Tag: Notre Dame Stadium

First Notre Dame football game on location for Fighting Irish Wire

We’re here in South Bend!

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – We like to mark milestones here at Fighting Irish Wire, and today is a big one. We have been credentialed for each of Notre Dame’s next five games, starting with today’s game at Northern Illinois. This is the first time we’ve been on location for a Notre Dame football game.

This is not our first trip to Notre Dame Stadium. As something of a training ground for us, we were here for the Blue-Gold Game in the spring. We now for the most part know what to expect whenever we come here. Hopefully, we can fit right in with those who have done this for years.

Make no mistake. We recognize how much of a privilege it is to cover the team that calls the House That Rockne Built home. So much history has happened here over almost a century, and we hope to do right by this treasured venue.

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Unseasonably cool temperatures forecast for Notre Dame home opener

Dress appropriately if you’re attending.

Football in general is associated with cooler temperatures, at least in the northern part of the country where Notre Dame is located. But it usually isn’t expected to come while it still officially is summer. Yet that’s what fans attending the Irish’s home opener against Northern Illinois likely will experience.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the AccuWeather forecast for South Bend has a high temperature of 60 degrees for Saturday. Other online forecasts only have it a few degrees warmer. Temperatures aren’t expected to be that low in the area again until the latter half of October.

The good news is it doesn’t appear it will rain at Notre Dame Stadium. However, you will want to bring a jacket to combat the clouds and wind that are expected. It will feel like fall even though that season won’t officially arrive for another couple of weeks.

While the day will be cool, the Irish are hot, and they’ll look to continue that against the Huskies.

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ESPN highlight of Notre Dame 2008 win over Michigan

Were you at this game?

Notre Dame’s rivalry with Michigan needs to happen with regularity again. It can involve just as much intensity as the Irish’s annual clash with USC. When you beat a rival convincingly, it can be just as fulfilling as squeaking by in a thriller.

Take, for example, the Irish’s 35-17 win over the Wolverines in 2008. Everything went he Irish’s way on the day [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag]’s statue at Notre Dame Stadium was dedicated. They benefited from six Wolverines turnovers and jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Oh, and [autotag]Charlie Weis[/autotag] injured his knee on a play he was caught up in.

Here are the highlights as presented on ESPN later on:

You can see [autotag]Jimmy Clausen[/autotag]’s stats on the graphic at the end. You can’t see that [autotag]Golden Tate[/autotag] caught four passes for 127 yards and one touchdown. You also can’t see that [autotag]Robert Hughes[/autotag] ran for 79 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

Why do we have to wait until 2033 for these teams to play each other again?

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One College Football Playoff projection has game Notre Dame fans want

How would you like the chance to beat Brian Kelly in the postseason?

For nearly three years, there is one matchup Notre Dame fans have been clamoring for. They felt jilted the moment Brian Kelly abruptly left for LSU, and they want the Irish to prove to him that he was wrong to ditch them. One College Football Playoff projection would provide that opportunity.

The Athletic released its early playoff projection, and it has the Irish as the eighth seed, hosting the Tigers at Notre Dame Stadium. If this happened, Irish fans would be out for blood and would make life absolutely miserable for Kelly and his team. Combined with the cold temperatures, the result could be as intense an atmosphere as there’s ever been in South Bend.

Obviously, there’s a long way to go before this can become reality. For now, the mere thought of the Irish sticking it to Kelly is enough to get fans excited. Let’s see it come to pass.

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Heather Dinich: Notre Dame will host Miami in College Football Playoff

A new generation of Catholics vs. Convicts?

Notre Dame and Miami are scheduled to face each other during the 2025 regular season, the first meeting between the schools since 2017.

But what if they meet each other sooner? Like in this year’s College Football Playoff?

Heather Dinich has unveiled her projections for the first year of the expanded playoff in a story available only to ESPN+ subscribers. She has the Irish as the seventh seed and hosting the Hurricanes at Notre Dame Stadium.

While it surely wouldn’t be as famous as the Catholics vs. Convicts game, both teams’ seasons would be on the line, so more definitely would be at stake here.

There have been several preseason projections for the playoff, but most of the ones we’ve seen so far have the Irish either going on the road or missing it altogether.

Whatever anyone thinks though, it’s ultimately up to the Irish themselves to make their case. The talent is there, but they have to win the games they’re supposed to in order to be considered. They can do it.

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Notre Dame announces two more football games have been sold out

Going to either of these games?

Notre Dame is expected to have a big season, and fans want to get out to see the Irish. Naturally, fans want to see them at Notre Dame Stadium, and it’s becoming clear it doesn’t matter who the opponent is.

While sellouts are typical for Irish games, it always amazes that they happen even when it’s not the home opener or involving a high-profile opponent. The Irish have confirmed this fact by announcing they’ve sold out the game against Miami (Ohio) and their lone night home game against Florida State. This is on top of the sellout against Louisville they already announced, bringing their sellout total to three:

If you want to go to a home game this year but haven’t bought tickets, there’s no need to panic yet. There still are three games available: the home opener, senior day and the annual clash with Stanford. It’s not too late.

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247Sports projects Notre Dame-Ole Miss for College Football Playoff

The Irish don’t host in this projection.

Until the 2024 season begins, we’re left to make our own predictions for the newly expanded College Football Playoff. The only certainty is that Notre Dame can’t have higher than a fifth seed since the top four seeds are reserved for conference champions.

Most people think the Irish will host a first-round game, but Brad Crawford of 247Sports says not so fast. Crawford released his bowl projections for the season. While he does have the Irish in the No. 5 vs. No. 11 game, he has them as the 11th seed, traveling to Ole Miss.

The Irish and Rebels haven’t played each other much, and it’s been a long time. The Rebels were the only team the Irish lost to during their 1977 championship season, and the Irish won their only other meeting in 1985 in South Bend. Historically, this isn’t anything close to a rivalry.

Still, the Irish could use this as bulletin-board material. They know they’re good enough to host a first-round game at Notre Dame Stadium, and this should give them extra motivation to have a season that guarantees them that honor.

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College football podcast spills beans on Notre Dame Stadium end zones

How many of you knew this already?

Any college football diehard will know Notre Dame Stadium has one of the most unique designs for its end zones. While other college football stadiums paint their end zones, Notre Dame opts for simple lines all angled in a certain direction.

But what do those lines signify? Why don’t the Irish dress their end zones up like other teams do?

Some of you might already know the answer, but for those who don’t, college football podcaster Ty Hildenbrandt spelled it out:

Yes, the lines have everything to do with the year the university was founded along with the location of the Golden Dome, the focal point of a campus filled with one famous attraction after another. If this doesn’t tell you how steeped the Irish are in tradition, nothing will.

To that end, it stands to reason that as long as those end zones stay designed as they are, the Irish will not be joining a conference until they’re pretty much forced to. Notre Dame defines itself with tradition, and at least for the moment, that will not change.

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Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, Riley Leonard appear on ‘SportsCenter’

The Irish get some promoting in with the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

With college football’s returning closer with each passing day, the hype machine has to be turned on right now. Case in point, Notre Dame has decided now is the time to make the rounds with ESPN. The Irish representatives have a full schedule packed:

Two moments from this unofficial marketing by the Irish were highlighted by the program’s social media account. Both of them took place during “SportsCenter”.

First, [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] went through the two-minute drill with Notre Dame alumnus [autotag]Hannah Storm[/autotag], the wife of [autotag]Dan Hicks[/autotag], who will return to call Irish games on NBC this season:

New Irish quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] also was featured. Among other things, he was asked how he anticipates coming onto the field for the first time at Notre Dame Stadium:

Simply put, the Irish don’t plan to leave New York without making a major impact on the programs they will appear on. There are many ways to get fans excited, and this is among the most effective. We’ll see exactly how effective soon enough.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

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ESPN college football writers rank Notre Dame Stadium fourth-best

Pretty good ranking.

College football will be here before you know it, and that means anticipation of going to its hallowed stadiums. Among those excited for it are the ESPN writers who cover the sport. To reflect that, ESPN asked 14 of them to rank their top 20 stadiums in order. From there, the top 25 stadiums would be determined.

Notre Dame Stadium comes in at fourth on the list behind LSU’s Tiger Stadium, the Rose Bowl and Michigan Stadium. Adam Rittenberg was given the honor talking about the Irish’s home:

“Since opening in 1930, Notre Dame Stadium has hosted some of college football’s most significant teams, players, coaches and moments. But the venue is known as much for what lies just beyond its northern edge as for what’s inside.

Since fall 1964, the ‘Word of Life’ mural on the university library tower has welcomed ball carriers to the north end zone. Known as ‘Touchdown Jesus,’ the mural depicts Jesus Christ with his arms raised, similar to the touchdown signal. Located a little more than a football field away from the Knute Rockne Gate, where Notre Dame players enter for each game, Touchdown Jesus is visible from a portion of seats in the south part of the stadium and is frequently shown in camera shots of Notre Dame contests.”

All things considered, this was as good a ranking as Notre Dame Stadium could have hoped for. Do you agree, or should it have been higher? But that’s the point of these lists. We debate them until the cows come home, and this should be no exception.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89