This week in Notre Dame history, trivia and much more
In an effort to keep alive the mission and spirit of Lou Somogyi, this every-Monday piece looks at the upcoming week in Fighting Irish history. This one covers Feb. 20 thru Feb. 26.
Know your Domers trivia
(answers below)
1) Who holds the career record for rushing yards by a Notre Dame quarterback?
2) What Fighting Irish football player holds the career record for most points scored?
3) What Notre Dame quarterback holds the single-game record with 6 touchdown passes?
Fighting Irish Birthdays
Maurice Stovall (2/21/1985)
Stovall, who turns 38 on Tuesday, was a wide receiver for Notre Dame from 2002-05. Stovall finished his Fighting Irish career with 130 receptions for 2,195 yards, a yardage mark that still ranks 10th all-time. Stovall’s 14 receptions against BYU in 2005 remains an Irish single-game record. A third-round draft pick of the Buccaneers in 2006, the Philadelphia native recorded 52 receptions over seven NFL seasons.
Cierre Wood (2/21/1991)
Wood, who turns 32 on Tuesday, was a running back at Notre Dame from 2009-12. A sophomore in 2010, Wood took over starting duties for the last six games when Armando Allen was injured. Wood’s best season came as a junior in 2011 when he recorded 1,102 rushing yards and a 5.1-yard per-carry average with 9 rushing touchdowns. Undrafted in 2013, the Bloomington, Calif., native bounced around eight different NFL and CFL practice squads for six seasons.
Arnaz Battle (2/22/1980)
Battle, who turns 43 on Wednesday, was a quarterback and wide receiver at Notre Dame from 1998-2002. Battle played quarterback his first two years with the Fighting Irish until a broken wrist helped facilitate his move to wideout before his junior season. A sixth-round draft pick of the 49ers in 2003, the Shreveport, La., native enjoyed a terrific nine-year NFL career as a wide receiver and return man.
Willie Fry (2/23/1955)
Fry, who died from a heart attack on July 10, 1998, at age 43, was born 68 years ago on Thursday. Fry, a standout Irish defensive lineman from 1973-77, was a captain on the 1977 national championship team. A second-round draft pick of the Steelers in 1978, the Memphis, Tenn., native played only three NFL seasons but won Super Bowls with Pittsburgh in two of those (1978 and 1979).
Mike Haywood (2/26/1964)
Haywood, who turns 59 on Sunday, was a reserve wide receiver and defensive back at Notre Dame from 1984-86. He later became the Fighting Irish offensive coordinator/running backs coach under Charlie Weis from 2005-08. The Houston native parlayed his time at Notre Dame into a head coaching job at Miami, Ohio, from 2009-10 where he earned 2010 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year honors after winning the MAC title. Haywood accepted the head coaching job at Pitt in 2011, but he never made it to the Steel City after being arrested on domestic violence charges in South Bend.
Notable death
Joe Boland (2/26/1960)
Boland, a Notre Dame player from 1924-25, died 63 years ago Sunday of a heart attack at the age of 55. The Philadelphia native was a member of the 1924 Fighting Irish national championship team under head coach Knute Rockne where he played guard on the offensive line that paved the way for Rockne’s famed Four Horsemen.
Boland later served as Notre Dame’s offensive line coach from 1934-40 under Elmer Layden.
Better known as a broadcaster than a football player or coach, Boland is credited with starting the Irish Football Network and becoming the first voice of Notre Dame. Boland also called games at WGN for the old Chicago Cardinals of the NFL.
Boland left Chicago and became the WSBT sports director in South Bend where he broadcast a high school basketball tournament game the night before his death. Boland is buried at the Cedar Grove Cemetery on campus.
Memory lane
Feb. 21 and 26, 1978 (45 years ago)
After a late-season slide saw the Notre Dame men’s basketball team drop three out of four games, the No. 9 Fighting Irish righted things and recorded consecutive victories on Feb. 21 and Feb. 26, over No. 19 NC State and No. 1 Marquette.
In the 65-59 upset of the top-ranked Warriors, Irish freshman phenom Kelly Tripucka scored all 15 of his points in the second half.
The Irish used the momentum from this memorable week to help fuel the program’s only Final Four appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Feb. 26, 2017 (6 years ago)
With a 64-60 win over Georgia Tech, the Irish men’s basketball team ran its ACC winning streak to six games, setting itself up for a run to the finals of the conference tournament where it lost 75-69 to Duke. The No. 14 Irish were beaten one week later by No. 13 West Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Notre Dame entered the 2017 postseason off of consecutive trips to the Elite Eight.
This team was captained by VJ Beachem, Bonzie Colson and Steve Vasturia.
Know your Domers answers:
1) Tony Rice (1987-89) 1,921 yards
2) PK Justin Yoon (2015-18) 367 points
3) Brady Quinn (2005) vs. BYU
— Blue & Gold Illustrated Managing Editor Steve Downey, and the late-great Lou Somogyi contributed to this report
