the last time ohio state played notre dame, as of 2015 was january 2, 2006.
the last time ohio state played notre dame, as of 2015 was january 2, 2006.
when was the last time ohio state played notre dame, as of 2015?
january 2, 2006
the first bcs game, the fiesta bowl at sun devil stadium in tempe, arizona is the fifth of six traditional games that were played on january 2, 2006 in the time usually reserved for the rose bowl, which served as the national championship game. in a battle of bcs at-large selections, ohio state university defeated notre dame, 34–20, in the last fiesta bowl to be played at sun devil stadium. the fighting irish, an independent program, struck first, capping a six-play, 72-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back darius walker, but the buckeyes, representing the big ten, of which they were co-champion, tied the game just three minutes later as junior quarterback troy smith hit speedy sophomore ted ginn jr., for a 56-yard reception. the irish soon had another scoring chance, as smith was sacked and fumbled on the ohio state 15-yard line; walker, though, was held in check by the ohio state defense, and a fourth-down conversion attempt was stuffed by buckeyes linebacker a. j. hawk, who recorded the first of his two sacks (senior defensive end mike kudla recorded three). off of the defensive stop, the ohio state offense rolled behind ginn once more, as he caught an 18-yard smith pass and then carried the ball himself 68 yards for a touchdown; ginn finished the day with two carries for 73 yards and eight catches for 168 yards. after notre dame punted on its first second-quarter possession, smith again led his team down the field, often using his legs (he finished the day with 11 carries for 76 yards), and ohio state reached the notre dame 15-yard line before a second smith fumble ended another buckeyes scoring chance. even as notre dame quarterback brady quinn, who finished fourth in 2005 heisman trophy balloting, connected twice on the ensuing drive with maurice stovall, who finished as the top irish receiver with nine catches and 128 yards, the buckeyes defense forced a punt from midfield and the offense then went 98 yards for a touchdown; the scoring play was an 85-yard touchdown heave from smith to wide receiver santonio holmes, who had caught five passes for 124 yards at game's end. quinn had little success against the ohio state defense in the first half, and the ensuing irish drive stalled, allowing the buckeyes to regain possession and drive to the notre dame 11-yard line from which sixth-year senior kicker josh huston had a field goal attempt partially blocked; nevertheless, ohio state held a 14-point lead at the half, buoyed by nearly 400 yards of total offense and three 50-plus-yard plays in the first half alone. as the buckeyes stuck to the running game in the third quarter, sophomore running back antonio pittman became a featured part of the offense, helping his team to run nearly four minutes of the clock before a huston field goal attempt from 46 yards was blocked, allowing notre dame to stay within 14 points of the buckeyes. on a 71-yard drive in which senior wide receiver matt shelton caught three passes (of five for the game), walker rushed for a 10-yard touchdown but kicker/punter d.j. fitzpatrick missed the extra point, keeping ohio state's lead at eight. on the strength of a 44-yard ginn reception, the buckeyes struck back just two minutes later, as huston finally connected on a field goal attempt, this one from 40 yards. huston added a 26-yard field goal with 10:13 to go in the game, once more stretching the ohio state lead to 14. the irish struck back but took 4:38 to do so as quinn struggled to find his top receiver, jeff samardzija, who finished with six catches for only 59 yards; walker's third touchdown, from five yards, brought notre dame to within seven with 5:20 to play in the game. pittman ended any thoughts of an irish comeback, though, when he ran 61 yards for a touchdown with 1:46 to play, taking his total for the game to 135 yards (on 20 carries); the irish could get no closer than their 39-yard line the rest of the way as ohio state won by 14 while compiling 541 yards of total offense and preventing first-year irish head coach charlie weis from claiming a bowl victory. the win was the third in the fiesta bowl for ohio state coach jim tressel, who saw his team defeat miami (florida), 31–24, in the double overtime 2003 edition, thereby claiming the 2002 national championship. as the second team in the bcs from the big ten, ohio state earned an extra $4.5 million for its participation, while each of the six bcs conferences received an extra $1.7 million to be shared amongst their teams. notre dame, as an independent school without conference affiliation, kept its entire payout. the following season's game, along with the new stand-alone bcs title game, was moved to the new university of phoenix stadium in glendale, arizona.
2005–06 ncaa football bowl games
in the second week of the season, michigan played notre dame in south bend. after a scoreless first quarter, notre dame took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. john wangler replaced rich hewlett in the second quarter, and threw two touchdown passes in the span of 1:19 to tie the game, 14-14, at halftime. in the second half, anthony carter returned the opening kickoff 67 yards to the notre dame 32-yard line, and michigan scored on a two-yard run by stanley edwards. notre dame scored a touchdown (but missed the extra point) with 1:03 left in the third quarter on a 49-yard interception return of a wangler pass. the last three minutes of the game proved to be one of the most exciting finishes in the michigan-notre dame rivalry. with 3:03 left in the game, notre dame scored to take a 26-21 lead (an attempted two-point conversion failed). on the next drive, butch woolfolk ran 36 yards on a trap play, taking the ball to the notre dame four-yard line with less than a minute to play. wangler threw a pass to woolfolk in the end zone that was tipped and caught by michigan tight end, craig dunaway, to give the wolverines a 27-26 lead with 41 seconds left. after a touchback, notre dame took over on its own 20-yard line with 40 seconds left. in five plays, notre dame moved the ball to the michigan 41-yard line. notre dame's drive was aided by a controversial pass interference call against michigan of which coach schembechler said after the game, "it was the key play, without it, they wouldn't have scored at all." and on the final play of the game, notre dame placekicker harry oliver kicked an improbable 51-yard field into a strong wind to give notre dame the 29-27 victory. notre dame coach dan devine performed the sign of the cross as oliver's kick left his foot, and oliver said, "this is by far the greatest moment of my life. i have to thank god and our lady, god had to be with me." schembechler said after the game, "i'm proud of the way we came back. we had as much right to win as they did. but they hung in there and they had the last shot. time just ran out."
1980 michigan wolverines football team