Duranko
151 articles
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Ara Parseghian: Tribute To A Notre Dame Football Legend
Ara’s Birth and Early Years Ara was born in Akron in 1923 to an Armenian Father and a French mother, both immigrants. He was an intense kid, a…
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#1 George Gipp: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
George Gipp, HB, QB, P, DB, KR PR, 1917-1920 Unique – adj. being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else. It is an absolute, binary term. Something…
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#2 Johnny Lujack: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
Johnny Lujack was born in Connellsville on January 3, 1925. He was born under a good sign as that was just 3 days after Rock and the Four…
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#3 Leon Hart: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#3 Leon Hart, TE/DE 1946-1949 Leon Hart was the strapping son of a Westinghouse Crane operator who lived in Pittsburgh’s Southeast suburb of Turtle Creek. He was one…
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#5 Angelo Bertelli: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#5 Angelo Bertelli, QB, 1940-1943 Angello Bertelli was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA to Italian immigrant parents. A generation later, also in Springfield, Nick Buoniconti, #21 on our…
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#6 Ross Browner: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#6 Ross Browner, DE, 1973, 1975-1977 Ross Browner was a high school phenom at Western Reserve High School in talent-rich Warren, Ohio. ROSS BROWNER’S PROPHET-GREG BLACHE There were…
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#7 Johnny Lattner: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#7 Johnny Lattner, HB/DB 1950-1953 As Frank Leahy was looking to replenish the glistening treasure of the ’46 recruiting class that was finally depleting in 1949, he looked…
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#8 Tim Brown: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#8 Tim Brown, WR/RB/KR/PR, 1984-1987 Tim Brown may have been unique in that he might have been influenced by Notre Dame’s Bowl Appearances, which began after the ’69…
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#9 Paul Hornung: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#9 Paul Hornung, QB 1953-1956 Paul Hornung was a legendary schoolboy athlete at Flaget High in Louisville. Hornung eventually became a member of the High School Hall of…
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#11 Luther Bradley: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
Luther Bradley was recruited from Muncie to join the Irish in 1973. Muncie had not been known for football players; it was more famous for Ball Home Canning…
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#12 Jim Lynch: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#12 Jim Lynch, Linebacker, 1964-1966 Jim Lynch was recruited from Lima Central Catholic as part of the ever loyal Hugh Devore’s parting gift to Notre Dame: the 1963…
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#13 Alan Page: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#13 Alan Page, Defensive End, 1964-1966 Alan Page was a High School All-America at Canton Central Catholic when he was recruited by Hugh Devore to come to Notre…
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#14 Frank Carideo: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#14 Frank Carideo, quarterback 1928-1930 A native of Mount Vernon, New York; Frank Carideo was compact at 5’7” 175 pounds. While many of Notre Dame’s early legends were…
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#15 Creighton Miller: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#15 Creighton Miller, Halfback 1941-1943 Creighton Miller was the nephew of Don Miller, one of the Four Horsemen, and perhaps the first legacy player at Notre Dame. Miller…
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#16 Jaylon Smith: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#16 Jaylon Smith, Linebacker, 2013-2015 Notre Dame’s most athletic linebacker of all time also ranks, along with Luther Bradley, as one of the greatest natives of Indiana to…
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#17 Raghib “Rocket” Ismail: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#17 Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, WR/KR/PR/RB 1988-1990 Notre Dame’s most explosive player ever was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but was a prep star at Elmer L. Meyers High…
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#18 Tom Clements: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#18 Tom Clements, Quarterback, 1972-1974 Born in McKees Rocks, Tom Clements was a multi-sport athlete at Canevin High School in Pittsburgh. Beyond being a prep football phenom, Clements…
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#19 Chris Zorich: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#19 Chris Zorich, Nose Tackle, 1988-1990 More Notre Dame fans have driven past Chris Zorich’s High School than that of any other member of the top 25. Zorich…
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#20 Aaron Taylor: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
#20 Aaron Taylor, Tackle , 1990-1993 Aaron Taylor was born in San Francisco, but his parents sent him to play high school football for the legendary Bob Ladoceur…
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#21 Nick Buoniconti: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
Nick Buoniconti grew up as the son of immigrant Italian bakers in Springfield, MA. As a Catholic he attended Cathedral High School. There was a legend who had…
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#22 Ken Macafee: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
The seeds of Notre Dame becoming “Tight End University” were planted by Leon Hart in 1946 and then watered and tended by Hart culminating when he reaped the…
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#23 Bill “Moose” Fischer: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
Bill Fischer made the short trek from Chicago and played for Hugh Devore’s ’45 team while Leahy and Lujack were in the service, and Leon Hart was making…
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#24 Todd Lyght: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
Todd Lyght arrived in 1987, ready to be groomed as the heir apparent to Tim Brown. But his coaches had other plans and announced their intention to move…
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#25 Red Salmon: Notre Dame Football’s Top 25 Players
Excellence creates unconventional challenges. Mere mortals struggle to comprehend and describe greatness The rich glorious history of Notre Dame Football make compiling a list of the 25 greatest…
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Is Notre Dame moving to a 4-2-5 defense?
COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S BRUTAL ORIGINS When Rutgers “lit up” Princeton 6-4 in 1869 in the first football game ever played, the game’s early defensive DNA was established. It was…
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Breaking Down Notre Dame’s 2016 Football Schedule
Duranko is back with a breakdown of Notre Dame's 2016 football schedule. Here is a full ranking, in reverse order of difficulty, of Notre Dame's 12 opponents standing…
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Notre Dame’s Fiesta Bowl History
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA……… The bowl season was ruled by four bowls: Cotton Bowl Rose Bowl Sugar Bowl Orange Bowl Sure there were other bowls, but…
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Notre Dame Ohio State Football History
Ohio State and Notre Dame are two of the most storied programs in college football history, but the two have played a mere six times, including bowl game.…
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did we See in Palo Alto?
A late Stanford rally, initiated with 30 seconds to go, was capped off by Conrad Ukropina’s 45 yard field goal, earning Stanford a 38-36 win over the crestfallen…
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See in Fenway?
Notre Dame’s beat Boston College 19-16 to move to 10-1, before heading to Palo Alto for the titanic season finale against Stanford. The green-clad Irish offense punched holes…
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Notre Dame – Boston College Rivalry: The Holy War
Though natural rivals as the two most prominent Catholic colleges playing Big Time Football, it took quite a while for the Boston College-Notre Dame series to take root.…
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See Against Wake Forest?
A somnambulant, diffident Notre Dame team did just enough to beat young, eager Wake Forest 28-7, to move to 9-1. The win completed the second unbeaten home slate…
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See Against Pitt?
Notre Dame, with the usual and perplexing ebbs and flows, moved to 8-1 with a 42-30 win over the Pitt Panthers. The Irish start was as easy as…
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See Against Temple?
Notre Dame fashioned another thrilling fourth quarter rally to defeat pesky, resilient, tenacious Temple 24-20. Temple played up to Notre Dame’s level rather than Notre Dame playing down…
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See Against USC?
Somewhere, Rock and Howard Jones smiled. This is what an epic, rivalry game look like. Legacy fulfilled. Offense, Defense, Special Teams, thrills, agony, expected stars and surprise heroes.…
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See Against Navy?
After the second consecutive slow start, Notre Dame exercised functional control over Navy and completed discharge of its moral imperative, defeating Navy 41-24. The win over Notre Dame’s…
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See vs. Clemson
For Clemson it was a Perfect Storm. It had been 38 years since a Notre Dame football team last visited Clemson, 17 days since the Tigers took the…
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See Against UMass?
Leveraging a dominating offensive line with a bewildering array of skilled players Notre Dame disposed of a pesky band of Minutemen, 62-27. Notre Dame moved to 4-0 with…
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Duranko’s Digest: What did we see against Georgia Tech?
Deshone Kizer was big enough for the moment.
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See Against Virginia?
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
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Duranko’s Digest: What Did We See Against Texas?
We saw ruthless, brutal physical domination. After establishing that, Brian Kelly’s 2015 Fighting Irish used a remarkable array of skilled players and a stunning performance by Malik Zaire…
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Notre Dame – Texas Football Rivalry History
When old friend Charley Strong leads his Longhorns onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium, it will be the 11th time Texas and Notre Dame have played. The…
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2015 Notre Dame Football Pre-Season Defensive Unit Rankings
This rating is easier to make than the offensive ratings, as the unit overflows with both veterans and experienced backups. Except for Jerry Tillery, frosh will play small…
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2015 Notre Dame Football Pre-Season Offensive Unit Rankings
Note: While this evaluation is for the 2015 season, previous performance, or lack of it, or incomplete data, is a significant factor. Ratings may change SIGNIFICANTLY after the…
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Notre Dame – Purdue Football Rivalry History
Notre Dame first played instate rival Purdue in 1896, and played the Boilermakers annually from 1946 to the Shamrock Series game in Indianapolis in 2014.
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By The Numbers – Offense, Defense, Special Teams
College football’s sole constant is change. Single wing, the rise and fall of the ND Box formation, Oklahoma defense, wishbone, veer, two way players.
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Notre Dame – Michigan Football Rivalry History
The Notre Dame-Michigan series has been historic, strange, dramatic, oft-disrupted and filled with dysfunctionality.
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Defenders with Attitude
In civilian life, a “chip on the shoulder” is often a precursor for conflict.
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Brian Kelly’s Bold, Audacious Moves
The ugly dust cloud from Alabama’s red elephants had barely settled when Brian Kelly started plotting some big changes to return the Irish to the National Championship quest,…
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Notre Dame’s Mature, Veteran Defense
2014, defensively, was Notre Dame’s Year of Living Dangerously.