Arizona State and Notre Dame have reached an agreement that will still have the Fighting Irish playing at Sun Devil Stadium in 2014, ASU announced today.
The game will be played on Nov. 8, 2014, two weeks later than the originally scheduled date of Oct. 25. As a result of the agreement, the Arizona State at Notre Dame game in 2017 has been canceled.
“We’re pleased that Notre Dame was able to resolve its scheduling issues in a way that allows it to play at Sun Devil Stadium in 2014,” said ASU Athletics Director Steve Patterson. “The game will now be played on Nov. 8, 2014. Our entire Sun Devil family–season ticket holders, fans, students, alumni–and our entire community here in the Valley have been looking forward to playing Notre Dame in Tempe since the original agreement was signed in 2008.
“While the game at Notre Dame in 2017 has been canceled, what is most important to us is that the game in Tempe has been saved. Under a separate agreement we also play Notre Dame at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on October 5, 2013.
“These are exciting times for our football program and having a special opponent like Notre Dame travel to ASU will make for another memorable experience.”
Back in April, ESPN reported that Notre Dame had dropped Arizona State from their 2014 football schedule. The report caused ASU to release a statement that they “still have a valid contract with the University of Notre Dame to play football in 2014. We look forward to hosting them at Sun Devil Stadium.”
Retaining the home game against the Irish is a big boost to Arizona State’s 2014 non-conference slate. The Sun Devils also host Weber State and travel to New Mexico.
Per AZCentral.com, Arizona State was concerned that the loss of the Notre Dame game would have a significant impact on ticket sales and other financial areas. The Sun Devils also scoffed at Notre Dame’s replacement suggestion of Purdue.
Notre Dame still has to cancel two games from their 2014 football schedule. The addition of five ACC games per season left the Fighting Irish two over the limit of 12 games.
Based on the fact that Notre Dame shopped Purdue to Arizona State as a replacement, it seems likely that the Irish will eventually drop Purdue from their 2014 schedule. Other games that Notre Dame could target for cancellation are Rice, Northwestern, and at Temple.
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