Both teams had bad beginnings to the 2009 season, with Notre Dame at 2-1 and Purdue at 1-2, coming in a week after a home defeat to Northern Illinois. QB Jimmy Clausen was dealing with a turf toe injury and was not expected to play. However, he did start the game and led the Irish on two touchdown drives in the first quarter. He was replaced by Tommy Rees for the rest of the game.
Notre Dame won its second straight game with a 31-28 victory over Purdue. Rees finished with 262 yards passing and three touchdowns without any interceptions. His favorite target remained wide receiver Michael Floyd, who had nine receptions for 153 yards and two scores against the Boilermakers. Floyd became the first player in school history to have 100-yard receiving games in back-to-back contests. The last time that happened was in 1997 when Charlie Brown had 110 yards in a loss to Michigan and then had 109 yards against Ohio State.
After the game, coach Brian Kelly said that Clausen would be ready to go for next week's game against Florida State. That wasn't the case as he missed the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury. Rees started the remaining games and went 3-3 as a starter.
Clausen was drafted in 2010 by Chicago Bears with the 10th pick in the first round.
On the west sideline, Ohio State wore white jerseys, while Oregon wore dark jerseys. To open the game, Oregon won the coin toss and chose until defer to the second half. Terrelle Pryor of Ohio State was named the game's offensive Most Valuable Player.
In the 2009 football season, Ohio State was eliminated from contention for the BCS National Championship Game after losses to USC and Purdue. However, thanks to a late-season surge, the Buckeyes won the Big Ten championship and the Rose Bowl over the Oregon Ducks, 26-17.
Because the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are not part of a football league, they play a national schedule that includes old rivals USC and Navy, as well as more recent opponent Stanford and five games against ACC clubs. Their annual meeting with Southern California has been called "the most important game in sports" by some journalists.
Notre Dame first played USC in 1913, just three years after the Irish began playing football. The teams have met annually since then, except for World War I and Vietnam War periods when they did not compete. In those periods, North Carolina has replaced USC on the schedule.
The Irish have a 26-9-1 all-time record against UNC. Through the 2013 season, the two schools were equal among themselves for highest winning percentage in college football. However, Notre Dame has the advantage due to its inclusion in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) while Carolina does not play any other BCS members.
Notre Dame's rivalry with Navy dates back to 1894. It is one of only two remaining "Old Army/Navy Games" played every year by former member schools of the American Athletic Conference (formerly the Big East). The others are Michigan vs. Ohio State and UCLA vs. USC. Both of these meetings are considered essential to the football seasons of their respective universities.
The 1989 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team competed in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season for the University of Notre Dame. The team was coached by Terry Hanratty and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. It was the second consecutive year that the Irish went 9–0–1 and won their third national championship.
The Irish were led on offense by quarterback Tony Rice and wide receivers John O'Connor and Tim Brown. Rice finished his career as the school record holder in several categories, including passing yards (3,967), touchdowns (44) and total offense (4,830). He also ran for 1,719 yards and 19 touchdowns and caught another 38 passes for 494 yards and five more scores. Overall, Rice passed for 3,956 yards and 44 touchdowns with 12 interceptions while rushing for 1,719 yards and 19 touchdowns.
O'Connor led the team in receiving yards with 1,078 and scored nine times while Tim Brown recorded 931 yards and nine touchdowns.
On defense, the team was led by linebacker Anthony Dorsett and defensive backs Eric Allen and Chris Crocker. Dorsett finished his career first-team All-American and winner of the 1989 Lombardi Award.
Following Mike Elko's departure to Texas A&M, the former walk-on Vanderbilt linebacker was elevated to defensive coordinator. Notre Dame was undefeated and advanced to the College Football Playoff in his first season as head coach of the Irish defense. This past season, despite losing starting cornerback Jaylon Smith and safety Josh Shaw to injury, the defense continued to produce impressive numbers.
Elko had been serving as a co-coordinator with Brian VanGorder, but was given full control of the defense after VanGorder was hired as South Florida's head coach. Prior to joining the Irish staff, Elko had spent three seasons as the linebackers coach for Vanderbilt. He had also served as the assistant head coach/defense at Miami (OH).
Notre Dame went 8-4 last year and missed out on a bowl game for just the second time since 2007. The defense was among the best in the country throughout the season, finishing first in scoring defense (20.5 points per game), third in total defense (275.9 yards per game) and fourth in passing defense (173.8 yards per game). Junior cornerback Nick Watkins led the team with seven interceptions while sophomore running back Jordan Howard scored 10 touchdowns last season.
Elko has said he plans to bring his 3-4 defense with him when he leaves Notre Dame for whatever job he gets next.
Ian Book, the quarterback Because of his presence at Notre Dame, we are a stronger football program. " During Notre Dame's 45-21 Senior Day victory over Syracuse on Dec. 5, Irish graduate student quarterback Ian Book examines the field before taking the snap. Book currently has a 30-3 record as the winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history. He has led the team to 10 wins or more each year since 2017 and has not had a losing season.
Book started all 13 games in 2018 and finished with 3,025 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. He also ran for four scores. The only other time a Notre Dame quarterback had three thousand or more yards through the air was when Joe Montana did it in 1985. Book also beat out senior Malik Zaire who appeared in one game in 2018. If you include that game, Zaire played in nine games in 2018 and completed 14 of 28 passes for 168 yards with one touchdown appearance.
In addition to his work with the football, Book also serves as the team's starting punter. He averages 42.6 yards per punt and has never missed a kick during his career.
Book entered the 2019 season as a strong contender for the Heisman Trophy. He was selected first overall by the NFL Draft Experts Survey and second by ESPN. As a freshman in 2017, Book started 11 games and finished with 2,818 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions while leading the team to a 9-4 record.
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