With College Gameday in South Bend for Ohio State vs. Notre Dame on Saturday, Fighting Irish fans showed up in droves ahead of the biggest game of the season so far. Just a few seconds into the broadcast, fans made their presence known over a 30-year grudge.
When Rece Davis introduced ESPN analyst Desmond Howard, Notre Dame fans booed collectively and followed up the welcome with a series of “Desmond Sucks” chants. The cold greeting showed that the Fighting Irish fan base still hasn’t forgotten when Howard, while at Michigan, scored an iconic touchdown that sealed a victory over Notre Dame in 1991.
“When you make a catch against a team 30 years ago that leads to a Heisman Trophy win, they don’t forget,” fellow Gameday analyst Kirk Herbstreit said in response to the chant about Howard.
A mere two minutes into College GameDay, the Notre Dame crowd lets Desmond Howard know how they feel about him... pic.twitter.com/LN5djt8iBS
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 23, 2023
It didn’t help Howard that Notre Dame’s opponent on Saturday is an even bigger rival of Michigan, meaning Ohio State fans were also not going to defend a former Michigan star. Still, Howard had the last laugh as he went on to win the Heisman Trophy the same year he made that historic catch.
