Irish announce sellouts of Notre Dame Stadium games vs. Ohio State, USC
The two biggest home games on the 2023 Notre Dame football schedule are officially sellouts. The stadium in South Bend, Ind., will be at capacity (77,622) for the Sept. 23 game against Ohio State and the Oct. 14 matchup vs. USC, Notre Dame announced Wednesday afternoon.
Notre Dame sold out four of six home games in 2022 with an average attendance of 76,192 (98.2 percent capacity).
While the Trojans trek to South Bend every other year, the Buckeyes have only made the four-hour road trip northwest two times — ever. Notre Dame beat Ohio State 7-2 in South Bend in 1936 and lost to the Buckeyes 29-16 in 1996. Notre Dame and Ohio State have squared off seven times total, and OSU holds an all-time edge of 5-2 in the series.
Ohio State and USC will both probably be highly ranked at the time of their trips to face the Irish. The Buckeyes have games at Indiana and at home against Youngstown State and Western Kentucky before battling under the lights vs. the Blue and Gold.
USC plays San Jose State, Nevada, Stanford, Arizona State, Colorado and Arizona before the midseason matchup with the Irish. With reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams in control of the Trojans’ offense, it would not be surprising in the slightest to see USC waltz into Notre Dame Stadium with a record of 6-0.
Like for Williams, the Irish will be the first big test of the season for Ohio State’s starting quarterback — who is still undecided. It will either be redshirt sophomore Kyle McCord or redshirt freshman Devin Brown. The sellout crowd will have the luxury of watching one of those two signal-callers throw the ball to junior wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., a finalist for the 2022 Biletnikoff Award given to the nation’s best wideout who enters the upcoming campaign as the offseason favorite to take home the hardware.
Behind a stellar showing from Williams, USC beat Notre Dame for the first time since 2016 last November. The Irish own the all-time series lead, 50-38-5, including vacated victories. The two programs have gone head-to-head in every season but four dating back to 1926. The only years they did not meet on the gridiron were 1943-45 and 2020 because of World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively.
The Irish are trying to beat the Buckeyes for the first time in 87 years, meanwhile. Ohio State has won all five of the most recent matchups dating back to 1995. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was on the OSU roster when the Buckeyes beat the Irish 34-20 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Freeman has since pledged his full allegiance to Notre Dame. He’d love nothing more than to lead the Blue and Gold to a victory over his alma mater in front of a sold-out crowd in late September.
