FOOTBALL: Green jerseys bring no luck to Irish
By JOE HETTLER
Associate Sports Editor
The green jerseys Notre Dame wore Saturday against Boston College were supposed to help the Irish. After the game, it was obvious they didn't.
Following the 14-7 loss to Boston College, questions swirled around whether the jerseys were a good idea or if they had, in fact, hurt the team's performance.
"I thought it was a good move to encourage our fans and our sea of green we have talked about," Irish coach Tyrone Willingham said after the game. "The sea of green is important because it talks about an attitude. It talks about how the Notre Dame family and football team to come together as one. So I thought it was a great time, as we speak of the jerseys, to have our team be a part of that oneness, that single-mindedness, that pursuit of victory."
However, Boston College coach Tom O'Brien thought the jerseys might have backfired on Notre Dame and given the Eagles more motivation to play better.
"Actually I think [the jerseys] excited us," O'Brien said. "Our kids were excited when they saw the green jerseys. When our kids saw the green jerseys they took it as great sign of respect. … We're somebody to be reckoned with. I think our kids [also] took it as maybe a little insulting that they're going to need the green jerseys to beat us."
None of the Irish players knew about the green jerseys when the team warmed up before the game. Not until returning to the locker room from warm-ups did the players realize what was happening.
"When we came back in the locker room after warm-ups and we saw the green jerseys, everyone was ready to play and it helped us get focused," wide receiver Omar Jenkins said.
Notre Dame then dressed in the jerseys, but didn't come out of their locker room until after the Irish band had played. When the first few players emerged from the tunnel, the crowd exploded in cheers.
"We got real psyched up [when we wore them], we knew it was a special game for us based on what we had planned for this season, and obviously Coach Willingham felt the same way," linebacker Courtney Watson said. "You love to use it as a tool to get the crowd into it, it's an emotional high you get for a player, it got everybody reenergized and got people out."
The cheers wouldn't last long, as the Irish turned the ball over five times, fumbling a total of seven times. Notre Dame has now lost its last three games when wearing the green jerseys. Their last win with the jerseys was a 39-28 victory in the 1992 Sugar Bowl against Florida.
After the game, Irish players said the jerseys didn't affect the outcome of the game.
"[The loss] had nothing to do with the jerseys," center Jeff Faine said. "There's no luck. We just dropped the ball and put the ball on the ground. It wasn't the color of our jerseys or the way we tied our shoelaces. We went out there and put the ball on the ground."
Boston College players had mixed emotions about the jerseys. Some were insulted by them, while others were impressed Notre Dame wore them for this game.
"It hurt. It hurt, honestly," defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said. "It felt like they didn't respect us at all. To go out of their way … it was almost as if they were downplaying us, like they felt they didn't have to come out and prepare the way they did for other teams."
Josh Ott, who had a 71-yard interception return for a touchdown, thought the jerseys were a sign of respect from Notre Dame.
"It just made us more pumped," Ott said. "Now they're finally respecting us, bringing out the green jerseys like it's a special occasion."
Saturday marked the first time Notre Dame had worn green jerseys since the 1999 Gator Bowl, when they lost to Georgia Tech 35-28. That was the only time the Irish wore green jerseys during Bob Davie's tenure at Notre Dame.
It was also the first time in 17 years that a Notre Dame team wore green jerseys at Notre Dame stadium. Gerry Faust's 1985 team took a 27-0 halftime lead against USC and then donned the green jerseys for the second half, en route to a 37-3 win.
The most famous green jersey game came under Dan Devine in 1977 against USC when the team captains emerged from a Trojan horse and led the team on the field wearing the green. Notre Dame went on to win the national championship that season and wore green jerseys until Faust took over the program in 1981.
Another chapter was added to the green jersey history, but this time it wasn't so good.
"It was nice to wear them," Faine said "I always wanted to wear them, but it wasn't anything that was going to change the game. We were still the same team. We're still Notre Dame. We're not going to change because of the different colored jerseys."
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 4, 2002
