Western Michigan defenders close in on a Notre Dame ball carrier. Saturday. Below, quarterback Alex Carder celebrates a score. Bottom left, Paul Hazel wraps up an Irish runner. Photos by Nate Thompson.
This one was for the grandkids.
In the shadows of a 44-20 Western Michigan loss to Notre Dame on Saturday which included the Irish scoring on their first offensive play, the historic significance of such a day wasn‘t lost on Broncos head coach Bill Cubit.
Western Michigan hadn‘t played Notre Dame since 1920. And since the Mid-American Conference was formed, no MAC team had ever played at Notre Dame Stadium.
“I think when the kids (Bronco players) are talking to their grandkids and stuff and they see Notre Dame football in there, they can say, ‘You know, I played in that place there and I competed.’ I think that‘s educational for our kids, can‘t ask for anything better than that.”
“Even though we weren‘t able to come out with a victory, it‘s still an experience being able to play at Notre Dame,” said WMU wide receiver Juan Nunez, who had a game-high 11 pass receptions for 103 yards. “I feel like I can carry this for the rest of my life.”
However, the Broncos didn’t travel 90 minutes from Kalamazoo, Mich., to South Bend, Ind., so that they could tour Notre Dame’s campus (although that, in fact, did happen Friday), gawk up at Touchdown Jesus and watch the movie “Rudy” in their hotel rooms. They wanted to win.
Remember, this is a football program that has played games in recent years at the Big House in Michigan, Florida State, Nebraska, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and won at Iowa.
“We’ll get them next time,” said WMU quarterback Alex Carder, who became the first Bronco to score against Notre Dame in the three-game series which began in 1919 when he plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out in the first quarter. “I’m kind of mad about some of the things we did out there. You know, three turnovers is unacceptable. …
“It was fun to play here, it was a good experience. But at the end of the day, you want that win.”
Carder was intercepted twice and sacked four times. The Broncos (2-4) also lost two fumbles.
In a twist of irony, while WMU hadn’t played the Irish since 1920, Saturday’s coaching matchup included a former MAC coach, Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly, who previously was head coach of WMU’s most bitter rival, Central Michigan. As head coaches, Cubit not only coached against Kelly when he was a Chippewa, but also against Kelly in the 2007 International Bowl when Kelly was head coach at Cincinnati.
“I know Bill Cubit very well,” Kelly said. “And the biggest concern I had was they had beaten three BCS teams in his tenure, and it concerned me all week going against Bill and Western Michigan. I thought they handled themselves well. They played hard and represented their university in a positive way.”
Michael Floyd destroyed the Broncos, catching three touchdown passes, including the game-opening 80-yard scoring connection with quarterback Dayne Crist. Floyd totaled 157 receiving yards on nine catches. Twice, the Irish scored on the opening play of a possession, and both times Floyd was the recipient of the scoring pass.
“Scoring points is the No. 1 thing,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “Any time we have an opportunity where we believe we have got a play that matches what we think we see, we are going to call those plays to score points.”
Crist completed 18-of-28 passes for 255 yards, but was intercepted once and sacked three times.
Even so, the Broncos trailed by just 10 points at halftime, 30-20. Carder, who completed 28-of-43 passes for a game-high 277 yards, scored twice on runs in the first half.
“We have great kids. We had kids that compete,” Cubit said. “They could have just bagged it, (after) that first play of the game. And we just kept saying, “Keep playing, keep playing, keep playing.’ “
“We just needed to have kept fighting and fighting,“ sophomore defensive end Paul Hazel said.
The Irish, winning their third consecutive game after a 1-3 start, put the game away in the third quarter on a 2-yard scoring pass from Crist to Floyd and a 39-yard touchdown run by Cierre Wood.
But in many ways, certainly from a WMU and MAC perspective, this was a day that involved more than a 24-point loss to a nationally recognized team which still has all of its games televised nationally on NBC. A MAC team had never played the Irish in football, although MAC teams have played Notre Dame in men‘s and women‘s basketball, hockey, baseball and other sports. WMU received an approximate $800,000 for its trip to Notre Dame. Mixed in with Notre Dame‘s 217 consecutive sellout of more than 80,000 were about 4,000 WMU fans.
“When we scored right before the (first) half (ended), I heard them there,” Cubit said. “I think we had 4,000 tickets that we sold, so it was a great contingent of those people coming down here and showing the pride in the Bronco Nation.”
Bronco fans were still buzzing about the game in online message boards Sunday, hoping that it wouldn’t be another 90 years before WMU received another invitation for Notre Dame Stadium.
“This has always been a special place, even when I was younger,” Cubit said. “I mean, everything here is first class and it’s a great thing to be a part of it.“
While Notre Dame goes on to play Navy next week, the Broncos head back into MAC competition. After a crossover game next week at Akron, the MAC’s only winless team, the Broncos return home on Oct. 29 for a big game with MAC West leader Northern Illinois.
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