Sept. 28, 2006
SERIES NOTES
Today’s game between Notre Dame and Purdue marks the 78th meeting in the all-time series that began in 1896. The two teams have met every year since 1946 with today’s game being the 61st consecutive meeting. The Irish lead the all-time series with a 50-25-2 mark and are 25-11-0 in games played at Notre Dame. In the last meeting at Notre Dame Stadium during the 2004 season, Purdue snapped a 13-game Irish home win streak against the Boilermakers with a 41-16 win. Prior to that, the last time Notre Dame lost to Purdue at home was 1974.
The Irish and Boilermakers will meet for the 78th time this afternoon. Notre Dame has played just two other teams that many times in the program’s all-time history. The Irish will face Navy for the 80th time on Oct. 28 and when they play at USC on Nov. 25 that will mark the 78th meeting in that series. Notre Dame’s 50 wins versus Purdue is surpassed only by the 69 wins the Irish have recorded against Navy.
This afternoon’s game is the final regular-season meeting for the Irish against a team from the Big Ten Conference. With last Saturday’s win at Michigan State, the Irish are 2-1 versus the Big Ten this season and 215-107-15 (.660) all-time.
IRISH ITEMS
Irish quarterback Brady Quinn makes his fourth career start this afternoon against Purdue. The senior signal caller made his first-ever start against the Boilermakers as a freshman in 2003, going 29-for-59 for 297 yards with one touchdown pass and four interceptions in a 23-10 loss in West Lafayette. Included in that game was an 85-yard TD strike to Maurice Stovall for the third longest touchdown pass in Irish history. He followed that with a 26-for-46 day in 2004 for 432 yards and a touchdown and then a 29-36 afternoon last year, good for 440 yards and three touchdowns. In three games versus Purdue, Quinn is 84-for-141 (59.6%) for 1,169 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions.
Senior punter Geoff Price has punted 22 times this season for a 47.7 yard average that ranked him second in the nation prior to the Michigan State game last week. Eight of his 22 boots have been for 50 yards or more with a season long of 62.
With five catches against Michigan State a week ago, junior running back Darius Walker now has 76 catches in his career and moved past Alan Pinkett (73) to become Notre Dame’s all-time leader in receptions by a running back.
Junior CB Terrail Lambert’s two interceptions against Michigan State were the first two of his Notre Dame career and marked the first time that an Irish defender had two interceptions in a game since Sept. 21, 2002 when Gerome Sapp had a pair in a 21-17 win over Michigan State. His 27-yard touchdown return was the first Irish interception that was turned into six points since Leo Ferrine had a 16-yard runback for a score against Syracuse last year.
Notre Dame’s fourth-quarter comeback against Michigan State that saw them rally from a 16-point deficit with just over eight minutes left (21-37) was largest fourth quarter deficit the Irish have overcome since the 1979 Cotton Bowl (Jan. 1, 1979) when Notre Dame trailed Houston, 34-12, with just under eight minutes to go in the game and came back to win, 35-34. Joe Montana threw the winning touchdown pass to Kris Haines as time expired and Joe Unis kicked the deciding extra point in the win.
PRESENTING THE FLAG …
Our national colors will be presented by Eugene Bastedo, a 1973 graduate and current president of the Notre Dame Alumni Association Board of Directors. He will be joined by an esteemed group of university leaders — the deans of five of Notre Dame’s six principal academic units: Joseph Marino from the College of Science, James Merz from the College of Engineering, Patricia O’Hara from the Law School, Mark Roche from the College of Arts and Letters, and Carolyn Woo from the Mendoza College of Business. Michael Lykoudis from the School of Architecture was unable to attend.
Notre Dame volleyball player Ashley Tarutis holds Christian Hobbs, her adopted teammate through the Fighting Irish Fight for Life Program.
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FIGHTING IRISH FIGHT FOR LIFE (Photo 10b.)
In its second year, the Fighting Irish Fight for Life program has been a WIN/WIN situation for Notre Dame student-athletes and several children participating in the Memorial Hospital’s Pediatric Oncology Program. The Notre Dame volleyball team has taken Christian Hibbs, a participant in the Fighting Irish Fight for Life program under its wings this year. Assistant volleyball coach Louella Lovely remarks, “Christian and his family have become members of our family. When we adopted him last year, not only did our team become involved in his life, but our extended family (i.e. parents and friends) also got involved. The program has made our team realize how lucky and blessed we are to be in good health. Sometimes we take that for granted. Christian has an amazing fighting spirit and he is the epitome of persistence and perseverance. His resolve is amazing. We all hope and pray that Christian beats his cancer and we’re waiting for the day when his mom can tell us that it is in remission.”
Christian’s mother, Rebecca Hibbs, feels that it is difficult to express in just a few words how much the program has impacted Christian’s life. “When we first met the Notre Dame volleyball team we weren’t sure what to expect and were extremely nervous about bringing Christian out to the games and around all those people because his counts are up and down all the time,” she says. “But, I truly do believe it was one of the best decisions we ever made. The girls welcomed us with open arms and have been so kind and loving to each of us.”
Ashley Tarutis, a junior member of the volleyball team remarks on the impact that Christian has had on her life.
“Christian has impacted my life in so many ways. I have learned from him that life is fragile and we must enjoy it while we have it. Every day could be your last and you never know when it might be your time, so make sure that your relationships with friends and family are not broken by silly things. I have also learned through Christian to stop and not rush through life.
“He has helped me to remember what it is like to be a kid who gets so excited about the little things. It is easy to get caught up in school and volleyball, but Christian has shown me that it’s ok to enjoy my friends, or bake, or laugh at myself a little more. Christian has also taught me that volleyball is just a game.”
Christian has been involved in many activities with the volleyball team. He’s introduced in the starting lineup and gets to throw out a ball to the crowd, when he is feeling well enough. Christian was even the special guest at the “Meet the Team Dinner” this fall. On the flipside, the volleyball team has been very active in Christian’s personal life by attending blood drives, fundraisers and his sixth birthday party.
“It has done my children wonders having the team in their lives and to give them hope and letting them experience the goodness in life because all they ever knew there for a while was bad things that Christian was going through.” Hibbs says. “Christian looks forward to seeing the girls on the team and his sisters can’t wait until the next time we see them. He truly does like hanging out with them and even though the chemo has worn his body down, he is still able to spend time with the team, horse around with them and needles, doctors and chemo become the furthest thing from his mind. For those reasons, and many others, we owe to our Notre Dame Volleyball Angels.”
Lovely sums the relationship with Christian and his family saying, ” It has taught us that strong faith and hope go a long way.”