Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507821
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 23, 2023 15 105 Years Ago: Sept. 28, 1918 Thirty-year-old Knute Rockne, a 1914 Notre Dame graduate, makes his head coaching debut with a 26-6 victory at Case Tech (now Case West- ern Reserve in Cleveland). After falling behind 6-0, Notre Dame scored 4 touchdowns — two each from two of the most legendary names in football: Curly Lambeau of "the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" fame and George Gipp. 50 Years Ago: Sept. 29, 1973 In an era when, by NCAA rules, college football teams are permitted to be on national television five times over two years, No. 7 Notre Dame's appearance in a national game on ABC versus Purdue results in a 20-7 victory. During pregame player introductions, Fighting Irish sophomore halfback Art Best stuck his thumb in his mouth and wiggled his finger to the audience to demonstrate that football "is not life or death." Although he would later be called to the carpet by a school administrator for this antic, Best tore off a 65-yard run on the game's first play from scrimmage to set up a score. Later he helped force and recover a fumble on a punt and tallies from nine yards out to put the Irish up for good, 10-7. Best, who finished with 125 yards rushing, was named ABC-TV Chevrolet Player of the Game on offense. 45 Years Ago: Sept. 30, 1978 A 26-yard touchdown by fullback Jerome Heav- ens in the third quarter helped lift Notre Dame to a hard-fought 10-6 victory against Purdue, one week after becoming the first Fighting Irish team to start 0-2, with home losses to Missouri (3-0) and Michigan (28-14). During that three-game homestand, defend- ing national champion Notre Dame totaled 24 points, an 8.0 per game average despite return- ing what was believed to be the nation's top backfield with quarterback Joe Montana, tail- back Vagas Ferguson and Heavens. 10 Years Ago: Sept. 28, 2013 A year prior, on a crisp night in Norman, Okla., Notre Dame dominated the final nine minutes against Oklahoma with timely plays to secure a signature victory on the road. In this chapter of the rivalry, the Sooners won 35-21 with a similar flurry, only theirs came in the first 2:45 of the contest after a pair of interceptions. On the game's third play, Oklahoma linebacker Eric Striker blitzed from Tommy Rees' blind side and hit the senior signal-caller as he was throw- ing a pass. The ball fluttered to linebacker Corey Nelson, who completed a 24-yard interception return for a touchdown to give the Sooners a 7-0 lead 49 seconds into the game. The Sooners picked off Rees' next pass after he threw wide of senior wide receiver TJ Jones. The ball sailed past Jones' outstretched arm and tipped off the hands of cornerback Aaron Colvin and into the arms of linebacker Frank Shannon. Oklahoma marched 32 yards in four plays, culmi- nating the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run by Damien Williams that put the Sooners up 14-0. The Irish pulled within one possession three differ- ent times throughout the game, but all three times Oklahoma snuffed out the potential comeback. "You spot a great team like Oklahoma 14 points, you're putting yourself in a tough situ- ation," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said after Oklahoma snapped the program's 10-game home winning streak. 5 Years Ago: Sept. 29, 2018 Notre Dame put together a resounding final quarter during a convincing 38-17 victory, end- ing Stanford's three-game winning streak versus the Fighting Irish. Fourteen Notre Dame points in 14 seconds broke open a 24-17 fourth-quarter Irish advantage into the final margin. In each of the three previous seasons, Notre Dame entered the fourth quarter with a lead against Stanford, only to see the Cardinal out- score them by a 39-7 count over the final 15 minutes to rally to victory. Senior running back Dexter Williams returned to the lineup in dramatic fashion after a four-game suspension to rack up 161 yards on 21 carries, opening the scoring with a 45-yard run. Junior quarterback Ian Book completed 24 of 33 passes for 278 yards and 4 touchdowns to four different receivers, with senior Miles Boykin catching one of them while totaling 11 receptions for 144 yards. The real story might have been a dominant Notre Dame defense that limited Stanford to 31 total yards in the second half and was paced by senior tackle Jerry Tillery's 4 sacks. UNDER THE DOME Defensive lineman Jerry Tillery recorded 4 sacks to help lead the Fighting Irish to a 38-17 win over Stanford in 2018. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: Sept. 28-30 DID YOU KNOW... Your home address will be automatically changed to the mailing address on file with the US Postal Service? ALL addresses are cross-referenced with the USPS National Change of Address database. It can take up to 7 days for the USPS to update your address in their database? To prevent missed issues, please notify the US Postal Service ASAP. Your postal forwarding order expires in 60 days or less? Most forwarding requests expire in 60 days and DO NOT always include periodical mail. Issues are discarded at their discretion. You should call your local post office to verify your delivery address? Don't assume the post office knows your vacation or moving schedule. AVOID COSTLY DELAYS & REPLACEMENTS! Blue & Gold Illustrated Customer Service: 1–800–421–7751 We are happy to assist, but due to privacy laws all postal address changes must be completed by you.