Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503982
UNDER THE DOME 10 AUGUST 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED The two biggest home games on the 2023 Notre Dame football schedule are officially sellouts. The stadium in South Bend will be at capacity (77,622) for the Sept. 23 game against Ohio State and the Oct. 14 matchup versus USC, Notre Dame announced June 28. Notre Dame sold out four of six home games in 2022 with an average at- tendance of 76,192 (98.2 percent capacity). While the Trojans trek to South Bend every other year, the Buckeyes have only made the four-hour road trip northwest two times — ever. Notre Dame beat Ohio State 7-2 in South Bend in 1936 and lost to the Buckeyes 29-16 in 1996. Notre Dame and Ohio State have squared off seven times total, and OSU holds an all-time edge of 5-2 in the series. Ohio State and USC will both probably be highly ranked at the time of their trips to face the Irish. The Buckeyes have games at Indiana and at home against Youngstown State and Western Kentucky before battling under the lights versus the Irish. USC plays San Jose State, Nevada, Stanford, Arizona State, Colorado and Arizona before the midseason matchup with the Irish. With reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams in control of the Trojans' offense, it would not be surprising in the slightest to see USC waltz into Notre Dame Stadium with a record of 6-0. Like for Williams, the Irish will be the first big test of the season for Ohio State's starting quarterback — who is still undecided. It is expected to be either redshirt sophomore Kyle McCord or redshirt freshman Devin Brown. The sellout crowd will have the luxury of watching one of those two signal- callers throw the ball to junior wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., a finalist for the 2022 Biletnikoff Award given to the nation's best wideout who enters the upcoming campaign as the offseason favorite to take home the hardware. Behind a stellar showing from Williams last November, USC beat Notre Dame for the first time since 2016. The Irish lead the all-time series 50-38-5, including vacated victories. The two programs have gone head-to-head in every season but four dating back to 1926. The only years they did not meet on the gridiron were 1943-45 and 2020 because of World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. The Irish are trying to beat the Buckeyes for the first time in 87 years, meanwhile. Ohio State has won all five of the most recent matchups dating back to 1995. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was on the OSU roster when the Buckeyes beat the Irish 34-20 in the 2015 Fiesta Bowl. Freeman has since pledged his full allegiance to Notre Dame. He'd love nothing more than to lead the Irish to a victory over his alma mater in front of a sold-out crowd in late September. — Tyler Horka NOTRE DAME ANNOUNCES SELLOUTS OF TWO HOME GAMES Notre Dame has more College Football Hall of Fame inductees than any other program in the sport's history. Another name could be added to the current list of 55 players and coaches. All-American cornerback Todd Lyght, who was a member of the last Notre Dame team to win a national championship in 1988, is on the 2024 Hall of Fame ballot. He is one of 78 play- ers and nine coaches up for induction. His career accolades ooze with Hall-of-Fame worthiness. Lyght, 54, is the only Notre Dame alum to start on a national championship team, earn unanimous All-America honors, be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, start on a Super Bowl winning team and earn NFL All-Pro honors. Many of the game's greats have called South Bend home over the years. None have put together that detailed of a résumé. Lyght was recruited as a wide receiver but quickly switched to the defensive side of the ball. He was a three-year starter and a two- time consensus All-American who finished his career with 161 total tackles, 20.5 passes bro- ken up and 11 interceptions. His 8 picks in 1989 are tied for the third most in a single season in Notre Dame history. The St. Louis Rams took Lyght with the No. 5 overall selection in the 1991 NFL Draft. He turned in a professional career that lasted a dozen years with the Rams and Detroit. He finished it with 37 interceptions. The defining moment of his NFL career was a field goal block in a seven-point Super Bowl victory for the Rams over the Tennessee Titans in 2000. Lyght stuck with the game as a coach for a decade following his retirement after the 2002 season. He was the defensive backs coach at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High School from 2009-10 before ascending to the college ranks as a defensive intern at Oregon from 2011-12. He turned that stint into an opportunity in the NFL as an assistant defensive backs coach with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2013-14. From 2015-19, Lyght was the defensive backs coach at Notre Dame. The College Football Hall of Fame class of 2024 will be announced early next year. The class will be officially inducted on Dec. 10, 2024. — Tyler Horka TODD LYGHT LANDS ON 2024 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME BALLOT Lyght was a three-year starter and two-time consensus All-American at cornerback for the Irish from 1987-90. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Notre Dame Stadium was sold out for four of six games in 2022. Two of the Irish's home games in 2023 are already sold out. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER