Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV football heading to Notre Dame in 2022

UNLV Football Head Coach Marcus Arroyo

Steve Marcus

New UNLV football head coach Marcus Arroyo responds to a question from a reporter during an introductory news conference at the Fertitta Football Complex at UNLV Friday, Dec. 13, 2019.

UNLV has set some lofty expectations for its football program. The Rebels are moving into a new stadium in 2020, they’ve hired a new coach who should be able to lead them to a bowl game in Year 1, and on Tuesday the program announced they’ve added one of college football’s most historic teams to the schedule in 2022.

The Rebels will head to South Bend, Ind., to play at Notre Dame on Oct. 22, 2022, UNLV athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois announced. UNLV will receive $1.35 million for the one-off game; there will be no return meeting in Las Vegas.

There is every chance that Notre Dame will be one of the premier teams in the nation in 2022. The Fighting Irish have gone 33-6 over the past three seasons under coach Brian Kelly, finishing no lower than No. 12 in the AP Poll in each of those years.

“Nothing says college football history more than playing a game at Notre Dame,” Reed-Francois said via a statement.

Though the $1.35 million undoubtedly did a lot to convince UNLV to schedule the contest, by 2022 the hope is that this date with Notre Dame will amount to more than a “buy game” for the Rebels.

UNLV expects to be competitive by then. Reed-Francois fired coach Tony Sanchez after he posted a 4-8 record in 2019, replacing him with former Oregon offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo. Arroyo quickly built one of the Mountain West’s best recruiting classes, and he inherits a roster that should be able to qualify for a postseason bowl in 2020.

The 2022 game will be the first football meeting between UNLV and Notre Dame.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy