THE COACHES
SERIES NOTES
Charlie Weis (Notre Dame, ’78) begins his fifth season as the Notre Dame head coach in 2009. He came to Notre Dame after 15 seasons as an assistant coach in the NFL, including four Super Bowl Championships with the New England Patriots. Weis boasted an impressive record in his first two seasons with the Irish, finishing 9-3 in 2005 with an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, and 10-3 in 2006 with a berth in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Weis looks to lead the Irish to glory in 2009 after finishing the ’08 season on a high note with a victory in the Hawai’i Bowl. The Irish beat the University of Hawai’i, 49-21, in that game, to bring their season record to 7-6. Today’s game will be Weis’ first meeting with Chris Ault and the Nevada Wolf Pack. Chris Ault (Nevada, ’68) is entering his 25th season as the Wolf Pack head coach and his 38th year at the University. Ault was a standout quarterback during his undergraduate days at Nevada and returned to his alma mater as head football coach in 1976. From 1986-1992, Ault juggled his coaching duties with his post as director of athletics. In ’93, he took a one-year break from coaching, but returned to the sidelines in ’94 and ’95. Ault was hired as head coach for the third time in 2002, and 2009 marks the sixth season of his third stint as head football coach. Ault was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in ’02 and is also on Sports Illustrated’s 1999 list of the 50 greatest sports figures of the 20th century from the state of Nevada. Today’s game will be Ault’s first meeting with Weis and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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Notre Dame enters the 2009 campaign with an all-time record of 831-284-42 (.736).
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Charlie Weis enters his fifth season with a 29-21 overall record as the head coach of Notre Dame.
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This is the first-ever game in which the Irish will host a team from the Western Athletic Conference. Hawai’i is the only other team from the WAC the Irish have ever faced (ND 3-0).
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The Wolf Pack is the 136th different opponent in Notre Dame football history.
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The Irish are 100-15-5 (.854) all-time in season openers, 95-19-5 (.819) in home openers and 70-8-3 (.883) in season openers inside Notre Dame Stadium.
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This will be the third consecutive year in which Notre Dame will begin the season at home.
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Under Weis, Notre Dame is 10-8 in the month of September as well as 21-16 in afternoon contests.
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On this date (Sept. 5) 11 years ago (1998), Autry Denson rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns to help number-22 Notre Dame defeat number-five Michigan 36-20 in the Irish’s season opener in South Bend.
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Junior wide receiver Christopher Gurries is the only member of the Irish squad who is a native of the state of Nevada (Reno/Bishop Manogue). The Wolf Pack has no players from the state of Indiana.
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This is the second consecutive year Notre Dame has opened its season with an inaugural foe (San Diego State, ‘08).
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Both teams are coming off of postseason bowl games following the 2008 season. Nevada suffered a 42-35 loss to Maryland in the Humanitarian Bowl, while Notre Dame defeated Hawai’i 49-21 in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl.
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Irish sophomore quarterback Dayne Crist and sophomore linebacker Anthony McDonald will be reunited with a former teammate today, Nevada sophomore Thaddeus Brown. All three attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
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Nevada defeated their only opponent from the state of Indiana on December 12, 1996 as they defeated Ball State 18-15 in the Las Vegas Bowl. Notre Dame has never faced an opponent from the state of Nevada.
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It has been 15 years since the Board of Trustees approved the plan to expand Notre Dame Stadium from 59,075 seats to 80,795, improving its seating-capacity ranking from 44th to 15th among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football facilities.
HERE COME THE IRISH In 2008, Notre Dame made a triumphant return to a bowl game, beating the University of Hawai’i in the Hawai’i Bowl. The Irish look to carry the momentum of their outstanding performance in that game into the ’09 season. The team is returning 18 starters and 46 monogram winners from ’08, the most returning letterwinners of any season during Weis’ tenure at Notre Dame. Junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen led the Irish charge in the Hawai’i Bowl, completing 24 passes in 28 attempts for 413 yards and five touchdowns. He completed 24 passes in 28 attempts for 413 yards and five touchdowns. Clausen is coming off the third-best passing season in Notre Dame history and the best passing season by a sophomore. The future looks bright for Clausen, whose stats are comparable to those of former Irish standout and current member of the Cleveland Browns Brady Quinn. Quinn passed for more than 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in both 2005 and 2006. In ’08, Clausen became the second Irish quarterback to reach that milestone. Eight of the top nine receivers return from a year ago. Clausen connected with fellow junior Golden Tate in the end zone most often last season. Tate is back on the gridiron after a successful season as a left fielder for the Irish baseball team. Tate had 58 receptions for 1,080 yards and 10 touchdowns in ’08. Sophomore Michael Floyd made a splash in the Irish offense last season, setting freshman school records with 48 receptions for 719 yards and seven touchdowns. Freshman Shaquelle Evans was named the best playmaker in the west by Sporting News and will be in the mix with seven other returning players looking for playing time. Notre Dame’s trio of standout running backs — James Aldridge, Armando Allen and Robert Hughes — is back. The three combined for 1,324 yards and 10 touchdowns in ‘08. Aldridge, a senior, and Allen and Hughes, juniors, were the top Irish rushers in ’07 as well. Sophomore Jonas
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