Man Post. Road Trip: South Bend

“There are two kinds of people in the world, Notre Dame lovers and Notre Dame haters."  
   -Dan Devine (Notre Dame head coach 1975-1980)

I must say, as a BYU fan, there are drawbacks to independence.  But as a BYU fan on the East Coast, the schedule is certainly not one of them.  Independence affords BYU the opportunity to travel to various parts of the country and oftentimes to college football's most historic venues.  Last year, it was Ole Miss and Texas.  This year it was probably the most historic venue of them all: South Bend, Indiana, home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  When the schedule came out last spring, this game was immediately circled on my calendar.  For me, like most college football fans, a visit to Notre Dame is a "bucket list" item.  Fortunately, my buddy and fellow Cougar fan, Richard, was willing to make the trip with me. Sure, it meant a lot of hours in the car (approximately 25 or so total) traveling through America's not-so-scenic heartland but it was well worth the trip.  So without, further ado, here's the recap...

The College Football Hall of Fame is located in South Bend for one more season before it relocates to Atlanta, GA. It was a great way to start our game day.

Me doing my best "LaVell face".  LaVell has a very prominent display among other of college football's best coaches but in anticipation of the many traveling BYU fans (and there were many), the Hall of Fame set up a few special exhibits to highlight the other enshrined Cougars.

Yup, the one, the only, Touchdown you know who.  Notre Dame's campus is full of sights (see the Golden Dome in the background) and the campus could not have been prettier with all of the fall colors. That's me pictured with friend and former Richmonder Dustin who drove over from Chicago for the game. It was an absolutely ideal day for college football.

Inside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Having spent just a little time in France, I've seen my fair share of cathedrals and this one was equal to many of them.

The Grotto of Our Lady Lourdes.  Passing by this spot is a pregame ritual for many Notre Dame fans on their way to the stadium.  Stop by, say a prayer for the home team and head off to your tailgate.

The band on their march to the stadium.  About an hour before the game, the band does a concert inside the Golden Dome.  Thanks to a tip from a friendly ND fan, we decided to attend.  We were packed inside like sardines but the concert was very cool.  The music reverberates inside the rotunda of that building and its hard not to get excited for football hearing that Notre Dame fight song. "Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame..."

Whoever had the idea to fashion those iconic helmets after the Golden Dome was genius.  Although this picture doesn't do them justice, the helmets are very impressive in person.  I'm a big fan of the traditional uniforms.

If I haven't made it clear yet, the Notre Dame experience is all about tradition: from the uniforms to the stadium itself.  Unlike nearly every other college football team in America, the Irish have resisted modern stadium amenities.  There is no Jumbotron, no massive sound system, and as evidenced by the picture above, the seating is still wooden bleachers.  Good thing we didn't spend much time sitting down. 

The band is out on the field!  The band is out on the fie...oh wait, they're always positioned there.  Notre Dame is probably the only school that does this but during the game, their band is directly behind the end zone.  I'd never seen anything like that before.  I'm not sure why more teams don't copy them because I guarantee that it is a subtle home field advantage. It's got to be much louder for the opposing team.

I was so happy to be in attendance as BYU notched a historic victory that will be remembered for... oh wait, that's just the score at halftime.  As has become the recurring theme for this season, BYU was so close to pulling off the upset, and yet so very far away.  The Irish ended up winning the game 17-14 to keep their perfect season in tact.  But the game aside, the trip to South Bend was well worth it.  Notre Dame is worthy of its acclaim as a special place to see a college football game. It met or exceeded all of my expectations. The game day experience lived up to its billing and the fans couldn't have been friendlier (much like Ole Miss last year). Certainly a disappointing result for this Cougar fan but a very memorable weekend nonetheless.