100 days until Notre Dame football: How Irish have fared in front of 100,000
There are 100 days until Notre Dame football. When the Fighting Irish kick off the 2024 season against the Texas A&M Aggies on Aug. 31, they’ll do so in front of over 100,000 fans at Kyle Field — a stadium with an official capacity of 102,733.
That has traditionally meant bad news for the blue and gold.
Notre Dame has a 2-11 record in games played in front of at least 100,000 folks since 1999. The two wins came at Tennessee in 2004 and at Michigan in 2005. The Wolverines have seven victories over the Irish in Ann Arbor in that span. Notre Dame has also lost to Ohio State (2022), Texas (2016) and Penn State (2007) with six-digit crowds on hand in the last quarter century.
Here’s a recap of all 13 games.
Date: Sept. 4, 1999
Opponent: No. 7 Michigan
Venue:
Attendance: 111,523
Score: Wolverines 26, Irish 22
Notes: The No. 16 Irish turned a 6-0 first-quarter deficit into a 14-6 halftime lead with touchdown runs from Joey Getherall and Jarious Jackson, but Michigan outscored the Irish 17-8 from there. Anthony Thomas scored the game-winning touchdown for the home team with 1:38 left.
Date: Nov. 11, 1999
Opponent: No. 4 Tennessee
Venue: Neyland Stadium
Attendance: 107,619
Score: Volunteers 38, Irish 14
Notes: Tennessee scored at least touchdown in every quarter but the first. The Vols still led 3-0 after 15 minutes. It was never close for a No. 24 Notre Dame team that finished the season with four straight losses to end up with a record of 5-7.
Date: Sept. 13, 2003
Opponent: No. 5 Michigan
Venue: Michigan Stadium
Attendance: 111,726
Score: Wolverines 38, Irish 0
Notes: The final score says it all. So does the yardage disparity; 439 for Michigan and 140 for No. 15 Notre Dame. Chris Perry scored four of Michigan’s touchdowns and accounted for 177 yards from scrimmage.
Date: Nov. 6, 2004
Opponent: No. 9 Tennessee
Venue: Neyland Stadium
Attendance: 107,266
Score: Irish 17, Volunteers 14
Notes: Notre Dame took a 14-10 lead on a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown by Mike Goolsby and never looked back despite getting out-gained 327 to 216. Sophomore quarterback Brady Quinn was 12-of-23 for 118 yards and a touchdown. He did not turn the ball over.
Date: Sept. 10, 2005
Opponent: No. 3 Michigan
Venue: Michigan Stadium
Attendance: 111,386
Score: Irish 17, Wolverines 10
Notes: Brady Quinn threw first-half touchdown passes to Rhema McKnight and Jeff Samardzija. D.J. Fitzpatrick tacked on a 43-yard second-half field goal. A stifling No. 20 Notre Dame defense led by Brandon Hoyte and Tom Zbikowski held Michigan’s Chad Henne to 19-of-44 for 223 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.
Date: Sept. 8, 2007
Opponent: No. 14 Penn State
Venue: Beaver Stadium
Attendance: 110,078
Score: Nittany Lions 31, Irish 10
Notes: Notre Dame scored the first touchdown of the game, but it was nearly all Nittany Lions from then on. Jimmy Clausen‘s first career start didn’t go to plan; he was sacked six times.
Date: Sept. 15, 2007
Opponent: Michigan
Venue: Michigan Stadium
Attendance: 111,178
Score: Wolverines 38, Irish 0
Notes: Notre Dame had 79 total yards. Michigan had 379. None of the four quarterbacks who appeared in the game, two on each side, reached 100 passing yards. Mike Hart and the Wolverines simply ran all over the Irish.
Date: Sept. 12, 2009
Opponent: Michigan
Venue: Michigan Stadium
Attendance: 110,278
Score: Wolverines 38, Irish 34
Notes: Notre Dame wide receivers Golden Tate and Michael Floyd combined for 16 receptions, 246 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns for the No. 18 Irish — and it still wasn’t enough.
Date: Sept. 10, 2011
Opponent: Michigan
Venue: Michigan Stadium
Attendance: 114,804
Score: Wolverines 35, Irish 31
Notes: A new college football attendance record was set under the lights at Michigan Stadium, which was also a first. Notre Dame took a 24-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Denard Robinson and the Wolverines stormed back and took their first lead with 1:12 remaining. Tommy Rees and Theo Riddick got it back for Notre Dame with 30 seconds left, but then Robinson hit Roy Roundtree with two seconds remaining in one of the wildest finishes in recent memory.
Date: Sept. 7, 2013
Opponent: No. 17 Michigan
Venue: Michigan Stadium
Attendance: 115,109
Score: Wolverines 41, Irish 30
Notes: This stood as the highest attendance at a college football game until Virginia Tech and Tennessee played in front of 156,990 people at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 10, 2016.
Date: Sept. 4, 2016
Opponent: Texas
Venue: Darrell K Royal—Texas Memorial Stadium
Attendance: 102,315
Score: Longhorns 50, Irish 47 (2OT)
Notes: Both teams went on to have losing seasons, but in the moment this game was college football at its finest. A true shootout. No. 10 Notre Dame tied the game at 37 with 3:29 left on a Shaun Crawford extra point block. Unranked Texas would have went up 38-35 with a make. Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes scored both of the Longhorns’ touchdowns in overtime.
Date: Oct. 26, 2019
Opponent: No. 19 Michigan
Venue: Michigan Stadium
Attendance: 111,909
Score: Wolverines 45, Irish 14
Notes: The box score says “weather: rain.” No. 8 Notre Dame still threw the ball 29 times. The Irish couldn’t run, though — just 31 times for 72 yards. Michigan racked up 344 yards on 57 attempts. It was a bludgeoning of the highest order.
Date: Sept. 3, 2022
Opponent: No. 2 Ohio State
Venue: Ohio Stadium
Attendance: 106,594
Score: Buckeyes 21, Irish 10
Notes: No. 5 Notre Dame led 10-7 late into the third quarter, then CJ Stroud happened. In the end, Tyler Buchner just wasn’t made for a shootout with a quarterback who’d be named NFL Rookie of the Year a year and a half later.
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