Notre Dame’s 2020 football schedule is officially out. Check it out here and find out what longtime rivalry sadly ends…
Notre Dame and the ACC unveiled their 2020 football schedule on Thursday with some significant changes compared to what it looked like just a month ago.
Here’s how 2020 shapes up for Notre Dame:
Notre Dame 2020 Football Schedule:
September 12 vs. Duke
September 19 vs. Western Michigan
September 26 at Wake Forest (Charlotte)
October 3 BYE
October 10 vs. Florida State
October 17 vs. Louisville
October 24 at Pitt
October 31 at Georgia Tech
November 7 vs. Clemson
November 14 at Boston College
November 21 BYE
November 27 at North Carolina
December 5 vs. Syracuse
December 12 or 19 ACC Championship in Charlotte
There it is – Notre Dame’s first schedule as a member of the ACC.
As you may notice, the Navy game was unable to be worked out, marking the end of a consecutive series that dates all the way back to 1927.
With games being moved and canceled, Notre Dame has been made aware that they’ll still be playing in one NFL venue for the first time in ’20
A growing assumption around college football has been that games scheduled for neutral sites would be moved to campus venues for 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That was the case last week when the Notre Dame versus Georgia Tech contest was moved to Bobby Dodd Stadium on Tech’s campus, but one ACC opponent of Notre Dame’s is sticking with the game being played in a neutral, NFL stadium.
Notre Dame was scheduled to play Wake Forest on September 26 before the ACC schedule changes were announced last week. Wake Forest officially announced Tuesday that the game, known as the Duke’s Mayo Classic this season, will remain on September 26 in at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
That will add to the list of venues Notre Dame has played a football game in and gives one of the ten dates of Notre Dame’s ACC games this season while Wake Forest will play their other official home games at their actual home, Truist Field in 2020.
If Notre Dame is to qualify for the ACC Championship Game in 2020 they’ll make a return to trip to Charlotte as Bank of America Stadium has hosted the conference title game s10 of the last 11 years.
The Irish are still yet to announce an opponent or date for their one non-ACC game that they’re allowed this season.
Rachel Kuehn played her way through two rounds of stroke play and five rounds of match play at Pinehurst over a brutally hot week.
Rachel Kuehn recently took up running. Without much else to do this spring, she started logging miles. The 19-year-old, who just completed her first season on the Wake Forest women’s golf team, took to her new hobby so quickly, in fact, that she recently mapped out a half-marathon course around her Asheville, North Carolina, neighborhood and completed the makeshift race herself.
“To be honest with you, I actually am not that tired,” Kuehn said Saturday at the end of one last double-round day at the North & South Women’s Amateur.
Kuehn played her way through two rounds of stroke play and five rounds of match play at Pinehurst over a brutally steamy week. The physical endurance gave her a welcome edge. Now that she’s a runner, Kuehn doesn’t notice the fatigue as much on the course.
“It’s a marathon, you’re playing 36 holes at Pinehurst,” she said.
Kuehn didn’t hesitate to call a Round of 16 showdown with Rachel Heck, a player who has made the cut in two LPGA majors her toughest test of the week. Heck has plenty of pedigree, and as Kuehn said, “she’s just as good a competitor as her resume shows she is.
Kuehn birdied three of her last four to force play holes and win in 20 holes.
“I was really excited to be able to finish that way,” she said. “I’ve been in that position before and didn’t have the same result. It’s something that I can carry with me next time I’m in a similar position.”
On Saturday, Kuehn met Michigan State’s Haylin Harris on an early morning. Both gave a hole away here or there, but ultimately Kuehn needed just 16 holes to advance and meet Allisen Corpuz in the afternoon final.
Against Corpuz, Kuehn got up early but they went back and forth from there. The two were called off the course to sit out a storm before they hit the 12th tee, and when they returned, Kuehn pretended she was facing a miniature six-hole match. She wiped the slate clean in her mind.
“The momentum wasn’t in my favor so it gave me a chance to reset,” Kuehn said of having just lost Nos. 10 and 11.
Corpuz squared the match with a par on No. 17 as Kuehn made bogey, but ultimately Kuehn ended it with a par on the first extra hole.
After coming into No. 18 tied, Allisen Corpuz and Rachel Kuehn will head to the 19th hole (No. 1) for the 118th Women's North & South Amateur Championship 🏆 pic.twitter.com/lOTc2VKK0D
“The history at that golf course and at that tournament is rich to say the least,” she said. “You walk down that hallway at Pinehurst that has all the names. To know that my name is going to go up there with all of those players … is something that is so cool to me.”
All week long, Kuehn had a veteran voice in her ear in local caddie Keith Silva. A family friend connected the two. Silva’s legend has grown the past year as the man on Will Holcomb V’s bag. The Sam Houston State player advanced all the way to the semifinals at the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst last August, and was runner-up at the North & South Amateur earlier this month.
Kuehn is quite certainly more reserved in competition than Holcomb, who audibly jawed – good-naturedly – with Silva on the course.
“I would not have anything near the result I had without him,” she said matter-of-factly. “We work really well together and he knows that course like the back of his hand.
It got to the point where if the two disagreed on a line or shot, Kuehn deferred to Silva.
“That’s saying a lot because I’m a pretty stubborn person,” she said.
Rachel Kuehn walks with veteran Pinehurst caddie Keith Silva. (Hailie Sandor)
Kuehn carted home various momentos from Pinehurst this week. Each time a player makes a 2 on Pinehurst No. 2 – which Kuehn played six times in competition plus a practice round – the resort acknowledges it with a coin. Kuehn earned her first in the practice round and another in stroke play. Her mom suggested she try to win one more so that she could give one to each of her brothers and still have one for herself.
One of Rachel Kuehn’s “2 on 2” coins.
She ended up pocketing six.
Pinehurst awards a Putter Boy trophy to the champions of all it’s North & South tournaments. Runners-up take home a smaller one.
Rachel’s mom Brenda Corrie-Kuehn, who played the 2001 U.S. Women’s Open at nearby Pine Needles when she was 8 months pregnant with Rachel, was runner-up at the 1995 North & South Women’s Amateur. Her trophy lives in the Kuehn family den.
“Why don’t you go get a bigger one now,” Brenda joked with her daughter. The two remain competitive when it comes to sports.
It’s time for the Kuehn family to clear a space for a new piece of hardware, keeping in mind it’s probably not going to be the last time the display shelf gets reorganized.
If every conference only plays conference games in 2020, what does it mean for Notre Dame? The ACC seems to be the Irish life raft.
The Big Ten announced Thursday that their 2020 football season will feature only conference games. As a result there will be no Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, a game that was among the biggest non-conference match-ups set for the 2020 season.
Many anticipate more conferences to follow suit, which would leave Notre Dame in an extremely tough spot as an independent. However, it appears the ACC is at the ready to bail out the Fighting Irish.
#ACC commissioner John Swofford has said that if league adopts an all-conference football schedule for 2020, Notre Dame likely will be in mix. Irish already have six ACC opponents on docket.
It makes all the sense in the world as Notre Dame already has six games scheduled against ACC foes this season as Wake Forest, Pitt, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Louisville are all on it.
How exactly this would play out still very much remains to be seen.
For one, I don’t want just a six game season, although it would certainly be better than no football at all. At least I think.
Would the ACC add Notre Dame to one of the divisions and then only play divisional contests?
What exactly things would look like very much remain to be seen and it’s an incredible brain exercise just to try and start to do it.
There will be more here at Fighting Irish Wire as the day and week goes on but for now, here’s to hoping we get any football at all.
Draft Wire has the Baltimore Ravens grabbing Wake Forest WR Sage Surratt, further adding weapons for QB Lamar Jackson.
The Baltimore Ravens are building something special under quarterback Lamar Jackson — and for good reason. Jackson was already the franchise leader heading into last season but rewarded Baltimore’s gamble and persistence with an MVP performance and one of the best overall seasons from a quarterback in NFL history. Entering the 2020 season, the Ravens continued to surround Jackson with exciting talent as they look to make their offense undefendable. But according to Luke Easterling of Draft Wire, Baltimore adds yet another exciting pass catcher for Jackson in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
In his latest mock draft, Easterling has the Ravens selecting Wake Forest wide receiver Sage Surratt with the No. 31 overall pick in the first round. While Surratt was the sixth wide receiver off the board, there’s plenty of reason to be excited about what he’d bring to the team.
Surratt stands at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, making him a terrific size for a transition to the NFL. He uses that size well, both when run blocking and when he has the ball in his hands. Though he isn’t a speed demon and he isn’t something special in space, he’s got enough speed and athleticism to get open and make plays, even if he projects more as a possession receiver for the Ravens.
As has been the case with all the wide receivers Baltimore has drafted over the last two years, Surratt has great hands. The Ravens have previously struggled with drops and have gone out of their way to select receivers who are specifically noted for their ability to catch and hold on to the ball. He tracks the ball well and has strong hands when battling a defender in one-on-one situations.
Though this is a ridiculously early mock draft, it would match with Baltimore’s philosophy over the last few years. Since selecting Jackson in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Ravens have grabbed six wide receivers, including three in the first-three rounds. Baltimore might have far more pressing needs (like a pass rusher) come the 2021 NFL Draft but Surratt would be a solid fit if they were to take him.
Despite what Brian Kelly told Mike Tirico earlier this week, Notre Dame and Wake Forest is still set for Charlotte per the Wake Forest AD.
Earlier this week Brian Kelly made the media rounds. On his stop with Mike Tirico on NBCSN, he mentioned that Notre Dame’s neutral site games in NFL stadiums may be moving back to college campuses in 2020.
That’s not the case for at least one of those games.
At least not yet.
Notre Dame’s contest at Wake Forest is scheduled to be played September 26 in Charlotte instead of at Wake’s home field. Despite what Kelly told Tirico, Wake Forest’s athletic director says otherwise.
From the Winston-Salem Journal:
“We’re all ahead on Charlotte, excited about the opportunity,” Currie said. “Candidly, the demand for tickets would far exceed what we can fill at BB&T Field, especially if we have to take — as we would assume now — some sort of social distancing parameters.
“We’ll continue to evaluate the situation and obviously be in communication with (Athletics Director) Jack Swarbrick and the Notre Dame department.” – John Currie, Wake Forest Athletic Director
Bank of America Field in Charlotte has a capacity of nearly 2.5 times that of Wake Forest’s home, BB&T Field. Even if only half capacity at games is allowed this football season the game would likely draw a larger crowd in Charlotte with those restrictions than it would on a regular game day at Wake Forest.
Swarbrick, Kelly and the rest of the Notre Dame athletic department might be trying to move games back to college campuses but it certainly doesn’t seem like that’s happening.
Ever done an office confidence pool for football games? I fill out one from 12-1 and pick a winner for all Notre Dame’s games in 2020.
Notre Dame is likely to be a pre-season top ten team when they kick-off the 2020 football season on August 29 against annual rival Navy. The game is currently scheduled to be played in Dublin but a change of plans could be announced sooner rather than later in regards to that.
Of the 12 games scheduled some are potential “game of the week” material where ESPN’s College Gameday could very likely show up. Others are essentially fillers to complete the 12 game slate.
Which are the absolute easiest match-ups and which should scare Notre Dame fans the most?
Here are my confidence picks for Notre Dame games in 2020. Feel free to play along by commenting either here, by mentioning us on Twitter or on our Facebook page.
Stan Cotten to be inducted into Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.
KNOXVILLE — Stan Cotton, the longtime play-by-play voice of Wake Forest athletics, will be inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in July.
Cotton, a Farragut High School and University of Tennessee graduate, has been the Voice of the Demon Deacons for 24 years.
He is a three-time Tennessee Associated Press Broadcasters Association Award winner.
Cotten began his media career while at UT when he served as the sports director at WIVK, a flagship station of the Vol Network.
During that time, he also served as the weekend sports anchor at WTVK/WKXT-TV.
He began his college play-by-play career at Carson-Newman in Jefferson City, Tennessee, and later moved to Huntington, West Virginia, where he worked at Marshall.
As part of his duties in Winston-Salem with the Demon Deacons, he hosts the Dave Clawson Show and the Steve Forbes Show.
Both Clawson and Forbes were assistant coaches at Tennessee and Cotten’s career has spanned more than four decades.
The Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will be held virtually on July 21 and telecast on WBXX-TV.
John Currie hires Steve Forbes as head coach at Wake Forest.
WINSTON-SALEM — A former University of Tennessee assistant men’s basketball coach is off to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Former Tennessee assistant coach Steve Forbes has been hired to replace Danny Manning as head basketball coach at Wake Forest. He was hired by former Tennessee Director of Athletics John Currie, who now holds the same position with the Demon Deacons.
Forbes, who coached in Knoxville under Bruce Pearl from 2006-11, was most recently the head coach at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.
He was head coach for five seasons and compiled a record of 130-43 at ETSU.
Forbes guided the Buccaneers to the Southern Conference regular-season title and the Soouthern Conference Tournament championship in the 2019-20 season. He was named the conference coach of the year twice (2017, 2020) and guided ETSU to a 30-4 record last season. The Bucs were headed to the NCAA Tournament until the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely ended the college basketball season.
Despite coming back to Texas for the 2020-2021 season, 247Sports have put Smart on their list for potential head coach hires at Wake Forest.
Shaka Smart has been on the hot seat for the past couple of seasons, needing to make the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns were on pace to make the big dance in 2020, but the coronavirus shut down the season, not letting it play out.
Shortly after the season was canceled, athletic director Chris Del Conte announced Smart would be back for the 2020-2021 season. It will be his sixth season in Austin, needing to make the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in his tenure.
Despite all of this, 247Sports have put Smart as the first name of their list for potential head coach hires at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons fired Danny Manning after losing seasons in five of his six years. His one winning season saw them losing in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.
Here is what 247Sports had to say about the potential hire:
It’s 2014 all over again, as Shaka Smart is once again being linked to the Wake Forest Basketball head coaching position. Is it still a dream hire for Demon Deacon fans? It might be tough to find a more qualified candidate. Smart has made the NCAA Tournament seven of his 11 years coaching, and led VCU to the Final Four in 2011. Of course, he’s still the coach at Texas, a massive school with an astronomical athletics budget and a sizable contract buy-out that goes along with that. The friendship between incoming Wake Forest athletic director John Currie and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte could potentially bridge that gap, however. Del Conte has already announced that Smart will return for the 2020-21 season, and the Longhorns played reasonably well down the stretch last season.
If Del Conte was not willing to pay the buyout back in March, there is no reason he would do it today. Especially if it meant Smart was going to be coaching elsewhere. Texas would then be left without a head coach during an awkward time in the sports world.
While he is on the hot seat and needs to perform, Smart will be staying in Austin, Smart should be in place for the 2020-2021 season. Returning all of their talent next season, the Longhorns are set to have a good season. Possibly the best team Smart has assembled during his time as head coach.
