Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 23, 2019 53 It was in 1968 that the AP decided once and for all that the national title would be voted on after all the bowl games had been played. Suddenly, Notre Dame's football program had to adapt to this change or be left out of competing for national titles — and a year later the bowl ban was lifted. However, the school also set three parameters regarding bowls. • Among the 10 bowls that ex- isted back then (there are 40 today), it would attend only one of the three "major" bowls on Jan. 1: Cotton, Or- ange or Sugar (the Rose was tied in with the Big Ten and Pac-8 champions meeting), and play the highest-ranked opponent available. During an amazing 12-year stretch from 1969-80, six of the nine bowl games Notre Dame voted to attend featured a No. 1-ranked opponent, with the Irish going 4-2. • Money from the bowl would be used to fund minority scholarships, which was extremely important to school president Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., who received the Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 for his work on civil rights legislation. • Finally, the football players would have the right to vote on whether they wanted to play in a bowl game and also where. Both in 1971 when the team was 8-1 at the time of the vote, and in 1975 under new head coach Dan Devine when the Irish were 7-3, the players voted to turn down a bowl. The at- titude was if it wasn't against a No. 1 team or if the season was disappoint- ing, it wasn't worth it. With one 1969 regular-season game still remaining versus Air Force, the 7-1-1 Fighting Irish were presented two bowl options. One was to play in the Cotton Bowl versus the Southwestern Conference champion (which had an automatic tie-in with the bowl), the winner of the Dec. 6 game between unbeaten and No. 2 Texas and unbeaten and No. 4 Arkansas. The other was going to the Sugar Bowl, where No. 13 Ole Miss with dynamic junior quarterback Archie Manning would be the SEC represen- tative. The easy choice was the Cotton, because the winner of the Texas-Ar- kansas showdown would at worst be ranked No. 2. Notre Dame finished the regular season No. 9 following its 13-6 win over Air Force Nov. 22, five days af- ter accepting the Cotton Bowl bid be- came official. FINAL DRAMA The same day Notre Dame defeated Air Force, No. 1 and reigning national champion Ohio State was stunned 24- 12 by Michigan. That meant the winner of Texas-Ar- kansas — Notre Dame's Cotton Bowl opponent — would be ranked No. 1 when facing the No. 9 Fighting Irish Jan. 1. When Texas rallied late to defeat the Razorbacks 15-14, President Richard Nixon was in attendance and therein presented a plaque to the Longhorns as the 1969 national champions, even before facing Notre Dame. It was a residual effect of how bowl games were still viewed as somewhat anticlimactic in the college football landscape. Meanwhile, Notre Dame demon- strated what a novice it was in bowl games when its first scheduled prac- tice in Dallas on Dec. 26 had to be canceled because not enough players showed up from their various flights around the country. Remarkably, the Fighting Irish al- most pulled off the upset, leading Texas 17-14 before the Longhorns em- barked on a 17-play, 76-yard touch- down drive, tallying the game-win- ning score with 1:08 left after a wideout fittingly named Cotton Speyer made a brilliant diving reception of a fourth- and-two pass to keep the march alive. With its outstanding performance, 8-2-1 Notre Dame actually moved up from No. 9 to No. 5 in the final AP poll — a testament to the bowl experi- ence paying off in the polls and with a $340,000 payment for attending. Still, despite the rewards, getting used to the bowl scene was unusual for the old guard. Wrote longtime South Bend Tribune sports columnist Joe Doyle following the event: "The No. 5 national rating was a big bonus, even though there is still the notion here that the final vote should be taken at the end of Novem- ber. "Somehow or other, the Irish didn't treat it as intensely as if it were a reg- ular-season game, and Texas probably didn't either." Regardless, the change had come … and there no longer was any turning back. ✦ PRAYER TO THE BLESSED MOTHER- (Never known to fail) Oh, most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven. Blessed Mother of the Son of God; Immaculate Virgin, as- sist me in this necessity. Oh, Star of the Sea, help me and show me you are my Mother. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my neces- sity. There are none that can withstand your power. Oh, Mary, conceived with- out sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times). Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands. (3 times). Sweet Mother I place this cause in your hands. (3 times). Thank you for your mercy to me and mine. Amen. This prayer must be said for 3 days and after 3 days your request will be granted and the prayer must be published. Thank you. G.P.L. PERSONALS M A R K E T P L A C E Vintage Notre Dame Memorabilia Augie's Locker Room ND Stadium Items, Jerseys, Helmets, Autographs and One-of-a-Kind Rockne Items. COME INTO THE STORE TO SEE OUR RARE NOTRE DAME HELMET DISPLAY, 1900 - PRESENT!! Voted Best Notre Dame Collectibles in the Country! 1811 South Bend Ave. South Bend , I n 46637 574-277-NDND (6363) www.augieslockerroom.com FACEBOOK.COM/AUGIESLOCKERROOM NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL GAMES on VHS or DVD for sale, from 1928 to present. Contact Peter Rahas at 7700 Golden Filly St., Las Vegas, NV 89131 or call 1-702-395-2974 Call 877-630-8768 to advertise in Blue & Gold Illustrated! Want a prayer published? Call 800-421-7751