Tag: nick setta

Notre Dame Football’s History of August Games

Let’s take a quick look back at five times Notre Dame has played in August, something that dates back to 1989.

Notre Dame helps kick off the college football season this weekend as the Irish will be in Ireland to take on Navy.  It’s rare that Notre Dame has kicked off a football season in Ireland but less that they have in August. The Irish have played a handful of times historically in the year’s eighth month and fared well.

So how well exactly have things gone for Notre Dame in August?  Check out below how the Irish have fared in those five games as we’ll see if they can add another victory to the list in 2023 as they open the season in Saturday against Navy.

 

Former Notre Dame kicker welcomes Doerer to Game Winner Club

What Notre Dame game winning field is your favorite of all-time?

Right before Jonathan Doerer stepped up and nailed the game-winning field for Notre Dame at Florida State I received a text from Fighting Irish Wire contributor/football observer/friend Jeff Feyerer, asking which kicker in Notre Dame history I’d want to have right now to make this kick.

My mind immediately went to Nick Setta since he fired off a game winner against Purdue in 2000 while Jeff went with Justin Yoon, the program’s all-time leader in scoring.

It turns out Doerer would have been an acceptable answer as well as he split the uprights and moved Notre Dame to 1-0.

Doerer’s kick moved gave him entry into an exclusive club in Notre Dame football history, the Game Winners Club.

On Monday morning, Setta welcomed Doerer to it via Twitter:

That comes from former Notre Dame kicker Nick Setta who hit the walk-off winner against Purdue in 2000:

Dare I ask which was better?

Setta’s was do-or-die against a team led by Drew Brees who would go onto win the Big Ten and play in the Rose Bowl that year.

Doerer’s was longer and in front of a hostile road crowd.

Too tough for me to choose after being up late, I’ll just say I’m happy both went through the uprights.

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Related:

Best photos from Notre Dame-Florida State

5 instant takeaways from Notre Dame’s win over FSU

5 stars: good and bad of Notre Dame’s 41-38 win at FSU

 

Notre Dame Football: Stream All 2000 Home Games

2000 was a surprise season that saw Notre Dame go to the BCS. Relive all six home games online NOW!

I have been a passionate Notre Dame football fan for as long as I can remember.  Most kids in my class grew up loving everything in regards to the Chicago Bears but that has never quite been the case for me as I’ve always enjoyed the college game and specifically Notre Dame football more.

I was a freshman in high school in the fall of 2000 and had never been to a game before.  My sister was starting her freshman year at St. Mary’s College that same fall which meant my fandom went from “strong” to “obsessive”.

Maybe I’ll write more about that season in the not so distant future but in the meantime I’ll let you know that all home games from the 2000 Notre Dame football season are available to stream.

Week One:  vs. Texas A&M
Notre Dame is coming off just a five-win season in 1999 but starts the 2000 season right with an impressive showing against Texas A&M as the Aggies make their first-ever trip to Notre Dame Stadium.

Week Two:  vs. No. 1 Nebraska
For the first time since 1993 the top-ranked team in the country came to South Bend.  Seemingly 50,000 Nebraska fans made the trip to see two Notre Dame special team scores and Bob Davie play for overtime.  Whoops.

Week Three:  vs. No. 13 Purdue
After Arnaz Battle broke his hand against Nebraska, Gary Godsey was called upon to help get the Irish a win.  Their defense and special teams helped out as Nick Setta’s game-winning field goal as time expired sent the Irish to 2-1.

Week Six: vs. Stanford
After a loss at Michigan State two weeks earlier and coming off a bye, Matt LoVecchio made his first start for the Irish in what would be the first of seven-straight wins to close the regular season.  Of just as much importance, this was the first Notre Dame football game I ever attended.

Week Nine: vs. Air Force
Following a pair of wins over both Navy and West Virginia, Notre Dame returned home at 5-2 to take on a pesky Air Force team.  Thanks to heroics from Glenn Earl and Joey Getherall, a stunning upset was avoided.

Week Eleven: vs. Boston College
Following the thriller over Air Force, Notre Dame enjoyed a bye week before welcoming Boston College to South Bend for Senior Day.  The Irish controlled things for the duration in this one, winning 28-16 and finishing the home season 5-1.

Notre Dame would go on to beat Rutgers and USC on the road, finishing the season an unlikely 9-2 and earning a berth in the BCS for the first time where they would get run out of the building by Chad Johnson and No. 5 Oregon State.

99 Days Until Notre Dame Football (We Hope)

We hope we’re 99 days away from Notre Dame’s 2020 college football season gets going. We continue the countdown with another NDFB fact.

The countdown is on!

100 days from now (we hope) Notre Dame will return to the football field for Season 133 when the Irish take on Navy in a Week Zero affair.  Will the game be played as scheduled?  I’m guessing not in Ireland but perhaps with the way the news has gone this week we’ll see it get underway on time.

Each day from now until Notre Dame kicks off the year we’ll count down the days with the number and why it’s significant in the history of Notre Dame football.

Yesterday, Michael Floyd’s 2011 season got things started on our countdown.

Today we go to special teams.

99: Nick Setta’s career PAT percentage (104/105), a Notre Dame record.

Setta kicked at Notre Dame from 2000-03, making 15 of 17 field goal attempts in 2001 before stumbling to just 14 of 25 in ’02. His final season saw him make all PAT attempts and be successful on nine of his ten field goal attempts in ’03.

Setta’s biggest kick at Notre Dame came against Purdue in 2000 when he knocked a 38 yard attempt through the uprights as time expired to upset the Drew Brees and the eventual Big Ten Champions.

99 days to go!