Notre Dame Jersey Number Controversy

If a three period overtime win was not enough excitement for the Irish how about an almost devastating penalty?

Remember the missed FG by Pitt in overtime?  Both Bennett Jackson and Chris Brown were on the field in special team roles.  Jackson normally plays defense (CB) and Brown on offense (WR).  The officials did not catch the NCAA rules violation.  Both Jackson and Brown wear #2 and no two players with same number can be on the field during a play at the same time.  We don’t know what the penalty is however at the least it would have given Pitt a second shot at the FG.

Rumor has it that they have been on special teams during kickoff returns as well.

There are a few rules concerning jersey numbers.

You can only use numbers 1-99.  (A worthless piece of personal trivia, my father took me to my first college game and MSU Duffy Daugherty was experimenting with soccer style kickers.  Duffy had two on the roster, numbers 0 and 00)

So 0 and 00 are no longer allowed.

If you follow college football you know that scholarships are limited to 85.  Well no problem there.

The total number of rostered players allowed per team is 105.  Oh oh.  These additional 20 players are walk-ons and are normally given the same number as players on the two-deep depth chart since they have little chance of seeing the field at the same time.  With rare exceptions the walk-ons only play on special teams.  If they make the two-deep, a scholarship is normally found and offered.

Notre Dame has taken a different approach.  While the Irish roster is around 100, certain players have requested favorite numbers or ones they wore in high school

Here are the duplicate number guys.  First player is on offense.

2  Chris Brown and Bennett Jackson

4  George Atkinson and Eilar Hardy

5  Everett Golson and Manti Te’o

6  Theo Riddick and KeiVarae Russell

7  TJ Jones and Stepon Tuitt

9  Robby Toma and Louis Nix

11  Tommy Rees and Ishaq Williams

15  Justin Ferguson and Dan McCarthy

17  Charlie Fiessinger and Zeke Motta

33  Cam McDaniel and Josh Anderson

35  Ben Turk and Joe Romano

38  Nick Fitzpatrick and Joe Schmidt

40  Nick Tausch and Connor Cavalaris

A consider number of jersey numbers are not assigned.  The lower numbers obviously are the most popular.

The coaching staff is aware of the potential rules violation and indicate that it has been resolved.