Rockne’s Connections To SEC History

The Southeastern Conference was created in 1933, when 14 schools – including the 10 institutions that would become the historical core of the league – broke away from the huge, cumbersome Southern Conference. Everywhere you turned at the time, it seemed a former Notre Dame player under Coach Knute Rockne was leading the way. At   Read Full Post

Legendary Figures, Classic Battles Connect Notre Dame, Green Bay, U. of Wisconsin

Today’s announcement of the Notre Dame-Wisconsin series resuming after a 56-year hiatus opens a floodgate of historical connections. The two-game series at iconic venues – Lambeau Field in 2020, Soldier Field in 2021 – promises to be one of the toughest tickets imaginable, given the geography and the enthusiasm of the two fan bases. When   Read Full Post

ND Foe A Leader in Study of Concussions

It’s an image etched in the consciousness of Notre Dame fans watching the 2016 season opener at Texas. Senior co-captain Torii Hunter Jr. is prone in the end zone, his arms occasionally flailing, while a coterie of teammates and athletic trainers attend to him. Moments later, the camera picks up his dad, baseball great Torii   Read Full Post

ND Leads History of Top Crowds

For nearly a century, games involving Notre Dame have stood atop the list of the greatest crowds ever to witness a game of American football. This Saturday, there will likely be a new champion in that category. Tennessee and Virginia Tech are set to play at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in a game expected to   Read Full Post

Rockne 85 Years On: In Life and Death, He Moved a Nation

After all these years, the life of the Notre Dame icon continues to inspire The shocking news dispatches started reaching the eastern United States around mid-day on Tuesday, March 31, 1931. Eight people – including Notre Dame football coach and athletic director Knute Rockne — had lost their lives in the crash of Transcontinental &   Read Full Post

’57 Irish Used a Teammate’s Slight to Score Huge Upset

Ed Sullivan came to Notre Dame in 1953 from the football-rich area of western Pennsylvania, a solid lineman out of McKeesport and a late recruit by Coach Frank Leahy. Sullivan grew up idolizing Notre Dame, and headed west intent on getting an education and making his way into the Fighting Irish lineup. By his junior   Read Full Post

The Fantastic Day and Strange Tale of Art Smith

  When Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer threw for five touchdowns and ran for a sixth Saturday to lead a 42-30 victory at Pittsburgh, it was reported that his six TDs tied a modern record for Notre Dame. But one ESPN college football highlight show featured a graphic with the all-time bests. And there it   Read Full Post

High Drama Highlights ND Games at Pittsburgh

Notre Dame travels to Pittsburgh today for Saturday’s game against the Pitt Panthers. In recent years, the games have been decided by slim margins, regardless of the teams’ relative strengths. That’s consistent with a long history of close, dramatic contests, beginning more than a century ago. On Oct. 30, 1909, Coach Frank “Shorty” Longman brought   Read Full Post

Philly “Will Be Bonkers” for Irish-Temple Tilt

The Philadelphia Archdiocese is populated with 1.4 million Catholics. The area hosted the church’s “World Meeting of Families” this September, featuring a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis, drawing a crowd estimated in the hundreds of thousands. So it’s really no surprise that the first Notre Dame football game in Philadelphia since 1993 is a huge   Read Full Post

100 Years Ago Today: ND, Nebraska Start a Great Series

Shortly after Jesse Harper was hired from Wabash College to become Notre Dame’s first full-time athletic director and head football coach in 1913, he started working on upgrading and expanding the school’s football schedule. He contacted major colleges across the country, seeking to add major opponents. Harper’s efforts resulted in Notre Dame trips to play   Read Full Post