Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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52 OCT. 15, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE BY JIM LEFEBVRE T he 1977 Notre Dame foot- ball team will gather during the Notre Dame-Stanford weekend for the 45th anniver- sary celebration of its national championship season. Stories will be told and friendships re- newed. And at Mass in the Basil- ica, Luther Bradley will read the names of deceased teammates, coaches and staffers. Along the way, someone may recall a special afternoon that unfolded at Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium on Sept. 24 that year. It helped turn a season danger- ously close to falling off the rails into one for the ages. The Irish, coming off a 9-3 season and Gator Bowl victory over Penn State, had most of their starters back and were confident coming into 1977, despite a scheduling quirk that had them on the road for the first three games. "Ross Browner was on the cover of Sports Illustrated," offensive captain Terry Eurick recalled. "How could we not be excited about the season?" The Irish started with a trip to de- fending national champ Pittsburgh, where they ground out a solid 19-9 win. The next week, in Jackson, Miss., the offense sputtered and Ole Miss clicked on a couple of key plays to down Notre Dame, 20-13. Purdue and its freshman sensation quarterback Mark Herrmann were next. In the first half, Herrmann was as good as advertised, flinging aerials around Ross-Ade Stadium for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Boilers grabbed a 24-14 halftime lead, and a 1-2 Irish start was looming. "We just hadn't developed an identity yet," said Eurick, who came out of the backfield to catch 2 touchdown passes from Rusty Lisch. "There were a lot of emotions involved. We felt we were a more complete team than in past years and could be really good. We just had to get clicking." The Irish offense stalled after the early touchdowns, and head coach Dan Devine inserted backup quarterback Gary Fo- rystek for Lisch. He didn't last long. On a ferocious — but legal — hit by Purdue's Fred Arrington, Forystek suffered a bro- ken vertebra, a concussion and a broken collarbone, ending his football career. "We were scared for Gary," Eurick recalled. "It was the first time any of us had seen an am- bulance come onto the field." Devine eventually turned to his third-string quarterback, a fellow named Joe Montana. It wasn't his first relief duty. Two years ear- lier, in 1975, Joe had come off the bench to lead late rallies to defeat North Carolina (21-14) and Air Force (31-30). But Montana had missed all of the 1976 season with a shoulder injury and hadn't yet played in 1977. "We had an idea of what Joe could accomplish," Bradley re- called. "He just had a confidence about him, a charisma — and the game to back it up. He would come to us [the defense] on the sideline and say, 'Just stop them one more time, and we'll score again.' "Then he'd come back and say, 'See, I told you. Now just do it again.' He made everyone around him better." The Irish defense — led by Browner, Bradley, Willie Fry and Bob Golic — heeded Montana's plea and changed the game. After a Dave Reeve field goal cut the lead to 24-17, Bradley picked off a Herrmann pass and returned it 33 yards to the Boilermakers' 35. Montana fired a 22-yard strike on the run to All-America tight end Ken MacAfee, then hit Ma- cAfee again for the tying touchdown. After another defensive stop, Mon- tana rifled passes to Kris Haines, Dave Mitchell and MacAfee to the Purdue 10- yard line. Jerome Heavens bolted to the 5, and then Mitchell, subbing for the injured Eurick, finished the comeback with a TD with 1:30 left. Notre Dame emerged with a 31-24 win. "That comeback was huge," Brad- ley noted. "After that, we really started rocking and rolling." Notre Dame hung between 38 and 69 points on six of its final seven oppo- nents, starting with a 49-19 shellacking of Southern Cal in the famous "Green Jersey" game. Defensive back Luther Bradley had a key interception in the 31-24 comeback victory at Purdue in the third game of 1977, which became the turning point in Notre Dame's season. Bradley was a consensus All- American that season. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS The 1977 National Championship Season Turned On A Pivotal Second-Half Comeback 1977 NOTRE DAME RESULTS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS Head Coach: Dan Devine Captains: Ross Browner, Terry Eurick, Willie Fry, Steve Orsini Record: 11-1 Date Opponent Result Sept. 10 at Pittsburgh W, 19-9 Sept. 17 vs. Ole Miss* L, 13-20 Sept. 24 at Purdue W, 31-24 Oct. 1 Michigan State W, 16-6 Oct. 15 vs. Army# W, 24-0 Oct. 22 USC W, 49-19 Oct. 29 Navy W, 43-10 Nov. 5 Georgia Tech W, 69-14 Nov. 12 at Clemson W, 21-17 Nov. 19 Air Force W, 49-0 Dec. 3 at Miami (Fla.) W, 48-10 Jan. 2 vs. Texas^ W, 38-10 * at Memorial Stadium, Jackson, Miss. # at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J. ^ at Cotton Bowl, Dallas