Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541560
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 29, 2025 13 95 Years Ago: Nov. 29, 1930 With the national title on the line between 8-0 Notre Dame and 8-0-1 Army, 110,000 spectators at Soldier Field barely witnessed a fog-laden game also played in cold and mucky conditions. The game was scoreless until, with only 3:30 re- maining, Irish halfback Marchy Schwartz broke loose and tallied a 54-yard touchdown run. Frank Carideo's point after made it 7-0 and would prove to be crucial. Army would block an Irish punt to score in the clos- ing minute, but the drop kick for the point after was blocked, leaving Irish head coach Knute Rockne's team ahead at the end, 7-6, and needing only a win at Southern Cal to clinch a second straight national title. 65 Years Ago: Nov. 26, 1960 In the mud and rain in Los Angeles, Notre Dame ended a school-record eight-game losing streak with a 17-0 victory versus Southern Cal and first- year coach John McKay. The 2-8 campaign matched the worst in Fighting Irish history, achieved in 1956. 45 Years Ago: Nov. 24, 1980 On the Monday after No. 2-ranked and 9-0-1 Notre Dame's home finale, and on a bye week before playing at Southern Cal, the Fighting Irish an- nounced that Cincinnati Moeller High head coach Gerry Faust would replace sixth-year head coach Dan Devine, who had declared his retirement for personal reasons Aug. 15. In 18 seasons at Moeller, Faust produced a record of 174-17-2 (.907 win- ning percentage), and his teams were named mythical national high school champions in 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1980. His program also produced approx- imately 250 college scholarship players, 18 of whom enrolled at Notre Dame. 40 Years Ago: Nov. 27, 1985 One day after fifth-year head coach Gerry Faust announced his resigna- tion at a Tuesday press conference prior to his 5-5 Irish playing at Miami (which would be a 58-7 loss), Minnesota second-year head coach Lou Holtz was announced as his successor the day before Thanksgiving. Notre Dame athletics director Gene Corrigan fa- cilitated the quick transition to the veteran Holtz, who had 16 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level and owned a 116-65-5 record (.637) in primarily rebuilding situations. 20 Years Ago: Nov. 26, 2005 After falling behind 31-30 with 1:46 remaining in the game at 5-5 Stanford, No. 6 Notre Dame answered with an 80-yard drive that ended with running back Darius Walker rushing for a 6-yard touchdown and then taking a direct snap for a two- point conversion with 55 seconds left. Walker fin- ished with 186 rushing yards on 35 carries to help 9-2 Notre Dame clinch a BCS bid to the Fiesta Bowl under first-year head coach Charlie Weis. Almost overshadowed was quarterback Brady Quinn's 432 passing yards, and wideouts Jeff Sa- mardzija and Maurice Stovall's 191 and 136 receiv- ing yards, respectively. 15 Years Ago: Nov. 27, 2010 With 2:23 remaining, senior running back Robert Hughes capped a seven-play, 77-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to give Notre Dame a 20-16 lead and eventual victory at Southern Cal in the rain and mud (just like in the 1960 win and the 1970 loss). The triumph under first-year head coach Brian Kelly enabled the 7-5 Irish to end the regular season on a three-game winning streak and snap the Trojans' record-tying eight-game winning streak against Notre Dame. Michigan State had also defeated the Irish eight straight from 1955-63. Hughes, barely used in the first nine games, finished with 69 yards on 11 carries and was awarded the game ball. UNDER THE DOME Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: Nov. 23-29 Running back Darius Walker capped his 186-yard rushing performance with a 6-yard touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion run with 55 seconds remaining to give No. 6 Notre Dame a 38-31 win at Stanford that clinched a BCS bid to the Fiesta Bowl on Nov. 26, 2005. PHOTO BY SEAN BRADY PATRICK What Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Leon- ard Moore does best is not pad his own stats, but wreck others'. Specifically, wide receivers who wander into his zone or get matched up man-to-man with the reign- ing FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year. And the college football world is taking notice — big time. On Nov. 20, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Round Rock, Texas, product was named one of four finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, an award given annually to the nation's top defensive player. The winner will be announced Dec. 8 at a banquet in Charlotte, N.C. Ohio State junior safety Caleb Downs, Texas A&M redshirt senior defensive end Cashius Howell and Texas Tech senior linebacker Jacob Rodriguez are the other three finalists. The Irish have had two previous winners — linebacker Manti Te'o in 2012 and safety Xavier Watts in 2023. ESPN's annual awards show this year is on Dec. 12, with the Heisman Trophy winner announced two days later. Leonard was also named a semifinalist for three other awards — the Lott Impact Trophy, the Bednarik Award and the Thorpe Award. The Lott and Bednarik, like the Nagurski, are national Defen- sive Player of the Year awards. The Thorpe Award goes to the nation's top defensive back. Moore missed two games because of injury, but has 25 tackles, 3 interceptions, 3 passes broken up and 1 forced fumble this season. He is the only cor- nerback in the nation to rank in the top 10 in both in- terception rate allowed and first-down rate allowed. The Irish defense, as a whole, has improved dra- matically since mid-September when Moore suf- fered his injury. Since Game 3 against Purdue, Notre Dame has leaped from 103rd nationally in pass efficiency defense to 19th, 104th to 29th in total de- fense and 117th to 17th in scoring defense heading into the Senior Day matchup with Syracuse Nov. 22. • The Doak Walker Award since 1990 has been given to the nation's top running back. And in the previous 35 years, not only has a Notre Dame back never won the award, Reggie Brooks in 1992 is the only Irish player to be named a finalist. Will all that change in 2025? Notre Dame junior Jeremiyah Love was named a semifinalist for the award, one of 10, with the list of finalists to be released Nov. 25. Love is also a semifinalist for two national Player of the Year awards — the Walter Camp Award and the Max- well Award. • Notre Dame senior punter James Rendell doesn't punt often, but he punts well enough to be named recently one of 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award, given annually to the nation's best punter. Rendell has punted 20 times this season for a 44.1-yard average. Eleven of those 20 punts were fielded or downed inside the 20. He has had one punt in his career trickle into the end zone for a touchback. Notre Dame's net punting, as a team, is 12th nationally at 42.6 yards. • Irish head coach Marcus Freeman is one of 24 semifinalists for the George Munger Coach of the Year Award. Freeman is the reigning award recipient, after leading the Irish to the CFP National Champion- ship Game in the 2024 season. Tyrone Willingham, in 2002, was Notre Dame's only other winner. — Eric Hansen Notre Dame Awards Roundup