Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 17, 2026 13 100 Years Ago: Oct. 16, 1926 In what is believed to be a first, the Notre Dame varsity football team donned green jerseys at home — albeit involuntarily. To Notre Dame's surprise, Penn State arrived in South Bend with its blue jerseys, the same color as Notre Dame's. To distinguish the teams, Notre Dame had to resort to wearing the freshman team's green, which didn't have any numerals on the back. Unaware of why Notre Dame was dressed in green, one out-of-town newspaper account criti- cized the Irish athletic hierarchy for "being too cheap to have numbers on the new jerseys." One year after playing to a scoreless tie at Penn State in 1925, Notre Dame ended up winning easily, 28-0, while outgaining the Nittany Lions 506-85 in total yards to improve to 3-0. 65 Years Ago: Oct. 14, 1961 One year after a 2-8 debacle, third-year Notre Dame head coach Joe Kuharich's Fighting Irish rock- eted up to No. 6 in the Associated Press poll with a 30-0 slaughter of Southern Cal while improving to 3-0. All three victories came against teams coached by future College Football Hall of Fame inductees: Oklahoma's Bud Wilkinson in the opener (19-6); Purdue's Jack Mollenkopf (22-20) on the road one year after getting trounced 51-19 at home by the Boilermakers; and South- ern Cal's second-year boss John McKay, who would win the first of his four national titles a year later. Although Notre Dame recorded 15 penalties for 167 yards, junior quarter- back and California native Daryle Lamonica quickly guided the Irish to a 14-0 lead over the Trojans by running for a 12-yard touchdown and throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jim Kelly. Linebacker Nick Buoniconti headlined the defense, which recorded 77 yards in lost yardage with sacks of quarter- back Bill Nelsen. "Notre Dame is the best team we've seen this year," said Southern Cal athletics director Jesse Hill, including the No. 1 Iowa team his Trojans lost to 35-34 earlier in the year. 55 Years Ago: Oct. 16, 1971 For the first time in its history, No. 7-ranked Notre Dame started a Black quarterback — sophomore Cliff Brown — when the Irish hosted North Caro- lina, which went on to win the ACC that season with a 6-0 conference record. Pat Steenberge started the first two games but was slowed by a hamstring injury, while Bill Etter started the next two but suf- fered a knee injury in the first half at Miami in the game preceding the Tar Heels. Black players were few in numbers during this era of Notre Dame football, with the lone Black starter on defense being All-American cornerback Clar- ence Ellis. On offense, the Irish had two other Black starters: co-captain and All-American wide receiver Thom Gatewood — the football team's first African- American captain — and running back Bob Minnix. Sophomore walk-on Bob Thomas converted three field goals inside the 30-yard line in the first half to become the first player at Notre Dame to tally three in a game since Gus Dorais at Texas in 1913. Notre Dame recorded a 16-0 victory while the defense notched its third straight game without al- lowing a touchdown (it won 14-2 and 17-0 the two previous weeks against Michigan State and Miami, respectively) thanks to a goal-line stand in the third quarter on first-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Brown completed 5 of 14 passes for 82 yards, with a 4-yard touchdown to Gatewood in the fourth quarter completing the scoring. 40 Years Ago: Oct. 11, 1986 First-year head coach Lou Holtz and his Fighting Irish dropped to 1-4 after yet another heartbreak- ing loss, this time 10-9 to Pitt. It marked the worst start since 1-4 in 1962, and it also was Notre Dame's seventh loss in its last eight contests. The Irish took a 9-7 lead with 4:49 left in the game on a 20-yard field goal by John Carney. But a blocked punt gave Pitt possession at Notre Dame's 34- yard line, setting up a 29-yard field goal with 1:25 remaining. Senior quarterback Steve Beuerlein completed a 31-yard pass to Milt Jackson and a 22-yarder to freshman fullback Anthony Johnson, but Carney's 38-yard field goal attempt to win the game sailed wide right. Including Dan Devine's final two games as the coach in 1980, Notre Dame's record dropped to 31-32-1 in its last 64 games. 30 Years Ago: Oct. 12, 1996 No. 11 Notre Dame crushed No. 16 Washington 54-20 while amassing 650 yards of total offense, tying the highest output in head coach Lou Holtz's 11 seasons. Running back Autry Denson led the 397-yard rushing onslaught with 137 yards, while quarterback Ron Powlus completed 8 of 12 passes for 194 yards with 3 touchdowns, two to tight end Pete Chryplewicz. UNDER THE DOME Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: Oct. 11-17 ✦ Your home address will be automatically changed to the mailing address on file with the US Postal Service? ALL addresses are cross-referenced with the USPS National Change of Address database. ✦ Your postal forwarding order expires in 60 days or less? Most forwarding requests expire in 60 days and DO NOT include periodical mail. Issues are discarded at their discretion. ✦ It can take up to 7 days for the USPS to update your address in their database? Don't assume the post office knows your vacation or moving schedule! To prevent missed issues, please notify the US Postal Service ASAP and verify your delivery address with your local post office. DID YOU KNOW... AVOID COSTLY DELAYS & REPLACEMENTS! Blue & Gold Illustrated Customer Service: 1–800–421–7751 (Monday – Friday, 10 am to 4 pm) We are happy to assist, but due to privacy laws all postal address changes must be completed by you. Sophomore Cliff Brown became the first Black quarterback to start a game at Notre Dame on Oct. 16, 1971, and led the Irish to a 16-0 victory over eventual ACC champ North Carolina. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS