NCAA Classic Rewind: Irish Defeat Michigan in First Ever Night Game in South Bend 21
Notre Dame played under the lights in South Bend for the first time against Michigan in 1982.
The Michigan Wolverines make history this Saturday night when they play the first ever night game at Michigan Stadium against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
But this is not the first time that Michigan and Notre Dame have played a historic night game.
On September 18, 1982, the Fighting Irish hosted the Wolverines in the first night game ever played in Notre Dame Stadium.
It was the season opener for the Irish who were coming off their first losing season in 18 years, a 5-6 affair in the first season under head coach Gerry Faust who had spent 19 seasons as the head coach of Moeller High School in Cincinnati.
As for the Wolverines, they entered their showdown with Notre Dame ranked #10 in the nation following a 20-9 win over Wisconsin in their season opener.
Michigan was led by two-time all-American wide receiver Anthony Carter, who rewrote the record books during his time at Michigan and was a candidate for the Heisman Trophy in 1982.
The Wolverines got the ball to start the game but turned it over on the third play of the game when quarterback Steve Smith was sacked by defensive lineman Bob Clasby, who stripped Smith of the ball leading to a Notre Dame recovery at the Michigan 22-yard-line.
The Irish converted the turnover into three points with a 35-yard field goal by Mike Johnston to give Notre Dame an early 3-0 lead.
Later in the first quarter, Smith fumbled the ball again when he collided with tailback Lawrence Ricks and the Irish converted the fumble into more points when Larry Moriarty scored on a 24-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter to increase the Notre Dame lead to 10-0. Read the rest of this entry →
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