Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 23, 2021 15 55 Years Ago: Oct. 22, 1966 In a battle between two 4-0 teams, No. 1 Notre Dame crushes No. 10 Oklahoma 38-0 in front of a school-record 63,349 in attendance at Norman, Okla. It is the largest margin of defeat for a Sooners team in 21 years. Notre Dame outgains Oklahoma in total yardage 430 (273 rushing and 157 passing) to 158. The bal- anced Irish ground game has five different players rush for between 39 to 51 yards. Junior Rocky Bleier has 10 carries for 47 yards, catches four passes for 55 yards (both team highs) and punts three times. "They're the No. 1 team in the country as far as I'm concerned — unless it's the Green Bay Packers," said Oklahoma guard Ron Winfrey, referring to head coach Vince Lombardi's NFL dynasty. 45 Years Ago: Oct. 23, 1976 With President Gerald R. Ford in attendance during the 1976 campaign trail, Notre Dame's "First Family" of the Browner brothers headline a hard-fought 13-6 victory at South Carolina in front of a capacity audience of 56,721. College football's "Secretary of Defense," end Ross Browner is named the Associated Press National Lineman of the Week after wreaking havoc in the Gamecocks backfield with nearly a half-dozen sacks or tackles for lost yardage. It is the fifth consecutive game and a modern school-record-tying 20th straight quarter the 5-1 Irish do not permit a touchdown. Younger brother Jim Browner helps secure the victory, intercepting a pass with 3:23 left and South Carolina at the Notre Dame 23-yard line. Finally, freshman fullback Willard Browner scores the game's lone touchdown, a nine-yard pass in the first quarter from quarterback Rick Slager. 30 Years Ago: Oct. 26, 1991 For the ninth consecutive season, Notre Dame defeats archrival USC, 24-20. The Irish amassed 299 rushing yards, and sophomore fullback Jerome Bettis led the way with 24 carries for 178 yards and two touchdowns. "This will even out some day, and things will go their way," said Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz, while feeling fortunate to defeat USC each of his first six seasons. "I'll be saying, 'See, I told you it would all even out. Of course, I don't know if I'll be here then." 25 Years Ago: Oct. 19, 1996 Holtz's No. 8-ranked Notre Dame team suffers a stunning 20-17 overtime defeat at home to Air Force. The Irish net only 67 rushing yards, the lowest in Holtz's 11-year reign, while Air Force quarterback Beau Morgan controls the contest with 183 rushing yards. Notre Dame has first possession in overtime, but a sack of quarterback Ron Powlus forces a fumble that the Falcons recover, and they kick a 27-yard field goal on their possession to win the game. In the emotional aftermath and fallout after the game, Holtz privately meets with Notre Dame director of athletics Mike Wadsworth and executive vice presi- dent Rev. E. William Beauchamp to tell them about his plans to step down as a head coach at the end of the season. 15 Years Ago: Oct. 21, 2006 Senior quarterback Brady Quinn finds classmate Jeff Samardzija on a 45-yard touchdown pass with 27 sec- onds left to rally the No. 10 Fighting Irish to a dramatic 20-17 victory against UCLA. Leading 17-13, the Bruins take possession at their 35-yard line with 2:15 left after stopping Quinn on a fourth-and-one sneak. Using its three timeouts to stop the clock, Notre Dame's defense forces a punt and gets the ball back at its 20 with 1:02 remaining and no timeouts. Two completed passes to Samardzija and David Grimes pick up 35 yards prior to the game winner. Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: Oct. 19-26 Jeff Samardzija's dramatic 45-yard touch- down against UCLA with 27 seconds left resulted in a 20-17 Irish victory in 2006. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS UNDER THE DOME Korbin Albert — Soccer It didn't take long for Al- bert to get Notre Dame on the board against NC State Oct. 1. The freshman from Grayslake, Ill., scored her fifth goal of the season in the first minute of the game. She helped Notre Dame win 2-1 to earn its sixth straight victory. The Irish have not reached 10 wins this early in a season since the 2010 national champion- ship campaign. Notre Dame is also 4-0-0 in ACC play for the first time ever. Solag Bakich — Hockey Notre Dame held an exhi- bition game against the USA Hockey National Developmen- tal Program U18 team Oct. 3. The Irish lost 4-3, but Bakich, a junior from Dallas, nearly brought Notre Dame back from a 4-1 deficit on his own. He scored two third-period goals to give the Irish a fighting chance down the stretch. Bakich scored four goals as a sophomore last season and could take a huge leap in his third year with the program. Davis Chatfield — Golf A graduate student from Attleboro, Mass., Chatfield helped Notre Dame finish second as a team in the Fighting Irish Classic played at Warren Golf Course in South Bend Oct. 4-5. Notre Dame (-12) finished three strokes behind Washington. Chatfield shot par or better in all three of his rounds (69, 67, 70) and finished eighth in the overall competition at four-under par. Teammate Patrick Kelly tied him with scores of 66, 74 and 66. Aubrey Hamilton — Volleyball Notre Dame's sophomore outside hitter, Hamilton was named the ACC's Co-Player of the Week on Oct. 5. Hamilton led the Irish and tied a career high with 20 kills in the Irish's comeback win over No. 18 Georgia Tech Oct. 1. Hamilton recorded 12 more kills in a sweep against Clemson Oct. 3. She ranks second on the team with 163 kills this season. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom