Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Do you expected the one-sidedness of this rivalry to continue?
Notre Dame is facing longtime rival Navy in Ireland in Week 0 of the 2023 college football season. It only makes sense that we begin our series of football Saturdays with a matchup that goes back nearly a century with only one interruption. The people of the Emerald Isle will see this game on their turf for the third time, so they should know what to expect by now.
Let’s look at what some college football experts are predicting for this game:
The start of the college football season is right around the corner.
We’re just 50 days away from the start of Nebraska’s 2022 college football season. The Huskers will travel across the Atlantic to take on the Northwestern Wildcats in Dublin, Ireland, for the Aer Lingus Classic. According to game organizers in Dublin, about 30,000 tickets have been sold to this point. Nebraska fans have purchased almost 9,000 tickets, while Northwestern supporters have purchased around 3,000. The game committee believes that the stadium should be about 75% filled for the game.
Aviva Stadium is the host of this year’s overseas Big Ten clash. The stadium officially opened in 2010 and cost approximately 410 million euros. The facility’s capacity is 51,700, but for American football, it holds 49,000. It’s also the home of the Ireland National Football (soccer) Team and the Irish Rugby Union Team. This will be the third American Football game played in Aviva Stadium. In 2012 the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Navy Midshipman, and in 2016 Georgia Tech beat Boston College 17-14. (Yikes!) This won’t be the last game either, as, in 2023, the Fighting Irish and Midshipmen will once again play on the Emerald Isle.
The Irish will once again hit the rocky road to Dublin…
Notre Dame football is headed back to Ireland!
The Irish and their opponent this week, Navy, will open the 2023 football season across the pond as the two will meet at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Notre Dame and Navy met in Ireland twice previously, once in 1996 and most recently in 2012. The 2012 game was the season-opener for the Irish as they would go 12-0 that regular season and eventually play in the BCS national championship.
The 2020 season was supposed to begin with Notre Dame and Navy squaring off again in Dublin but the COVID-19 pandemic caused that game to be moved to the United States before eventually being cancelled altogether.
Notre Dame and Navy will kickoff the 2023 season on August 26 in a game that will technically be a Fighting Irish home game and air on NBC.
Notre Dame and Navy are to play in late August in Dublin. A recent Ireland ban however makes no sense and leaves us w/o game resolution yet.
As you’re aware Notre Dame is scheduled to start the 2020 college football season in Dublin, Ireland in what is now known as Week Zero in the sport. The last Saturday in August is currently set to see Notre Dame take on Navy at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Last week news came out that Dublin was banning gatherings of 5000 people or more through August. We covered that and told you the news that will be coming at some point because of that.
Now we sit here with you almost an entire week later and we have no news. Still.
In fact Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk is insisting that the game is still on:
“it is way too early to speculate on what happens in the season opener. Let’s just wait and see what happens. We’re in no hurry to make a final decision.” – Navy AD Chet Gladchuk to Annapolis Gazette
Uhh, Chet. This isn’t all that complicated.
We sit here on the evening of April 27 with no real end in sight to the stoppage of sports aside from golf being played anytime soon. Some colleges are already planning on having their fall classes be conducted all online and not at their campuses but there is still plenty of time?
I didn’t understand in the article that the Ireland government told Gladchuk that the Ireland ban on 5000 or more in a gathering doesn’t currently apply to sporting events. So you mean to tell me that coronavirus is a big sports fan and is willing to keep to itself and not spread at a sporting event?
Logic would tell you that ruling or way of thinking will change before long. Then would you send both teams across the Atlantic Ocean to play a football game in front of a minimal amount of fans?
I’m guessing not.
Incredibly dumb logic here for Ireland to have a different set of rules for mass gatherings for sporting events compared to non-sporting events.
I wish I was wrong but it’s just a matter of time until this game is unfortunately moved to the states. Now let’s just hope that’s all it is and not cancelled or pushed back significantly.
