Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 DECEMBER 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 95 Years Ago: Dec. 6, 1930 Forty-two-year-old Knute Rockne capped his 13th season at Notre Dame with a 27-0 demolition of powerful Southern Cal at the Los Angeles Coliseum to extend the program's winning streak to 19, finish 10-0 and capture his third consensus national title (and second straight). Southern Cal, which would capture the national title the next two seasons, had outscored its foes 376-32 before running into Notre Dame, which Stanford's coaching icon Pop Warner classified as "the greatest team I have ever seen." Rockne's career record improved to 105-12-5 for an .881 winning percentage. 55 Years Ago: Dec. 5, 1970 Notre Dame's "Theismann for Heisman" campaign fell short when Fighting Irish starting quarterback Joe Theismann finished as runner-up to Jim Plunkett, who led Stanford to the Pac-8 championship. Plunkett totaled 2,229 points and 510 first-place votes, while Theismann finished with 1,410 points and 242 first-place ballots. The Irish signal-caller passed for a school-record 2,429 yards and 16 touchdowns, while adding 384 rushing yards. Third in the voting was Mississippi quarterback Archie Manning. 35 Years Ago: Dec. 1, 1990 Three days after receiving the Walter Camp Player of the Year Trophy as the nation's top player, Notre Dame junior receiver/return man Raghib "Rocket" Ismail finished as runner-up to Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer in the Heisman Trophy balloting. The announcement came a few hours after Detmer threw 4 interceptions in a 59-28 loss at Hawai'i. On the strength of 316 first-place votes compared to Ismail's 237, Detmer had 1,482 points to Ismail's 1,177. Ismail did become the school's third Wal- ter Camp Trophy recipient since the award began in 1969, joining tight end Ken MacAfee (1977) and receiver/return man Tim Brown (1987). 25 Years Ago: Dec. 5, 2000 On the hot seat at the start of the season after a 5-7 record in 1999, fourth- year head coach Bob Davie signed a five-year contract extension through 2005. Two days earlier, the 9-2 Fighting Irish accepted a bid to play 10-1 Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl. The berth was earned by winning their final seven games with freshman quarterback Matt LoVecchio at the throttle. The only two losses were to then No. 1 Nebraska in overtime (27-24), and at Michigan State (27-21) when the Spartans con- nected on a 68-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and- long with only 1:48 remaining. "Bob clearly has grown and learned a great deal dur- ing his four years in the job, and he has demonstrated to me not only that he is a very good football coach, but also that he has the respect and confidence of his players and staff," first-year Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White said. "Plus — and this is as impor- tant as any of his achievements — Bob embraces the principles and values that Notre Dame represents." One day earlier, a member of Davie's staff, 36-year-old receivers coach Urban Meyer, was named head coach at Bowling Green. 15 Years Ago: Dec. 31, 2010 After a 4-5 start, Notre Dame ended the season on a four-game winning streak with a 33-17 win versus Miami in the Sun Bowl. Freshman quarterback Tommy Rees found Michael Floyd for 3- and 34-yard scores in the first quarter, but the story of the game was Irish safety Harrison Smith, who intercepted three passes in a span of 5:15 in the second quarter to help the Irish build a 27-0 cushion. Earlier, cornerback Robert Blanton also picked off a pass to set up a 34-yard scoring run by Cierre Wood. Five Years Ago: Dec. 5, 2020 No. 2 ranked Notre Dame blew out Syracuse 45-21 to finish the regular season 10-0 overall and 9-0 in ACC. It marked the Irish's first and only season in a conference, after COVID forced them to join the league. Quarterback Ian Book secured his 30th career win as a starting quarterback at Notre Dame — the most in school history — by completing 24 of 37 throws for 285 yards with 3 touchdowns plus 2 rushing scores in his final game at Notre Dame Stadium. Wide receiver Javon McKinley hauled in 7 receptions for 111 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two weeks later, the Irish fell 34-10 to No. 4 Clemson in the ACC champion- ship game in Charlotte, N.C., but still secured their second bid to the four- team College Football Playoff. UNDER THE DOME Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: December Safety Harrison Smith intercepted three passes in a span of 5:15 in the second quarter to help the Irish build a 27-0 lead en route to a 33-17 win over Miami in the 2010 Sun Bowl. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Two significant contributors to Notre Dame's defense — redshirt freshman safety Tae Johnson and sophomore linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa — suffered injuries in the final two weeks of the regular season. The good news for the Irish is that Johnson, who started eight straight games before suffering a left hand injury in practice prior to the Syracuse game, should be available for Notre Dame's postseason. The bad news came in the form of a season-ending left knee injury to Viliamu-Asa, which he suffered in the first half of the Syracuse game. Johnson and Viliamu-Asa each accounted for 48 tackles during the regular season. That total ranked third on the team entering the Stanford game. Their season-long defense grades from Pro Football Focus ranked among the top four among Irish players with more than 25 snaps entering the regular-season finale. Viliamu-Asa was second with an 88.6, while Johnson was fourth with an 82.8. Viliamu-Asa tallied 7.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, 2 passes bro- ken up and 5 quarterback hurries in 11 games. He owned the team's highest run defense grade (93.7) from PFF. "He was playing at such a high level," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said of Vil- iamu-Asa. "You feel awful for him because he puts a lot into it." Johnson was tied with sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore with a team-high 4 interceptions. He added 3 passes broken up in 10 game appear- ances. Johnson hurt his hand by punching a foot- ball to force a fumble in practice, Freeman said. Notre Dame's linebacker depth should help the Irish handle the loss of Viliamu-Asa. Three other linebackers have played at least 250 snaps this sea- son: junior Drayk Bowen (534), redshirt sophomore Jaiden Ausberry (380) and redshirt junior Jaylen Sneed (274). The Irish can also use freshman line- backer Madden Faraimo, who recorded 14 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack and 1 pass broken up through 11 games, more in Viliamu-Asa's absence. If Johnson's injury ends up costing him more than two games, the Irish can continue to lean on red- shirt senior Jalen Stroman and junior Luke Talich to fill the void. Stroman, who started the first three games of the season before being replaced by John- son, made the most of his start in Johnson's place against Syracuse with a team-high 8 tackles, 2 tack- les for loss and an interception returned 44 yards for a touchdown. Stroman's PFF defense grade of 85.9 this year was actually slightly higher than Johnson's heading into the Stanford game. Talich played 194 defensive snaps in the first 11 games and totaled 22 tackles, 3 interceptions and 3 passes broken up. — Tyler James Injuries Hit Notre Dame's Defense