Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/81334
Charting The Irish Notre Dame’s schedule received plenty of attention this offseason for its daunting list of opponents. As tough as this year’s slate might be for the Irish on the field, it looks just as taxing on the team’s travel budget. Notre Dame will cover 7,837 miles to reach its six games outside of South Bend this fall. That’s more than any team the Irish will face and almost any team in the nation despite its relatively central location. That range is a point of pride for the school’s athletics director Jack Swarbrick. “We’re spanning an incredible distance, but more than anything else we’re taking Notre Dame an incredible distance,” Swarbrick said. “We’re putting the university, through our football program, in a European market, in an East Coast media market, in the Midwest media capital, Los Angeles and an historic football venue like Norman. “That’s a great experience for our student-athletes. That’s part of having a program that gives them opportunities that independence allows you to do.” The team’s intercontinental season opener against Navy in Dublin is obviously a big part of the distant Notre Dame will travel this year. If that game was held at the Naval Academy’s campus the Irish would rank sixth among its opponents in frequent flier miles. That trip is the third longest that a college team will make this year for a football game. Lamar and South Alabama both have farther treks to play Hawai`i this season — a trip Notre Dame tried to schedule to ends its season, but couldn’t work out. Of course, no one compares to the Rainbow Warriors when it comes to their road schedule. They’ll go 17,386 miles to reach all six of their away games this season. SchoolDistance Traveled in 2012 Notre Dame7837 (4210) Navy7180 (3824) Purdue1327 Michigan State1341 Michigan 3253 Miami6842 Stanford5322 Brigham Young 5406 Oklahoma 3168 Pittsburgh2805 Boston College5141 Wake Forest1856 Southern California5498 Getting To Know … Cornerback Bennett Jackson Nickname: “Jax.” Major: “Television.” Dorm: “Dillon Hall.” Favorite Class: “I would say Latino Spirituality because we got into deep thought about a lot of things.” Favorite Off-Campus Spot: “There aren’t too many off-campus spots, so probably Chipotle.” Dream Vacation: “Maybe Punta Cana [resort beach area in eastern part of the Dominican Republic]. I don’t even know where that is; it just sounds great.” Best Movie You’ve Seen Lately: “ ‘The Change-Up.’ ” TV Show You Hate To Miss: “I’m not much of a TV guy. I don’t think I even know the name of a TV show. I’m going to say ‘Pretty Little Liars.’ Don’t judge me on that.” Song You’re Listening To Most Right Now: “[Rapper] Meek Mill.” Role Model: “I try to make my own footsteps.” Favorite Pro Athlete: “[Philadelphia Eagles cornerback] Nnamdi Asomugha.” Best Player You’ve Gone Up Against: “Michael Floyd.” Dream Job If Football Didn’t Exist: “I would say commercial real estate.” You Have One Last Meal, What Is It? “Ruth Chris.” Gimme Five While Notre Dame’s 2012 football schedule has been ranked the nation’s most difficult by various outlets, it does possess at least a unique situation that might be considered in its favor. The first three opponents for the Irish — Navy, Purdue and Michigan State — are programs that they have defeated more often than any other in their 125-year history. That is the first such occurrence where all three are played in September. Here are the rivals Notre Dame has won against with the greatest frequency entering last week’s contest with the Navy Midshipmen. OpponentRecord 1. Naval Academy72-12-1 2. Purdue55-26-2 3t. Michigan State46-28-1 3t. Pittsburgh46-20-1 5. Southern California43-35-5 Those are the five programs that Notre Dame has defeated at least 40 times, although Army (38-8-4) and Northwestern (37-8-2) aren’t far behind. Among the other seven 2012 Irish foes, Notre Dame is 73-51-1 — most notably 8-1 against Oklahoma.