Dan Hicks, Mike Mayock and Alex Flanagan to call NBC’s 23rd Season Broadcasting Notre Dame Football Home Games
Notre Dame Pre-Game Show Countdown To Kickoff Begins At 3 P.M. ET Live From Notre Dame Stadium
Liam McHugh, Doug Flutie and Hines Ward to Host Notre Dame Pre-Game, Halftime and Post-Game Coverage
STAMFORD, CONN. - August 28, 2013 - NBC Sports Group’s 23rd season broadcasting Notre Dame Football begins Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET with Countdown To Kickoff, NBC’s live pre-game show from Notre Dame Stadium, followed by No. 11 Notre Dame hosting Temple at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly and starting QB Tommy Rees lead the Fighting Irish, who are coming off a 12-1 season and a trip to the BCS National Championship, against QB Connor Reilly and the Temple Owls in the inaugural meeting between the two schools.
Dan Hicks, NBC Sports Group’s longtime and critically-acclaimed golf and Olympic commentator, will serve as play-by-play voice for NBC Sports’ Notre Dame Football coverage this season. Hicks will be joined by Emmy Award-nominated analyst Mike Mayock and sideline reporter Alex Flanagan.
Liam McHugh will host Countdown To Kickoff from the field at Notre Dame Stadium. He will be joined on-site by 1984 Heisman Trophy Winner Doug Flutie and two-time Super Bowl champion Hines Ward. McHugh, Flutie and Ward will also manage half-time and post-game coverage for the broadcast.
DAN HICKS ON NOTRE DAME - TEMPLE
Hicks on Notre Dame - “Brian Kelly has made it a point that the goal is to get back to the championship game. They have a sign in the football auditorium that lists the schedule, but they’ve included a 13th game this year – January 6, 2014, the BCS Championship Game. That’s where the program has gotten to, and Kelly now has the depth, the confidence and the pattern of winning.”
Hicks on Temple - “It’s hard to believe that two programs that have been around as long as Temple and Notre Dame have never met. There’s only a small handful of Temple players or staff that have ever been to South Bend. To say they are looking forward to opening their season at Notre Dame Stadium is the understatement of the year.”
DOUG FLUTIE INTERVIEWS
Doug Flutie interviewed Brain Kelly and Tommy Rees for NBC’s Countdown To Kickoff. Following are excerpts:
Kelly to Flutie on Rees – “He wasn’t the starter last year…that’s a learning experience, and it’s how you handle that. I don’t want the ball in someone’s hands that didn’t learn from that and is not better from it. I think he’s better from it.”
Rees to Flutie on his development at Notre Dame - “There are situations I had to learn from – growing as a quarterback and being a leader on the team.”
NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA ONLINE & APP: NBC Sports Live Extra — the NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets — will stream all Notre Dame Football home games.
For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app for mobile devices and tablets is available at the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play.
NBC Sports Live Extra online will feature a simulcast of the broadcast feed in full HD quality plus one additional online-only bonus camera. The video player will include picture-in-picture capability and full DVR functionality, allowing the user to pause the live video and even review plays in “slo-mo.”
Sideline reporter Alex Flanagan will provide live in-game tweets. Additionally, fans can watch in-game highlights, live coverage of the Notre Dame and visiting teams’ bands at halftime, as well as live postgame footage that will include head coach Brian Kelly’s press conference.
NBCSPORTS.com
NBCSports.com will again continue its Notre Dame Football coverage though its Notre Dame Central section. Notre Dame will also be featured within NBC Sports Talk with its popular Inside The Irish blog written by Notre Dame Football insider Keith Arnold.
COMCAST SPORTSNET CHICAGO
Beginning this season, NBC Sports Regional Networks’ Comcast SportsNet Chicago will join forces with NBC Sports to help power NBCSports.com’s “Notre Dame Central” (http://www.nbcsports.com/college-football/notre-dame-central). CSN Chicago will contribute a dedicated Notre Dame Football “Insider” in JJ Stankevitz (@JJStankevitz) from CSNChicago.com, who will serve as a beat reporter providing up-to-the-minute Fighting Irish news and analysis, columns, game previews/recaps, interviews and much more.
Fans can also follow the network’s @IrishTalkCSN Twitter handle for the latest Fighting Irish news and updates 24/7. Also this season, CSN Chicago will provide its TV viewers with same day replays of every Notre Dame home game produced by NBC Sports beginning Saturday, August 31, along with a CSNChicago.com live stream of Head Coach Brian Kelly’s weekly press conferences. In addition, Comcast SportsNet Chicago has also hired Tony Rice, quarterback of the 1988 National Champion Fighting Irish, to be its ND Football on-air/online contributor throughout the upcoming college football season.
The following is the NBC Sports Group 2013 Notre Dame Football schedule (all times ET)
Date | Opponent | Pre-Game | Network | Game Time | Network |
Saturday, Aug. 31 | Temple | 3 p.m. | NBC | 3:30 p.m. | NBC |
Saturday, Sept. 21 | Michigan State | 3 p.m. | NBCSN | 3:30 p.m. | NBC |
Saturday, Sept. 28 | Oklahoma | 3 p.m. | NBCSN | 3:30 p.m. | NBC |
Saturday, Oct. 5 | Arizona State* | 7 p.m. | NBCSN | 7:30 p.m. | NBC |
Saturday, Oct. 19 | USC | 6:30 p.m. | NBCSN | 7:30 p.m. | NBC |
Saturday, Nov 2 | Navy | 3 p.m. | NBCSN | 3:30 p.m. | NBC |
Saturday, Nov 23 | BYU | 3 p.m. | NBCSN | 3:30 p.m. | NBC |
*Off-site Shamrock Series game from Arlington, Texas.
For more information about NBC Sports Group shows and properties, including press releases, photos, talent and executive bios and headshots, please visit NBCSportsGroupPressBox.com
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