BC/ND rivalry extended to 2019
From The Boston Herald.
The Boston College-Notre Dame football rivalry is back.
The schools have reached a preliminary agreement to extend the series until at least 2019, with six games added to the schedule.
The rivalry was scheduled to end this fall, with the Eagles hosting the Fighting Irish on Oct. 2 at Alumni Stadium.
Now, with a half-dozen games added, Boston College is scheduled to host Notre Dame in 2012, 2015 and 2019.
The Eagles will travel to South Bend, Ind., in 2011, 2016 and 2018.
The agreement was reached between BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo and Notre Dame counterpart Jack Swarbrick.
“Jack Swarbrick and I agreed that since Boston College and Notre Dame are the only Catholic institutions that play Division 1-A football, we should continue to play each other over a period of years,” DeFilippo said yesterday.
Called “The Holy War” by some, Boston College and Notre Dame did not play until 1975, with the Irish claiming a 17-3 victory at Schaefer Stadium in Foxboro. The Irish won the first four games played between the schools, including a 54-7 victory in South Bend in 1992.
The teams played every year since except for 2005 and ’06.
The Eagles’ first victory in the series came Nov. 20, 1993, with David Gordon connecting on a 41-yard field goal in the last seconds to put Boston College ahead, 41-39.
BC won again a year later before ND ripped off four wins a row from 1995-98. In 1998 at Alumni Stadium, Eagles running back Mike Cloud failed to make it into the end zone on four plays from inside the 4-yard line. On the final play of the game, blown coverage by BC allowed a Notre Dame safety to tackle Cloud behind the line of scrimmage.
The rivalry has been all Eagles since then with seven wins in nine meetings. They won six years in a row before falling to the Irish in South Bend last October, 20-16.
Notre Dame leads the series 10-9.
The most famous common thread between the schools is legendary coach Frank Leahy, who ran the Boston College program in 1939 and ’40 before going on to greater glory at South Bend. He coached the Irish for 11 seasons, including four national championships.
The winner of each Boston College-Notre Dame game wins the Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl.
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