April 26, 2002

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The following is a partial excerpt from the Notre Dame football release. To view the complete release, please see the PDF version.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish 73rd Annual BLUE-GOLD GAME

The Date and Time: Saturday, April 27, 2002, at 1:30 p.m. EST.

The Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795/natural grass) in Notre Dame, Ind.

The Tickets: In advance, $8 for adults and $6 for youths 16-and-under. Fans also could purchase special ticket packages to this year’s game. The “Pre-Game with The Irish” package includes pre-game brunch with Irish players and coaches Saturday at 9:30 a.m., and sideline access and preferred seating during the scrimmage, while the “View from the Top” package features press box seating for Saturday’s scrimmage. Tickets for both the “Pre-Game with the Irish” (over 900) and the “View From the Top” (200 seats) package are sold out.

Ticket prices the day of the game are $10 for adults and $8 for children 16-and-under.

The Radio Plans: The Blue-Gold scrimmage will be broadcast live on radio by South Bend’s ESPN Radio 1620 AM (Sean Stires and Taylor Richards) and 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.

BLUE-GOLD HISTORY
This is the 73rd annual Blue-Gold football event, Notre Dame’s final controlled scrimmage of the 2002 spring season.

THE PROCEEDS OF THE GAME
Proceeds from today’s game benefit the scholarship fund of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley, who is sponsoring today’s game.

THE CROWD….
Much of the Blue-Gold crowd typically has been of the walk-up variety on gameday. The attendance when the game has been played at Notre Dame Stadium has been routinely at least 20,000 fans — with highs of 35,675 in ’81, 32,071 in ’86 and 29,541 in ’90. The top two Blue-Gold crowds in school history came with first-year head coaches at the helm — 1981 with Gerry Faust and 1986 with Lou Holtz. In 1997, Notre Dame conducted a pair of Blue-Gold scrimmages at Moose Krause Stadium (capacity 9,700) under first-year mentor Bob Davie, drawing crowds of 8,240 and 9,241. Those spring games were moved to the smaller Krause Stadium while the expansion of Notre Dame Stadium was being completed.

THE PRE-GAME FESTIVITIES
The Blue-Gold Spring Football Festival begins at 9:30 a.m with the pre-game brunch with Notre Dame players and coaches (tickets only). A Fan Festival in the Joyce Center parking lot will begin at 10:00 a.m. and the Notre Dame Stadium gates will open for the alumni flag football game at 11:00 a.m. EST. At 11:30 a.m., a group of former Irish football players will participate in a flag football game. Players returning for the flag football game include: Brad Alge*, Bernie Bauer*, Jason Beckwith*, Kurt Belisle, Greg Bell*, Al Bucci, Jim Carroll*, Phil Carter, John Dampeer, Mike Frantz*, D’Juan Francisco, Tom Freeman, Steven Gibson*, Bob Gladieux, Mark Green, Paul Grimm, Kris Haines, Brian Hamilton, David Humenik, Malcolm Johnson, Jack Landry, Tim Lynch, David Martin*, Bernie Meter*, Mark Norman, Mike Perrino, Vince Phelan, Stan Smagala, Chris Smith, Bill Snyder, Corny Southall, Charles Stafford, Pat Steenberge, Jack Stephan*, Mike Tribe, Greg Williamson and Chris Zorich* (* denotes will not play).

THE SCRIMMAGE FORMAT
The Blue-Gold Game will feature a matchup of teams selected by the Irish coaching staff prior to the contest. Some players also may change teams during the course of the game.

There will be four, 12-minute quarters with the clock running continuously, except for the final two minutes of each half, when conventional clock stoppage rules will apply (incomplete passes, out of bounds, first downs, penalties, etc.). All of the Notre Dame coaches will be on the field during the course of the game.

HALFTIME FESTIVITIES
Several presentations will take place at halftime of today’s game including the Chevrolet Player of the Game Awards from the 2001 season; the William Reynolds Award; and the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Scholarship Awards.

THE POST-GAME AUTOGRAPHS
Following the scrimmage, Irish players will return to the lockerroom briefly before returning to the concourse area for a 45-minute autograph session. Players will be stationed at various gate entrances around Notre Dame Stadium. The autograph session will take place, rain or shine.

ROSTER CHANGES
Six current Irish players will be changing their numbers for the 2002 season. Sophomore TB Ryan Grant now will wear No. 4 (he previously wore No. 25). Sophomore WR Carlos Campbell will don No. 6 this season rather than the No. 88 he wore last year. Junior CB Preston Jackson will wear No. 15 in 2002 (he wore No. 38 the past two seasons). Sophomore LB Justin Tuck now will wear No. 44 after sporting No. 48 in 2001. Junior LB Jerome Collins has switched to No. 48 in place of No. 81 which he wore last season and senior DL Jason Halvorson will wear No. 54 after donning No. 53 a year ago.

Three walk-on Irish players also have been added to the spring roster. Senior LB Charles Hedman (Mishawaka, Ind./St. Joseph HS) will wear No. 61, sophomore FB Josh Schmidt (Germantown, Tenn./Briarcrest Christian HS) will sport No. 26, and junior WR Nathan Schomas (Wheaton, Ill./Warrensville South HS) will don No. 40. In addition, senior DE Jeffrey Campbell is no longer on the Irish roster.

POSITION CHANGES
Two Notre Dame players have changed positions since the 2002 Spring Football Prospectus was released: junior Jared Clark has moved from quarterback to tight end, while senior Jordan Black has switched from offensive guard to offensive tackle.

THE 2002 KICKOFF CLASSIC
The Notre Dame football team will open the 2002 season against Maryland on Saturday, August 31, at 8:00 p.m. EDT (7:00 p.m. EST in South Bend) in Kickoff Classic XX at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. ABC Sports will televise the game on a national basis.

This will mark the second appearance for Notre Dame in the Kickoff Classic. The defending national champion Irish defeated Virginia, 36-13, in the 1989 game. This year’s contest will be the first meeting between Notre Dame and Maryland on the gridiron – and it will mark the debut of new Irish head coach Tyrone Willingham.

Notre Dame will be making its first appearance at Giants Stadium since a 1995 win over Army – and its 10th overall visit to the East Rutherford, N.J., facility (capacity 80,242), that also is home to the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets, as well as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars of Major League Soccer. The Irish have a 9-0 record at Giants Stadium, thanks to five wins over Navy (1980, 1982, 1984, 1990 and 1992), three over Army (1977, 1983 and 1995) and one over Virginia (1989).

Notre Dame will make a return trip to the Meadowlands on Oct. 16, 2004, when it is scheduled to face Navy at Giants Stadium in a continuation of the longest ongoing intersectional rivalry in the nation (75 games entering the 2002 season).

2002 NOTRE DAME OPPONENT UPDATE
Notre Dame once again played one of the nation’s toughest schedule in 2001, as it faced nine teams that appeared in bowl games (Nebraska, Michigan State, Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, USC, Boston College, Tennessee, Stanford and Purdue). The Irish were the only team in the nation to play nine bowl-bound teams in the regular season.

This season could prove to be just as tough as the Irish once more face nine teams that appeared in postseason bowl games and five teams that finished in the Associated Press Top 25 poll including Maryland (#11), Florida State (#15), Stanford (#16), Michigan (#20) and Boston College (#21).

WILLINGHAM NAMED HEAD COACH FOR 2003 EAST-WEST SHRINE GAME
Notre Dame mentor Tyrone Willingham has been named a head coach for the 78th East-West Shrine Game, to be played Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003, at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco.

Willingham will pilot the East squad, while Washington State skipper Mike Price will lead the West team. Both men previously served as assistant coaches at the Shrine Game — Willingham worked with the West squad in 1998, while Price was a West assistant in 1996.

The Shrine Game showcases the talents of many of the nation’s top college senior players, while raising funds for thousands of children who receive medical care, at no cost, from the 22 Shriners’ Hospitals for Children throughout North America. In the recently-completed NFL draft, 33 players from the 2002 Shrine Game were selected, including the third overall pick, Joey Harrington of Oregon.

NFL FILMS FEATURE ON GERRY FAUST GARNERS SPORTS EMMY AWARD
A special NFL FILMS feature on the career of former Notre Dame head coach Gerry Faust was chosen to receive a Sports Emmy Award from the National Academy of Arts & Sciences at a ceremony held April 23 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York. The piece, entitled “NFL FILMS Presents – Gerry Faust & The Golden Dream,” documented the inspirational story of the man who coached the Irish from 1981-85. It tells the tale of a successful high school coach who dreamed of becoming the head coach at Notre Dame. The feature aired five times last November on ESPN and ESPN2.

THE 2002 NFL DRAFT
Six former Irish players were selected in the 2002 NFL entry draft, while five other players signed free agent contracts. Anthony Weaver (second round, Baltimore Ravens) was the first Notre Dame player chosen. Rocky Boiman (fourth round, Tennessee Titans) was next, followed by John Owens (fifth round, Detroit Lions), Tyreo Harrison (sixth round, Philadelphia Eagles), Javin Hunter (sixth round, Baltimore Ravens) and David Givens (seventh round, New England Patriots). Tony Fisher (Green Bay Packers), Grant Irons (Buffalo Bills), Ron Israel (Washington Redskins), Jason Murray (Cincinnati Bengals) and Kurt Vollers (Indianapolis Colts) all signed free agent deals.

DAVE CASPER VOTED INTO PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
Former Notre Dame All-American Dave Casper — a tight end for four National Football League teams, notably the Oakland Raiders, from 1974-84 — has been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame’s Class of 2002 also includes: Dan Hampton, a defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears from 1979-90; John Stallworth, a wide receiver with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1974-87; and former Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins coach George Allen.

Their induction into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 3 in Canton, Ohio, will bring the number of enshrinees in the Hall to 216. It also will mark the third consecutive year a former Notre Dame player is inducted, following Joe Montana in 2000 and Nick Buoniconti in 2001. Other Notre Dame representatives in the Pro Football Hall of Fame include Curly Lambeau, George Trafton, Wayne Millner, George Connor, Paul Hornung and Alan Page.