ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico will face one of the most storied programs in college football when the Lobos head to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame on September 14, 2019. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.
The game will fall under Notre Dame’s television contract with NBC, which was extended in 2013 through the 2025 season. That contract calls for a minimum of seven games each year to be broadcast, with almost all of those on the main NBC network.
It will be a Homecoming for UNM head coach Bob Davie, who manned the Notre Dame program from 1997-2001 after serving as defensive coordinator from 1994-96, including a stint as interim head coach in 1995. Davie led the Golden Domers to their first BSC Bowl Berth, the 2001 Fiesta Bowl (which was a part of the 2000 season). Two of Davie’s Notre Dame squads finished the season in the national rankings with his 1998 team going 9-3 and finishing 22nd while his 2000 team also went 9-3 and finished 15th in the poll.
With Notre Dame Davie was twice a finalist for national Coach of the Year honors. He owns the distinction of being the first Notre Dame coach to play in a Bowl Game in his first season as a head coach.
“It’s exciting for our entire program to have this opportunity to play at the University of Notre Dame on national television in front of a sold out stadium,” said head coach Bob Davie. “I know our fans will also be thrilled to see this addition to our 2019 schedule.”
“This is an exciting game for our program, against one of the all-time great programs in the history of college football,” said Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. “The atmosphere around Notre Dame football will be a tremendous experience for our fans and our student-athletes. Notre Dame has a tremendous history, and our head coach was a part of that history, which makes this game even more special.”
The game continues a string of seasons with a major opponent. The Lobos travel to Arizona State of the Pac-12 this season in the back-end of a home-and-home contract, and then the Lobos take on Rutgers in 2016 and Texas A&M in 2017. Coach Davie was the defensive coordinator for Texas A&M’s famed “Wrecking Crew” defense in the early 1990s. The Lobos also have Wisconsin scheduled in 2018 and USC in 2020.
UNM’s opponent of Notre Dame is the winningest program in the history of college football with a .732 winning percentage (882-310-42). Notre Dame has had more Heisman winners (seven) and more consensus All-Americans (97) than any other program, and their 11 national championships, 882 wins, 485 NFL Draft picks and 98 weeks at the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll are all second all-time. The Fighting Irish have had five straight seasons of eight wins or more, including the 2012 season in which the Fighting Irish went 12-1, losing only in the BSC National Championship game.
Note: The Lobos will receive $1.1 million from Notre Dame for the game, with $50,000 of that payable this year … Notre Dame is 29-6 against current members of the Mountain West, most of those games against Air Force. UND is 24-6 against Air Force, 3-0 against Hawai’i and 1-0 against both Nevada and San Diego State.
UPCOMING NON CONFERENCE SCHEDULES (italics denotes new additions)
2016
Sept. 3 Sam Houston State
Sept. 10 @New Mexico State
Sept. 17 @Rutgers
Oct. 22 Louisiana-Monroe
MW Home: Boise State, Nevada, San Jose State, Wyoming
MW Away: Air Force, Colorado State, Hawai’i, Utah State
2017
Sept. 2 Abilene Christian
Sept. 9 New Mexico State
Sept. 23 @Tulsa
Nov. 11 @Texas A&M
2018
Sept. 1 Incarnate Word
Sept. 8 @Wisconsin
Sept. 15 @New Mexico State
(one more to schedule)
2019
Sept. 7 @Louisiana-Monroe
Sept. 14 @Notre Dame
Sept. 21 New Mexico State
(one more to schedule)
2020
Sept. 19 @ USC
(@New Mexico State, two more to schedule)
Lobos to Face Notre Dame in South Bend in 2019
