Customer Reviews

University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Collector's Edition (College Football's Greatest Games)

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My dad is a Notre Dame alumni and actually went to a couple of these games. He really enjoys reliving those times of his college days. It's also interesting to watch football before the days of the "Yellow Line" and seemingly endless camera angles.

Anyway, my dad tends to watch these when he's flying to and from job sites or in a hotel room without an internet connection. I got them for him about 3 months ago as a Christmas present and he just finished the entire set.

I always enjoyed hearing his stories of these games, so it's really nice being able to give something back that means just as much to him.

I bought this for my brother in law for Xmas, and it's definitely the most successful present I've ever given him. He particularly commented on the clarity of pictures for each game ("like being there") and loved that it was the whole game, not just the highlights. A winner for die hard fans out there!

It is a great service to fans that the powers-that-be decided to offer this amazing box set. Some fans, if they're old enough, have only seen some of these games once when they were originally broadcast live. Even if you've caught the "chicken soup game" on ESPN Classic, now you can see it in its entirety and commercial-free. And of course there's the legendary "green jersey game" which probably had the most fanfare and energy of any regular season college football game in history.

From the Lou Holtz era, the two exciting defeats of Miami and Florida State remain at the top of the Fighting Irish's greatest games ever (my only beef with the FSU game is that the great intro by Bob Costas is not included).

In addition to the entire games, many DVDs have extras such as recorded radio broadcasts and pre- and post-game interviews. Easy navigation with chapter indexes placed at the start of scoring drives.

I hope there are plans to make a second boxed set. I myself would love to see the 1973 Sugar Bowl against Alabama, the 1991 Sugar Bowl against Florida, the 1982 game against Pitt, and even some old black & white filmed games such as the 1957 Oklahoma upset.

My brother in law got this for Christmas and we watched a few games. No commercials to skip thru, the original broadcasts are great. A good deal for a handful of big games in recent ND football history. The rosters for each game are a nice feature. A very good buy.

This is a very well done set of actual game broadcasts of some of the greatest Notre Dame games ever, of course concentrating more on the modern TV era. The cool thing is that I was at 3 of these games in person, the 1988 Miami game (Catholics vs Convicts) where ND knocked off #1 Miami, the 1989(88 season) Fiesta Bowl National Championship victory over #3 West Virginia, and the 1993 Game of the Decade vs Florida St, with #2 9-0 ND dominating #1 9-0 Florida St to prove without a doubt that Notre Dame was the best team in the nation in 1993. Aside from the 1966 Michigan St Game of the Century, I saw every other game in this set live on TV when it happened also, including the legendary "Green Jersey" game vs USC in 1977. Some sweet sweet memories. Its too bad they could not have also included some of the following games (or maybe get these in a Vol II?), but full broadcasts may not be available on some, such as:

---#6 Notre Dame over #1 10-0 Texas 24-11 in the 1970 season ending Cotton Bowl to deny Texas the national championship in their back yard.

---#2 10-0 Notre Dame over #1 10-0 Alabama 24-23 in the 1973 Sugar Bowl National Title game giving ND another undisputed national championship and denying Bama the national title in a game Bear Bryant had called "the most important game in the history of the South".

---#9 Notre Dame over #1 10-0 Alabama 13-11 in the 1974 season ending Orange Bowl to again deny Bear and Bama another national title in Ara Parseghian's last game.

---the epic 1980 game in Tuscaloosa between Bama and Notre Dame won by ND 7-0 with both teams vying for a national title and giving Bear Bryant an 0-4 lifetime record vs Notre Dame.

---the 1980 ND-Michigan game won 29-27 on a Harry Oliver 51 yd FG as time expired which prompted the Michigan student paper to headline their article Michigan 27 Notre Dame 26, God 3.

---the 1982 upset of Dan Marino and #1 Pittsburgh under Faust to ruin Marino's chance of a national championship.

---the huge 1988 ND-USC game at the Coliseum with #1 10-0 ND throttling #2 10-0 USC in the last regular season game of the national championship season 27-10.

---of course, any number of ND-Michigan games could also be included since the 1978 renewal of that rivalry has produced many classic games over the years.

The Montana bowl victories included in this set of course are priceless, especially the 1978 Cotton Bowl where #5 Notre Dame absolutely shellacked #1 10-0 Texas 38-10 to win the 1977 National Championship and of course deny Texas (and Earl Cambpell) yet another national title in their backyard. I love hearing the classic announcing of legends like Keith Jackson and Lindsey Nelson, and Musburger and USC alum Pat Haden do an outstanding job with that 1988 epic Miami game. Its too bad the whole film of the 1966 Michigan St game is not available, but its great to have the 2nd half. The number of future All Pros and Hall of Famers in that game is amazing, including Bubba Smith of Mich St and the legendary Alan Page of Notre Dame, future Viking HOF and now Minnesota Supreme Court Justice.

Simply put, get this set and Notre Dame could make 10 more of these sets and it would only scratch the surface of the greatest college football program of all time.

I am surprised Notre Dame is just sitting on the highlight films of those classic 1970s bowl games like the Cotton Bowls vs Texas and the Sugar and Orange Bowls vs Bama. I know there were game highlight films made of those bowl games, and if there were not full game TV broadcasts preserved, ND should at least preserve and release those highlight films, which are the only video records of those classic games, before they are lost forever......

Don't get me wrong. This is a great set of past classic Notre Dame football games; however there are a lot of past games that have been left out. Not sure why. Why isn't there highlights of the classic 1946 Army vs Notre Dame " Game of the Century " included. This is the famous game that ended in a 0-0 tie and inluded 4 Heisman Trophy winner's. Army's Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. Notre Dame's Leon Hart and Johnny Lujack. Some people consider this the greatest college football game of all time.
Also missing is Notre Dame's classic 1953 battle with Georgia Tech. The Irish stunned the yellow Jackets 27-14, ending Georgia Tech's 31 game unbeaten streak at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame went on to an unbeaten season that year (9/0/1).
Perhaps the greatest upset of all time is missing in this set. Notre Dame's famous 7-0 upest win over Oklahoma in Norman, OK that ended the Sooners 47 game NCAA record winning streak. The Irish were having an average season coming into the game and given no chance; yet they went out and caught the Sooners by suprise. Why no highlights? I know that they exist because I've seen them before several times.
Fastforward to the 1971 Cotton Bowl when Notre Dame stunned Defending National Champion Texas 24-11 before a sellout crowd and national tv audience ending the Longhorns 30 game winning streak. Joe Theisman quarterbacked the Irish to the win in this game.
Why the next game is not included in this set is simply a mystery beyond me. The 1974 Sugar Bowl matchup between Notre Dame and Alabama for the national championship. Bear Bryant vs Ara Parseghian. For the Championship! Come on! Both of these teams came into this game ranked #1 and #2 in the polls. The Irish won a thriller 24-23 to claim the national championship. Ara's decision to air it out of his own end zone near the end of the game which is won this game for Notre Dame because they picked up the first down and simply ran out the clock a few plays later.
The 1975 Orange Bowl now known as Ara's last game as coach of the Irish. For the second straight year Notre Dame cost an undefeated Alabama team the national championship in a close contest 13-11. A great win to go down in Notre Dame history.
Fast forward to the 1988 matchup between #1 Notre Dame and #2 USC at the LA coliseum. Sure the Irish won easily 27-10 en route to 1988 National Championship that year; but it was the only time in the series history that both teams came into the final game of the season undefeated and ranked #1 and #2 in the polls. ND QB Tony Rice's 65 yard option TD run highlighted this impressive Irish win.
#2 Notre Dame's 24-19 win over #1 Michigan early in the 1989 season is also missing in this set. This was also the first and only time I believe that these 2 teams came into their meeting with each other undefeated and ranked #1 and #2 in the polls. This is the game that everybody remembers because of the Rocket Ismail's 2 kickoff returns for touchdowns that propelled the defending national champion Irish to victory in this highly anticipated matchup. Also because of this win; Notre Dame became the first team to beat Bo Schembechler consecutive 3 times in a row.
Why is the 1990 Orange Bowl matchup between #1 Colorado and #4 Notre Dame not included in this set?
Notre Dame's convincing 21-6 win over the top ranked Buffaloes cost Colorado the national championship and redeemed the Irish after their disastrous 27-10 loss to the Miami Hurricanes 5 weeks before in late November. Notre Dame's now infamous goal line stand that stuffed Colorado late in the first half highlighted the Irish win. Although they finished just #2 in the polls following their win, Notre Dame's 1990 Orange Bowl victory should be included in this set.
The 1992 Sugar Bowl should be included in this set as well. The now famous (Cheerios Bowl) line highlighted this contest. Notre Dame came into this game ranked #18 in the polls against the #3 SEC Champions Florida Gators. The Irish were criticized for being in this game and not some higher ranked team such as Penn State. Notre Dame was supposed to have no chance in this game against the pass happy Gator offense. Instead the Irish exploded for 32 second half points and dominated the line of scrimmage in a 39-28 beatdown of Florida. Jerome Bettis had 2 long td runs late in the 4th quarter to highlight the Irish win.
The 1993 Cotton bowl Matchup against undefeated #4 Texas AM and #5 Notre Dame isn't in this set as well. Notre Dame completely dominated this contest 28-3 costing the Aggies any slight chance they had of the national championship.
Other games that could have been inlcuded in this set but are debatable are the following:
1973 Notre Dame's 23-14 win over rival USC. This ND win snapped defending national champion USC'S 23 game unbeaten streak. Notre Dame went on to an undefeated season and a national championship that year.
1989 #1 Notre Dame 28 #9 USC 24. A classic battle between these 2 rivales. Also famous for the pre- game fight that broke out before the game.
1989 #1 Notre Dame 34 #17 Penn State 23. The first and only time Notre Dame won in Beaver Stadium(Happy Valley). The Irish set a school single game rushing record in this contest with 425 rushing yards before a sellout crowd and national tv audience.
1990 #6 Notre Dame 29 #2 Miami 20. Although not quite as intence as the famous 1988 Catholics vs Convicts battle, this game certainly had its moments such as the Rocket Ismail's 95 yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the first quarter that tied the score. It was the last time to date that these 2 teams have played each other ending college football's most heated rivalry.
1994 Cotton Bowl matchup between #4 Notre Dame and #5 Texas AM. It was a rematch of last year's game and this time the game was much closer, exciting, and hard fought; but Notre Dame preveiled 24-21 on late field goal in the closing minutes of the 4th quarter.
These extra games should have been included in this set making it more complete and enjoyable. It certainly would have been much more expensive; but so what? These are priceless classic games that you can watch over and over again without getting tired of seeing them.

This is a wonderfully produced dvd set. A&E did a great job. I have never seen this kind of detail put into any college football dvd that I have ever purchased. The case for each dvd is plastered with facts, rosters, quotes, etc. (even temp at game time)about each game. Some of the Irish's best games are included and I'm thankful that the Lou Holtz era is well represented. I do not have the budget to collect many football dvd's so price is a concern, making me doubly blessed with this set at this sale price. Any one of these games is worth the sale price for the entire set. I'm impressed.

Hi, my husband is a huge Notre Dame fan. He grew up watching the games and then went to school there. The sun shines and sets on the golden dome for him. So, I got this for him for Christmas and he loves it. However, I also think anyone who is interested in the history of football or football in general would like this. I've enjoyed watching the classic games with him. It's weird to watch football in 1966 - it looked almost like a different game. Then by 1978 they are passing the ball more, and they looked more like football players instead of rugby players with big rear ends. This is just down right good tv.

I just got this set and I was really impressed with the games. The quality of the picture is very good except part of the USC game (from the 2nd quarter to part of the 3rd quarter)...somehow the picture went very grainy and back to good again. I highly recommend this DVD if you're a college football fan.

Bought for DAD, Love it! Great when I can find a gift for him he'll really enjoy!