NEW YORK — Army versus Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium. At one time, it was the biggest game there was in college football.
One of them was ranked No. 1 in four straight meetings from 1943-46, culminating with a scoreless tie in a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup that was dubbed the “Game of the Century.”
Their meeting Saturday night at Yankee Stadium — the Major League Baseball stadium that opened in 2009, not its predecessor, “The House that Ruth Built” — isn’t at that level.
Still, with the No. 6 Fighting Irish (9-1) in prime position for a spot in the College Football Playoff and the 18th-ranked Black Knights (9-0) one of only three remaining unbeaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision this year, it’s one of the most significant games on the last full weekend of November.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to play a great program that has a lot of history and is a Top 25 program,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “It’s going to be a great challenge on Saturday night.”
Notre Dame has won eight straight since a surprising home loss to Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference and has been romping over opponents, just as it did in 2016 in the most recent meeting of what eventually became a one-sided series against Army. The Black Knights haven’t won against Notre Dame since 1958, the last matchup in which both teams were ranked.
“You walk around this building and look at all the photos of Army playing Notre Dame in the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium, and there’s a great history to this game,” Army coach Jeff Monken said. “And the history belongs to Notre Dame. They’ve won most of them. So it will take a great effort, but our guys are excited about the challenge and the opportunity, and I hope we’ll play well.”
Notre Dame is 39-8-4 against Army, including 15-5-3 at Yankee Stadium. That includes a 2010 victory in what was the first football game at the current stadium, which opened a year earlier.
This meeting was scheduled to honor the 100th anniversary of Notre Dame’s 1924 victory in New York at the Polo Grounds, when Grantland Rice famously wrote: “Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again.”
Notre Dame will serve as the host team Saturday, even though it’s not far from Army’s home at West Point, New York. The Black Knights took a trip to Yankee Stadium this past summer.
“I think it’s a really cool moment,” linebacker Brett Gerena said. “I was new in my awareness with our history at Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds. I’m just really excited to relive that history and be a part of the legacy.”
Army has won 13 straight games, the longest active streak in the FBS, has won every game this season by double digits and didn’t even trail in one until its 14-3 victory over North Texas two weeks ago. The Black Knights also haven’t played anyone like the Fighting Irish, who are No. 6 in this week’s CFP rankings in addition to the AP Top 25. Notre Dame has allowed 14 or fewer points in five straight games, is near the top of numerous defensive categories and has allowed an average of just 11.4 points per game.
Win on Saturday and at struggling Southern California next week in their final game of the regular season, and the Irish could be in position to host a playoff game back home in South Bend, Indiana.
“I think the coolest thing is we’re in November now, getting to late November, and you’re in control of your destiny. That’s something that I haven’t been able to experience,” said Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, a transfer from Duke. “And every day you kind of wake up and you’re like, ‘Wow, this is cool.’ You have that motivation and that extra urge to go above and beyond, go the extra mile, because everything we want is right in front of us and we’re in control of our destiny.”
Even the expanded 12-team playoff may be out of reach for Army, currently No. 19 in the CFP rankings. But the Black Knights need to keep their ranking as high as possible, as it could come into play as a tiebreaker with No. 20 Tulane to determine which team hosts the American Athletic Conference championship game on Dec. 6.
Notre Dame routed Navy, another service academy and AAC program, 51-14 last month. Like Army, the Midshipmen control the ball with their rushing attack and rarely commit turnovers, but the Irish recovered five fumbles and had an interception.
“I met with the defensive staff, and the first thing we said is the biggest mistake we can make is think this is Navy 2.0,” Freeman said. “It’s not.”
Army quarterback Bryson Daily and running back Kanye Udoh have combined for 1,918 rushing yards this season, the seventh-highest total by a duo in academy history. Udoh (856 yards) is on pace to join Daily (1,062 yards) as a 1,000-yard rusher with five games left.
Army has had two players rush for more 1,000 yards in a season only twice (1984, 2012).