Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 AUGUST 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame-Navy Move Site, Date; More Changes To Follow? If there has ever been a year for Notre Dame's football team to be literally "thrown off schedule," 2020 is it. It already began when the regular season was supposed to commence in Ireland on Aug. 29 versus Navy. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, though, the mutual decision by the two schools was made in June that the game will be pushed back to either Sept. 5 or 6 — which had been a bye weekend for both teams — and played in Annapolis, Md., at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000 capacity). The choice was made following consultation with the Irish government, medical authorities and the school administrators. It will be the first time the rivals will meet on Navy's campus in the uninterrupted series that began in 1927, and it will be televised nationally by ESPN or ABC. "The change of venue has been a very difficult decision for our colleagues at the Naval Academy, but we are in full support of their choice," Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said of Navy as the host team this year. "… We look forward to going back to Ireland for a game in the not-too- distant future." The 2020 slate initially featured several neutral-site games in NFL stadiums: Wake Forest on Sept. 26 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.; Wisconsin on Oct. 3 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.; and Georgia Tech on Nov. 14 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Wisconsin game has since been cancelled due to the Big Ten's decision to go to a conference-only slate of games. Part of the appeal to move to such venues is to help generate a larger audience, especially because Wake Forest's on-campus BB&T Field holds only 31,500, while Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field has a capacity of 55,000. However, in a year of vigilant "social distancing," attendance numbers are less relevant than ever. In an interview with NBCSN's Mike Tirico, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly revealed that Swarbrick has had preliminary dialogue with the schools about possibly moving those games to on-campus home venues. "Does it make sense to go to an NFL stadium that seats 60,000; 70,000; 80,000 — and have 25,000 or 30,000 in attendance that impacts the gate to the level where you can't really afford to be there because it becomes a losing proposition?" Kelly asked rhetorically in a June 9 session with media. Wisconsin was slated to play Northwestern in Chicago's Wrigley Field this year, but that was nixed July 8. Meanwhile, the Pac-12 followed the Big Ten's lead and decided to also play a conference-only schedule, meaning the Fighting Irish's trip to USC Nov. 28 and Stanford's journey to Notre Dame Oct. 10 were also wiped from the schedule (see more about this on pages 16-17). Options and contingency plans must be explored in this era of uncertainty. Swarbrick is realistic about such a possibility, but also confident that the show would go on with the 2020 schedule and alternate options would be in place, although not for public consumption now. "I'd be surprised if there wasn't any conference that wouldn't look at a conference-only alternative," Swarbrick said in May. "If it goes that way we'll be fine. We'll be able to play a high-quality, full schedule, the same number of games other teams would play." "We're hopeful," Kelly said of playing a full schedule this year this year. "We don't have anything tangible. … Once we do, we'll make it public because we want that to be binding." — Lou Somogyi BOB GOLIC AND AARON TAYLOR ON 2021 HALL OF FAME BALLOT Seventy-eight former Football Bowl Subdivision All-Americans were named this June on the ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in the class of 2021. Among the Notre Dame representa- tives are 1975-78 linebacker/nose guard Bob Golic and 1990-93 offensive line- man Aaron Taylor. The announcement of the 2021 class will be made early next year, and it is extremely difficult to make the final cut. Last year, 1990 Walter Camp Award winner and Heisman runner-up Raghib "Rocket" Ismail became the 47th Notre Dame player inducted (the most among any school). Taylor also was on the bal- lot, but did not make it. Generally, about eight to 12 players are chosen each year. Among the familiar names on the bal- lot this year are former Heisman Tro- phy winners Carson Palmer (2002) and Rashaan Salaam (1994). Of the 5.4 million individuals who have played college football, only 1,027 play- ers have earned induction into the Col- lege Football Hall of Fame, or less than two one-hundredths of a percent (.02 percent) of those who have played the game during the past 150 years. Golic is second to Bob Crable, inducted in 2018, in career tackles (479, not in- cluding bowls) at Notre Dame. He was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press and United Press International while playing middle line- backer and nose guard for the 1977 national champs, and was a consen- sus All-America pick in 1978 at middle linebacker. He also was an All-American heavyweight wrestler. Taylor earned consensus All-America notice at guard in 1992 and unanimous honors at tackle in 1993 while helping the Irish win 17 consecutive games. He won the 1993 Lombardi Award winner and was named College Interior Line- man of the Year by Touchdown Club of Columbus (Ohio) before becoming a first-round pick and Super Bowl cham- pion with the Green Bay Packers. Taylor is one of only 16 two-time con- sensus All-Americans in Notre Dame an- nals. He joins cornerback Todd Lyght and linebacker Michael Stonebreaker, both starters on the school's most recent na- tional title team in 1988, as the three among the 16 not yet in the College Football Hall of Fame. — Lou Somogyi Notre Dame will play Navy at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., for the first time since the uninterrupted series began in 1927. PHOTO COURTESY NAVY