Just over 11 weeks from now we’ll have Notre Dame and Navy returning to the football field to start their 2020 college football seasons. Until then we’ll be counting the days by sharing memories of players, coaches and games that helped shape Notre Dame’s football legacy.
Yesterday we counted down 79 to go with Jonas Gray’s long touchdown run to take the lead at Pitt in 2011, in a game where Notre Dame struggled for points but walked away victorious. Now the countdown hits 78.
78: Length of Elmer Layden’s pick-six in 1925 Rose Bowl, the longest interception return in Notre Dame bowl history.
Notre Dame’s first bowl appearance came in the 1925 Rose Bowl, a 27-10 win over Stanford that cemented the Irish’s first national championship.
It also led to Notre Dame and USC becoming rivals as the two began their annual series a year later.
Layden was the star of the game, scoring another touchdown on the ground and returning a second interception for a score, this only being returned 63 yards that led to the final difference of 27-10.
The first interception return for a score by Notre Dame in a bowl game remains the longest to this day by any Irish player in a bowl game.
78 days – we’re getting there.