, the four-game Irish winning streak is the longest such streak by either team in the series.
-Notre Dame is 8-2-0 in series games played at Notre Dame Stadium, dating back to 1942. The Irish have won five consecutive home games against the Cardinal. Stanford's last win at Notre Dame was the aforementioned 33-16 victory in 1992.
-The Irish have started 5-1 or better only twice since 1993. In 1998, the Irish started 5-1 on the way to a final 9-3 record. In 2002, the Irish started 6-0 en route to a final 10-3 record.
-The last Irish coach to start his first two seasons with records of 5-1 or better was Ara Parseghian (1964, 6-0-0; 1965, 5-1-0).
-The Bay Area Notre Dame Alumni Club will present the winner of this game with The Legends Trophy, a combination of Irish crystal and California redwood. The trophy was presented for the first time at the 1989 game, a 27-17 Irish victory.
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting through 2010.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last weekend:
#6 Michigan won at unranked Minnesota, 28-14, extending their record to 854-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7453. This week, #6 Michigan hosts the floundering Michigan State Spartans.
#12 Notre Dame defeated unranked Purdue at home, 35-21, extending their record to 815-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7438. This week, #12 Notre Dame hosts unranked Stanford.
For the third consecutive week, Michigan's lead stands at 15/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish will look to keep their momentum from the MSU comeback and Purdue win going on Saturday. The game kicks off at 2:30 EDT on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Cardinal!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Pop Warner's relationship with Rock was highlighted by their teams' lone meeting on the gridiron in the 1925 Rose Bowl. Notre Dame's first football game on the west coast served as a sign of the program's growing national popularity. In addition to the two coaching legends on either sideline, Notre Dame and Stanford each had rosters boasting tremendous talent. The Indians' biggest star was future Hall of Fame QB Ernie Nevers. Notre Dame, meanwhile, boasted one of the most famous backfields in college football history with QB Harry Stuhldreher, HBs Don Miller and Jim Crowley, and FB Elmer Layden, collectively known at "The Four Horsemen." Less heralded, but no less important was the offensive line, known to history as "The Seven Mules," led by Hall of Famers Adam Walsh and Edgar "Rip" Miller. The two teams were widely known for their offensive firepower, so everyone expected a shootout. It is ironic to note, then, that two defensive plays decided the game. In one of the greatest individual performances in school history Layden scored N.D.'s lone offensive touchdown, but is best remembered for returning interceptions of 70 and 80 yards for touchdowns. Stanford was left reeling from their offensive miscues and N.D.'s ability to capitalize on the Indians' mistakes. Layden's three-touchdown heroics gave Notre Dame a commanding 27-10 victory in their only bowl appearance until 1970, and solidified Notre Dame's claim on its first of eleven consensus national championships.
Despite the ancient beginnings of this series, Notre Dame and Stanford have not been frequent opponents until recent times. Before 1988, when the current series began, the schools had played only four games (1924, 1942, 1963, and 1964) in which the Irish compiled a 3-1-0 record. Since 1988 the schools have played one another every season, with the exception of 1995 & 1996, when Stanford left N.D.'s schedule to make room for a home-and-home series against Washington. Notre Dame leads the series, 14-6-0.
Much like Notre Dame's series with Purdue, the games that stand out in the Stanford series tend to be Cardinal victories, primarily because Notre Dame traditionally has owned the series. In 1990, "Touchdown" Tommy Vardell scored four touchdowns (all from one yard out) to lead the Cardinal to a 36-31 victory over the #1-ranked Irish at home, N.D.'s first home loss since 1986. That game would start a disturbing trend of higher-ranked Lou Holtz-coached Irish squads losing to inferior competition, particularly at home. In 1992, the #7 Irish were still in the thick of national title contention when they took a 16-0 lead over Stanford. The Cardinal, led by head coach Bill Walsh, stormed back to score 33 unanswered points, stealing victory at Notre Dame.
In the last series game played at Notre Dame, Ty Willingham continued his mastery over his former school, winning 23-15 in his final season on the Irish sidelines. Last year, the Irish executed a flawless two-minute drill to score the go-ahead points in the final minute, winning in the last game at old Stanford Stadium, 38-31.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-The Irish are 6-3 at home during the Weis Era.
-Saturday's game against Stanford will be the first of three games pitting the Irish against Pacific-10 teams this season. After a bye week, the Irish will host UCLA, and later will finish the season at Southern Cal during Thanksgiving weekend.
-So far, all six of Notre Dame's opponents this season have series with the Irish that date back to the 1920s or earlier.
-The Irish have won four consecutive games against Stanford. The Cardinal's last series win came during Thanksgiving weekend in 2001. Interestingly, the four-game Irish winning streak is the longest such streak by either team in the series.
-Notre Dame is 8-2-0 in series games played at Notre Dame Stadium, dating back to 1942. The Irish have won five consecutive home games against the Cardinal. Stanford's last win at Notre Dame was the aforementioned 33-16 victory in 1992.
-The Irish have started 5-1 or better only twice since 1993. In 1998, the Irish started 5-1 on the way to a final 9-3 record. In 2002, the Irish started 6-0 en route to a final 10-3 record.
-The last Irish coach to start his first two seasons with records of 5-1 or better was Ara Parseghian (1964, 6-0-0; 1965, 5-1-0).
-The Bay Area Notre Dame Alumni Club will present the winner of this game with The Legends Trophy, a combination of Irish crystal and California redwood. The trophy was presented for the first time at the 1989 game, a 27-17 Irish victory.
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting through 2010.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last weekend:
#6 Michigan won at unranked Minnesota, 28-14, extending their record to 854-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7453. This week, #6 Michigan hosts the floundering Michigan State Spartans.
#12 Notre Dame defeated unranked Purdue at home, 35-21, extending their record to 815-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7438. This week, #12 Notre Dame hosts unranked Stanford.
For the third consecutive week, Michigan's lead stands at 15/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish will look to keep their momentum from the MSU comeback and Purdue win going on Saturday. The game kicks off at 2:30 EDT on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Cardinal!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Notre Dame vs. Purdue
The year was 1896. The United States had just completed a presidential election, pitting Ohio Governor William McKinley against youthful orator William Jennings Bryan, the first of two such elections that McKinley would win. In the world of sports, the Games of the First Modern Olympiad were staged in Athens, Greece, some 1,500 years after the last Olympic Games of the ancient era. The great Cy Young already had won 192 of his Major League-record 511 wins, Ty Cobb was a nine-year-old boy, still nine years away from his Major League debut, and George Herman "Babe" Ruth was but a baby. At the University of Notre Dame, the finishing touches were being made on the latest addition to the university’s campus, a replica of the Shrine of Our Lady at Lourdes, France. It was 1896, and Notre Dame and Purdue played for the first time on the gridiron.
The Notre Dame "program" was still in its nascent days, having played only 25 games prior to their mid-November match-up with their neighbors from West Lafayette. Meanwhile, Purdue was playing in only its 52nd game. (Interestingly, Notre Dame and Purdue both played their first games in 1887.) Notre Dame's coach, Frank E. Hering, who would go on to later fame as the "Father of Mother’s Day," worked only on a part-time basis. Nevertheless, his three-year tenure at Notre Dame, during which he went 12-6-1 (.658), was the longest for a N.D. coach until 1913 when the school hired Jesse Harper to fill the role in a full-time capacity. Meanwhile, Purdue was enjoying its status as a charter member in the newly founded Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, forerunner to today's Big Ten Conference.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about that first game between these ancient foes was that it was a high-scoring affair. In an era where touchdowns were worth only four points, Notre Dame and Purdue put on what must have been for that era a clinic of offensive football. Purdue won that first game, 28-22. One-hundred and ten years later, the Irish and Boilermakers still play one another annually on the gridiron.
Like Michigan State, Southern Cal, and Navy, Purdue is a regular on Notre Dame football schedules. This Saturday will mark the 78th meeting between the schools, as well as the 61st consecutive season in which they will meet on the gridiron, dating back to 1946. Notre Dame holds a 50-25-2 record against Purdue. Aside from Navy, Notre Dame has played and beaten no opponent as frequently as Purdue. Conversely, no schools other than Southern Cal and Michigan State have beaten the Irish more frequently than Purdue.
Despite pressure from the Big Ten in the 1940s to drop the Irish from their football schedule, officials at Purdue always set aside a place for the Irish, surely a pragmatic move because of Notre Dame's immense popularity and national radio network. Historically, Purdue has scheduled Notre Dame at many times when other Big Ten school flatly refused to do so.
Perhaps because Notre Dame traditionally has owned this series, the games that stand out always seem to be Purdue victories. One such game was the 1950 contest at Notre Dame, in which the #1 Irish lost to Purdue, 28-14, snapping N.D.'s school-record 39-game unbeaten streak. Similarly, in 1968, the schools met again at Notre Dame with the Boilermakers ranked #1 and the Irish ranked #2. Purdue handed the Irish their only home loss ever in a #1 vs. #2 game.
The last time these teams met at Notre Dame, Purdue won for the first time in 30 years at N.D., 41-16, in one of N.D.'s worst home defeats ever. Last year, the Irish exacted revenge at Purdue, winning 49-28 in a game that was not as close as the score indicated.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-The Irish have won four of their first five games only three times since 1996, starting 4-1 in 1996, 5-0 in 2002, and 4-1 last season.
-At least one team has been ranked in this series in 19 of the last 20 seasons (2001).
-Notre Dame holds a 25-11-0 record against Purdue at home (22-10-0 at Notre Dame Stadium).
-The winner of the Notre Dame-Purdue series receives The Shillelagh Trophy, which was donated to the schools in 1957 by the late Joe McLaughlin, a merchant seaman and fan of Notre Dame, who brought the club from Ireland.
-These schools will continue to meet yearly, as they have every year since 1946.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is how things stand after last week:
#6 Michigan defeated unranked Wisconsin at home, 27-7, moving their record to 853-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7451. This week, #6 Michigan travels to unranked Minnesota.
#12 Notre Dame defeated unranked Michigan State on the road, 40-37, moving their record to 814-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7435. This week, #12 Notre Dame hosts unranked Purdue.
Michigan's lead stands at 15/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish look to build on their amazing comeback in last week's game at Michigan State. The game is at 2:30 EDT on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Boilers!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
The Notre Dame "program" was still in its nascent days, having played only 25 games prior to their mid-November match-up with their neighbors from West Lafayette. Meanwhile, Purdue was playing in only its 52nd game. (Interestingly, Notre Dame and Purdue both played their first games in 1887.) Notre Dame's coach, Frank E. Hering, who would go on to later fame as the "Father of Mother’s Day," worked only on a part-time basis. Nevertheless, his three-year tenure at Notre Dame, during which he went 12-6-1 (.658), was the longest for a N.D. coach until 1913 when the school hired Jesse Harper to fill the role in a full-time capacity. Meanwhile, Purdue was enjoying its status as a charter member in the newly founded Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, forerunner to today's Big Ten Conference.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about that first game between these ancient foes was that it was a high-scoring affair. In an era where touchdowns were worth only four points, Notre Dame and Purdue put on what must have been for that era a clinic of offensive football. Purdue won that first game, 28-22. One-hundred and ten years later, the Irish and Boilermakers still play one another annually on the gridiron.
Like Michigan State, Southern Cal, and Navy, Purdue is a regular on Notre Dame football schedules. This Saturday will mark the 78th meeting between the schools, as well as the 61st consecutive season in which they will meet on the gridiron, dating back to 1946. Notre Dame holds a 50-25-2 record against Purdue. Aside from Navy, Notre Dame has played and beaten no opponent as frequently as Purdue. Conversely, no schools other than Southern Cal and Michigan State have beaten the Irish more frequently than Purdue.
Despite pressure from the Big Ten in the 1940s to drop the Irish from their football schedule, officials at Purdue always set aside a place for the Irish, surely a pragmatic move because of Notre Dame's immense popularity and national radio network. Historically, Purdue has scheduled Notre Dame at many times when other Big Ten school flatly refused to do so.
Perhaps because Notre Dame traditionally has owned this series, the games that stand out always seem to be Purdue victories. One such game was the 1950 contest at Notre Dame, in which the #1 Irish lost to Purdue, 28-14, snapping N.D.'s school-record 39-game unbeaten streak. Similarly, in 1968, the schools met again at Notre Dame with the Boilermakers ranked #1 and the Irish ranked #2. Purdue handed the Irish their only home loss ever in a #1 vs. #2 game.
The last time these teams met at Notre Dame, Purdue won for the first time in 30 years at N.D., 41-16, in one of N.D.'s worst home defeats ever. Last year, the Irish exacted revenge at Purdue, winning 49-28 in a game that was not as close as the score indicated.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-The Irish have won four of their first five games only three times since 1996, starting 4-1 in 1996, 5-0 in 2002, and 4-1 last season.
-At least one team has been ranked in this series in 19 of the last 20 seasons (2001).
-Notre Dame holds a 25-11-0 record against Purdue at home (22-10-0 at Notre Dame Stadium).
-The winner of the Notre Dame-Purdue series receives The Shillelagh Trophy, which was donated to the schools in 1957 by the late Joe McLaughlin, a merchant seaman and fan of Notre Dame, who brought the club from Ireland.
-These schools will continue to meet yearly, as they have every year since 1946.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is how things stand after last week:
#6 Michigan defeated unranked Wisconsin at home, 27-7, moving their record to 853-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7451. This week, #6 Michigan travels to unranked Minnesota.
#12 Notre Dame defeated unranked Michigan State on the road, 40-37, moving their record to 814-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7435. This week, #12 Notre Dame hosts unranked Purdue.
Michigan's lead stands at 15/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish look to build on their amazing comeback in last week's game at Michigan State. The game is at 2:30 EDT on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Boilers!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Notre Dame vs. Michigan State
Michigan State has been a member of the Big Ten Conference for many years, but that has not always been the case. Like Notre Dame, Michigan State lobbied for years to gain admission into the Big Ten. Also like Notre Dame, MSU's efforts were thwarted by the academic high-brows of the conference. Consequently, through the years Notre Dame and Michigan State forged a rivalry of sorts in football, playing on and off through the early decades of the twentieth century.
In 1946, the University of Chicago withdrew as a member of the Big Ten, having relinquished its athletic program to pursue a purely academic model. MSU believed that it was the perfect fit for the "Big Nine," but their attempts to join were thwarted again. By this time, things were so bleak for MSU's football program that longtime N.D. athletic director Edward "Moose" Krause offered to schedule a long series of games to help the fledgling program out. As it turned out, MSU's football program benefited greatly from this gesture, as well as from the fact that they were granted membership in the Big Ten in 1950.
Despite their newfound membership status, MSU never forgot the kind act by Krause. Despite attempts to get MSU to join other Big Ten schools in refusing to schedule Notre Dame, the Spartans continued to renew the series with the Irish, a series which continues to be played regularly to this day. Little could anyone have known that these dealings in the late 1940s and early 1950s would set the stage for one of the most famous college football games ever played.
Throughout the 1950s the programs of Notre Dame and Michigan State were headed in different directions. Frank Leahy left as N.D.'s head coach after one final undefeated campaign in 1953, his sixth in eleven seasons, and his departure ushered in an era of mediocre football under the Golden Dome. In the first ten post-Leahy years, the Irish went an unremarkable 51-48-0 (.515), one of the worst ten-year stretches in the long history of Irish football.
Meanwhile, State had hired Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty in 1954 to lead its football program. Daugherty took over a program in 1954 that was two years removed from a national championship. He would go on to coach nineteen years at MSU, still a record for longevity at the school. Under Daugherty, the Spartans would win 62% of their games, two Big Ten championships, as well as a share of the national championship in 1965. To underline the varying fortunes of these programs, in 1956, the #2 Spartans delivered a 47-14 shellacking to the unranked Irish at Notre Dame, one of the worst losses in Irish football history.
Things took a turn for the better for the Irish with the hiring of Northwestern coach Ara Parseghian following N.D.'s disastrous 2-7-0 campaign in 1963. Parseghian coached Notre Dame back to national prominence in his very first season in 1964, leading the Irish to a 9-0-0 start, before a season-ending loss at Southern Cal ruined a national championship. Making the most of the talent he had inherited, Parseghian delivered a 7-2-1 encore in his sophomore season.
By 1966 Parseghian and Daugherty had put together two of the most talented teams in the history of college football. Both rosters were filled with All-Americans and future NFL stars. Notre Dame's offense, led by QB Terry Hanratty and HB Nick Eddy, was heralded far and wide that year, and the defense was one of the great units in history. In a ten-game season in 1966, the Irish defense, led by Pete Duranko, Jim Lynch, and Alan Page, gave up a mere 24 points. State's defense was highly touted as well, featuring future NFL player and star of Police Academy movies, Bubba Smith, as well as George Webster.
As the season progressed, everyone could see the titanic match-up between these two schools looming. Entering the November 19 game, both schools had perfect records: #2 MSU 9-0-0; #1 N.D. 8-0-0. The hype surrounding the game was palpable. Five-dollar tickets to the game were scalped for $100 or more each, and that was if one could find a willing seller. NCAA rules restricting the national broadcast of the game were lifted because demand to see the game from coast to coast was so great. The 76,000 spectators in the stadium were treated to one of the hardest-hitting, smash-mouth games of football in history.
The Spartans stormed out to an early 10-0 lead, an amazing accomplishment against a defense that had only allowed 14 points all season. Things took a turn for the worse for the Irish when Hanratty, mistakenly hearing a HB draw play call from Parseghian as a QB draw, suffered a separated shoulder when he was creamed by the Spartan defense as he ran the ball. If the Irish were to come back, backup QB Coley O'Brien would have to do it. Just before the half, O'Brien completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to RB Bob Gladieux, who had replaced Eddy. (Eddy was unable to play because he had reinjured his shoulder after falling down icy steps coming off the team's train.). Early in the fourth quarter, Irish kicker Joe Azzaro tied the game with a field goal, 10-10.
From that point forward, the game would devolve into two defenses trying to outplay each other. In the closing minutes of the game, Daugherty opted to punt the ball to the Irish instead of going for the win. With 90 seconds remaining, Parseghian, his offense in tatters with his two biggest stars out of the game and his backup QB in danger of going into a diabetic coma, decided to run out the remaining time on the clock and play for the tie. Parseghian is still associated with the controversial decision to this day, even though he had played it safe, just as Daugherty had done. His rationale was that the Irish had come from too far back to risk losing the game. Additionally, the Irish had a remaining game the following week (at Southern Cal), and if they played well enough, they could claim the national championship. His decision would prove to be right, as the Irish went on to beat the Trojans 51-0, resulting in the program's eighth national title and first since the Leahy Era.
Forty years have passed and "The Game of the Century" has stood the test of time as one of the great contests in college football history. The fact that the game ended in a tie has lent it an air of fame that it would not enjoy had a winner been determined. Few other contests that the Irish have played measure up to the scope of this game, and all games in the Notre Dame-Michigan State series continue to be played in the long shadow of the 1966 contest.
Few series for Notre Dame date back as far as Michigan State. Since 1897, N.D. and MSU have been regular opponents. Aside from Navy (79), Southern Cal (77), and Purdue (77), no school has played Notre Dame as frequently as Michigan State. This weekend's game will mark the 70th meeting between the schools. Notre Dame traditionally has owned the series, leading MSU 43-25-1, though the Spartans have won seven of the last nine games, dating back to 1997.
In recent years, the schools have played a number of close games against one another. Since 1999, five of the last six games have been decided in the game's final minutes. Last season, the Irish came from 21 points down to send the game into overtime before the Spartans won, 44-41. The Spartans then proceeded to plant an MSU flag at mid-field in Notre Dame Stadium.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-Two of Notre Dame's greatest coaches served as assistants at Michigan State. Frank Leahy (1941-43, 1946-53) was an assistant in the 1930s for Jim Crowley, a Notre Dame graduate and member of the famed "Four Horsemen" backfield. Dan Devine (1975-80) served on Duffy Daugherty's staff in the 1950s.
-Notre Dame has won two straight games at Spartan Stadium.
-Navy (69), Purdue (50), and Pittsburgh (44) are the only opponents that N.D. has beaten more frequently than MSU. Only Southern Cal (30) has beaten N.D. more than MSU.
-Notre Dame is 17-13-1 in games played at Michigan State. In games played at Spartan Stadium, the Irish are 15-11-1.
-The Irish are 6-0 on the road under Charlie Weis.
-The winner of the Notre Dame-Michigan State game receives the Megaphone Trophy, sponsored by the Notre Dame and Michigan State clubs of Detroit.
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting through the 2011 season.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#11 Michigan defeated #2 Notre Dame on the road, 47-21, moving their record to 852-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7449. This week, #6 Michigan hosts unranked Wisconsin.
#2 Notre Dame lost to #11 Michigan at home, 47-21, dropping their record to 813-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7433. This week, #12 Notre Dame travels to unranked Michigan State.
Michigan's lead expands to 16/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish have a lot to prove after last week's showing. The game is at 8:00 p.m. EDT on ABC.
Go Irish! Beat Spartans!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
In 1946, the University of Chicago withdrew as a member of the Big Ten, having relinquished its athletic program to pursue a purely academic model. MSU believed that it was the perfect fit for the "Big Nine," but their attempts to join were thwarted again. By this time, things were so bleak for MSU's football program that longtime N.D. athletic director Edward "Moose" Krause offered to schedule a long series of games to help the fledgling program out. As it turned out, MSU's football program benefited greatly from this gesture, as well as from the fact that they were granted membership in the Big Ten in 1950.
Despite their newfound membership status, MSU never forgot the kind act by Krause. Despite attempts to get MSU to join other Big Ten schools in refusing to schedule Notre Dame, the Spartans continued to renew the series with the Irish, a series which continues to be played regularly to this day. Little could anyone have known that these dealings in the late 1940s and early 1950s would set the stage for one of the most famous college football games ever played.
Throughout the 1950s the programs of Notre Dame and Michigan State were headed in different directions. Frank Leahy left as N.D.'s head coach after one final undefeated campaign in 1953, his sixth in eleven seasons, and his departure ushered in an era of mediocre football under the Golden Dome. In the first ten post-Leahy years, the Irish went an unremarkable 51-48-0 (.515), one of the worst ten-year stretches in the long history of Irish football.
Meanwhile, State had hired Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty in 1954 to lead its football program. Daugherty took over a program in 1954 that was two years removed from a national championship. He would go on to coach nineteen years at MSU, still a record for longevity at the school. Under Daugherty, the Spartans would win 62% of their games, two Big Ten championships, as well as a share of the national championship in 1965. To underline the varying fortunes of these programs, in 1956, the #2 Spartans delivered a 47-14 shellacking to the unranked Irish at Notre Dame, one of the worst losses in Irish football history.
Things took a turn for the better for the Irish with the hiring of Northwestern coach Ara Parseghian following N.D.'s disastrous 2-7-0 campaign in 1963. Parseghian coached Notre Dame back to national prominence in his very first season in 1964, leading the Irish to a 9-0-0 start, before a season-ending loss at Southern Cal ruined a national championship. Making the most of the talent he had inherited, Parseghian delivered a 7-2-1 encore in his sophomore season.
By 1966 Parseghian and Daugherty had put together two of the most talented teams in the history of college football. Both rosters were filled with All-Americans and future NFL stars. Notre Dame's offense, led by QB Terry Hanratty and HB Nick Eddy, was heralded far and wide that year, and the defense was one of the great units in history. In a ten-game season in 1966, the Irish defense, led by Pete Duranko, Jim Lynch, and Alan Page, gave up a mere 24 points. State's defense was highly touted as well, featuring future NFL player and star of Police Academy movies, Bubba Smith, as well as George Webster.
As the season progressed, everyone could see the titanic match-up between these two schools looming. Entering the November 19 game, both schools had perfect records: #2 MSU 9-0-0; #1 N.D. 8-0-0. The hype surrounding the game was palpable. Five-dollar tickets to the game were scalped for $100 or more each, and that was if one could find a willing seller. NCAA rules restricting the national broadcast of the game were lifted because demand to see the game from coast to coast was so great. The 76,000 spectators in the stadium were treated to one of the hardest-hitting, smash-mouth games of football in history.
The Spartans stormed out to an early 10-0 lead, an amazing accomplishment against a defense that had only allowed 14 points all season. Things took a turn for the worse for the Irish when Hanratty, mistakenly hearing a HB draw play call from Parseghian as a QB draw, suffered a separated shoulder when he was creamed by the Spartan defense as he ran the ball. If the Irish were to come back, backup QB Coley O'Brien would have to do it. Just before the half, O'Brien completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to RB Bob Gladieux, who had replaced Eddy. (Eddy was unable to play because he had reinjured his shoulder after falling down icy steps coming off the team's train.). Early in the fourth quarter, Irish kicker Joe Azzaro tied the game with a field goal, 10-10.
From that point forward, the game would devolve into two defenses trying to outplay each other. In the closing minutes of the game, Daugherty opted to punt the ball to the Irish instead of going for the win. With 90 seconds remaining, Parseghian, his offense in tatters with his two biggest stars out of the game and his backup QB in danger of going into a diabetic coma, decided to run out the remaining time on the clock and play for the tie. Parseghian is still associated with the controversial decision to this day, even though he had played it safe, just as Daugherty had done. His rationale was that the Irish had come from too far back to risk losing the game. Additionally, the Irish had a remaining game the following week (at Southern Cal), and if they played well enough, they could claim the national championship. His decision would prove to be right, as the Irish went on to beat the Trojans 51-0, resulting in the program's eighth national title and first since the Leahy Era.
Forty years have passed and "The Game of the Century" has stood the test of time as one of the great contests in college football history. The fact that the game ended in a tie has lent it an air of fame that it would not enjoy had a winner been determined. Few other contests that the Irish have played measure up to the scope of this game, and all games in the Notre Dame-Michigan State series continue to be played in the long shadow of the 1966 contest.
Few series for Notre Dame date back as far as Michigan State. Since 1897, N.D. and MSU have been regular opponents. Aside from Navy (79), Southern Cal (77), and Purdue (77), no school has played Notre Dame as frequently as Michigan State. This weekend's game will mark the 70th meeting between the schools. Notre Dame traditionally has owned the series, leading MSU 43-25-1, though the Spartans have won seven of the last nine games, dating back to 1997.
In recent years, the schools have played a number of close games against one another. Since 1999, five of the last six games have been decided in the game's final minutes. Last season, the Irish came from 21 points down to send the game into overtime before the Spartans won, 44-41. The Spartans then proceeded to plant an MSU flag at mid-field in Notre Dame Stadium.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-Two of Notre Dame's greatest coaches served as assistants at Michigan State. Frank Leahy (1941-43, 1946-53) was an assistant in the 1930s for Jim Crowley, a Notre Dame graduate and member of the famed "Four Horsemen" backfield. Dan Devine (1975-80) served on Duffy Daugherty's staff in the 1950s.
-Notre Dame has won two straight games at Spartan Stadium.
-Navy (69), Purdue (50), and Pittsburgh (44) are the only opponents that N.D. has beaten more frequently than MSU. Only Southern Cal (30) has beaten N.D. more than MSU.
-Notre Dame is 17-13-1 in games played at Michigan State. In games played at Spartan Stadium, the Irish are 15-11-1.
-The Irish are 6-0 on the road under Charlie Weis.
-The winner of the Notre Dame-Michigan State game receives the Megaphone Trophy, sponsored by the Notre Dame and Michigan State clubs of Detroit.
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting through the 2011 season.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#11 Michigan defeated #2 Notre Dame on the road, 47-21, moving their record to 852-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7449. This week, #6 Michigan hosts unranked Wisconsin.
#2 Notre Dame lost to #11 Michigan at home, 47-21, dropping their record to 813-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7433. This week, #12 Notre Dame travels to unranked Michigan State.
Michigan's lead expands to 16/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish have a lot to prove after last week's showing. The game is at 8:00 p.m. EDT on ABC.
Go Irish! Beat Spartans!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Notre Dame vs. Michigan
In 1909, Notre Dame was on the brink of breaking through as a major power in college football. In the midst of a 13-game winning streak, the boys of Notre Dame traveled to Ann Arbor to play the Wolverines of Michigan. Led by the inimitable Fielding "Hurry Up" Yost, Michigan boasted (emphasis on the word "boasted") some of the great teams of that era, as Yost's teams routinely defeated their opponents by 60 points or more. Notre Dame was a team that always gave Michigan fits, however.
The plucky bunch of middle-class Irish kids from the small Catholic school always played the Wolverines tougher than expected. In 1908, Michigan had barely escaped losing to N.D. at home (Michigan never deigned to come to South Bend in those days), winning 12-6. In that 1909 contest Notre Dame was ready for the Wolverines. Michigan had won all eight of the previous contests in the series, dating back to N.D.'s very first game in 1887, but there had been a number of near misses. N.D. was led by coach Frank "Shorty" Longman, a graduate of Michigan and one of Yost's former players. In a game that may have given birth to the "Fighting Irish" nickname (various sources disagree to the exact etymology), Notre Dame came to Ann Arbor in early November and proceeded to run over the Wolverines. Harry "Red" Miller, whose son Creighton played for Frank Leahy in the 1940s, scored the game's only touchdown and gave Notre Dame its first-ever victory over Michigan, 11-3. For Longman, he was "bereft of his senses" at becoming the first Yost pupil to beat his teacher.
By all accounts this turn in the series should have marked the start of a new era in the rivalry. The teams were on an even keel now. Always a proud man, however, Yost was deeply upset by the loss. His anger undoubtedly was exacerbated by the sight of Longman, having returned to his home in Ann Arbor in the off-season, walking around town with his pet bulldog, while his dog wore a jacket trumpeting the 11-3 win over Michigan. Always looking to belittle Notre Dame, Yost later claimed that the game was merely a "scrimmage," and that it did not count.
The following season, Notre Dame, still unable to get Michigan to play in South Bend, returned to Ann Arbor. There, the night before the teams were to play, Yost said that the game had been canceled. Never giving an adequate reason for the cancellation, Yost left the N.D. players to return home to South Bend. The schools would not play again for another 32 years.
As if not scheduling Notre Dame was not enough, Yost used his considerable clout to implement a conference-wide boycott of N.D. shortly after this bizarre episode. The freeze-out could have spelled doom had the N.D. administration not acted quickly. Ironically, Michigan and the Big Ten, in trying to stifle Notre Dame, actually set the school down a path toward unparalleled popularity in the American psyche.
As Yost aged, his bitter feelings toward Notre Dame eased, and, thanks to some sweet-talking from N.D. coach and athletic director Elmer Layden in the mid-1930s, Michigan and N.D. scheduled a home-and-home series for 1942 and 1943. The teams split that series, but Notre Dame beat Michigan so badly in 1943 that Michigan coach Fritz Crisler refused to schedule the Irish again, claiming that they were a dirty team. The schools would not play again for another 35 years.
Once Crisler retired in the late 1960s, the schools finally scheduled a resumption of the series. Since 1978, Notre Dame and Michigan have been regular opponents on one another's schedules, playing some of the great games in the history of both programs. Courtesy of its 8-0 record against Notre Dame from 1887 to 1908, Michigan still holds the lead in this series, 18-14-1. Since the resumption of the series in 1978, however, N.D. holds a 12-9-1 advantage. Despite the litany of great and memorable games between the schools, still an antagonism exists, even after all these years. Recently, former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, never a fan of the Notre Dame-Michigan series, was quoted as saying that Michigan doesn't need Notre Dame, but Notre Dame needs Michigan, and that the Wolverines should drop the Irish from their schedule. In the spirit of fairness, it should be noted that Schembechler's record against the Irish was 4-6-0.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
History abounds in this series. Michigan was not only the opponent in Notre Dame's very first game back in November 1887, but was also N.D.'s opponent in the program's second and third games, contested on back-to-back days in April 1888. This series was the first to feature a match-up of #1 and #2 teams in the Associated Press poll when the schools met in 1943. Interestingly, the teams met in another #1 vs. #2 match-up in 1989, when Raghib Ismail ran back two kickoffs for touchdowns in a 23-19 victory over UM. The series features two of the most famous marching bands in the nation and undoubtedly the two most famous fight songs. The schools' stadiums are very similar, not surprising because Michigan Stadium served as the model for Notre Dame Stadium when the university decided to build a football facility in the 1920s.
Two years ago, Michigan led at the half at Notre Dame Stadium, but the Irish stormed back to claim victory, 28-20. Last season, the Irish traveled to Ann Arbor and manhandled the Wolverines, downing them, 17-10, in a game much more lopsided than the final score indicated.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-Since 1985, 14 of the 17 series games played have been decided by ten points or less (1987: ND 26, UM 7; 1998: ND 36, UM 20; 2003: UM 38, ND 0).
-The Irish have won three out of the last four games in this series, dating back to 2002. Overall, the schools have split the last eight games, dating back to 1994.
-At least one of these schools has been ranked every time they have played since the AP poll was instituted in 1936. Both teams have been ranked in 20 of those 25 games, and at least one school has been in the top ten in the last sixteen games.
-The lower ranked team has won six of the last nine games in this series.
-This year is the first time that Notre Dame will be the higher ranked team in this game since 1994. That game was Michigan's last win at Notre Dame Stadium (26-24).
-The Wolverines are 0-6 in their last six road openers, and have won only one road opener in their last eight seasons (1999 at Syracuse).
-Charlie Weis is the first coach since Knute Rockne (1918-30) to start his first two seasons at Notre Dame with 2-0 records.
-Notre Dame is in the top five for the third consecutive week. The last time that occurred in one season was 1993, when the Irish were in the top five after their second game, a 27-23 win at #3 Michigan, through their season-ending Cotton Bowl win against #7 Texas A&M.
-This season marks only the third time since 1974 that the Irish have been in the top five for each of the first three weeks of a college football season. It also occurred in 1989 and 1990 during the zenith of the Holtz Era.
-Charlie Weis is looking to become the first Irish coach to go 12-3 through his first 15 games at N.D. since Ara Parseghian (1964-74). Parseghian coached nineteen games at N.D. before losing his third game (a 12-3 home loss at the hands of #1 Michigan State in 1965).
-Notre Dame is 7-4-1 against Michigan at Notre Dame Stadium. Michigan has only won at Notre Dame twice since 1978 (1986 and 1994).
-Michigan (18-14-1) is one of only seven current Division I-A schools with a winning record against Notre Dame. The others are: Nebraska (8-7-1); Florida State (4-2-0); Ohio State (3-2-0); Oregon State (2-0-0); Georgia (1-0-0); and North Carolina State (1-0-0).
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting annually through 2011.
-These schools rank #1 and #2 in all-time winning percentage and all-time wins.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#10 Michigan defeated unranked Central Michigan at home, 41-17, moving their record to 851-250-36 for a winning percentage of .7446. This week, #11 Michigan travels to #2 Notre Dame.
#4 Notre Dame defeated #19 Penn State at home, 41-17, moving their record to 813-266-42 for a winning percentage of .7440. This week, #2 Notre Dame hosts #11 Michigan.
Michigan leads Notre Dame by 67/100,000ths of a point. As if the stakes were not high enough in this game, the winner will claim the title as college football's winningest program.
The game kicks off at 3:30 EDT on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Wolverines!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
The plucky bunch of middle-class Irish kids from the small Catholic school always played the Wolverines tougher than expected. In 1908, Michigan had barely escaped losing to N.D. at home (Michigan never deigned to come to South Bend in those days), winning 12-6. In that 1909 contest Notre Dame was ready for the Wolverines. Michigan had won all eight of the previous contests in the series, dating back to N.D.'s very first game in 1887, but there had been a number of near misses. N.D. was led by coach Frank "Shorty" Longman, a graduate of Michigan and one of Yost's former players. In a game that may have given birth to the "Fighting Irish" nickname (various sources disagree to the exact etymology), Notre Dame came to Ann Arbor in early November and proceeded to run over the Wolverines. Harry "Red" Miller, whose son Creighton played for Frank Leahy in the 1940s, scored the game's only touchdown and gave Notre Dame its first-ever victory over Michigan, 11-3. For Longman, he was "bereft of his senses" at becoming the first Yost pupil to beat his teacher.
By all accounts this turn in the series should have marked the start of a new era in the rivalry. The teams were on an even keel now. Always a proud man, however, Yost was deeply upset by the loss. His anger undoubtedly was exacerbated by the sight of Longman, having returned to his home in Ann Arbor in the off-season, walking around town with his pet bulldog, while his dog wore a jacket trumpeting the 11-3 win over Michigan. Always looking to belittle Notre Dame, Yost later claimed that the game was merely a "scrimmage," and that it did not count.
The following season, Notre Dame, still unable to get Michigan to play in South Bend, returned to Ann Arbor. There, the night before the teams were to play, Yost said that the game had been canceled. Never giving an adequate reason for the cancellation, Yost left the N.D. players to return home to South Bend. The schools would not play again for another 32 years.
As if not scheduling Notre Dame was not enough, Yost used his considerable clout to implement a conference-wide boycott of N.D. shortly after this bizarre episode. The freeze-out could have spelled doom had the N.D. administration not acted quickly. Ironically, Michigan and the Big Ten, in trying to stifle Notre Dame, actually set the school down a path toward unparalleled popularity in the American psyche.
As Yost aged, his bitter feelings toward Notre Dame eased, and, thanks to some sweet-talking from N.D. coach and athletic director Elmer Layden in the mid-1930s, Michigan and N.D. scheduled a home-and-home series for 1942 and 1943. The teams split that series, but Notre Dame beat Michigan so badly in 1943 that Michigan coach Fritz Crisler refused to schedule the Irish again, claiming that they were a dirty team. The schools would not play again for another 35 years.
Once Crisler retired in the late 1960s, the schools finally scheduled a resumption of the series. Since 1978, Notre Dame and Michigan have been regular opponents on one another's schedules, playing some of the great games in the history of both programs. Courtesy of its 8-0 record against Notre Dame from 1887 to 1908, Michigan still holds the lead in this series, 18-14-1. Since the resumption of the series in 1978, however, N.D. holds a 12-9-1 advantage. Despite the litany of great and memorable games between the schools, still an antagonism exists, even after all these years. Recently, former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, never a fan of the Notre Dame-Michigan series, was quoted as saying that Michigan doesn't need Notre Dame, but Notre Dame needs Michigan, and that the Wolverines should drop the Irish from their schedule. In the spirit of fairness, it should be noted that Schembechler's record against the Irish was 4-6-0.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
History abounds in this series. Michigan was not only the opponent in Notre Dame's very first game back in November 1887, but was also N.D.'s opponent in the program's second and third games, contested on back-to-back days in April 1888. This series was the first to feature a match-up of #1 and #2 teams in the Associated Press poll when the schools met in 1943. Interestingly, the teams met in another #1 vs. #2 match-up in 1989, when Raghib Ismail ran back two kickoffs for touchdowns in a 23-19 victory over UM. The series features two of the most famous marching bands in the nation and undoubtedly the two most famous fight songs. The schools' stadiums are very similar, not surprising because Michigan Stadium served as the model for Notre Dame Stadium when the university decided to build a football facility in the 1920s.
Two years ago, Michigan led at the half at Notre Dame Stadium, but the Irish stormed back to claim victory, 28-20. Last season, the Irish traveled to Ann Arbor and manhandled the Wolverines, downing them, 17-10, in a game much more lopsided than the final score indicated.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-Since 1985, 14 of the 17 series games played have been decided by ten points or less (1987: ND 26, UM 7; 1998: ND 36, UM 20; 2003: UM 38, ND 0).
-The Irish have won three out of the last four games in this series, dating back to 2002. Overall, the schools have split the last eight games, dating back to 1994.
-At least one of these schools has been ranked every time they have played since the AP poll was instituted in 1936. Both teams have been ranked in 20 of those 25 games, and at least one school has been in the top ten in the last sixteen games.
-The lower ranked team has won six of the last nine games in this series.
-This year is the first time that Notre Dame will be the higher ranked team in this game since 1994. That game was Michigan's last win at Notre Dame Stadium (26-24).
-The Wolverines are 0-6 in their last six road openers, and have won only one road opener in their last eight seasons (1999 at Syracuse).
-Charlie Weis is the first coach since Knute Rockne (1918-30) to start his first two seasons at Notre Dame with 2-0 records.
-Notre Dame is in the top five for the third consecutive week. The last time that occurred in one season was 1993, when the Irish were in the top five after their second game, a 27-23 win at #3 Michigan, through their season-ending Cotton Bowl win against #7 Texas A&M.
-This season marks only the third time since 1974 that the Irish have been in the top five for each of the first three weeks of a college football season. It also occurred in 1989 and 1990 during the zenith of the Holtz Era.
-Charlie Weis is looking to become the first Irish coach to go 12-3 through his first 15 games at N.D. since Ara Parseghian (1964-74). Parseghian coached nineteen games at N.D. before losing his third game (a 12-3 home loss at the hands of #1 Michigan State in 1965).
-Notre Dame is 7-4-1 against Michigan at Notre Dame Stadium. Michigan has only won at Notre Dame twice since 1978 (1986 and 1994).
-Michigan (18-14-1) is one of only seven current Division I-A schools with a winning record against Notre Dame. The others are: Nebraska (8-7-1); Florida State (4-2-0); Ohio State (3-2-0); Oregon State (2-0-0); Georgia (1-0-0); and North Carolina State (1-0-0).
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting annually through 2011.
-These schools rank #1 and #2 in all-time winning percentage and all-time wins.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#10 Michigan defeated unranked Central Michigan at home, 41-17, moving their record to 851-250-36 for a winning percentage of .7446. This week, #11 Michigan travels to #2 Notre Dame.
#4 Notre Dame defeated #19 Penn State at home, 41-17, moving their record to 813-266-42 for a winning percentage of .7440. This week, #2 Notre Dame hosts #11 Michigan.
Michigan leads Notre Dame by 67/100,000ths of a point. As if the stakes were not high enough in this game, the winner will claim the title as college football's winningest program.
The game kicks off at 3:30 EDT on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Wolverines!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)