Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1105789
60 MAY 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI W hen it comes to Notre Dame quarterbacks, it is diffi- cult to envision any state passing (no pun intended) Pennsylvania in renown and cham- pionships. The Keystone State has produced four starters who helped steer Notre Dame to national titles: Heisman Tro- phy winner John Lujack (1943, 1946- 47), Terry Hanratty (1966), Tom Cle- ments (1973) and Joe Montana (1977). That's not even including several others who had starts along the way: John Mazur in 1951, Bob Williams in 1957-58, Cliff Brown and Pat Steen- berge in 1971, Paul Failla in 1993, and four-year starter Ron Powlus from 1994-97. Potentially, and hopefully, the next such esteemed figure is on campus in current freshman Phil Jurkovec from the Pittsburgh area. However, since 1960, one other state has eclipsed Pennsylvania for most quarterbacks to start at least one game for Notre Dame: California. Even now, a California native in Ian Book is the starter over Jurkovec. The verbal com- mitment from quar- terback Tyler Buch- ner of The Bishop's School in San Diego this March for the 2021 class could con- tinue that tradition into the 2020s. Who are the eight from California who have started at quar- terback for Notre Dame the past 60 years? Here is the chronological break- down: DARYLE LAMONICA (FRESNO): 1960-62 Notre Dame was 12-18 these years under head coach Joe Kuharich, which exemplifies how timing is ev- erything in athletics. Lamonica actu- ally started only 15 of those 30 con- tests and was 9-6, while also working on defense in the two-way era. Lamonica passed for only 1,363 yards and ran for 353 during his Fighting Irish years, but enjoyed a stellar 12-year pro career in which he was a five-time Pro Bowl pick and two-time AFL MVP. Plus, his 66-16-6 record as a starter rivals Otto Gra- ham of Cleveland and Tom Brady of New England on the all-time win- ning percentage (.784) chart. He became particularly noticed in the East-West Shrine Game when, while working with the ascending Northwestern head coach Ara Par- seghian, he completed 20 of 28 passes for 349 yards to earn MVP honors. We've always believed that if Par- seghian had arrived at Notre Dame two years earlier, Lamonica would have been a Heisman Trophy winner because … JOHN HUARTE (ANAHEIM): 1962-64 He was relegated to third team and never played enough to earn a mono- gram his first two seasons … until Parseghian came onto the scene his senior year in 1964. The year after a 2-7 record in 1963, Huarte was inserted as a starter by new coach Parseghian, became the first Notre Dame quarterback to pass for more than 2,000 yards in a season (the previous school record was 1,374), was the Heisman Trophy recipient and helped the 9-1 Irish win a share of the national title by getting awarded the MacArthur Bowl. Timing, timing, timing. Which also brings us to … STEVE BEUERLEIN (FULLERTON): 1983-86 Beuerlein was the Lamonica of Notre Dame in the 1980s. The four- year starter was a modest 21-18 during his career, with the first three seasons under head coach Gerry Faust. He probably should have not played as a junior (1985) when he had an ail- ing passing shoulder during the 5-6 campaign. He does hold a special dis- tinction of going 4-0 against USC as a starter, the lone quarterback to do so. Beuerlein went on to play 14 sea- sons in the NFL, win- ning a Super Bowl as a backup for Troy Aikman in Dallas, earning Pro Bowl status at Carolina in 1999, and passing for 24,046 yards and 147 touchdowns during his career. TOM KRUG (LOS GATOS): 1993-95 Arriv ed in th e same class as National Player of the Year Powlus. However, when Powlus was injured near the close of the 1995 campaign, Krug came off the bench to lead a comeback victory over Navy, ensured a BCS bid by winning the next week at Air Force for the 9-2 Irish, and threw three touchdown passes (and three interceptions) in the 31-26 Orange Bowl loss to Florida State. A health ailment ended Krug's football career the next season, but he later married Fighting Irish tennis star Sherri Vitale, daughter of ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale. PAT DILLINGHAM (PORTOLA VALLEY): 2002-03 The walk-on became a folk hero CALIFORNIA CONNECTION Tyler Buchner is next in a long line of signal-callers from the Golden State Anaheim native John Huarte became the first Notre Dame quarterback to pass for more than 2,000 yards in a season en route to winning the Heisman Trophy in 1964. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH DIGITAL MEDIA