If the normal 2020 schedule were to be played another football program would be making its debut playing inside Notre Dame Stadium. Unfortunately, the Razorbacks from Arkansas will not get that opportunity this year as the SEC announced conference-only games this year. While researching something for a previously published piece I came across a throw-away note in an article nearly 60 years ago that visitors often lose on their first trip to Notre Dame, kind of “winking” towards a lot of help from sympathetic officials from years gone by.

So, I thought why not look at those numbers over the years? First, let’s take a look at things broken up between current Power 5 programs and Group of 5 programs. For the purposes of this article we are not including since defunct programs or schools who have dropped down to lower levels of college football.

Power 5 Opponents First Visit to Notre Dame Stadium
Opponent Record: 11-42-1 (.212)

Group of 5 Opponents First Visit to Notre Dame Stadium
Opponent Record: 3-14 (.176)

Remember, this is the record on the first visit to Notre Dame Stadium (opened 1930) and not the first-ever visit to Notre Dame’s old Cartier Field. The following programs faced Notre Dame inside Cartier Field on their first visit: Baylor, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Miami (OH), Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, and Western Michigan. The Irish won all of these first visits to Cartier with the exception of a tie with Minnesota in 1927 and a loss to Michigan in 1887, the latter being Notre Dame football’s first-ever game.

From the 11 losses to Power 5 teams for Notre Dame inside their home stadium, 3 have come in recent years: Georgia (2018), Virginia Tech (2016), and Louisville (2014). The loss to the Dawgs was hard fought, the Hokies came back from a 17-point deficit to win (2016, damn you forever), and the Cardinals fought off a Notre Dame comeback to win 31-28.

The other 8 losses to Power 5 programs on their first visit include: Clemson, FSU, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Penn State, USC, and Texas. Yes, Michigan is the only program to win both their first visit to Cartier Field and Notre Dame Stadium. Penn State lost their first visit to Cartier Field (1927) as mentioned above but won their first visit to ND Stadium in 1982 as the eventual National Champions.

Here’s the full list of Power 5 wins for Notre Dame inside Rock’s House against first-time visitors:

Alabama
Arizona
Arizona State
Baylor
Boston College
California
Colorado
Duke
Georgia Tech
Illinois
Indiana
LSU
Miami
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
North Carolina
NC State
Northwestern
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Ole Miss
Oregon
Pitt
Purdue
Rutgers
Stanford
Syracuse
Tennessee
Texas A&M
TCU
UCLA
Utah
Vanderbilt
Virginia
Wake Forest
Washington
Washington State
West Virginia
Wisconsin

When Kansas visited in 1933 the game ended up a 0-0 tie, the 5th to last such goose-egg game in Irish history. There have been 8 first-visit games overall in which both teams were ranked at kick off:

1942: #4 Notre Dame vs. #6 Michigan (32-20 Loss)
1950: #1 Notre Dame vs. #20 North Carolina (14-7 Win)
1952: #10 Notre Dame vs. #4 Oklahoma (27-21 Win)
1970: #2 Notre Dame vs. #7 LSU (3-0 Win)
1976: #18 Notre Dame vs. #10 Alabama (21-18 Win)
1982: #13 Notre Dame vs. #5 Penn State (24-14 Loss)
2017: #24 Notre Dame vs. #15 Georgia (20-19 Loss)
2019: #10 Notre Dame vs. #18 Virginia (35-20 Win)

We’ve mentioned all 3 losses already, those teams finished 9th (Michigan), 1st (Penn State), and 2nd (Georgia) in their respective seasons. Neither North Carolina or Virginia would finish the season ranked, come on ACC!

That Michigan loss rankles Leahy in his grave, I’m sure. The 32 points allowed were the most by a Leahy team until Michigan State blitzed the Irish for 36 points in 1950 (and 35 points the following year too). Leahy got his revenge on Michigan in 1943, though. And a rivalry was officially born.

USC’s first visit came in 1931 a year after Notre Dame Stadium was built and in the first post-Rockne season. The Trojans won 16-14 and would go on to claim a National Championship.

The list of Group of 5 wins is largely a modern one:

Air Force
Army
Bowling Green
BYU
UMass
Miami OH
Navy
Nevada
New Mexico
Rice
SDSU
SMU
Temple
Tulane
Western Michigan

Of course, not all of these programs were always playing outside of the major conferences or considered a weaker team. For example, Army didn’t play inside Notre Dame Stadium until the 34th meeting in the series and that was a ranked matchup for both sides. In that 1947 meeting, #1 Notre Dame defeated #11 Army 27-7 as the Irish would later claim a National Title.

When Navy visited Notre Dame Stadium for the first time it was in 1930 in the second game ever played in the new field and the official dedication of the new home for the school. The Irish won 27-2 on their way to a title in Rockne’s final season.

I’m sure everyone can remember all of the 3 losses to Group of 5 teams making their visit to South Bend:

UConn
USF
Tulsa

We don’t need to talk about these games. Have a nice day!