On Friday night, Notre Dame will square off against in-state foe Indiana in the College Football Playoff. This matchup marks only the 30th time the two programs have shared the field together. The Irish hold a 23-5-1 all-time record against the Hoosiers, but this game is unlike any other. The stakes have never been higher for Notre Dame as it seeks to move one step closer to winning its 12th national championship. Indiana, led by fiery first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, has a chance to pick up its first win against the Irish since a famous upset in 1950.
Last time out
It’s been 33 years since Notre Dame and Indiana last saw each other. The 1991 season opener for both programs took place at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish prevailed 49-27, highlighted by tight end Irv Smith carrying a Hoosiers defender on his back for 20 yards to score his first career touchdown and send the home fans into a frenzy.
Irish legend Jerome Bettis left his mark against Indiana with 111 yards on just 11 carries. At only 19 years old, Bettis showed early signs of greatness, eventually becoming an NFL icon and earning a permanent place in Canton, Ohio, as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The game marked a historic milestone for Notre Dame football, as it was the debut of the Irish's landmark contract with NBC, which has aired every home game since — until this Friday.
The early years
The first game of the series can be traced back to 1898. Indiana prevailed 11-5 at Brownson Hall Field, the original home for the Irish. Notre Dame then evened the score in 1899 with a 17-0 win, this time coming at Cartier Field — the first permanent stadium for Notre Dame that was torn down in 1928 to pave the way for Notre Dame Stadium.
The two programs continued to play yearly games until 1908. Four of Indiana’s wins came within that initial time period.
Notre Dame’s dominance
From 1908 onwards, the Irish have won 20 of the 21 games. Indiana’s lone win during that time period came on Oct. 21, 1950, in a famous 20-7 victory. The loss came as a shock for Notre Dame, which had won three of the last four national championships and produced three of the last seven Heisman winners: Angelo Bertelli, Johnny Lujack and Leon Hart.
The most lopsided victory for Notre Dame occurred in 1949, when the Irish won 49-6 in their first game en route to Frank Leahy’s fourth national championship. That Irish team is considered to be the cutoff for Notre Dame’s legendary dynasty in the 1940s, which is often regarded as one of the greatest in college football history.
Bernie Crimmins, a member of the Notre Dame coaching staff during the 1949 game and former Irish player from 1939-1941, was later hired as the head coach of Indiana in 1952. After four years, Crimmins came back to South Bend and was a 1975 inductee in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.
Overall, throughout the 1940s and 50s, Notre Dame outscored Indiana 248-50 over the course of the nine times they played.
More than just Indiana
This game not only marks the 30th time Notre Dame faces Indiana, but it is the first time Notre Dame has played on a Friday since Nov. 30, 1900, when the Irish beat the Chicago Physicians and Surgeons, 5-0, in a low-scoring affair. Furthermore, this will mark the first non-NBC broadcast of a Notre Dame game since Nov. 17, 1990 — a 24-21 victory over Penn State.
Looking ahead
With the ever-changing landscape of college football, Friday night’s playoff game against Indiana won’t be the only time these teams square off in the near future. The programs have scheduled a home-and-home series for a 2030 game in South Bend followed by a 2031 matchup in Bloomington.
Notre Dame vs. Indiana won’t just be a playoff game restoring the greatest “what-if rivalry” in college football, it’s an audition for the future. With Notre Dame needing to make tweaks to its schedule due to conference realignment, it could very likely mean that the 2030 and 2031 games in the near future receive an extension, especially if Friday night lives up to the expectation circulating around campus.
