Tag: Cierre Wood

History of Notre Dame’s rivalry with Navy

This rivalry is filled more history than nearly any other rivalry in college football.

Few rivalries in college football have as much history and prestige as Notre Dame-Navy.

Except for the COVID-19-affected season, these programs have played each other every year since 1927. Even with the college football landscape seemingly always in flux, there’s no reason to think this rivalry will stop anytime soon. Most fans on both sides are fine with that, even if the Irish have won the vast majority of the meetings.

If for no other reason, Notre Dame owes it to Navy to keep the rivalry going. When Notre Dame faced financial difficulties during World War II, the Navy opted to use the university as a training ground for its V-12 program. The money the Navy paid for that usage kept the university from going under, so Notre Dame feel it’s forever in its debt.

The result is many memorable moments over the years. Here are some of them:

Notre Dame’s top-rated running back recruits since 2000

What would happen if Notre Dame’s recruiting of the running back position could meet what it does on the offensive line?

Notre Dame has long been known for fielding a solid running game on an annual basis. [autotag]Jerome Bettis[/autotag], [autotag]Ricky Watters[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Brooks[/autotag], [autotag]Ray Zellars[/autotag], [autotag]Autry Denson[/autotag] and [autotag]Allen Pinkett[/autotag] come to mind from yesteryear. Stars [autotag]Kyren Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Josh Adams[/autotag] and [autotag]Theo Riddick[/autotag] wowed crowds over the last decade.

It’s been a long time however since Notre Dame has brought in what would be considered top-tier talent at the position with regularity. Sure, Adams, [autotag]Tony Jones, Jr[/autotag] and some others have earned NFL paychecks over the last decade, it’s been a long while since Notre Dame produced Julius Jones, the last Irish running back to be more than simply a role-playing back in the NFL. Perhaps Williams will change that with the Rams, but time will only tell.

So what has Notre Dame’s recruiting at running back looked like the last two-plus decades?

Here are the top 30 Notre Dame running back recruits since 2000 according to 247Sports. It is worth noting some of these players wound up changing positions once getting to South Bend.