By Alan Wasielewski
The University of Notre Dame football team will be playing its 500th game in Notre Dame Stadium Saturday, November 18, 2023, against Wake Forest. ‘The House That Rockne Built’ has been through one expansion and a reimagining but the original layout of the stadium remains an integral part of the facility since it opened in 1930.
The stadium has seen Heisman Trophy winners, national championship teams, College and Pro Football Hall of Famers and, entering the game with Wake Forest, 30,259,839 college football fans.
Here is a look back at the first 499 games in Notre Dame Stadium – by the numbers…
1 – The first game played in Notre Dame Stadium occurred October 4, 1930, when the Irish defeated SMU 20-14 before 14,751 fans. The stadium was officially dedicated the next weekend when Notre Dame defeated Navy 26-2 with 40,593 fans in attendance.
The Notre Dame football team takes the field for the first time in Notre Dame Stadium against SMU in 1930. At the very front of the string of players and coaches, indicated by a small ‘X’ on the photo, is legendary Irish head coach Knute Rockne.
2 – The 2017 reimagining of Notre Dame Stadium added three new buildings to the facility, a new press box and a video board. The most welcome addition might have been the two inches of extra space that was added to all of the bleacher seats in the original stadium. That extra space played a part in the overall capacity number dropping from 80,795 to 77,622.
9 – Notre Dame played eight games in the stadium before a capacity crowd was announced for its ninth appearance in ‘The House that Rockne Built.’ On November 21, 1931, Southern Cal made its first of 44 trips to Notre Dame Stadium and spoiled the first sell out crowd of 50,731 fans with a touchdown in the game’s final minute to win 16-14.
18 – There are nine stripes in each of the end zones in Notre Dame Stadium, adding up to 18 total. They are slanted at a 42-degree angle which combines to create the number 1842 – the year the University of Notre Dame was founded. The striped endzone is a tradition at Notre Dame, but there have been some selected years when the area featured different graphics.
28 – The most consecutive wins in Notre Dame Stadium was a 28-game run from 1942 through 1950. The streak began with the second home game of 1942, a 27-0 victory over Stanford on October 10. The Irish would not lose a game at home in 1943 (and won a national championship), 1944, 1945, 1946 (national title), 1947 (national title), 1948 and 1949 (national title). The epic run came to an end in the second game of the ‘50 season on a rainy October day (the seventh to be exact) when Purdue upset top-ranked Notre Dame 28-14.
33 – After the first sell out of Notre Dame Stadium occurred in 1931 it took 33 more games for the facility to be filled to capacity again. In 1937 (which is the second season of Associated Press Top 25 rankings) the 12th-ranked Irish fell 21-6 to No. 3 Pittsburgh in front of 53,309 fans.
39 – Mike Collins served as the public address announcer at Notre Dame Stadium for 39 consecutive years, starting against Michigan in 1982 and ending with a victory over Syracuse on senior day in 2020. Collins called 233 consecutive games in three different iterations of Notre Dame Stadium. Chris Ackles currently serves as the Notre Dame Stadium public address announcer.
44 – The most visits by an opposing team to Notre Dame Stadium since 1930 is 43 by Southern Cal. The Irish are 29-14-1 against the Trojans in ‘The House That Rockne Built.’ The Irish have played Navy 38 times in Notre Dame Stadium, Purdue 37 occasions and Pittsburgh and Michigan State have both made 32 visits to campus.
50 – Notre Dame celebrated the 50th season of Notre Dame Stadium in 1979 in a match up against Navy. Commemorative tickets were handed out that were authentic reproductions used for the 1930 dedication game. The Irish defeated the Midshipmen 14-0 in the game, led by Vagas Ferguson’s 155 rushing yards.
53 – Notre Dame’s stadium expansion began in 1994, cost 53 million dollars and was completed in time for the start of the 1997 season. Unlike the 1930 construction, which required the Irish to play all of its 1929 games on the road, the expansion project allowed Notre Dame to continue to play at home while construction was in progress.
The Notre Dame Stadium configuration from 1997 through 2016.
62 – The final game in the original Notre Dame Stadium was also the final home game of the Lou Holtz era at Notre Dame. November 23, 1996, Notre Dame defeated Rutgers 62-0, Holtz spoke to the crowd after the game and the book was closed on the original version of Notre Dame Stadium.
73 – The most points scored by Notre Dame in the stadium was 73 in a blanking of Haskell to begin the 1932 season. Notre Dame scored 11 touchdowns in the game with Irish fullbacks Steve Banas and George Melinkovich each scoring three touchdowns.
92 – The most combined points scored by both teams in Notre Dame Stadium is a 59-33 Irish victory over Air Force in 2011. In a reserve role Notre Dame quarterback Andrew Hendrix rushed six times for 111 yards which included a 78-yard jaunt. Tommy Rees started the game for Notre Dame and completed 23 of 32 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns.
98 – The first official touchdown scored in Notre Dame Stadium – in the opening game against SMU on October 4, 1930 – was a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown by Notre Dame’s Joe Savoldi. Other ‘first scores’ were a three-yard touchdown run by Autry Denson in the Rededication Game of Notre Dame Stadium against Georgia Tech on September 6, 1997, and a 37-yard touchdown run by Josh Adams against Temple in the current edition of Notre Dame Stadium which debuted at the start of the 2017 season.
300 – The third sell out in Notre Dame Stadium also was the 300th victory in program history. The 12th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers, just one year removed from winning three consecutive national championships, fell 19-0 to second-ranked Notre Dame on November 12, 1938.
1,702 – The most rushing yards accumulated by a Notre Dame player in Notre Dame Stadium since 1997 is 1,702 by Josh Adams (2015-17). It is just one yard more than Julius Jones rushed for (1,701) from 1999-2003. Jones has the most rushing touchdowns in Notre Dame Stadium since 1997 (18), but Adams holds the edge in yards-per-carry at 7.4.
Josh Adams breaks out for an 81-yard touchdown run against Southern Cal in 2017.
6,282 – Brady Quinn threw for 6,282 yards from 2003-06, which is the most for an Irish quarterback in Notre Dame Stadium since 1997. Quinn also threw 19 touchdown passes while finishing 494-for-847 passing (.583 completion percentage).
59,075 – The long-standing capacity of Notre Dame Stadium in its original composition was 59,075. From 1930 through 1965 the stadium’s ‘capacity’ crowd could waver anywhere between 55,000 to 60,000 individuals. The 1965 season marked the beginning of the official capacity crowd being listed as 59,075 until the expansion of the stadium in 1997. The expansion’s original attendance number in ‘97 began at 80,225, adjusted to 80,102 in 1998 and 1999, then settled at 80,795 from 2001 through 2016.
61,296 – The record crowd for the original configuration of Notre Dame Stadium was set at 61,296 for a meeting with Purdue on October 16, 1962. The Boilermakers won the game 24-6.
76,125 – There have been some unique attendance numbers in Notre Dame Stadium for non-football events. The 2021 NHL Winter Classic was held in the stadium and 76,126 fans watched the Boston Bruins defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on January 1. Notre Dame and Michigan would meet in a collegiate hockey game a few days later on the ice in the stadium before 23,422 fans. In the summer of 2019, 40,361 Premier League Soccer fans watched Borussia Dortmund defeat Liverpool FC 3-2.
565,565 – The single-season record for attendance at Notre Dame Stadium, 565,565, has been set three times when the Irish played seven home games in 2006, 2009 and 2010. The record will most likely stand in perpetuity, as the 2017 redesign of the stadium dropped the capacity from 80,795 to 77,622. The record attendance number in the original stadium for a season was 413,525 which was set in 1988, when the Irish won the national title and played seven home games.
Lou Holtz is poised to lead his team out onto the field against Purdue in 1988.
750,000 – The reported total cost for the original construction of Notre Dame Stadium. That number would be just over 13.8 million in today’s economy adjusted for inflation. The original press box accommodated 264 writers, plus areas for photographers, radio and television broadcasters.
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Notre Dame Stadium in its current configuration, which opened in 2017, after the reimagining of the building during the Campus Crossroads project.