When the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last met on the gridiron in 1968, the Irish walked away with a 51‑28 victory, a result that still reverberates among longtime fans.
For Ray Nagle, a lifelong Hawkeye supporter whose family tree stretches from Iowa City to South Bend, the prospect of a renewed rivalry is more than nostalgia; it is a personal promise to honor relatives who wore both jerseys.
The Historical Ledger
The rivalry was once a staple, with the two schools meeting annually from 1951 to 1964, a stretch that produced a 5‑6‑2 record for Iowa and memorable moments such as Forest Evashevski’s fiery rebuke of Notre Dame’s clock‑stopping tactics, a critique that quoted the poet Grantland Rice.
Under coaches like Frank Leahy and later Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame continued to shape college football lore, while Iowa’s own legacy was cemented by Forest Evashevski, who compiled a 4‑3 record against the Irish after 1953.
A Path Forward
In recent years the landscape has shifted; Wisconsin’s scheduled showdown with Notre Dame in 2026 has set a precedent that many see as a template for Iowa to follow, even as the Big Ten Conference has publicly expressed interest in welcoming the Fighting Irish into its fold.
Yet the path is not without obstacles; the Hawkeyes’ traditional rivalry with Iowa State, the logistical demands of a home‑and‑home series, and the broader scheduling pressures of modern college football all loom large.
If Iowa were to replace that series, the Fighting Irish would sit at the top of the wish list, not only for the historic resonance but also because a matchup would pit Kirk Ferentz, the Big Ten’s all‑time winningest coach, against a program steeped in tradition.
Both campuses sit just a few hundred miles apart, with only the state of Illinois separating Iowa City from South Bend, making a neutral‑site game in Green Bay a geographically sensible option that could draw fans from both states.
The author, who has watched both programs evolve over decades, remains hopeful that the rivalry will be rekindled before he hangs up his pen, though optimism is tempered by the reality of conference contracts and television priorities.