Notre Dame Football Throwback Thursday: Time To Go Bowling

It’s the day before Christmas and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are headed to a College Football Playoff game. Are you excited? I am excited; about the game and the holidays. As a wise former Notre Dame football player once told me, if you want to be the best, you need to beat the best. Next week I’m going to throwback to a Notre Dame VS. Alabama game, but this week I’m going to take a look at the history of Notre Dame in post season bowl games.

Notre Dame played in it’s first bowl game in 1925 against Stanford at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. There were 53,000 fans in attendance to witness the Notre Dame 27-10 win over the Stanford Cardinal.

Notre Dame has played 24 different teams in post season bowl games: Stanford, Texas, Nebraska, Alabama, Penn State, Houston, Georgia, Boston College, SMU, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Georgia Tech, Oregon State, NC State, Ohio State, Hawaii, Miami, Rutgers, Clemson and Iowa State.

The Fighting Irish have played a total of 37 bowl games, and they have played Alabama, Colorado, LSU, Texas, and Texas A&M three times each.

The largest Notre Dame margin of victory is a tie. They beat Texas by 28 points (38-10) in January of 1978, at the Cotton Bowl, in Dallas, Texas. (Attendance 76,701) They also beat Hawaii by 28 points (49-21) at the Hawaii Bowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii, in December of 2008.

The largest Notre Dame defeat (40-6) as at the hands of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Orange Bowl, in January of 1973. (Attendance 80,010)

The closest Notre Dame win is a three-way a tie. They beat Alabama (24-23) in January of 1973, by one point in the Sugar Bowl, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Attendance 85,161) They beat Houston (35-34) in the Cotton Bowl, in January of 1979, by one point. (Attendance 32,500) And they also beat Boston College (19-18) in the Liberty Bowl, in December of 1983, by one point. (Attendance 47,071)

I hope that when we face Alabama in the College Football Playoff game that we come out guns blazing and have a competitive game, but I’m not going to worry about that today. Today I’m going to enjoy time with my family and celebrate the holiday. I hope you are doing the same. Stop by next Thursday for my Throwback Thursday to a Notre Dame VS. Alabama match-up. Is there any game in particular you want to see? Let me know in the comments below.

Merry Christmas ... and GO IRISH!