Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1302940
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 31, 2020 5 FAN FORUM AN ELEPHANT NOT FORGOTTEN I was at Notre Dame for the 1960‑63 seasons. The original "Elephant Back‑ field," as named by The South Bend Tri- bune, was in the 1961 season as follows: Daryle Lamonica QB 205 pounds Ed Rutkowski RB 195 pounds Paul Costa RB 230 pounds Jim Snowden FB 235 pounds That is an average weight of over 216 pounds. Snowden didn't play in 1962, but under interim coach Hugh Devore in 1963 he was switched to the line prior to Ara's arrival. I still have a picture of the backfield from the Tribune article in a scrapbook. Jim LaBarba '64 Via the Internet Mr. LaBarba, elephants have nothing on you with memory. Pete Duranko joined that group for the 1963 season, and Snowden was indeed a backup tackle in 1963. DEFENSE MAKES ITS CASE I had to write because I got a kick out of the Fifth Quarter column prior to the Louisville game. You referenced the 10‑7 and 3‑0 games in Joe Theismann's senior year, then the 10‑3, 14‑6, 14‑10 wins in Tom Clements' senior year. I re‑ member those games like yesterday. In any event, you stated, rightfully so, those days are long over — and lo and behold, the Irish prevail 12‑7 over Louisville. You had to see the humor in that. I'm going from memory, but I think a long Theismann pass to Ed Gu‑ lyas in the fourth quarter set up the winning touchdown versus Georgia Tech. As for Clements' senior year, after the 1973 national title, it seemed ev‑ ery game was like pulling teeth. I at‑ tended the Navy game in my home‑ town, and the Midshipmen led 6‑0 in the fourth quarter. A Randy Harrison interception return for a touchdown sealed the deal. I never forgot that Navy punter John Stufflebeem bot‑ tled up Notre Dame all day. Tom Johnson Philadelphia Mr. Johnson, we'll try to engage in some reverse psychology again by pick- ing Clemson to blow out Notre Dame. And yes, it was a 46-yard pass from The- ismann to Gulyas that set up the win- ning score. The Nov. 7 Clemson game has been viewed all along as the acid test on whether Notre Dame can win a championship in 2020. However, after the Fighting Irish eked out a 12-7 win over Louisville on the same day that Clem- son annihilated Georgia Tech (the Oct. 31 opponent) 73-7, pessimism took hold among many Notre Dame faithful on our BlueandGold.com message board. That might mean Notre Dame has Clemson right where it wants it. A few samples: Domer1976: There are too many missing pieces and inconsistencies to consider Notre Dame a bona fide threat to win the ACC, much less make it to the College Football Playoff. I am still optimistic about the season anyway, because warts and all ND is still as good or better than almost anyone short of a Clemson, Alabama, Georgia and (possibly) Ohio State. For me that is enough this year, because whoever wins the championship will have an asterisk next to it forever anyway. Spaddy: Don't give me Georgia. Alabama made Georgia look like they didn't belong on the field after halftime. I actually think this championship is a lot harder than most years. SEC teams aren't playing 3 cupcakes this year. SIHoosier26: A championship is a championship, period. UNDIrish3: During the summer, Notre Dame was spotted 7 against Clem- son. I think it may go up to 10, maybe more? Crazy4NDfb: The line was 7.5 until a couple weeks ago. It moved to 10.5 after Clemson destroyed Miami. Opened at 13.5 before ND-Pitt game and is climbing. Mh2365: They will easily be double-digit favorites. But out of Clemson's 5 lost games in the last 5 years, once was to 5-4 Pitt at home and one was to a Syracuse team that finished 4-8. Hopefully the ND game this year is one they don't show up for. Soco24: Hate to say it but I could see the line as big as 18 points. Clemson and Dabo are gonna be looking to make a point because all they hear about is how they don't play anybody. Clemson has never had a Heisman Trophy winner either, so this will give Trevor Lawrence a statement game vs. a top 10 defense on the road. PreTill: I wish we played a team with a quality passing attack before then so we could see what ND has. No confidence this is going to be a close game — so ND probably wins by 14. Fedman: The only way I see ND winning is: 1. The offensive line can win the line of scrimmage and allow for long, time- consuming drives that keeps the ball out of Lawrence's hands. 2. Those long consuming drives must end with touchdowns and not field goals. 3. Don't give up the long touchdown pass by Lawrence or the long touch- down run by Etienne. Make Clemson drive the ball and then force them to kick field goals. 4. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers from Clemson. FROM THE WEBSITE JOIN THE CONVERSATION! GET A 60-DAY FREE TRIAL WITH CODE IRISH60 .com .com BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007, Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com Slowing down the Clemson attack led by quarterback Trevor Lawrence (above), who led the Tigers to a 30-3 win over Notre Dame in the 2018 College Football Playoff, already has been on the minds of Irish faithful. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA