Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1024406
14 SEPT. 17, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME 50 Years Ago: Sept. 21, 1968 For only the second time since the start of the Associated Press college football poll in 1936, Notre Dame opens with a top-five team by hosting No. 5 Oklahoma. And just like in 1954 when it dispatched of No. 4 Texas 21-0, the No. 3 Fighting Irish rout the Sooners 45-21. The prolific senior passing combination of quarterback Terry Hanratty and wide receiver Jim Seymour connect nine times for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Both scores come after falling behind 14-7, before taking a 21-14 halftime lead. In the second half, the running game led by Bob Gladieux (three touchdowns) and Jeff Zimmerman (87 yards) takes command, with 357 of Notre Dame's 571 total yards coming on the ground. 30 Years Ago: Sept. 17, 1988 For the second week in a row, No. 8 Notre Dame is carried by superb defense and special teams play, this time to defeat defending Big Ten and Rose Bowl champion Michigan State 20-3 in Spartan Stadium. The Irish battle to a 6-3 halftime lead on the strength of two Reggie Ho field goals (making him 6 of 6 on the year), one of them set up by a blocked punt from freshman Raghib "Rocket" Ismail. Defensively, linebacker Michael Stonebreaker headlines the charge with 17 tackles and two intercep- tions, the latter returned for a touchdown in the closing minutes. Despite no threat of the pass on offense (2 of 9 at MSU, and 5 of 21 through two games), the Irish rack up 195 rushing yards in the second half against the vaunted "Gang Green" defense that finished No. 1 nationally against the run a year earlier. Quarterback Tony Rice scores the team's first touchdown on offense this year in the third quarter on a nine-yard run. Senior Mark Green finishes with 125 yards rushing, and sophomore Tony Brooks — stepping in for injured fullbacks Anthony Johnson and Braxston Banks — totals 66 yards on 11 attempts. 25 Years Ago: Sept. 18, 1993 Elevated from No. 11 to No. 4 after winning at No. 3 Michigan a week earlier, the Irish momentum continues with a 36-14 win at home versus Michigan State. Senior quarterback Kevin McDougal completes 17 of 23 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns — to running backs Ray Zellars and Lee Becton — while the powerful ground game amasses 269 yards, led by freshman and East Lansing native Randy Kinder's 94 yards on 12 carries. Two other freshmen, tailback Robert Farmer and fullback Marc Edwards, tally their first career touchdowns. 5 Years Ago: Sept. 21, 2013 No. 22-ranked Notre Dame's 17-13 victory over unranked Michigan State barely registers a blip on the national college football radar … but it would at the end of the season. The Irish compile only 224 yards of total offense, and seven of their 14 first downs come via penalties (mainly four pass interference calls), but running back Cam McDaniel's seven-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter gives Notre Dame the lead for good (17-10) while winning its seventh straight game decided by seven or less points. Remarkably, Michigan State would go on to finish 13-1 and No. 3 in the country. It marked the 18th time since the start of the Associated Press poll in 1936 that Notre Dame handed a team its lone defeat of the year, and the first since 1993 versus 12-1 Florida State. — Lou Somogyi Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: Sept. 15-21 Running back Cam McDaniel's seven-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter provided the win- ning points in Notre Dame's 17-13 win over a Michigan State team that went on to finish 13-1 and No. 3 in the nation. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA