Take The Pilgrimage to Notre Dame!!!

Michael Reaves. Getty Images.

As a college football history fan, I always wanted to attend a game at Notre Dame one day.

How could you not? 11 National Titles, Rudy, Touchdown Jesus & the Golden Dome. All classic!

The opportunity finally came on Saturday with Texas A&M playing in South Bend on a gorgeous early fall Saturday night. (Thanks to Billy Luicci of TexAgs for the tickets & parking pass!)

My Aggie buddy & I arrived in South Bend around 3pm for the 7:30 EST kick off. We were greeted by a surprisingly good tailgate scene in the parking lots outside the stadium.

After popping in a hotel bar to see some people, we made the visit to Touchdown Jesus!

We hung out at Aggie tailgates for an hour or so and the fans could not have been nicer on both sides. And the Aggies were out in full force for this one. 

Texas A&M fans always deal with a ton of shade for their cult like traditions but they are salt of the earth people. And the Notre Dame fans could not have been more hospitable.

I always go into big games or concerts an hour or so before these days to take it all in. The stadium was packed early for this showdown too. The atmosphere was AMAZING all night!

We were in the heart of the Aggie section behind the Fightin' Texas Aggie band.

The whole experience was already amazing and then an all time classic broke out on the field! No one anticipated a wild shootout between these squads but that is exactly what went down. 

Notre Dame blocked a punt for an early TD then Aggie WR Mario Craver busted this 86 yard touchdown to kick off an over 200 yard night!

The Aggies rode 3 Leveon Moss 1st half TDs & QB Marcell Reed to a 28-24 halftime lead.

Notre Dame scored a TD to take a 37-31 lead late in the 4th then the holder DROPPED the extra point?!?!?!? What the heck????

Texas A&M then ran the kickoff back for a touchdown to tie the game but there was a holding flag! MADNESS!!!

The Aggies then marched down the field to give themselves a chance before two false start meltdowns in the red zone. Then Notre Dame got flagged for defensive holding on a 3rd & 16 to give the Ags life again.

After 3 straight bad plays, A&M threw a touchdown pass on 4th & 11 with 13 seconds left to WIN THE GAME!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!

And I have never seen so many happy Aggies…..

INSTANT CLASSIC! I cannot believe that was the Notre Dame game I attended. 

Moral of the story…. take the trip when the time is right! Tomorrow ain't guaranteed…..