Notre Dame, South Florida Agree To Meet In 2029, 2031
Notre Dame and the University of South Florida have announced a future football home-and-home series in 2029 and 2031.
The agreement is part of a three-game set — two at Notre Dame and one at USF — the two schools agreed to last summer when the COVID-19 pandemic forced an alteration of the football schedules.
The 2020 Notre Dame slate originally had the Fighting Irish hosting Western Michigan on Sept. 19 before the Mid-American Conference (the league where the Broncos play) made the decision in August to cancel the season before ultimately returning for a partial campaign in November.
Moving quickly to fill out its schedule with an available team, Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick worked out the proposal with USF, which was the lone non-conference contest during the 10-game regular season. The other nine were versus ACC schools while joining the conference full-time in football for the 2020 season.
Had Notre Dame and USF not been able to agree to the two more games (home and home) after 2020, then Notre Dame would have been required to pay USF $500,000 for the game the Bulls would have hosted, while the second game in South Bend would be canceled without payment from either party.
Instead, the first of the two remaining games from the agreement will take place Saturday, Sept. 15, 2029, in Tampa, Florida. The two teams will conclude the series on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2031, at Notre Dame Stadium.
The series history is tied 1-1. The Bulls, with Notre Dame graduate Skip Holtz as the head coach, won the inaugural meeting 23-20 in the 2011 opener. Last year was a 52-0 rout by the Fighting Irish en route to the College Football Playoff.
The 2029 game will be the first meeting of the two teams outside of Notre Dame Stadium, and a rare visit by the Irish to a Group of 5 school's home stadium. The most recent such outing was at Temple in 2015.
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