Notre Dame Football: The 8 teams the Irish have never beaten
Notre Dame has been playing football since 1887 and ranks in the top five for all-time victories. Only Michigan, Ohio State and Alabama have more wins than the 948 Notre Dame has compiled (same as Texas).
Despite all of those wins, the Fighting Irish have never beaten some teams.
One of those teams used to be Oregon State, which Notre Dame beat in the 2023 Sun Bowl. Before that game, Notre Dame was 0-2 against the Beavers.
With Oregon State scratched off the list, eight programs remain. Before you scroll down, test yourself and see how many you can guess.
And you if you can name all of them (courtesy of Winsipedia), your knowledge in the world of Notre Dame football trivia is truly second to none.
Chicago (0-4)
Notre Dame played the old football powerhouse University of Chicago four times; the most recent contest was in 1899. The Maroons won all four meetings. Considering they now play at the Division III level, it’s hard to imagine the Irish will ever beat them. Chicago is not only home to the first Heisman Trophy winner, Jay Berwanger, but it also had three Division III All-Americans in 2005: Colin Carrier (defensive back), Phil Pengiel (center) and Rob Tamillow (defensive line).
Georgia (0-3)
Notre Dame has played Georgia three times; the only regular-season contests were in 2017 and 2019. Notre Dame dropped both of those as well as the 1981 Sugar Bowl to the Bulldogs.
Yale (0-1)
All the way back in 1914, Notre Dame was beaten badly by Yale, 28-0, in what remains the only meeting all time between the Irish and the first truly great program in the long history of college football.
UConn (0-1)
Notre Dame had a promising start to the 2009 season, but a November to forget left the Irish 6-6 and led to Charlie Weis being fired after the last game. The worst loss of the year came in a senior day overtime defeat at the hands of UConn.
Tulsa (0-1)
A year after losing at home to UConn, Notre Dame played a Halloween weekend affair against Tulsa in what wound up being an embarrassing upset loss. The loss dropped Notre Dame to 4-5, and made a bowl game seem unlikely during Brian Kelly’s first year as head coach. However, the Irish rallied to win three straight and dominated Miami (Florida) in the Sun Bowl to finish 8-5.
Oklahoma State (0-1)
Notre Dame’s lone date all time with Oklahoma State was Marcus Freeman’s first game as head coach: the 2022 Fiesta Bowl. Despite starting hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July, Notre Dame stumbled in the second half, allowing the Cowboys to rally for a comeback victory.
Marshall (0-1)
2022 didn’t start the way anyone wanted, especially Marcus Freeman who dropped his third straight game to begin his head coaching tenure when Marshall walked into Notre Dame Stadium and beat up the Fighting Irish, 26-21.
Indianapolis Light Artillery (0-1)
You have to go all the way back to 1895 to find Notre Dame’s only contest against the Indianapolis Light Artillery (ILA) football team. It was a game Notre Dame hosted and lost 18-0. 1895 was the only season ILA fielded a football team; it went 5-2.
