2018 Shamrock Series To Feature Syracuse In Yankee Stadium

Dec. 7, 2017

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame announced Wednesday that it will play Syracuse on Nov. 17, 2018, at Yankee Stadium, as part of its Shamrock Series. This matchup will mark the Shamrock Series’ second trip to the fabled home of the New York Yankees.

Notre Dame and Syracuse have played eight times, with the Irish leading the series 5-3-0. Notre Dame earned a 50-33 victory in the most recent meeting between the schools on Oct. 1, 2016, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Irish and Orange met for the first time on the gridiron on Nov. 26, 1914, when Notre Dame shutout Syracuse, 20-0, at Archbold Stadium (the original home of the Orange).

Neutral-site matchups are nothing new to the Notre Dame-Syracuse series. The 1963 game, which the Orange won 14-7, was played in the original Yankee Stadium on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28). It marked Notre Dame’s first game after the tragic death of John F. Kennedy the week before in Dallas. The two have also twice faced off at MetLife Stadium (2014, 2016) — home of the New York Giants and New York Jets. The Irish captured both meetings, including a 31-15 victory on Sept. 27, 2014.

Notre Dame has played 26 games at Yankee Stadium. In addition to the ’63 meeting with Syracuse, the Irish have played Army (1925-29, 1931-46, 1969, 2010), North Carolina (1949) and Rutgers (2013 Pinstripe Bowl).

Syracuse has played seven games at Yankee Stadium. In addition to the ’63 meeting with the Irish, the Orange defeated Pittsburgh in 1923, NYU in both 1940 and ’41, Kansas State in 2010 (Pinstripe Bowl) and West Virginia in 2012 (Pinstripe Bowl). Syracuse’s only loss at Yankee Stadium came in 1960 vs. Army.

This meeting will mark the ninth installment of the Shamrock Series, an event where the Irish play a scheduled home game at a neutral site. In addition to the game, the weekend features various off-the-field events aimed at bringing the full Notre Dame campus fan experience on the road to cities around the country. Presentations by University faculty and researchers, Mass, a service project, a 5K run/walk and marching band performances are planned leading up to kickoff.

Tickets will be offered to football season ticket members and contributing alumni during the annual lottery process in spring 2018. Remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public in July.

Shamrock Series History

This will mark the ninth installment of the Shamrock Series, an event where the Irish play a scheduled home game at a neutral site.

The series allows the Irish to continue their long history of playing neutral site games across the country.

The Syracuse game will be the 137th time that the Irish will play a regular-season neutral site game, posting a 107-23-6 (.741) record to date.

Notre Dame is a perfect 8-0 all-time in Shamrock Series games.

Shamrock Series

Notre Dame-New York History

The relationship between Notre Dame and New York City actually began just weeks before the University was even established by Fr. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., in 1842. Sorin and his six Holy Cross Brothers, came by boat to the United States from France and arrived in New York Harbor about two months before heading for Indiana to begin laying the roots for Sorin’s vision of a faith-based school and the best university in the United States.

Sorin actually said his first mass in the United States at St. Peter’s Church, the oldest Catholic Parish in New York City, in downtown Manhattan, not far from Ground Zero. A plaque inside the vestibule of the church commemorates the event. Sorin and his companions spent three days in New York City before embarking on the 24-day journey to Indiana.

In the early days of the University, only a handful of New Yorkers could boast being Notre Dame alumni. But as travel became more convenient and the reputation of Notre Dame blossomed, the number quickly grew. Helping to fuel the active presence Notre Dame holds in the Big Apple is the Notre Dame Club of New York. The organization underwent steady growth through the early 1900s and under the leadership of then club president Monsignor Luke J. Evers (ND 1878), the organization became strong enough to attract Notre Dame president Rev. John W. Cavanaugh, C.S.C., to Manhattan in 1915 as the guest of honor and speaker for a banquet of alumni, dignitaries, city and state officials and educators.

Notre Dame has nearly 9,000 alumni in the New York City metropolitan area, most as part of alumni clubs in New York City, Mid-Hudson Valley (Stormville, N.Y.), Long Island, Staten Island, Northern New Jersey (Rutherford, N.J.), Jersey Shore (Bradley Beach, N.J.), Fairfield County (Fairfield, Conn.) and New Haven (New Haven, Conn.).

Three of the most hallowed events in the national mythology of Notre Dame football emerged from games played in the New York area.

One of the most significant moments in the development of American football came 100 years ago, Nov. 1, 1913, at West Point when Notre Dame quarterback Gus Dorais and team captain Knute Rockne revolutionized the game by extensively utilizing forward passes in a 35-13 upset of Army that forever placed Notre Dame on the national college football landscape and helped change the entire sport’s tactics. The Irish finished the landmark 1913 season at a perfect 7-0 under coach Jesse Harper. Another legendary Notre Dame moment occurred on Oct. 18, 1924 after the Army game at the Polo Grounds, a 13-7 win for the Irish. The combination of quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, left halfback Jim Crowley, right halfback Don Miller and fullback Elmer Layden rolled over the Cadets. Their performance inspired the New York Herald Tribune’s Grantland Rice to write the famous lede “outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again,” coining an iconic nickname. The Irish went on to capture their first of 11 national championships.

On Nov. 10, 1928 at Yankee Stadium, head coach Knute Rockne delivered perhaps the most famous halftime speech in sports history. With Army leading the Irish at intermission, Rockne told his team about Notre Dame’s first All-American, George Gipp, whose death bed wish was that someday when the Irish were down that Rockne implore the team to “win one for the Gipper.” Notre Dame scored two second half touchdowns after the speech to defeat Army, 12-6.

Notre Dame-Yankee Stadium History

Two of the most recognizable brands in American sports reunite as the gold helmets of 11-time consensus national champion Notre Dame returns to the second generation of “the house that Ruth built,” home of the 27-time World Series champion New York Yankees.

The game with Syracuse marks the 27th time that the Irish have played at Yankee Stadium. Notre Dame is 17-6-3 (.712) all-time at Yankee Stadium, including a 2-0 mark in the new stadium and a 15-6-3 (.688) record in the original facility.

All but three of these games, a 1949 win over North Carolina, a 1963 loss to Syracuse and a 2013 win over Rutgers, have come against Army.

Notre Dame played the first college football game at the new Yankee Stadium when the Fighting Irish downed Army, 27-3, on Nov. 20, 2010 in the second installment of the annual Shamrock Series.