I don’t want to get into any kind of a pissing match over the UM-ND game from this past weekend (I’ll save that for anyone of 12 or so posts at MGoBlog), but I found out something curious today, thanks to a clarification from the Associated Press. Seems that there was a little confusion amidst everyone rushing to massage Charlie Weis’ folds after the game in Ann Arbor, with comparisons to Knute Rockne and Jesus (the Lord and Savior, not the walk-on placekicker… they’re pronounced differently anyway) among the accolades. The favorite stat in the Rockne conversation is that “Charlie Weis is the first ND head coach since Rockne to win his first two games on the road.” Here’s the clarification to that point from the AP:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – In a Sept. 10 story about the Notre Dame-Michigan football game, The Associated Press reported that Charlie Weis was the first Notre Dame head coach to win his first two games on the road since Knute Rockne in 1918.

Weis is the first new Notre Dame coach since Rockne to begin the season with two road wins. Other first-year Notre Dame coaches have won their first two road games, but not to start the season.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Curious about this, not in a disbelieving way, but in a way that had my mind cranked wondering how many times a coach at a powerhouse like Notre Dame actually started the season with two road games, much less a coach taking the field for the first time, it seemed kind of slim. Almost like saying he’s now the winningest coach in Notre Dame history named “Charlie”, I figured it didn’t happen too often.

According to CFB Data Warehouse, I was right. The only two coaches since Rockne to start their Notre Dame coaching careers with two road games are Heartley W. “Hunk” Anderson, who followed Rockne, and Dan Devine.

An even better stat? Coaches since Knute Rockne retired that have opened with consecutive road games have never lost in those two road games. Anderson went 1-0-1 in 1931, and Devine won his first two on the road in 1975. (Stat sound familiar, Charlie?)

Again, this is just my observation, relying on the stats provided by an outside source (though one that seems to be incredibly reliable in this area). If you think I might be interpreting this fact wrong, or am missing something in my digging through the years, please let me know.

Not that disproving this little tidbit will change the world, I just found it amusing to be (apparently) not true.