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Two intense fanbases in Northeastern Pennsylvania will have added reason to pay close attention when Penn State and Notre Dame meet in college football’s national semifinal game.
Notre Dame starting guard Rocco Spindler, whose father Marc is a West Scranton native, will be in the trenches aiming to help his team to the national championship final when the Fighting Irish (13-1) play the Nittany Lions (13-2) on Thursday night at 7:30 in the Orange Bowl.
“He’s done a tremendous job for us,” Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said Tuesday. “That group in particular has been together for five, six, seven games or so and has been able to jell as the season has gone on. I love where that group is heading. Rocco is a big piece of that.”
Spindler, a 6-foot-5, 325-pound senior, took over as a starter in a win over Miami University of Ohio in Week 4. His development and contributions have been integral to Notre Dame’s offensive success this season.
He played all 67 offensive snaps against Georgia Tech, helped the Irish gain 460 yards of total offense in a win over Army, and stood out when Notre Dame had more than 400 yards of offense against USC.
During the Football Bowl Subdivision 12-team national playoffs, Spindler started against Indiana and helped Notre Dame win, 27-17, with a punishing rushing attack that had 323 rushing yards. In the quarterfinals against Georgia, he started and played all 64 offensive snaps in a 23-10 win in the Sugar Bowl despite battling an ankle injury.
“I have goosebumps thinking about the opportunity Rocco has,” Marc said. “I can’t express how proud we are as parents to experience and be a part of this with him as a family. He has worked so hard and finds himself in a real playoff game and in the hunt for a national championship; it is just amazing to think about.
“You have these extra games, and it is like an NFL season, and ironically enough, the game is against Penn State and all of the nostalgia, and just knowing how big the fan bases are for Penn State and Notre Dame in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Rocco and the family have received so much support from even the Penn State fans from the Northeast, who are always reaching out to me and telling me stories of how they have followed his career; it’s just awesome.”
Rocco Spindler was a four-star recruit out of Clarkston High School in Michigan by the recruiting websites 247Sports.com and Rivals.com. He was ranked nationally as the No. 64 player overall in his class and the top offensive guard in the country.
During his high school career, Spindler helped his team to a Michigan state championship as a freshman and a runner-up finish as a sophomore.
At Notre Dame, he played in 10 games as a junior and helped Notre Dame average 39.1 points per game and 5.3 yards rushing per game. Spindler played in 12 games in his sophomore season and two as a freshman in 2021.
“Rocco is just a warrior,” Denbrock said. “He’s a throwback offensive lineman. He loves to get a scab and bleed. He loves to double wrap his ankle. He loves to tape all his hands.
“He loves the physicality of playing the position. He helps bring other people along with him.”
This season, Spindler’s draft stock has risen with his performance and physicality.
“Each game, from a parent’s perspective—even from pee-wee football—you have that cautiously optimistic anxiety, and superstitions reign supreme to what to wear, the meals you eat, everything,” Marc said. “To be on that big stage with all of that emotion and to watch him at the Sugar Bowl run through that smoke with his teammate Pat Coogan, who was holding the American flag, and Rocco being right next to him, it doesn’t get much better than that.
“We have a motto in our family: stay healthy, stay hungry, and stay humble. That is what I think makes us most proud of him: how humble he is.”
Spindler’s father, Marc, was the USA Today national defensive player of the year as a high school senior at West Scranton in 1986.
At 6-foot-5, 290 pounds, he played with a fierce intensity. He was a second-team All-American at the University of Pittsburgh and first-team All-Big East defensive lineman in 1989.
The Detroit Lions drafted him in the third round of the 1990 NFL Draft. He played five seasons for the Lions and had stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks, and Chicago Bears before finishing his nine-year career back with the Lions.
Marc played 107 games in the NFL and had 222 total tackles with 49 solo and 9.5 sacks.
Former West Scranton head coach Michael DeAntona will be at the game in Florida and spending time as he has at past Notre Dame games with the Spindler family.
He knows there are strong ties to both Notre Dame and Penn State. He coached former Nittany Lions Matt McGloin and Eric Shrive when they were Invaders.
“I think the whole West Scranton community and all of Scranton is excited to see Rocco at Notre Dame,” said DeAntona, who was teammates with Jimmy, George, and Marc Spindler at West Scranton. “Now that he is playing Penn State, which has such great West Side support because of Matty McGloin and Eric Shrive, the whole city will be watching this game. I think the fans will be split 50-50.
“I am really pumped up. Everyone is excited with the connections to Notre Dame-Penn State communities.”
Torn between two teams
Carbondale resident Ray Price is a passionate Notre Dame fan and has been for as long as he can remember.
When he watches the Orange Bowl, he will support the Fighting Irish in their quest to reach the national championship. But he will be in somewhat of a win-win situation as he was roommates with Penn State head coach James Franklin when the two attended East Stroudsburg University.
“Of course, I am rooting for Notre Dame,” said Price, who roomed with Franklin the summer before he was the quarterback at East Stroudsburg. “I think I have put myself in a tough spot. I have two pictures of me and games; everything else is Notre Dame. I went out to Notre Dame in 1989 to see them play against Boston College, and last year, I went with my family. In Carbondale, though, everybody is a Penn State fan.
“I am blessed. My favorite team is playing against my friend from college, who is coaching, and it’s going to be quite an experience.”
Notre Dame and Penn State will meet for the 20th time. The series stands at 9-9-1 overall. The last time the two teams played was in 2007.
RICH SCARCELLA contributed to this report.
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