Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/208902
Under the Dome rotating basis every year starting in 2014, the Big Ten portion of its schedule has taken a step back. The series with Michigan, which has been almost annual since 1978 (other than 1982-83, 1995-96 and 2000-01) will not be renewed after 2014. The series with Michigan State, which has been a fixture on the Irish schedule almost every year since 1948 (other than 1958 and 1995-96), will have a temporary hiatus, starting in 2014. Purdue's status on future Notre Dame schedules will be similar to Michigan State's. "We're close to a set of comprehensive dates into the next decade," Burke told Carmin. "We want to give people a road map into the future so they can see the Purdue-Notre Dame series, while it will be different, it is going to continue." The university's contract with Purdue ends in 2014. It's expected that next year's Notre Dame-Purdue game will take place at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium as part of Notre Dame's Shamrock Series, an Irish home game at a neutral location. The Irish and Boilermakers have played every season since 1946, but that will change due to Notre Dame's agreement to play five ACC teams each year starting in 2014. Military Cuts photo by Bill Panzica Ever since 1991, when Notre Dame defensive linemen Bryant Young and Eric Jones broke their ankles on cut blocks during a 28-15 victory at Air Force, there has always been an unspoken squeamishness about playing the military teams. To level the playing field against bigger, stronger and faster opponents, Navy, Air Force and Army all run the triple option, which relies heavily on the legal but sometimes dangerous cut block. The cut block is often mistaken for the "chop block," which was made illegal by the NCAA in 1980. The chop block is defined as an attempt by an offensive player to cut block a defensive player below the thigh or knee when the defender is already being blocked by another offensive player. The leg injuries piled up for Notre Dame's front seven players in back-to-back meetings against Air Force (Oct. 26) and Navy (Nov. 2), and it was not a coincidence to Irish head coach Brian Kelly. "I can attribute it to Kona Schwenke's injury," Kelly said. "He got cut, and it caused that injury. I can contribute it to Ishaq Williams' ACL. He was cut, and it caused that injury. And Sheldon Day, his re-injury, all of them contributed specifically to those. "It's unfortunate. It's the style of offense that the academies play. It is what it is." While Navy will remain on Notre Dame's schedule, Kelly does not envision future Irish slates will have more than one military academy. "I don't believe that both of them appear on our schedule for quite some time," Kelly said.