Nov. 1, 2000

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(#11 AP/#12 ESPN/USA Today) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-2)
vs. Boston College Eagles (6-3)

The Date and Time: Saturday, Nov. 11, 2000, at 3:30 EST.

The Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,232/natural grass) in Notre Dame, Ind.

The Tickets: They’re all soldd with this game marking the 155th consecutive sellout in Notre Dame Stadium (the first 130 coming at the old 59,075 capacity). The Boston College game marks the 203rd home sellout in the last 204 games (back to 1964) and the 126th sellout in the last 146 games involving Notre Dame, including the first 10 games of 1998, the first 11 in ’99 and the first five in ’00.

The TV Plans: NBC Sports national telecast with Tom Hammond (play-by-play), Pat Haden (analysis), Jim Gray (sideline) and Bill Bonnell (producer).

The Radio Plans: For the 33rd consecutive season, all Notre Dame football games are broadcast nationally on radio by Westwood One with Tony Roberts (play by play) and Tom Pagna (game analysis) and Paul Hornung (pregame/halftime analysis). The Westwood One network includes nearly 200 stations. A live broadcast from the Notre Dame student radio station, WVFI, is available through the Notre Dame athletic department web site at www.und.com.

Websites: Notre Dame (www.und.com), Boston College (www.bceagles.com).

The Head Coach Fourth-year Irish head coach Bob Davie owns a 27-18 (.600) career record at Notre Dame. Davie is one of 10 semifinalists for the Football News 2000 coach-of-the-year award and was one of 10 finalists for the 1998 Walter Camp Foundation/Street and Smith’s Coach of the Year Award. His 1997 squad beat No. 11 LSU and No. 22 West Virginia to mark the first time a Notre Dame team beat ranked foes on consecutive weeks since November ’92, while the ’98 opening win over No. 5 and defending national champion Michigan gave him three wins over a ranked teams. He led the Irish to another season-opening ranked win this year against No. 23 Texas A&M, and the win over 13th-ranked Purdue marked the earliest the Irish have beaten two ranked opponents since 1990. The 2000 season marks Davie’s seventh year at Notre Dame overall, after serving as defensive coordinator and inside linebacker coach from 1994-96. He coached nine seasons at Texas A&M (’85-’93), two at Tulane (’83-’84), four at Pittsburgh (’77, ’80-’82) and two at Arizona (’78-’79), spending both years at Tulane as defensive coordinator and the last five at Texas A&M in that role.

The Injury Update (as of Oct. 31)
Out
Junior QB Arnaz Battle Fractured left navicular (wrist) vs. Nebraska (out for season, had surgery Sept. 12)
Senior DE Grant Irons Dislocated right shoulder vs. Nebraska (out for season, had surgery Sept. 21)
Doubtful
Junior CB Clifford Jefferson Sprained ankle vs. Air Force
Questionable
Junior TE Gerald Morgan Knee (DNP vs. Air Force)
Probable
Junior SE Jay Johnson Hamstring vs. Navy (DNP vs. West Virginia, Air Force)

NOTRE DAME-BOSTON COLLEGE GAME NOTES

• The game marks the 12th meeting between the Irish and Eagles with Notre Dame holding an 8-3 lead in the series that dates backs to 1975.
• Notre Dame and Boston College are the only two Catholic universities that play Division I-A football.
  For more Notre Dame-Boston College series notes, see pages 2-3.

THE POLLS

Following Notre Dame’s overtime loss to top-ranked Nebraska on Sept. 9, the Irish moved up two spots in the Associated Press poll, going from 23rd that week to 21st following the game. That marked only the second time in the history of Notre Dame football and the AP rankings that the Irish have moved up following a defeat. The other time came in 1986 following Lou Holtz’s first game as Irish head coach. Notre Dame came into that campaign unranked, but after a 24-23 loss to third-ranked Michigan in the season opener at Notre Dame Stadium, the Irish moved to 20th in the AP poll the following week. In fact, that marked the first time in the history of the AP poll that a team entered the season unranked, lost its first game and moved into the rankings.

THREE FORMER IRISH PLAYERS NAMED TO ABC SPORTS ALL-TIME ALL-AMERICA TEAM Three former Notre Dame football greats have been selected to the ABC Sports College Football All-Time All-America Team, as featured in a recently-published book by Hyperion. Receiver Tim Brown was named to the second team, as was defensive lineman Alan Page, while tight end Dave Casper was chosen to the third team.

Brown, from Dallas, Texas, won the 1987 Heisman Trophy and finished his Notre Dame career as the all-time Irish leader in reception yardage (2,493). He keynoted his Heisman bid in ’87 by returning two punts for 66 and 71 yards for TDs against Michigan State. Brown continues to star as a receiver for the NFL Oakland Raiders. Page, from Canton, Ohio, earned consensus All-America honors as a senior in 1966 while helping the Irish to the national championship. A three-year starter at defensive end, he made 63 tackles as a senior in ’66 and finished with 134 career tackles. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in ’93 ? and was an NCAA Silver Anniversary award winner in ’92. A former NFL MVP during his career with the Minnesota Vikings, Page now serves as a Minnesota Supreme Court judge. Casper, from Chilton, Wis., was a consensus All-America selection as a senior in 1973 on Notre Dame’s national championship team. A three-year starter from 1971-73, he opened at offensive tackle for two seasons, then switched to tight end as a senior. His career totals included 21 catches for 335 yards and four TDs. He served as co-captain of Notre Dame’s ’73 national title squad. After 11 years in the NFL, Casper was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 1993 and was an NCAA Silver Anniversary award winner in 1999.

NUMBER CHANGES

The Irish have made five number changes from the original media guide roster: senior FS Justin Smith will wear No. 4 (instead of 39), junior HLD Adam Tibble is wearing No. 80 (instead of 73), freshman TE Billy Palmer is wearing No. 85 (instead of 96), junior walk-on center John Crowther is wearing 56 (not 64) and junior walk-on TE/DE Jeffrey Campbell is wearing 64 (not 85).

COACHING IN THE CLUTCH Knute Rockne owns the best career winning percentage among Notre Dame coaches in games decided by seven or fewer points, at 21-1-5 (.870). Among Irish coaches with 14-plus “close games,” the other top winning percentages in tight games belong to Elmer Layden (22-7-3, .734), Frank Leahy (17-5-8, .700), Ara Parseghian (13-6-4, .652), Dan Devine (15-9-1, .620), Bob Davie (14-9, .609) and Lou Holtz (20-18-2, .525).

HOWARD’S RUN 15TH LONGEST IN IRISH HISTORY

• Junior TB Terrance Howard had an 80-yard touchdown run against West Virginia in the second-quarter to tie the game at 14-14, the first of five consecutive Irish TDs against the Mountaineers.
• His 80-yard run stands as the 15th longest in Notre Dame history and the second longest for the Irish in the last 27 years (Robert Farmer had an 81-yard TD run against Boston College in 1996).
• The run also set a Mountaineer Field record for the longest by a West Virginia opponent, eclipsing a 74-yard run by Maryland’s Mike Beasley in 1988.
• He finished with 96 yards rushing against WVU, the second consecutive week he has rushed for career-high yards after 68 against Navy.