BLOOMINGTON — The first round of this year’s College Football Playoff will bring together neighbors that haven’t seen each other in awhile.
Indiana football’s (11-1) matchup against Notre Dame (11-1) in South Bend will be only the second game between the programs since 1958.
The Irish lead the all-time series between the schools with a 23-5-1 record — IU hasn’t beaten Notre Dame since 1958 and hasn’t won in South Bend since 1898 — but much of the history between the schools pre-dates World War II.
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Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti has a couple wins over Notre Dame under his belt
Cignetti’s history against Notre Dame is a mixed bag.
He made a trip to South Bend as Rice’s quarterbacks coach in 1988 and lost 54-11. The Irish were the No. 1 ranked team in the country at the time and went on to win the national title while Rice went 0-11 that season.
No. 1 ranked Irish team that went on to win
“End of the year, cold,” Cignetti said, this week. “Our guys, Rice, the weather is warm, come out pregame, I mean, it was really cold, sweatshirts on, the whole deal. Notre Dame comes out, short sleeves.”
“Nobody had long sleeves on. We scored first, but that was it after that. We got waxed.”
Cignetti was 2-2 against Notre Dame during separate stints at Pitt. He was just a graduate assistant on Pitt’s staff when the team won 21-16 over the Irish in South Bend. The only touchdown the Panthers allowed came in the final 30 seconds.
He returned to the staff as Pitt’s quarterback and tight ends coach in 1993, and was on the sidelines for lopsided losses in 1993 (44-0) and 1996 (60-6).
Cignetti described the game the team’s played in 1999 as a “memorable night.” Fans tore down the goal posts after Pittsburgh won 37-27 over Notre Dame in the final game at Pitt Stadium. It snapped the Panthers eight-game losing streak to the Irish.
“I hate to talk and make too strong a statement, but I’m embarrassed,” Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said, at the time. “I told our team to call it what it was: We got whipped.”
Cignetti’s most recent encounter with Notre Dame was the 2003 Gator Bowl when he was tutoring Philip Rivers and working for Chuck Amato as NC State’s quarterbacks coach. The Wolfpack finished the season 11-3 after beating the Irish 28-6.
It remains the winningest season in program history.
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Are there any Indiana football players who have faced Notre Dame?
Indiana football has a transfer-laden roster and a handful of those players played Notre Dame before arriving in Bloomington.
Former Wake Forest running back Justice Ellison and wide receiver Ke’Shawn Williams visited South Bend in 2023. It was an emotional game for Ellison and Williams since it pitted them against their former teammate Sam Hartman.
Hartman was near-perfect in Notre Dame’s 45-7 win with 277 yards (21 of 29 passing) and four touchdowns.
“I knew I was going to come back,” Ellison said. “I knew I was going to come back and get another shot at it. To see it all full circle, I think, is amazing.”
Ellison, who had 15 carries for 63 yards, and Williams, who had 77 yards from scrimmage, both started.
Indiana starting right tackle Trey Wedig made an appearance on special teams when Wisconsin faced Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in 2022. The Hoosiers also have a pair of former Stanford players, defensive end Jacob Mangum-Farrar and safety Nic Toomer, on the roster that regularly faced Notre Dame.
Farrar was in the starting lineup for Stanford when the team traveled to South Bend in 2022 and pulled off a 16-14 upset win over the Irish. The former linebacker played 57 snaps and had six tackles.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU football: Curt Cignetti and handful of Hoosiers have experience against Notre Dame
