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 March 20-26.

 

Know your Domers trivia

(answers below)

1) Over or under 3.5, the most losses Knute Rockne ever suffered in a single season during his 13 years as the Irish head coach? 

2) What’s the record for the most wins by a Notre Dame football team in a single season?

3) What Irish tailback holds the career record with 22 100-yard rushing games?

 

Fighting Irish Birthdays

*Ed Rutkowski (3/21/1941)

-Rutkowski, who turns 82 on Tuesday, was a Fighting Irish halfback and quarterback from 1960-62, who played during the dark days of the program under head coach Joe Kuharich. 

The Kingston, Penn., native played professionally in the AFL as a wide receiver with the Buffalo Bills where he won two league championships before retiring and spending nine years in politics in the Buffalo area. 

*Ross Browner (3/22/1954)

-Browner, who died in January of 2022 at the age of 67, would’ve turned 69 on Wednesday. Still considered one of the best defensive linemen in Notre Dame history, Browner played for the Irish from 1973-77 and was a senior captain on the 1977 national championship team. A two-time All-American as well as an Outland Trophy, Maxwell and Lombardi Award winner, the Warren, Ohio, native was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999. A first-round draft pick of the Bengals (8th overall), Browner spent nine successful seasons with Cincinnati. 

*Dave Batton (3/26/56)

-Batton, who turns 67 on Sunday, was a center for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team from 1974-78.

A third-team Parade All-American in 1974, the Baltimore native enjoyed a fine career with the Irish and became a third-round draft pick of the New Jersey Nets in 1978 but never played there. Batton spent one NBA season (1982-83) playing with the Washington Bullets and the San Antonio Spurs. 

*Matt Hellickson (3/21/1998)

-Hellickson, who turns 25 on Tuesday, was a steady defenseman for the Fighting Irish hockey team from 2017-21. 

A 2017 draft pick of the New Jersey Devils, the Rogers, Minn., native has yet to appear in an NHL game but is playing professionally with the Newfoundland Growlers of the East Coast Hockey League. 

Memory lane

*March 24 and 26, 2001 (22 years ago)

Playing in Denver, the top-seeded Notre Dame women’s basketball team posted successive wins over No. 5 Utah and No. 3 Vanderbilt to secure a spot in the 2001 Final Four on the way to the program’s first-ever national championship. 

In the 69-54 win over the Utes in the regional semifinal on March 24, then Irish guard turned Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey scored 15 points. 

Two days later in the regional championship game, All-American center Ruth Riley tallied a season-high 32 points in a 72-64 win over the Commodores. 

It marked the second Final Four for the Fighting Irish, an appearance total that has swelled to nine since. 

*March 12-28, 2015 (8 years ago)

The most remarkable stretch in Notre Dame men’s basketball history carried on through this week and featured an 8-1 record (five wins versus ranked teams), an ACC championship and three victories in the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in program history.

Led by seniors Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton in the ACC Tournament, Notre Dame:

• Shocked No. 2 Duke, 74-64 in the conference semifinals — the Blue Devils would go on to win the NCAA Tournament.

• Scored on an amazing 16 of its 18 possessions in the second half for a 34-15 scoring run and a stunning 90-82 conquest of North Carolina for the league title.

On a roll, the Irish followed up the conference championship with their first run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament in 36 years.

March 26, 2017 (6 years ago) 

Sophomore forward Andrew Oglevie scored on a slapshot from just outside the crease at the 2:44 mark of overtime to secure Notre Dame a 3-2 sudden-death win over UMass Lowell and a place in the 2017 Frozen Four, the third overall final-four appearance for the program. 

March 24 and 26, 2018 (5 years ago)

Playing in Spokane, Wash., top-seeded Notre Dame scored consecutive wins over No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 2 Oregon to secure its eighth Final Four appearance overall and its sixth in eight seasons on the way to the national title a week later.

Getting warmed up for her epic Final Four appearance, Irish guard Arike Ogunbowale scored 27 points in the 90-84 win over the Aggies and added 19 points in the regional championship game against the Ducks to claim Most Outstanding Regional Player honors. 

March 24, 2018 (5 years ago)

On the same day the Irish women won their regional semifinal game over Texas A&M, the Irish hockey team got a game-winning goal from junior hockey forward Dylan Malmquist with 27 seconds left in the third period that gave the Irish a 2-1 win over Providence College and its fourth overall and second straight Frozen Four appearance.  

Know your Domers answers:

1) Over 3.5, Rockne’s Irish went 5-4 in 1928, the year before he posted the first of two consecutive undefeated seasons and national titles in 1929 and 1930. 

2) 12 wins, head coach Brian Kelly did it twice, going 12-1 in both 2012 and 2018 and Lou Holtz also did it twice, 1988 and 1989.

3) Autry Denson tallied 22 100-yard rushing games from 1995-98. 

— Blue & Gold Illustrated Managing Editor Steve Downey, and the late-great Lou Somogyi contributed to this report