Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 JANUARY 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME 50 Years Ago: Jan. 1, 1971 & Jan. 23, 1971 On New Year's Day, No. 6 Notre Dame stunned No. 1 Texas 24-11 in the Cotton Bowl to end the Longhorns' 30-game winning streak. In his final game with the Fighting Irish, Heis- man Trophy runner-up and quarterback Joe The- ismann staked Notre Dame to a 21-3 lead in the second quarter after throwing a 26-yard touch- down pass to Tom Gatewood and then running for three- and 14-yard scores. However, it was the Irish defense that stole the show with a "Mirror" look against the vaunted Wishbone that forces nine Texas fumbles, five of which were recovered by Notre Dame. The Irish went on to win the turnover category 6-2. The game had been arranged as a national title matchup prior to Notre Dame's regular-season finale at USC, but when the 5-4-1 Trojans toppled the Irish 38-28, all hope for No. 1 seemed to end. However, after 8-3 Stanford surprised No. 2 and unbeaten Ohio State in the Rose Bowl (27-17), all the Irish need is for LSU — the SEC champ that lost 3-0 at Notre Dame in November — to upset 10-0-1 and No. 3 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Alas, the Cornhuskers rallied with a fourth- quarter touchdown to win 17-12. "Not even the Pope could vote Notre Dame No. 1," joked Nebraska head coach Bob Devaney after head coach Ara Parseghian campaigns on behalf of the Irish. Nebraska ended up receiving 39 first-place votes and 946 points in the final Associated Press poll compared to Notre Dame's eight first-place ballots and 814 points to place No. 2. Twenty-two days later, senior guard Austin Carr leads the Irish men's basketball team to an 89-82 victory versus No. 1 UCLA by scoring 46 points (and 15 of the last 17) on 17-of-30 shooting from the field and 12-of-16 shooting from the foul line. It marked the first time in collegiate athletics that a school's football and basketball teams defeat No. 1 teams in the same month. 15 Years Ago: Jan. 16, 2006 For the first time in its history, the Notre Dame football program permitted early enrollees. That means if a high school senior accumulates enough credits to graduate halfway through his senior year, he can enroll in college that January. Many schools began that practice in the early 1990s. Three Fighting Irish recruits served as the pi- oneers: Indiana running back James Aldridge, Texas offensive lineman Chris Stewart and Okla- homa wide receiver George West. 10 Years Ago: Jan. 16, 2011 In his first full season of recruiting at Notre Dame, second-year head coach Brian Kelly wel- comed five early enrollees for the start of the second semester: kicker Kyle Brindza, quarter- back Everett Golson, and defensive linemen Brad Carrico, Aaron Lynch and Ishaq Williams. The landing of five-star prospects Lynch and Williams in particular set off jubilation among Notre Dame faithful because no position is con- sistently more difficult to recruit at the school than game-changing linemen on defense. Lynch decommitted from in-state Florida State to join the Irish, while Williams, who was headed for an official visit to Penn State, was intercepted by Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco in the early morning hours and changed his mind. The Lynch-Williams tandem was deemed as po- tentially the greatest edge rushing duo to sign with Notre Dame since Ross Browner and Willie Fry in 1973. Later that month, another five-star defensive lineman, Georgia's Stephon Tuitt, decommitted from Georgia Tech to join the Irish. Anniversaries In Notre Dame Athletics: January UNDER THE DOME Three weeks after the Irish football team knocked off No. 1 Texas on New Year's Day in 1971, Austin Carr scored 46 points to lead the Notre Dame men's basketball team past No. 1 UCLA — marking the first time in collegiate athletics that a school's football and basketball teams defeated the nation's top-ranked squad in the same month. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS