With the newly added first round of the College Football Playoff taking place at campus sites, college football’s most distinct fixtures and traditions will be at the forefront of the national stage.
That includes Notre Dame’s “Touchdown Jesus.”
REQUIRED READING: College Football Playoff preview: Notre Dame hosts Indiana in first-round matchup
The 134-foot mural that resides in the distance of Notre Dame’s Library Lawn is one of the more iconic and well-known fixtures in college football, and a bucket list item for those who visit Notre Dame Stadium for Irish football games.
As it does every home game — the mural stands higher than the stadium itself — “Touchdown Jesus” will preside over Notre Dame Stadium for the first-ever College Football Playoff first-round game as the 7-seed Fighting Irish (11-1) host No. 10 seed Indiana (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten).
Here’s what you need to know about what “Touchdown Jesus” is and more heading into Friday’s College Football Playoff first-round matchup between Notre Dame and Indiana:
REQUIRED READING: College football bowl game predictions: Our experts forecast how postseason will unfold
What is ‘Touchdown Jesus’?
“Touchdown Jesus” is a mural that sits on the campus of Notre Dame, and which can be seen from inside Notre Dame Stadium in the direction of the north end zone. It was built by American artist, teacher and architectural designer Millard Sheets. It was unveiled on May 7, 1964, as part of Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Library formal dedication ceremony.
As noted by Notre Dame’s website, the inspiration for the mural — which is located on a large panel on top of Notre Dame’s library — came from the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
In the passage pulled from the Gospel of John, Jesus is “described as the Word of God who gives life to all things,” as noted by Notre Dame’s website. This is why Sheets positioned Jesus in the center of the mural with his arms out, spreading the word to the scholars, thinkers, teachers and saints who are positioned below him.
Why is it called ‘Touchdown Jesus’?
The reason the “Word of Life” mural became colloquially known as “Touchdown Jesus” is because it appears as though the depiction of Jesus is holding up his arms, similar to the call officials give when a player scores a touchdown.
Acording to Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Library, it’s nearly universally believed that the term began with the Notre Dame student body, sometime in the 1960s, though there is some debate as to when exactly that occurred.
Per the Hesburgh Library, Notre Dame fans started to wonder “whether the 132-foot-tall Word of Life mural (where Christ the Teacher appears to be watching the games from over the northern scoreboard) had some influence on the team’s performance” after the Irish went 14-1 at home in the first three seasons that Touchdown Jesus sat behind the stadium.
What is ‘Touchdown Jesus” actual name?
The official name for “Touchdown Jesus” is “The Word of Life” mural.
Where is ‘Touchdown Jesus’ located at Notre Dame?
“Touchdown Jesus” is located on a large panel on the south side of Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Library — and famously seen in the background of the ESPN “College GameDay” set when the show visits South Bend.
Here’s a look at “Touchdown Jesus” in the background of the “GameDay” set in 2023 ahead of Notre Dame’s home game vs. Ohio State:
How tall is Touchdown Jesus at Notre Dame?
As noted by Notre Dame’s website, Touchdown Jesus’ measurements are 134 feet tall by 68 feet wide. More than 5,700 multi-colored pieces of granite make it up.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is ‘Touchdown Jesus’ at Notre Dame? What to know of Irish fixture
