2014 Football Games
Corvette Indy members enjoy going to Football games almost as much as driving their Corvettes.
President Greg Bowron leads the way with his affection for Notre Dame by attending every home game possible.
President Greg Bowron leads the way with his affection for Notre Dame by attending every home game possible.
December 30 - Notre Dame - LSU
Music City Bowl
Greg and his son Pat ended the 2014 Notre Dame football season with a day trip to Nashville, TN for the Music City Bowl. Up at 5am and on the road early they made great time and got to Nashville before 11am for a 3pm kick-off. It was sunny but chilly and they were treated to a hard fought game by both teams. The Irish scored on their first drive to take a 7-0 lead but missed on a 4th and 2 attempt deep in LSU territory when trying to make it 14-0. LSU then evened the score at 7 at the end of the first quarter. ND was undaunted and methodically drove to a 14-7 lead but LSU again tied it up. The Irish then pushed their advantage to 21-14 but LSU drove deep into Irish territory before their drive stalled and they faked a field goal that resulted in a controversial call with the Irish stopping them just short of the goal line with 7 seconds left in the half. In the second half LSU wasted no time tying the score with a 75 yard TD pass on their first play. Two drives later the Tigers took their first lead of the game on an 89 yard TD run. Those 2 plays along with LSU's 100 yard kick-off return in the first half were Music City Bowl records. The Irish fought back though and knotted the score at 28 before the 3rd quarter expired. Both coaches then seemed to get a little more conservative on their play calling and both defenses stiffened. The Irish stopped several LSU drives including one that ended in a missed field goal. Finally the Irish made a stop and took over on their own 15 after a punt with 5:41 left in the game. Alternating quarterbacks they began a clock eating drive that reached the LSU 15 and called a time out with 4 seconds left in the game before connecting on a game winning 32 yard field goal as time expired.
Watch the Game Highlights
Music City Bowl
Greg and his son Pat ended the 2014 Notre Dame football season with a day trip to Nashville, TN for the Music City Bowl. Up at 5am and on the road early they made great time and got to Nashville before 11am for a 3pm kick-off. It was sunny but chilly and they were treated to a hard fought game by both teams. The Irish scored on their first drive to take a 7-0 lead but missed on a 4th and 2 attempt deep in LSU territory when trying to make it 14-0. LSU then evened the score at 7 at the end of the first quarter. ND was undaunted and methodically drove to a 14-7 lead but LSU again tied it up. The Irish then pushed their advantage to 21-14 but LSU drove deep into Irish territory before their drive stalled and they faked a field goal that resulted in a controversial call with the Irish stopping them just short of the goal line with 7 seconds left in the half. In the second half LSU wasted no time tying the score with a 75 yard TD pass on their first play. Two drives later the Tigers took their first lead of the game on an 89 yard TD run. Those 2 plays along with LSU's 100 yard kick-off return in the first half were Music City Bowl records. The Irish fought back though and knotted the score at 28 before the 3rd quarter expired. Both coaches then seemed to get a little more conservative on their play calling and both defenses stiffened. The Irish stopped several LSU drives including one that ended in a missed field goal. Finally the Irish made a stop and took over on their own 15 after a punt with 5:41 left in the game. Alternating quarterbacks they began a clock eating drive that reached the LSU 15 and called a time out with 4 seconds left in the game before connecting on a game winning 32 yard field goal as time expired.
Watch the Game Highlights
October 11 - Notre Dame - North Carolina
Greg & Donna headed to South Bend with their son, Pat, and daughter-in-law, Sarah, to watch the North Carolina game. The weather was sunny and with a high of about 56 degrees which is perfect for a fall football game. Once in the stadium it was even warmer as they sat out of the wind and in the warming sun. It didn't take long for the jackets to come off and it really was "shirt sleeve" weather! The pleasant climate may have affected the 5th ranked Irish too as they got off to a sluggish start and spotted the Tar Heels a 1st Quarter 14-0 lead. The Irish offense finally woke up and stormed back to take a 21-14 ND advantage. North Carolina didn't quit though and halftime left the Irish with a narrow 28-26 lead. The Irish struck first in the second half and built their lead to 35-26 but then seemed to go back to sleep and let the Tar Heels take a 36-35 lead after yet another quarterback turnover. Once again the Irish woke up and stormed ahead, eventually taking a 40 to 36 lead. The tar Heels kept at it and scored with only 45 seconds left to close the gap to 7 points and after the Irish grabbed the onside kick attempt it sealed he deal with a 50-43 Irish win. Not exactly the defensive struggle from the previous Irish game against Stanford and the Irish's #3 rated defensive squad won't be ranked nearly as high after that showing!
For club member Jeff B who touts his Tar Heels and watched the game from a restaurant, I'll mention it was North Carolina's twelfth visit to Notre Dame for a football game and they have yet to travel home with a win. The Irish will need to get better quick though or it will be a long day when they travel next week to Florida State who is the defending National Champion and winners of 22 straight games.
Game highlights can be seen at: http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/BibHcxcTp8IIdCxQl4DjcQ0cwm7oKLIl
Greg & Donna headed to South Bend with their son, Pat, and daughter-in-law, Sarah, to watch the North Carolina game. The weather was sunny and with a high of about 56 degrees which is perfect for a fall football game. Once in the stadium it was even warmer as they sat out of the wind and in the warming sun. It didn't take long for the jackets to come off and it really was "shirt sleeve" weather! The pleasant climate may have affected the 5th ranked Irish too as they got off to a sluggish start and spotted the Tar Heels a 1st Quarter 14-0 lead. The Irish offense finally woke up and stormed back to take a 21-14 ND advantage. North Carolina didn't quit though and halftime left the Irish with a narrow 28-26 lead. The Irish struck first in the second half and built their lead to 35-26 but then seemed to go back to sleep and let the Tar Heels take a 36-35 lead after yet another quarterback turnover. Once again the Irish woke up and stormed ahead, eventually taking a 40 to 36 lead. The tar Heels kept at it and scored with only 45 seconds left to close the gap to 7 points and after the Irish grabbed the onside kick attempt it sealed he deal with a 50-43 Irish win. Not exactly the defensive struggle from the previous Irish game against Stanford and the Irish's #3 rated defensive squad won't be ranked nearly as high after that showing!
For club member Jeff B who touts his Tar Heels and watched the game from a restaurant, I'll mention it was North Carolina's twelfth visit to Notre Dame for a football game and they have yet to travel home with a win. The Irish will need to get better quick though or it will be a long day when they travel next week to Florida State who is the defending National Champion and winners of 22 straight games.
Game highlights can be seen at: http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/BibHcxcTp8IIdCxQl4DjcQ0cwm7oKLIl
October 6 - Notre Dame - Stanford
On Saturday, October 4th some club ND fans headed to South Bend to brave cold and rainy weather to watch 9th ranked ND play 14th ranked Stanford in what has become an annual hard fought slugfest. Several other club members watched this classic from their warm and cozy living rooms. Based on the comments received at Monday's meeting, a number of club members are now tuning in to watch the Irish play on Saturdays.
On Saturday, October 4th some club ND fans headed to South Bend to brave cold and rainy weather to watch 9th ranked ND play 14th ranked Stanford in what has become an annual hard fought slugfest. Several other club members watched this classic from their warm and cozy living rooms. Based on the comments received at Monday's meeting, a number of club members are now tuning in to watch the Irish play on Saturdays.
September 13 - Notre Dame - Purdue
Greg and Donna along with their son Pat and his wife Sarah and their daughter Sheri and her fiancé Ron went to the Notre Dame Shamrock Series football game vs Purdue at the Lucas Oil stadium downtown on September 13th. There were many festivities downtown so first they stopped by a tailgate party for some food and drink. Pat and Sarah took the opportunity to hike over to the Irish Fest which with great timing was going on the same weekend. There Pat got to sample some of the stout Irish ale!
Lucas Oil stadium is a fine venue for a college game and since this was technically a Notre Dame home game it was decked out quite nicely for the Shamrock Series game. The Irish men get to wear special uniforms for the Shamrock Series games and ND's new partner, Under Armour, delivered some blue and gold unies just for this game with interlocked NDs on the helmets for the first time in history. The players like the special unies and this is a fine gimmick to help the team in recruiting! While going to their seats Greg spotted Wylie E heading to the suite where he and BJ watched the game with BJ's cousin. Wylie looked very good in his new Notre Dame hat instead of his usual Illinois topper! Greg looked up Gregg E who is an usher supervisor at the stadium and Gregg hooked Greg, Donna, Pat & Sarah up by moving from them from their original corner of the end zone seats to 30 yard line seats on the Notre Dame side. Gregg also offered Sheri & Ron a couple of seats on the 50 yard line but they decided to stay in their lower end zone seats as the seats offered a different perspective and they were close to the players on scoring plays. Thanks Gregg for the assistance!
It was a typical Notre Dame vs Purdue game with the Boilers playing their very best game of the season against the Irish! Purdue made it interesting in the first half and actually took the lead with about 3 minutes left in the half but that seemed to just wake up the echoes and the Irish as they stormed down field and scored with seconds left to take a 17-14 lead into the break. The second half was played close but the Irish tacked on another touchdown and a couple of field goals while shutting out the Boilers to win by a 30 to 14 margin. It brought the Irish record to 6-0 in the Shamrock Series games, 3-0 on the season with a #9 ranking and was their 7th straight victory over the out-manned Boilers.
See video highlights of the game:
http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/hpNjdjcDq6FVs5-aLbpXK0DGKs-63Hc4
With 5 key players suspended for academics and 6 other starters injured and unable to play, the Irish fight through adversity for the win. See video:
http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/F4dGpjcDr9PFBtvFSlomoLO55YL15SIJ
Greg and Donna along with their son Pat and his wife Sarah and their daughter Sheri and her fiancé Ron went to the Notre Dame Shamrock Series football game vs Purdue at the Lucas Oil stadium downtown on September 13th. There were many festivities downtown so first they stopped by a tailgate party for some food and drink. Pat and Sarah took the opportunity to hike over to the Irish Fest which with great timing was going on the same weekend. There Pat got to sample some of the stout Irish ale!
Lucas Oil stadium is a fine venue for a college game and since this was technically a Notre Dame home game it was decked out quite nicely for the Shamrock Series game. The Irish men get to wear special uniforms for the Shamrock Series games and ND's new partner, Under Armour, delivered some blue and gold unies just for this game with interlocked NDs on the helmets for the first time in history. The players like the special unies and this is a fine gimmick to help the team in recruiting! While going to their seats Greg spotted Wylie E heading to the suite where he and BJ watched the game with BJ's cousin. Wylie looked very good in his new Notre Dame hat instead of his usual Illinois topper! Greg looked up Gregg E who is an usher supervisor at the stadium and Gregg hooked Greg, Donna, Pat & Sarah up by moving from them from their original corner of the end zone seats to 30 yard line seats on the Notre Dame side. Gregg also offered Sheri & Ron a couple of seats on the 50 yard line but they decided to stay in their lower end zone seats as the seats offered a different perspective and they were close to the players on scoring plays. Thanks Gregg for the assistance!
It was a typical Notre Dame vs Purdue game with the Boilers playing their very best game of the season against the Irish! Purdue made it interesting in the first half and actually took the lead with about 3 minutes left in the half but that seemed to just wake up the echoes and the Irish as they stormed down field and scored with seconds left to take a 17-14 lead into the break. The second half was played close but the Irish tacked on another touchdown and a couple of field goals while shutting out the Boilers to win by a 30 to 14 margin. It brought the Irish record to 6-0 in the Shamrock Series games, 3-0 on the season with a #9 ranking and was their 7th straight victory over the out-manned Boilers.
See video highlights of the game:
http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/hpNjdjcDq6FVs5-aLbpXK0DGKs-63Hc4
With 5 key players suspended for academics and 6 other starters injured and unable to play, the Irish fight through adversity for the win. See video:
http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/F4dGpjcDr9PFBtvFSlomoLO55YL15SIJ
September 6 - Notre Dame - Michigan
Michigan at ND the final chapter!
Greg and his son, Pat, drove the Vette to South Bend for the September 6th Michigan at Notre Dame game. Notre Dame advised Michigan 3 years ago they were cancelling the series with them to free their schedule in order to meet their commitments to the ACC for the conference change of all their other sports. While ND remains independent in football all their other sports compete in the ACC and ND has agreed to play 5 ACC teams each year in football. Michigan did not take kindly to being told to take a hike so they publicly accused the Irish of being too chicken to play them and even piped the chicken dance music in their stadium at last year's game.
A little history helps you understand the competiveness of these 2 teams when they line up... In 1887 Michigan who call themselves "the champions of the west" brought their team to South Bend, then an unknown little hick school in Indiana and said if you can find about 11 guys we'll show you how to play a real neat game... The Irish did and lost the exhibition game 0-8. Michigan came back the following year and played 2 more exhibition games which the Irish lost so that left ND's all time record at 0-3. The Irish started playing the game and looking for teams to play. By 1998 the Irish had completed 7 consecutive winning seasons and asked Michigan if they could play them again. Michigan said only if you want to travel to Ann Arbor to play so the Irish started doing that and lost each time through 1908. So by now the Irish record against Michigan was 0-8. Michigan fans would like to tell you that the Irish were tired of getting beat so they ended the series. That's partially true. The Irish were tired of getting beat! In 1909 Notre Dame traveled to Ann Arbor and beat Michigan at their own game by a score of 11-3. Michigan promptly cancelled the series and told ND not to come back with their official reason given as "your band was too rowdy". That left the series record as 1-8 in Michigan's favor.
Notre Dame went on playing and learned the game well. An Irish graduate by the name of Knute Rockne decided to try his hand at coaching and the Irish became America's team by playing all over the US and winning National Championships. Although the two teams didn't compete on the field there was plenty going on behind the curtains. ND twice applied for membership in the Big 10 conference and Michigan both times led a successful effort to keep them out. Michigan even went so far as to tell other Big 10 teams to not schedule the Irish. Only Purdue and Michigan State (who was not yet a Big 10 member) defied Michigan and scheduled the Irish.
The two teams didn't play again until during WWII when travel was restricted so they agreed to a home and home series. A 6th ranked Michigan team came to South Bend in 1942 and beat the 4th ranked Irish 32-20. The following year the top ranked Irish beat the 2ND ranked Michigan team 35-12 in Ann Arbor and the Irish went on to win the National Championship. Michigan cancelled the series and refused to play the Irish.
Finally in 1978, a whole lot of undefeated Irish seasons and National Championships later, the two teams agreed to continue hostilities on the field. They have played almost every year since that time with the modern series ending with a 15-15-1 record. The series has been a fan favorite as the teams have entered 28 of those contests with at least one of them highly ranked and in 25 of the games with both teams highly ranked.
The real competition between these two schools is for King of the Hill. Notre Dame represents college football and have the most storied program as well as rank first in the number of National Championships won and Heisman trophy winners. Michigan due to the fact that they started playing football many years before Notre Dame is first in college football with all time wins at 911 while Notre Dame ranks 2ND with 876 wins. In winning percentage the table flips though and the Irish rank first with Michigan a close 2ND. The margin was so slim that a Michigan win would have dropped the Irish to 2ND place. The Irish wanted this one badly though and wanted to send Michigan home with their tail between their tails between their legs and they did so emphatically. It was a good old fashion butt kicking and though and the Irish put Michigan back on the bus with their heads hanging low. The game ended with Notre Dame intercepting a desperate Michigan pass in order to try and avert a shutout on the last play of the game and the interception was returned for a score to make it 37-0 with the stadium crowd going nuts! A referee threw a late flag though and after much confusion they decided to take the ND score off the board and award ND one final play. The Irish didn't care though but it was extra humiliating for the Michigan boys because by that time they had bolted for the locker room to hide and the officials forced them to slink back on the field for an encore to watch the Irish squad line up in "Victory Formation" and take a knee on the snap before they could once again head for the locker room and take a very quiet bus ride north.
It was a great way for the Irish to end the series with an 31-0 emphatic whooping on Michigan. It ended Michigan's NCAA record streak of avoiding shutouts since 1984. Michigan won't want to come back after that thrashing and that's good because Irish fans don't like Michigan and don't want them back anyway! Greg & Pat left the stadium still buzzing with excitement and the Victory March proudly playing but apparently the "chicken dance" music players were no longer enjoying the music! Statistically speaking, the night ended like it began with Notre Dame looking like they were #1 and Michigan smelling like they were a strong number two.
view highlights http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/xuY3A1cDrHjAGbugQd4FXCBK_4DWdtCu
To get a taste of the excitement of the evening look at these links:
http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/YydjY2cDqSagPd03ozIvvnoHW7jS-SBE
http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/tpZnI1cDrjxIoMixgisXVOxcwQ3t16TC
Michigan at ND the final chapter!
Greg and his son, Pat, drove the Vette to South Bend for the September 6th Michigan at Notre Dame game. Notre Dame advised Michigan 3 years ago they were cancelling the series with them to free their schedule in order to meet their commitments to the ACC for the conference change of all their other sports. While ND remains independent in football all their other sports compete in the ACC and ND has agreed to play 5 ACC teams each year in football. Michigan did not take kindly to being told to take a hike so they publicly accused the Irish of being too chicken to play them and even piped the chicken dance music in their stadium at last year's game.
A little history helps you understand the competiveness of these 2 teams when they line up... In 1887 Michigan who call themselves "the champions of the west" brought their team to South Bend, then an unknown little hick school in Indiana and said if you can find about 11 guys we'll show you how to play a real neat game... The Irish did and lost the exhibition game 0-8. Michigan came back the following year and played 2 more exhibition games which the Irish lost so that left ND's all time record at 0-3. The Irish started playing the game and looking for teams to play. By 1998 the Irish had completed 7 consecutive winning seasons and asked Michigan if they could play them again. Michigan said only if you want to travel to Ann Arbor to play so the Irish started doing that and lost each time through 1908. So by now the Irish record against Michigan was 0-8. Michigan fans would like to tell you that the Irish were tired of getting beat so they ended the series. That's partially true. The Irish were tired of getting beat! In 1909 Notre Dame traveled to Ann Arbor and beat Michigan at their own game by a score of 11-3. Michigan promptly cancelled the series and told ND not to come back with their official reason given as "your band was too rowdy". That left the series record as 1-8 in Michigan's favor.
Notre Dame went on playing and learned the game well. An Irish graduate by the name of Knute Rockne decided to try his hand at coaching and the Irish became America's team by playing all over the US and winning National Championships. Although the two teams didn't compete on the field there was plenty going on behind the curtains. ND twice applied for membership in the Big 10 conference and Michigan both times led a successful effort to keep them out. Michigan even went so far as to tell other Big 10 teams to not schedule the Irish. Only Purdue and Michigan State (who was not yet a Big 10 member) defied Michigan and scheduled the Irish.
The two teams didn't play again until during WWII when travel was restricted so they agreed to a home and home series. A 6th ranked Michigan team came to South Bend in 1942 and beat the 4th ranked Irish 32-20. The following year the top ranked Irish beat the 2ND ranked Michigan team 35-12 in Ann Arbor and the Irish went on to win the National Championship. Michigan cancelled the series and refused to play the Irish.
Finally in 1978, a whole lot of undefeated Irish seasons and National Championships later, the two teams agreed to continue hostilities on the field. They have played almost every year since that time with the modern series ending with a 15-15-1 record. The series has been a fan favorite as the teams have entered 28 of those contests with at least one of them highly ranked and in 25 of the games with both teams highly ranked.
The real competition between these two schools is for King of the Hill. Notre Dame represents college football and have the most storied program as well as rank first in the number of National Championships won and Heisman trophy winners. Michigan due to the fact that they started playing football many years before Notre Dame is first in college football with all time wins at 911 while Notre Dame ranks 2ND with 876 wins. In winning percentage the table flips though and the Irish rank first with Michigan a close 2ND. The margin was so slim that a Michigan win would have dropped the Irish to 2ND place. The Irish wanted this one badly though and wanted to send Michigan home with their tail between their tails between their legs and they did so emphatically. It was a good old fashion butt kicking and though and the Irish put Michigan back on the bus with their heads hanging low. The game ended with Notre Dame intercepting a desperate Michigan pass in order to try and avert a shutout on the last play of the game and the interception was returned for a score to make it 37-0 with the stadium crowd going nuts! A referee threw a late flag though and after much confusion they decided to take the ND score off the board and award ND one final play. The Irish didn't care though but it was extra humiliating for the Michigan boys because by that time they had bolted for the locker room to hide and the officials forced them to slink back on the field for an encore to watch the Irish squad line up in "Victory Formation" and take a knee on the snap before they could once again head for the locker room and take a very quiet bus ride north.
It was a great way for the Irish to end the series with an 31-0 emphatic whooping on Michigan. It ended Michigan's NCAA record streak of avoiding shutouts since 1984. Michigan won't want to come back after that thrashing and that's good because Irish fans don't like Michigan and don't want them back anyway! Greg & Pat left the stadium still buzzing with excitement and the Victory March proudly playing but apparently the "chicken dance" music players were no longer enjoying the music! Statistically speaking, the night ended like it began with Notre Dame looking like they were #1 and Michigan smelling like they were a strong number two.
view highlights http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/xuY3A1cDrHjAGbugQd4FXCBK_4DWdtCu
To get a taste of the excitement of the evening look at these links:
http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/YydjY2cDqSagPd03ozIvvnoHW7jS-SBE
http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/tpZnI1cDrjxIoMixgisXVOxcwQ3t16TC
August 30 - Notre Dame - Rice
Greg Bowron went to the season opener at Notre Dame against Rice.
The rain sputtered a couple of times in the first half and cut loose briefly in the second half but Greg and his son, Pat, managed to stay mostly dry.
ND won 48-17. Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkTRxC28NF4
Greg Bowron went to the season opener at Notre Dame against Rice.
The rain sputtered a couple of times in the first half and cut loose briefly in the second half but Greg and his son, Pat, managed to stay mostly dry.
ND won 48-17. Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkTRxC28NF4
