Notre Dame set to wear green machine jerseys this weekend
Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 at 01:50 PM
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Their green uniforms are a throwback to Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy when green was worn to inspire fear in the opposing team. Leahy had the team wear their green jerseys more often than not.
The upcoming game this weekend will be a decisive one as the men in green take on Army, the team that have dominated college football in the past.
The green jerseys will also be seen as a homage to New Yorkers, and the many east coast fans that follow the Fighting Irish.
The most famous occasion when the Notre Dame side wore their green uniforms was the challenge against Navy, in 1927 in Baltimore. After Rockne had started his second stringers, Navy scored a touchdown straight away. George Travor, in the New York Sun described what happened next:
"Instantaneously, the Notre Dame regulars yanked off their blue outer sweaters and - like a horde of green Gila monsters - darted onto the field. From that moment on, Notre Dame held the initiative, imposed its collective will upon the Navy."
The following year the team wore green again for the game against Navy.
"K.K. Rockne may, or may not, be a psychologist. But, he did array his team in bright green jerseys for their battle with the United States Naval Academy. Mr Rockne evidently surmised that garbing a band of native and adopted Irish in their native color is somewhat akin to showing a bull the Russian flag," a local scribe wrote.
Then decades later in 1977, the USC coach Dan Devine kept the teams green jerseys a secret right up until the last moment before the game, which was filled with pre match tension.
The green jerseys proved to be a lucky charm once again and the team won 49-16. The wore the jerseys for the rest of the season and went on to win the national title defeating Texas 38-10.
Gerry Faust used the green uniforms during victories in 1983 and 1985. The team switched to the jerseys at half time during the '85 game!
Under Lou Holtz, the team wore green twice, which lead the team to a 1992 Sugar Bowl victory over Florida. Not so lucky in 1999, the team dressed in green lost 35-28 to Georgia Tech for the Gator Bowl. While in 2002, under Tyrone Willingham the team were defeated in their green jerseys against Boston College. Charlie Weis lead the team to victory twice dressed in their green armor.
No doubt Brian Kelly is hoping the green jerseys will bring his team to victory this weekend.
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seamusmoore | Nov 20, 2010, 07:35 AM EST
O Shea you are an embarassment to a good Kerry name!
1) Army hasn't dominated college football since WWII
2)As for ND Coach Dan Devine in 1977, this is what occurred (I was a student then):ND came out in their blue jerseys to warmup, then went back in the locker room where players found a green jersey to change into (they weren't even aware of it till then). The players then came out onto the field thru a large wooden "trojan horse" that Architecture students had built.
3) The 1985 game was not one of gerry faust's better decisions. ND had a 27-3 halftime lead over USC and Faust still went ahead with the jersey switch at halftime.
4)I hope you realize that Bob Davie, not Holtz was coaching in 1999.
Perhaps you could write about NASCAR; after all, there is a strong Ulster Scot influence there.
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SouthBendNative | Nov 18, 2010, 06:29 AM EST
Enough of this played out ploy. It is used far too often and if ND needs extra motivation to beat Army, it speaks volumes about where the ND Football program is. BTW, Dan Devine was the ND coach vs USC...not the USC coach. I am sure that was simply a typo.
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haikued2 | Nov 17, 2010, 11:02 PM EST
Go Irish! Beat Army! I love it...when I was a little boy ND wore their green most of the time. Now that Brian Kelly is there I hope to see it more often. I would redesign it a bit to make the jersey look less like a Green Bay Packer uniform. But the Blue and Gold of Our Lady on the Golden Dome is still my favorite.
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edwardkeating | Nov 17, 2010, 05:21 PM EST
green or ND blue what ever the color, just get on with the game coach and beat army. even thow ND is may team. and i was in the us army. go...go...go...fight...fight...fight...ND.
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