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2000 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

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2000 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 16[1]
APNo. 15[1]
Record9–3
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorKevin Rogers (2nd season)
Offensive schemeOption
Defensive coordinatorGreg Mattison (4th season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium (c. 80,232, grass)
Seasons
← 1999
2001 →
2000 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 15 Notre Dame  %       9 3  
UCF       7 4  
Middle Tennessee       6 5  
Connecticut       3 8  
Louisiana Tech       3 9  
Louisiana–Lafayette       1 10  
Louisiana–Monroe       1 10  
Navy       1 10  
  • % – BCS at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2000 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bob Davie and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

Season overview

[edit]

After losing ten players to the NFL, the Irish began the 2000 season signing 17 recruits[2] Having to replace two-year starter, Jarious Jackson, Davie chose Arnaz Battle,[3] who looked to have a rough road ahead with the Irish playing four ranked teams in a row to begin the season, including a game against the favorite to win the national championship, Nebraska. Battle, however, did have some help with three veterans named to pre-season award watchlists.[4][5][6] The Irish started the season playing the 25th ranked Texas A&M Aggies. With Battle throwing two touchdowns and the defense holding the Aggies to only a field goal in the second half, the Irish won by two touchdowns.[7] Moving into the rankings for the first time since early November 1999, the Irish would next face the top-ranked Cornhuskers. After coming back from being down by two touchdowns, the Irish eventually fell in overtime after they settled for a field goal and Nebraska quarterback, Eric Crouch, ran for the winning touchdown.[8] Despite the loss, and losing Battle indefinitely to a wrist injury that he suffered on the first play of the game,[9] the Irish felt they proved something to the country,[10] and moved up in the rankings to 21st.

The Irish next faced the 13th ranked Purdue Boilermakers, led by Heisman Trophy-hopeful quarterback Drew Brees.[11] The Irish defense held Brees to only 13 completed passes, while Irish backup quarterback Gary Godsey completed 14, and led the team to a last minute win with a Nick Setta field goal.[12] Moving into the top-20 the Irish next went to Michigan State to face the 23rd ranked Spartans. Though the Spartans were led by freshman quarterback Jeff Smoker, he led the team to a win with a 68 yard touchdown pass on a fourth down attempt with a minute remaining in the game. Losing the game, the Irish hadn't won an away game in eight attempts and hadn't beaten the Spartans since 1994.[13] Dropping almost out of the rankings again, the Irish started playing freshman quarterback Matt LoVecchio and began to roll with wins over Stanford and Navy.[14][15] Going to Morgantown to face the West Virginia Mountaineers, LoVecchio led the Irish with two touchdown passes to Tony Fisher to give the Irish their first road win in two years.[16] With a win over Air Force the next week, their first ever in overtime, the Irish were once again bowl eligible.[17]

Ranked 11th, the Irish continued with wins over Boston College,[18] Rutgers,[19] and their first win at USC since 1992.[20] With a 9–2 record, the Irish got a BCS Bowl bid for the first time ever, with an invitation to the Fiesta Bowl to play the Oregon State Beavers.[21] Getting blown out by the Beavers,[22] the Irish ended the season ranked 15th with a 9–3 record.[1] With the end of the season, Davie was named finalist in two coach of the year awards. In addition, four Irish players were named to All-America Teams,[21] seven players were selected to play in post-season All-Star games,[23] and six players were selected in the 2001 NFL draft,[24] while another three signed free agent contracts with NFL teams.[25] The season ended on a positive note for Davie who signed a five-year contract extension.[26]

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 21:00 p.m.No. 25 Texas A&MNBCW 24–1080,232
September 92:30 p.m.No. 1 NebraskaNo. 23
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCL 24–27 OT80,232
September 161:00 p.m.No. 13 PurdueNo. 21
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 23–2180,232
September 233:30 p.m.at No. 23 Michigan StateNo. 16ABCL 21–2774,714
October 72:30 p.m.StanfordNo. 25
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 20–1480,232
October 1412:00 p.m.vs. NavyNo. 20CBSW 45–1447,291
October 2112:00 p.m.at West VirginiaNo. 20CBSW 42–2864,424
October 282:30 p.m.Air ForceNo. 19
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 34–31 OT80,232
November 112:30 p.m.Boston CollegeNo. 11
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (Holy War)
NBCW 28–1680,232
November 183:30 p.m.at RutgersNo. 11CBSW 45–1740,011
November 253:30 p.m.at USCNo. 11ABCW 38–2181,342
January 1, 20018:00 p.m.vs. No. 5 Oregon StateNo. 10ABCL 9–4175,428

Roster

[edit]
2000 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 82 Bernard Akatu Jr
QB 3 Arnaz Battle So
OT 63 Brennan Curtin So
C 52 Jeff Faine So
RB 12 Tony Fisher Jr
G 69 Mike Gandy Sr
WR 6 David Givens Jr
TE 87 Jabari Holloway Sr
WR 21 Javin Hunter Jr
WR 11 Jay Johnson Sr
G 55 Jim Jones Sr
RB 22 Julius Jones So
C 66 JW Jordan Sr
QB 8 Matt Krueger Fr
QB 10 Ryan Krueger Jr
FB 39 Tom Lopienski So
QB 10 Matt LoVecchio Fr
G 79 Sean Mahan So
QB 2 Dan Novakov Jr
TE 86 Dan O'Leary Sr
RB 35 Tim O'Neill Jr
TE 84 John Owens Jr
G 72 Ryan Scarola Jr
OT 75 Kurt Vollers Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 30 Rocky Boiman Jr
DT 60 Darrell Campbell Fr
LB 39 Anthony Denman Sr
S 25 Tony Driver Sr
DB 19 Glenn Earl Fr
LB 41 Mike Goolsby Fr
LB 51 Tyreo Harrison Jr
DE 44 Grant Irons Sr
DB 5 Ron Israel Jr
DT 90 Lance Legree Sr
LB 38 Eric Nelson Sr
LB 56 Pat Ryan So
S 20 Gerome Sapp So
LB 99 Jason Sapp Fr
SS 45 Matt Sarb Jr
DT 93 B. J. Scott Sr
FS 4 Justin Smith Sr
CB 42 Shane Walton So
DE 98 Anthony Weaver Jr
CB 1 Brock Williams Sr
DT 94 Andy Wisne Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 83 Josh Gentine So
K 92 Matt McNew Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2000-11-10

Game summaries

[edit]

Nebraska

[edit]
Nebraska (1–0) at Notre Dame (1–0)
1 234OTTotal
No. 1 Cornhuskers 7 7706 27
No. 23 Fighting Irish 0 7773 24

Purdue

[edit]

Vs. Oregon State (Fiesta Bowl)

[edit]
Notre Dame (9–2) vs. Oregon State(10–1)
1 234Total
No. 10 Fighting Irish 0 306 9
No. 5 Beavers 3 9290 41

Rankings

[edit]
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP2321162520201915111111111015
Coaches Poll222318221916121110101016
BCSNot released141211111111Not released

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Final Rankings" (PDF). Notre Dame Football Media Guide. University of Notre Dame. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  2. ^ "Signing Day 2000". UND.cstv.com. February 2, 2000. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  3. ^ Casey, Tim (September 1, 2000). "Battle steps out from Jackson's shadow". The Observer. UK. Archived from the original on February 28, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  4. ^ "Football's Tony Fisher Named 2000 Doak Walker Award Candidate". UND.cstv.com. August 22, 2000. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  5. ^ "Football's Tony Driver Named to 2000 Jim Thorpe Award Watch List". UND.cstv.com. August 24, 2000. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  6. ^ "Football's Anthony Denman Named 2000 Butkus Award Candidate". UND.cstv.com. August 28, 2000. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  7. ^ Rosenblatt, Richard (September 2, 2000). "Irish Football Upsets Texas A&M, 24–10". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  8. ^ Rosenblatt, Richard (September 9, 2000). "Irish Fall In Heartbreaker To No. 1 Nebraska". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  9. ^ "Arnaz Battle Injures Wrist; Out Indefinitely". UND.cstv.com. September 10, 2000. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  10. ^ Coyne, Tom (September 9, 2000). "Irish Say They've Proved They're For Real". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  11. ^ "Heisman hopeful Drew Brees always worked on accuracy". CBC Sports. December 6, 2000. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  12. ^ Coyne, Tom (September 16, 2000). "No. 21 Notre Dame Upsets No. 13 Purdue 23–21". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  13. ^ Lage, Larry (September 23, 2000). "No. 21 Irish Fall To No. 23 Spartans 27–21". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  14. ^ Coyne, Tom (October 7, 2000). "Irish Hold Off Stanford, 20–14". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  15. ^ Goodall, Fred (October 14, 2000). "Football Tops Navy For The 37th Straight Win Over The Midshipmen, 45–14". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  16. ^ Raby, John (October 21, 2000). "Football Collects Key Road Victory". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  17. ^ Coyne, Tom (October 28, 2000). "Football Knocks Off Air Force In Overtime, 34–31". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  18. ^ Coyne, Tom (November 11, 2000). "Football Knocks Off Boston College, 28–16". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  19. ^ Canavan, Tom (November 18, 2000). "Football Wins Its Sixth Straight, Defeating Rutgers 45–17". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  20. ^ Nadel, John (November 25, 2000). "Football Takes Down USC 38–21". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  21. ^ a b "Notre Dame Enters The Bowl Season Having Won Its Final Seven Games Of The Regular Season". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  22. ^ Baum, Bob (January 1, 2001). "Tenth-Ranked Football Falls To No. 5 Oregon State In Fiesta Bowl". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  23. ^ "Seven Irish Football Players Selected To Play In Postseason All-Star Games". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  24. ^ Porcelli, Adam (April 22, 2001). "Six Irish Players Selected In NFL Draft". UND.cstv.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  25. ^ "Three More Irish Football Players Sign Free Agent Contracts". UND.cstv.com. April 24, 2001. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
  26. ^ "Head Coach Bob Davie Signs Five-Year Contract To Continue With Irish". UND.cstv.com. December 5, 2000. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.