Category: Notre Dame Almanac

Notre Dame-USC rivalry through the years

What is your favorite moment ever from the Notre Dame-USC rivalry? @trojanswire

On paper there might not be a better rivalry in college football than how Notre Dame and USC are supposed to be.

Notre Dame is located in the midwest, home to brutal winters, and a lifestyle that could be described as just about anything other than glamorous.

USC on the other hand is about as extravagant as college football living gets in the city of Los Angeles, even if they’re no longer the only football show in town after the NFL made its return there (sorry UCLA).

The two have met for nearly the entire last century with epic battles, 14 Heisman Trophy winners, over 20 national championships, countless legends and Hall of Famers, and history as deep as the New York City phone book.

It’s been since the late seventies though that this rivalry has featured both teams competing for national championships on a regular basis.  Perhaps with relatively new coaching hires at both, that narrative will soon change.

Notre Dame coming into this year’s game with two losses while USC is unbeaten leaves some to be desired.  Playing spoiler for USC’s perfect season and perhaps College Football Playoff hopes would be nice way to start to bounce back for Marcus Freeman and company, though.

It’s often described as “the best intersectional rivalry in college football” but if both could get their business in order simultaneously as was the case in the seventies, it’d be the best rivalry in college football.

Related: Notre Dame-USC and the best of the worst

Notre Dame-USC: fun facts about epic rivalry

In the meantime, take a look back at some of the best photos of one of college football’s greatest rivalries through the years.

Notre Dame football all-time vs. service acadamies

How long until Notre Dame finally has the guts to schedule Space Force?

Notre Dame football has a long history with the United States service academies as some of the biggest games in the early days of the game were between Knute Rockne’s Fighting Irish and the Army.

Notre Dame has also played Navy each year since 1927 before the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to that run in 2020.

The Irish have also taken on Air Force more than a handful of times with some thrillers coming against the Falcons over the years.

So how has Notre Dame fared all-time against the service academies?

Notre Dame all-time results versus:

ACC

Big Ten

Big 12

Pac-12

SEC

Notre Dame-Ohio State all-time series history

Would you like to see Notre Dame and Ohio State played more regularly?

According to Google Maps, it’s a 270.8-mile drive from Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend to Ohio Stadium in Columbus. A drive that takes four hours and 19 minutes, which isn’t just down the street but it is nothing when it comes to a road trip for a college football team or its fans.

Especially when you consider those two college football squads are among the most historic in the game and have two of the most passionate fan bases in all of sports, not just college football.

But Notre Dame and Ohio State have met on the football field just seven times. Of those seven, two have been played at Notre Dame Stadium, three have been played at Ohio Stadium and two have taken place in the Fiesta Bowl.

Unless you live under a rock, you’re aware Notre Dame opened the 2022 season at Ohio State and the Buckeyes make the return trip to South Bend late this September.

Before this underplayed series resumes late this fall, here is a look back at the brief history Notre Dame and Ohio State have shared on the football field.

Notre Dame all-time vs. each Big Ten football team

Which Big Ten team do you wish Notre Dame played annually and why?

Notre Dame tried for years to join the Big Ten but was not allowed.  Now many want Notre Dame to join a conference full-time but the school remains independent in football and with the good lord willing, they’ll continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The member schools of the Big Ten have changed over the years but the conference called the Big Ten now has 14 members, and those 14 members have been playing football against the Irish for quite some time.

Notre Dame hosted and defeated Purdue and Wisconsin in 2021 in their only games against Big Ten foes.  The Irish opened the 2022 season at Ohio State in their only Big Ten match-up on the year.  2023 sees the Irish play host the Buckeyes in late September.

How has Notre Dame fared against each current Big Ten football team all-time?

Let’s take a peak.

Watch: Brady Quinn Shares Memories of Loudest Stadium, Toughest Foes at Notre Dame

Quinn discusses some of the best environments he played in and shares a story of just how loud Neyland Stadium in Tennessee was when the Irish pulled the upset of the Vols in 2004.

It’s been the way of the sports media world since live events shut down just over a month ago – old games and story time of sports from yesteryear.  Former Notre Dame quarterback and now rising star in the media, Brady Quinn joined Barton Simmons on “Social Distance” a new show 247Sports is putting on.

Quinn discusses some of the best environments he played in and shares a story of just how loud Neyland Stadium in Tennessee was when the Irish pulled the upset of the Vols in 2004.  He also takes you down memory lane a bit with stories of the “Bush Push” game and the satisfaction of earning a BCS berth in 2005 after the struggles Notre Dame had early in his career.

Take a watch below and remember some of the happy and some of the more painful memories in semi-recent Notre Dame history through the eyes of one of all the all-time Fighting Irish greats.

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The 38’s in regards to the Michigan game in ’04 was fun but Derrelle Revis baiting Quinn back in 2005 was probably my favorite story shared.  I always enjoy hearing stories of stars before they were seen nationally as stars and also enjoyed his openness about being out-matched in terms of physical ability against Ohio State and LSU during his college years.

Notre Dame’s Fiesta Bowl History

The desert hasn’t been a friend to Notre Dame in recent years…or decades

Thanks to some pre-season bowl projections that are floating around, I have my mind on Notre Dame’s past involvement in some of the biggest bowl games.  One such projection recently had Notre Dame going to the Fiesta Bowl to take on Oregon.

Notre Dame and Oregon don’t have much of a history together, something I’d like to one day see changed.  Notre Dame does have a history in the Fiesta Bowl, however.

Yes, it is the bowl game that Notre Dame won to clinch the 1988 national championship with a victory over West Virginia.

No, nothing has gone well for Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl since.

Watch: Top Ten defensive ending plays in Notre Dame football history

I’m not going to argue that the top two on this wound up sealing wins for Notre Dame over top-ranked teams in the nation. However, you can’t convince me there is a more impressive play on the list than the two goal line tackles made on the east coast to seal victories. 

Notre Dame released another NDTop10 over the weekend with the greatest defensive plays to seal victories being counted down.  In looking at this list it’s important to go realize they’re still thinking biggest wins and not so much actual toughest or most-amazing play to win the games.

Before I share my thought after and what I would have put number one, take a watch for yourself.  Some great memories in this one, almost all I could tell you where I was watching the moments unfold.

Well, except for the couple I wasn’t born yet for…

I’m not going to argue that the top two on this wound up sealing wins for Notre Dame over top-ranked teams in the nation. However, you can’t convince me there is a more impressive play on the list than the two goal line tackles made on the east coast to seal victories.  Stanford in 2012 resulting in a 12-0 regular season I think makes it more impressive than any one of the tackles on that stand, as great as it was.

To me the most impressive plays on the list come in 1995 against Army and in 1998, especially the third down tackle against Boston College.  Both tackles are like running into brick walls, just entirely stopped dead in their tracks, even if bigger opponents and games were won by balls being batted away.

Notre Dame all-time vs. Big 12 football teams

Do you wish Big 12 teams would appear on Notre Dame’s schedule more often?

For each Power Five college football conference there is, Notre Dame’s history is significantly different.  Despite not being all that far away in terms of mileage, Notre Dame hasn’t played game against the Big 12 all that often considering the Irish have been playing football for over 130 years.

They most recently did in their heartbreaking Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State that capped the 2021 season.

While we’ve seen Notre Dame struggle to under-.500 marks against some powerhouses like Ohio State, Florida State, Michigan, Georgia so far, you may be surprised to see just how well the Irish have fared against the Big 12’s football blue-bloods.

Check it all out here:

Related:

Notre Dame all-time vs. the Big Ten

Notre Dame all-time vs. the SEC

Notre Dame all-time vs. each SEC football team

Which SEC team has the best stadium?

Notre Dame doesn’t have the deepest track record playing football against the SEC but they have played 10 of the 14 teams in the conference, but the Irish do have a good amount of games coming up against SEC teams in the next decade with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Texas A&M all on the schedule in coming years.

So which teams have Notre Dame played from the SEC all-time?

Who is the one the Irish are winless against all-time?

And which powerhouses does Notre Dame hold the all-time series advantages against?

See Notre Dame’s all-time records against all 14 SEC football teams below, updated following the Irish victory over South Carolina in the Gator Bowl:

Related:  Notre Dame’s all-time record against all Big Ten teams

Watch: Notre Dame’s 10 Toughest Touchdown Runs Ever

Notre Dame has had plenty of memorable running backs who made plenty of classic runs. Did your personal favorite make this top 10 list?

In its continuing series of top-10 lists, Notre Dame released its “Top 10 Toughest Touchdown Runs” on Monday afternoon. I will not spoil the ending, but I will say it was as memorable as touchdown run as there was during my formative years.

No real knocks on the rankings in this one. My one thought would be a debate between what is “tough” versus “shifty,” but I’m not in the mood to debate that right now.

Here they are – watch them and enjoy!

One and two are both beyond debate for me, so save it in regards to those to especially. What run was too high or too low besides those two, though?