Boiler Banter: My Personal Affinity for the Purdue-Notre Dame Rivalry
I was sitting at about the 45-yard line, 30 rows up on the press box side of Ross-Ade Stadium. Notre Dame was knocking on the door of a game-winning touchdown with 16 seconds left in the game. Purdue fans were screaming. My heart was thumping.
Fighting Irish quarterback Jarious Jackson took the snap and ran to the near side of the field, where he was swallowed up by a host of Boilermaker defenders. Notre Dame tried to run one more play but time expired.
Hello, college football.
That's the first memory I have of attending a college football game. I only remember a handful of moments from that day — Drew Brees' miraculous two-point conversion; the sack that ended the game and a trio of college students who nearly knocked me down while dancing and hugging in celebration.
For a kid whose first love was always basketball, that afternoon in West Lafayette opened my eyes up to the beautiful world of college football. It also marked the start of a tradition that I fondly remember.
Purdue football in the fall
For seven seasons, my dad, brother and I made the weekly trek to West Lafayette to watch the Boilers. Every Saturday felt like Christmas — waking up early to get on campus, stuffing our faces with an ungodly amount of tailgate delicacies and soda, all while watching College GameDay and throwing the football around.
Those days were filled with smiles and laughs, even though we were all enduring some pain.
My brother and I were two kids trying to navigate the waters of our parents' divorce. There was a lot of anger, sadness and confusion during those early years in our lives. But those Saturday afternoons in West Lafayette? That gave us something to look forward to every single weekend.
It was time a father could spend with his two sons. A lot of happy memories were made prior to kickoff. Most weekends, I'd argue the memories made outside the stadium had a stronger impact than the games we saw inside.
I recently sent my brother a text message randomly. "Do you ever miss the days of tailgating and going to Purdue games when we were younger?" I asked.
"Back when they were good?" he jokes. "Yes. It was more so the family time."
We saw Purdue play a lot of great football teams at Ross-Ade Stadium in the late-90s and early 2000s. We were on hand for some of the biggest moments in the program's history. But, every year, there was always one opponent we looked forward to more than others: Notre Dame.
I still have love for the rivalry
When Notre Dame announced it was eliminating traditional rivalry games against Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue in 2013, a sadness washed over me. Every year, that was the one matchup I enjoyed more than any other.
Purdue-Notre Dame probably isn't going to crack anyone's top-10 list of college football's biggest rivalry games. It may not even be the biggest rivalry game to a lot of Boilermaker fans.
For me, it always was, and still remains, my favorite rivalry in the sport.
I had a realization this week as Purdue prepares to play Notre Dame at Ross-Ade Stadium for the first time in over a decade — I haven't missed a Boilermakers-Fighting Irish matchup in West Lafayette since that 28-23 contest in 1999.
My butt has been in a seat at Ross-Ade Stadium each of the last eight times the Irish have walked in. In the last game of the rivalry series, I also made the journey to Indianapolis in 2014, where the two teams played at Lucas Oil Stadium.
This will be the first year since that 1999 game that I won't be watching Purdue-Notre Dame live in West Lafayette. Neither will my brother, nor my dad. I'm sure it will feel a bit odd for all of us, watching that game on television.
I'm sure there will be a text chain during the game among the three of us — providing us with some semblance of those beautiful, autumn Saturday afternoons spent together. But it won't quite be the same.
I know it's only temporary, but I'm glad that the Purdue-Notre Dame rivalry is back on the schedule. If nothing else, I hope Saturday's game is as fun and exciting as the ones I remember.
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DREW BREES TALKS PURDUE-NOTRE DAME RIVALRY: When Drew Brees was making his decision on where to play to college football, the rivalry between Purdue and Notre Dame was a major factor in becoming a Boilermaker. CLICK HERE
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DUSTIN SCHUTTE