March 10, 2010

Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame and Maryland will face each other on the football field for only the second time in history on Nov. 12, 2011, when the Fighting Irish and Terrapins meet at 91,704-seat FedExField in Landover, Md.

The game will be the third of a series of “off-site” home football games for Notre Dame in which the Irish are taking games that could be played at Notre Dame Stadium and moving them to venues around the country. The first of those was played Oct. 31, 2009, when Notre Dame and Washington State met at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The second will be played Nov. 20, 2010, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y., between Notre Dame and Army. Notre Dame and Arizona State are slated to meet in 2013 at the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium in Arlington, Texas.

NBC Sports is expected to televise the Notre Dame-Maryland game on a national basis in prime time.

“As we have looked to move one game a season around the country, playing in the Washington, D.C., area seemed a natural for us in terms of institutional fit,” said Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick.

“The size of the FedExField facility alone will provide great access to tickets for fans of both Notre Dame and Maryland – and the opportunity to spend a weekend in our nation’s capitol should be a tremendous attraction.”

“It is a privilege for FedExField to host of one of the most storied programs in college football history and match it against a university with a strong and successful local following,” Washington Redskins chief marketing officer Mitch Gershman said. “This game will be an exciting event for our region as all eyes will be on FedExField.”

Notre Dame expects to make tickets available to its contributing alumni and fans through its alumni lottery as it does with all other football games.

Notre Dame’s only previous meeting with Maryland came in a 22-0 Irish victory over the 21st-rated Terps on Aug. 31, 2002, at Giants Stadium in the Kickoff Classic. That game marked the first of the Tyrone Willingham era at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame previously played once at what was then known as Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in defeating Navy 30-0 on Nov. 14, 1998.