Tag: rick mirer

Recent former Notre Dame quarterbacks in their first NFL starts

Ian Book will be measuring up to these guys when he makes his first start.

With Ian Book getting the start for the New Orleans Saints this coming week, it brings many other former Notre Dame quarterbacks to mind. Specifically, we like to think of those in recent years who have been made starters for NFL teams and how they did in their debuts. Here are how these quarterbacks who once donned the gold and blue did in when they were first charged with NFL offenses in games:

Twitter reacts to Notre Dame’s win over USC

Notre Dame is riding high after reasserting itself as the dominant team of late in its rivalry with USC. After a one-year absence, the excitement for this matchup had not dwindled, and it was great to see the game play out as it did. There will come …

Notre Dame is riding high after reasserting itself as the dominant team of late in its rivalry with USC. After a one-year absence, the excitement for this matchup had not dwindled, and it was great to see the game play out as it did. There will come a season in which the Irish lose to the Trojans again, but 2021 will not be the year. So the only thing to do is celebrate.

Here are some Irish fans who reacted to this game for better or worse:

Watch: (Almost) All 1992 Notre Dame Home Games Here

Week Two’s tie against Michigan was first up that home season and despite a frustrating finish to the game, it did feature one of the best runs I’ve ever seen a Notre Dame player make when Reggie Brooks was knocked out by Corwin Brown but still stumbled into the end zone.  Not sure why but that one has not yet been added.  Stay tuned and we’ll link to it once/if it is.

Each week Notre Dame has been replaying a a different classic game on their YouTube page.  Two weeks ago it was the 2015 thrashing of Texas, last week was the win over No. 1 Florida State in 1993 and tonight was the airing of the 1992, last second win in “The Snow Bowl” over Penn State.

That thriller along with (almost) every other home game from the 1992 season are now available on the Notre Dame Athletics YouTube page.  From that year you’ll find the following games:

Week Two’s tie against Michigan was first up that home season and despite a frustrating finish to the game, it did feature one of the best runs I’ve ever seen a Notre Dame player make when Reggie Brooks was knocked out by Corwin Brown but still stumbled into the end zone.  Not sure why but that one has not yet been added.  Stay tuned and we’ll link to it once/if it is.

A 48-0 thrashing of Purdue in Week Four to move Notre Dame to 3-0-1 is next.  Is there every anything boring about blowing out the Boilermakers?  Didn’t think so.

One of the most maddening Notre Dame losses of my lifetime came in Week Five as Stanford came back from a 16-0 deficit as John Lynch and Glyn Milburn sparked a 33-0 run and ruined Notre Dame’s title dreams.

Three weeks later Notre Dame was back in the top-ten and welcomed BYU to Notre Dame Stadium for the first meeting between the two ever.  The Irish rolled over the Cougars 42-16 while holding them to just 13 rush yards on 16 attempts.

The first Saturday in November brought a battle of top-ten teams as No. 9 Boston College came to South Bend and was demolished 54-7 on the day that scenes from “Rudy” were filmed.

Finally, Senior Day 1992 was that “Snow Bowl” thriller over Penn State, 17-16.  Watch that and enjoy an all-time send off for the likes of Rick Mirer, Jerome Bettis and Reggie Brooks.

1992 was an extremely fun year and perhaps the year that I started to take a real interest in Notre Dame football.  I don’t recall a ton of moments but I do know for certain that I watched the Stanford game and got very upset that season.  Six year old me didn’t handle losing well.  Hell, 34 year old me doesn’t handle losing well.

That said it was a still solid 10-1-1 campaign that finished with a drubbing of Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl and a final ranking of fourth overall.

Notre Dame Watch Party This Saturday – 1992 “The Snow Bowl” vs. Penn State

Senior Day for Rick Mirer, Jerome Bettis and Reggie Brooks ended with each of them having a hand in the final outcome as the clock wound down on a Notre Dame victory.

I’ve been talking to Fighting Irish Wire’s own Nick Shepkowski on and off for about a year about Notre Dame Football.

You’d be hard-pressed to find any conversation we’ve had where the 1992 “Snow Bowl” game between No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 22 Penn State is not mentioned.

In our Irish Wire Greatest Games Tournament, we both had a hard time not placing this as a one seed.

“Catholics vs. Convicts” was a blood bath filled with palace intrigue and the game which eventually catapulted the Irish toward a national title.

“The Game of the Century” was a blockbuster movie on a picturesque fall afternoon with David slaying Goliath.

Both had more “stakes” than Notre Dame and Penn State playing for spots in better bowl games and pride.

But “The Snow Bowl” was a whimsical, fairy-tale of a contest. It looked more like a Norman Rockwell painting than a college football game. It was simply two teams going out on a snowy afternoon and playing football the way it was meant to be played.

And for this nine-year old transfixed on the screen at the time, the only thing that mattered was the beauty in front of him. It didn’t matter there was no hope for a championship for either team.  It was football in the snow and truly, as a kid, there are few things better. Maybe that’s why it’s imprinted on my brain the most memorable game in my fandom.

And thankfully for all of you Irish fans, you’ll have a chance to see the re-broadcast in all of its glory this Saturday night as the next in the #NDWatchParty series.

Senior Day for Rick Mirer, Jerome Bettis and Reggie Brooks ended with each of them having a hand in the final outcome as the clock wound down on a Notre Dame victory.

Will we have a live simultaneous commentary broadcast during this game? Well…I’m getting a new dog and it’s my wife’s birthday Saturday, but this is a game worth burning some bridges on the home front.

Celebration Time – Happy Birthday to Three Former Notre Dame Stars

Everyone might be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day but if you played football at Notre Dame, your birthday is celebrated two days later.

Everyone might be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day but if you played football at Notre Dame, your birthday is celebrated two days later.

OK, that’s not actually the case but it’s a pretty celebratory day for three Notre Dame football legends as Julian Love (22), Quenton Nelson (24) and Rick Mirer (50) all celebrate birthdays today.

Since all three were great and created countless memories with their highlight-worthy play while at Notre Dame, let’s celebrate the three today.

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New Notre Dame Duo Among Sports Illustrated’s Top Ten

I really want there to be a college football version of NBA JAM now.  

In an almost NBA Jam style discussion, Sports Illustrated rated the ten best quarterback and running back duos that have signed their letters of intent this winter.  It simply takes who they think are the ten best, not putting them in any order 1-10.

Notre Dame was represented as quarterback Drew Pyne and running back Chris Tyree drew praise.

Pyne looks like the immediate depth the Irish needs at the quarterback position coming off of a prep career in which he tallied 125 total scores (20 rushing) as a four-year starter. Tyree is one of the fastest and quickest incoming players at any position when healthy. Don’t let either undersized talent fool you heading into their time in South Bend.

The only real takeaways I have from this list are three things:

  1. The most-elite programs mostly make up this list with Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M and Oregon appear on it.  The only surprises really are Tennessee and South Carolina.
  2. This is built a lot on repuatation and Notre Dame appearing on the list speaks highly of how the Fighting Irish are at least preceived in that regard.
  3. I really want there to be a college football version of NBA JAM now.

On that last point, what would Notre Dame’s most-lethal pairing of a quarterback and running back be all-time?

Mirer and Bettis or Brooks in the early-nineties?

Tony Rice and Ricky Watters?

Brady Quinn and Darius Walker?