Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame Football: Sellout Streak Over

Where were you on Thanksgiving Day in 1973?

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Where were you on Thanksgiving Day in 1973?

If you answered with being at Notre Dame Stadium when the Irish dismantled Air Force 48-15 en-route to a national championship, then you were a part of history.

No, not just because that Ara Parseghian-led team went on to win it all, but because it was the last time Notre Dame Stadium failed to sell out for a home football contest.

Until this weekend.

It went over four-and-a-half decades and lasted 273 games but it appears that streak of consecutive sellouts is history.

“Based on ticket sales through Wednesday, we do not anticipate sellouts for our games against Navy and Boston College,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement. “That this comes during a time of sustained success for our football program reflects both challenges impacting the ticket market nationwide and the unique dynamics of this year’s schedule.”

Swarbrick mentioned in an interview with Eric Hansen of the South Bend Tribune that the Irish playing three true home games this November and the weather that comes with that are the most-likely factors to seeing the streak end.

In the piece you find out how several games over the years counted as sellouts as well, even when plenty of empty seats were clearly evident.

The streak ranked second, behind only Nebraska who has sold out every one of their last 373 home contests.

Over the last ten seasons the Irish have played just one home-game five times, often playing the on-again, off-again Shamrock Series during the month.

Notre Dame can move to 8-2 with a win over No. 21 Navy and potentially 9-2 if they can also get by traditional pain-in-the-rear, Boston College in two weeks.

If you haven’t been to a game in quite some time, here’s your chance to see a potential top-10 finishing Notre Dame team up close.

Midweek Mailbag – Get Your Questions In!

Your questions can be anything in regards to Notre Dame or college football for that matter.  They can be incredibly serious and big-picture or something small and funny.  I’ll pick out the best ones from the following places:

Last week we debuted the “Midweek Mailbag” and answered five of your best questions we could come up with.  They ranged from hypotheticals such as “IF Brian Kelly were to leave who would be the first three people you’d target who would be REALISTIC candidates, not dream ones?” and there was a solid one about being independent and if players prefer that or conference-life.

If you missed it, you can check out last week’s right here.  I was even asked if I even liked Notre Dame because I dared to repeat information that Paul Finebaum gave, even though his info appears to have been correct.

Your questions can be anything in regards to Notre Dame or college football for that matter.  They can be incredibly serious and big-picture or something small and funny.  I’ll pick out the best ones from the following places:

1. Leave a comment on this or any other post on Fighting Irish Wire

2. Leave a question on our Facebook page – either on one of our posts or on our wall

3. Tweet us @IrishWireND or me personally @Shep670

4. Leave a comment on our Instagram Page. And even if you don’t leave a question – you should go follow it as it’s going to become a lot more active soon.

Now get asking those questions and see if yours makes the cut.  Get-on, now!

Notre Dame Almanac: Charlie Weis’s Dumbest Decision

That loss to Navy was laughable and anyone with any sense saw how over-matched Notre Dame had become, not in terms of talent, but in terms of employing a know-it-all coach who actually didn’t know a sneeze from a wet fart.

With it being Navy week I started to try and think of the most-memorable moments in the rivalry to me.  For a series that has been played seemingly forever, I have very few actual lasting memories of it.  With that said, a few did come to mind from games I remember watching.

2002 – A week after getting upset against Boston College, the Irish trailed 23-15 entering the fourth quarter before Carlyle Holiday threw two late touchdown passes, the final being the go-ahead score to Omar Jenkins to avoid a disasterous loss to a 1-7 Navy team.

2012 – Ten years later the Irish kicked off their season in Ireland, dismantling Navy 50-10.  Stephon Tuitt’s fumble return for a touchdown helped blow things wide open on an afternoon that belonged to the Irish, even abroad in Dublin.

And the single worst in-game-decision Charlie Weis made at Notre Dame, which is saying something…

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Irish in the NFL: Tyler Eifert records first TD catch since Week 2

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert, a former Notre Dame Fighting Irish, hauled in his second touchdown of the season on Sunday.

Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Tyler Eifert recorded his second touchdown of the season on Sunday – and his first since Week 2 – in Cincinnati’s 49-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

It was the first career touchdown pass for Bengals rookie quarterback Ryan Finley, a fourth round pick out of North Carolina State in 2019.

It’s been an ugly season for the Bengals, who replaced veteran Andy Dalton with Finley officially on Sunday.

Finley was able to connect on a six-yard touchdown pass with Eifert, a long-time reliable target for Dalton, giving Finley the first of what Cincinnati hopes will be many touchdowns for the young gunslinger.

The Bengals are barreling toward an early pick in 2020 however, making Finley’s time as a starter potentially short-lived.

Regardless, expect Eifert – who had 140 receptions and 11 touchdowns while at Notre Dame – to be a go-to target for Finley while he gets his NFL legs under him.

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