Shamrock Series Headed Back To Yankee Stadium
The Shamrock Series is back, as Notre Dame announced it will return to Yankee Stadium for a 2:30 p.m. game against Syracuse on November 17th.
Notre Dame took a one year break from the Shamrock Series to show off the newly renovated Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish have played 26 games at Yankee Stadium and most recently beat Army in 27-3 in 2010 and Rutgers 29-16 in the Pinstripe Bowl in 2013.
While the Shamrock Series history is in Notre Dame’s favor (8-0) and has allowed fans at each location to take in a game close to home, it simply doesn’t make too much sense in 2018.
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly stated his team was mentally worn down in 2017 and part of that was due to the extensive travel the Irish put on the schedule each year.
“Playing four quarters against Navy before you go out to the West Coast, those are all taxing mentally as well because it's not -- I thought physically we did fine, it's just that requires an attention to detail for four quarters and you're going to come back the next week, fly across the country, that's a lot,” stated Kelly.
“Sometimes you just say if you scheduled better on the back end, you'd be a little bit fresher. So I can't control that. The games are already scheduled. But I have to look at ways in our program where we can keep our guys fresher.”
It sounds like an excuse but the last five games of the 2018 schedule are exactly what Kelly is talking about. Few teams travel across the country as Notre Dame does, but few teams give up two home games to travel across the country.
After a bye week on October 20th, Notre Dame will face this schedule:
Oct. 27 – Navy at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego
Nov. 3 – at Northwestern
Nov. 10 – Florida State at home
Nov. 17th – Syracuse at Yankee Stadium
Nov. 24th – at USC
Two flights to California, a trip to Chicago and the Bronx, but then also a historically good Florida State team as the only home game over the last month of the season. Not ideal for any team when it comes to the big picture.
Shamrock Series History
Oct. 31, 2009
San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome)
Washington State
W, 40-14
Oct. 20, 2010
Bronx, N.Y. (Yankee Stadium)
Army
W, 27-3
Nov. 12, 2011
Landover, Md. (FedEx Field)
Maryland
W, 45-21
Oct. 6, 2012
Chicago, Ill. (Soldier Field)
Miami (Fla.)
W, 41-3
Nov. 5, 2013
Arlington, Texas (AT&T Stadium)
Arizona State
W, 37-34
Sept. 13, 2014
Indianapolis, Ind. (Lucas Oli Stadium)
Purdue
W, 30-14
Nov. 21, 2015
Boston, Mass. (Fenway Park)
Boston College
W, 19-16
Nov. 12, 2016
San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome)
Army
W, 44-6
Notre Dame also released the 2020 schedule on Wednesday and well, it's a heck of a slate of games.
