Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 NOV. 23, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame Shapes Up Its 2026 Schedule We know a little bit more about the 2026 Notre Dame football schedule now. The Fighting Irish will play the SMU Mustangs for the first time in nearly 40 years, and the annual rivalry game against Navy will be played at Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL's New England Patriots. SMU is replacing Virginia on Notre Dame's 2026 schedule to allow for the Cavaliers to set up a home-and-home with West Virginia. The news comes recently after learning the Irish will open the 2025 season at Miami and will have a home-and-home with Texas in 2028 and 2029. The Mustangs and Irish have met on the football field 13 times before, with Notre Dame owning a 10-3 record in the all-time series. The Irish won the last meeting, 59-6, in South Bend on Nov. 11, 1989. SMU last beat the Irish 27-20 in the 1984 Aloha Bowl in Ha- waii four days after Christmas. Notre Dame played SMU in seven of eight years between 1951 and 1958. The Irish went 5-2 in those matchups. This is a series that dates all the way back to Oct. 4, 1930, in the first game at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish opened their new venue with a 20-14 victory. Notre Dame will be making its Gillette Stadium debut, meanwhile. The Fighting Irish have a 5-0 record at NFL venues since the start of the 2022 season, including two wins over Navy at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. — Tyler Horka Notre Dame Named A Semifinalist for Joe Moore Award Despite going into Texas A&M with six combined starts among the five offensive line starters that night in College Station, multiple injuries thereafter and subsequent shuffling of starters, Notre Dame was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award Nov. 12. The honor is bestowed annually upon the best offensive line in col- lege football. Per the Joe Moore Award's official website, the award recognizes offensive lines that exhibit "unparalleled toughness, effort, team- work, consistency, technique, and ability to finish." The nine other semifinalists are Alabama, Army, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Tulane. Former Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand is now on the Joe Moore Award voting committee. He led the Fighting Irish to winning the award in 2017. Other winners of the award since its inception almost a decade ago include Alabama in 2015 and 2020, Iowa in 2016, Oklahoma in 2018, LSU in 2019, Michigan in 2021 and 2022, and Washington in 2023. The award is named after former Pittsburgh (1980-85), Temple (1986-87) and Notre Dame (1988-96) offensive line coach Joe Moore. "Joe was a mentor and one of the best to ever do it, so I know first- hand what it takes to be recognized as the nation's most outstanding unit," Hiestand said in a statement. "We're looking for lines that are the backbone of their offense — units that play hard, establish lever- age, and punish defenders whenever they get the chance. "It's about playing as one, with every lineman blocking in sync. There are some hard-working units out there, earning the commit- tee's attention through their leadership, consistency, technique, and effort." — Tyler Horka Former Notre Dame Coach Gerry Faust Dies At 89 Gerry Faust, the successor to Dan Devine and Lou Holtz's predeces- sor as Notre Dame football's head coach, passed away earlier this month, per a statement from his family. Faust was 89. Faust was the longtime head coach of Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati from 1962 until he took over at Notre Dame in 1981. He parlayed a 174-17-2 record at Moeller into claiming one of the highest-profile head coaching jobs in all of football. It just didn't work out as planned from there. Faust logged a record of 30-26-1 in five seasons at the helm in South Bend before moving on to coach at Akron for almost a decade. At that in- stitution in his home state of Ohio, the Dayton native compiled a mark of 43-53-3 to finish his college coaching career with a final line of 73-79-4. It was always about much more than wins and losses for Faust, though, his family explained in its statement. "Throughout an extraordinary life driven by an unwavering and deep devotion to his Catholic faith, he was a beloved mentor to countless young men on and off the playing field," the Faust family statement said. "His work ethic, optimism, leadership and humility were legend- ary. He leaves behind a legacy of perseverance, compassion and inspi- ration, reminding us all of the extraordinary impact one life can have. "While most knew him as a coach, we will long remember him as a wonderful father and a grandfather who inspired us through example to live our best lives." — Tyler Horka NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL 2026 SCHEDULE Date Opponent Sept. 5 vs. Wisconsin* Sept. 19 Michigan State Sept. 26 at Purdue Oct. 3 at North Carolina Oct. 31 at Navy^ Nov. 28 at USC TBA at Florida State TBA Miami TBA SMU TBA Syracuse * at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.: ^ at Gillette Stadium in Fox- borough, Mass.; two opponents TBD Faust logged a record of 30-26-1 in five seasons at the helm in South Bend before moving on to coach at Akron for almost a decade. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS