Notre Dame Coming to Clemson in 2015

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson and Notre Dame will meet at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, SC during the 2015 football season, the ACC announced today.  The exact date of the game will be announced later.   It will be the first meeting between the two schools since November 17, 1979 when Clemson won 16-10 in South Bend.  It will be the first time Notre Dame has come to Clemson since 1977.  Those are the only two times the two schools have met on the gridiron. 

Notre Dame will begin playing in the ACC in all sports in 2013-14.  Clemson and Notre Dame have 17 common sports on their respective athletic landscapes and will compete in all but football in 2013-14 and 2014-15.  The two programs will play each other in men’s or women’s basketball in 2013-14.  Clemson is the only ACC school Notre Dame has never played in men’s basketball.

Notre Dame will begin playing ACC teams on the gridiron five times a year starting in 2014.  The ACC announced the rotation of games with Notre Dame today.  With 14 teams in the ACC for football, one school will play Notre Dame twice in each three-year rotation. Syracuse is the only ACC school that will play Notre Dame twice between 2014-16.

In 2014, Notre Dame will play host to Louisville, North Carolina and Wake Forest. The Irish will have road games against Florida State and Syracuse.

In 2015, Clemson, Pittsburgh and Virginia will play host to the Irish, with Notre Dame playing host to Boston College and Georgia Tech.

In 2016, the Irish will play host to Duke, Miami and Virginia Tech and will have road contests with NC State and Syracuse.

The most famous football meeting between Notre Dame and Clemson took place on November 12, 1977 when a pair of top 15 football teams met in Clemson’s Death Valley.  A fifth-ranked Notre Dame football team led by quarterback Joe Montana, defeated a 15th-ranked Clemson team led by quarterback Steve Fuller, 21-17.  Both of those quarterbacks went on to become Super Bowl Champions.

Notre Dame went on to win the National Championship that season.  Thirty-six players in that game went on to play in the NFL, including future Notre Dame Hall of Famers Ken MacAfee and Ross Browner.  The Clemson roster that day included future NFL Pro Bowl players Dwight Clark and Jeff Butler.

Clemson came back to win at Notre Dame two years later, 16-10.  It was just the second time in the previous 40 years (1940-79) that Notre Dame’s seniors lost their Senior Day game.  Billy Lott scored a touchdown late in the game to give Clemson the win and overcome a 10-0 deficit.

Clemson had a pair of Hall of Fame players on its roster in that 1979 game, as Jeff Davis and Terry Kinard keyed the Tigers defense that day.  Kinard had a pair of interceptions in the fourth period.

Steve Fuller (#4) and Joe Bostic (#71) were two of 36 future NFL players on team rosters when Notre Dame played at Clemson in 1977.