Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 25, 2023 13 110 Years Ago: Nov. 27, 1913 Notre Dame's watershed first season under head coach Jesse Harper con- cluded with a 30-7 victory at Texas on Thanksgiving Day. The 7-0 campaign ended with a unique November barnstorming tour that began with the shocking 35-13 win at Army, continued the next week with a 14-7 win at Penn State, and was capped by triumphs in St. Louis and Austin, Texas. Quarterback Gus Dorais, Notre Dame's first consensus All-American, kicked three field goals — a feat that would not be duplicated by an Irish kicker until 58 years later — and also scored on a 15-yard run. The season set a standard and new template of national scheduling at Notre Dame, which proved it can compete with the finest across the land. Harper's Notre Dame Express with captain Knute Rockne spent more than a week in railroad cars in November 1913 while covering 5,000-plus miles. 80 Years Ago: Nov. 20, 1943 For the first time ever, Notre Dame hosted a No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown, with head coach Frank Leahy's top-ranked Fighting Irish prevailing with a 14-13 victory versus No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight, a semi-pro World War II team. Only 18 years old, John Lujack played all 60 minutes for Notre Dame at quar- terback and on defense, highlighted by a one-handed interception he made near the sideline against future NFL star wideout Perry Schwartz. Iowa Pre-Flight led 7-0 at halftime before a 59-yard pass from Lujack to All- America end John Yonakor set up a 4-yard run by Bob Kelly to help knot the score at 7-7. Early in the fourth quarter Pre-Flight took a 13-7 lead — but the extra point missed when it hit the upright. The Irish then responded with a touchdown drive that was capped by All-American Creighton Miller's 6-yard scoring run, followed by the crucial second extra point by Fred Earley for the decisive point. Twenty-five years later would be the next No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown at Notre Dame (versus Purdue in 1968) — and it would be another 25 years before the third (Florida State in 1993). 50 Years Ago: Nov. 22, 1973 For the first and only time in Notre Dame Stadium's history, the No. 5-ranked Irish played on Thanksgiving Day, a 48-15 rout of Air Force after building a 28-0 lead in the first quarter. Two days later, No. 1 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan played to a 10-10 draw, which eventually helped move No. 2 Alabama to No. 1 and No. 5 Notre Dame to No. 3, setting up a national title showdown in the Sugar Bowl Dec. 31. 45 Years Ago: Nov. 25, 1978 In one of the greatest comebacks in school history, No. 8 Notre Dame rallied from a 24-6 deficit at No. 3 USC to take a 25-24 lead with less than a minute remaining. Quarterback Joe Montana completed 11 of 15 passes in that quarter for 196 yards with 2 scores while leading touchdown drives of 80, 98 and 57 yards. However, USC's Frank Jordan kicked a 38-yard field goal with two seconds remaining after the Trojans were aided by the Pac-10 officiating crew on a fumble by quarterback Paul McDonald that was ruled an incomplete pass. USC went on to win a share of the national title with Alabama, which it had defeated 24-14 earlier in the year on the road. 35 Years Ago: Nov. 26, 1988 For the first time in rivalry history, No. 1 and 10-0 Notre Dame and No. 2 and 10-0 USC met as the top two teams in the Associated Press poll. Drama unfolded on the eve of the contest when Fighting Irish third-year head coach Lou Holtz suspended and sent home leading rusher Tony Brooks and top receiver Ricky Watters for repeated tardiness. "There is never a right time to do the wrong thing, and never a wrong time to do the right thing," Holtz philosophized. Already paired with 11-0 West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl in a potential na- tional title showdown if they could get past the Trojans, the galvanized Irish burst to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 65-yard touchdown run off the option by quarterback Tony Rice, and then use a short field after a turnover to move ahead 13-0 on a short touchdown run by Mark Green. Shortly before halftime, cornerback Stan Smagala intercepted a pass by Rodney Peete (the Heisman runner-up to Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders) and returned it for a 64-yard tally and a 20-7 lead. Although USC finished with more first downs (21-8) and total yards (356- 253), the Irish defense continually made the critical stops. Green scored on a second short run, and a 4-1 advantage in turnovers led to a 27-10 conquest — Notre Dame's record sixth in a row against USC. 25 Years Ago: Nov. 21, 1998 One of the wildest games ever at Notre Dame resulted in the No. 10 Irish surviving a 39-36 decision versus LSU, coached by former Notre Dame All- American Gerry DiNardo. LSU scored first on an interception return and later on a Kevin Faulk kickoff return, but the Irish also scored twice on defense with a 13-yard fumble re- turn by Lamont Bryant and an 89-yard interception return by Bobbie Howard to cut the score to 34-33 — after a missed extra point. Both LSU and Notre Dame missed two extra points apiece. The Irish scored the go-ahead points on a 10-yard pass from Jarious Jackson (276 yards passing and 80 yards rushing) to Raki Nelson with 1:27 left. How- ever, when Jackson "took a knee" in the end zone for a safety, a knee injury resulted in him getting sidelined for the next week's game at USC. UNDER THE DOME Quarterback Gus Dorais kicked three field goals and also scored on a 15-yard run in Notre Dame's 30-7 victory at Texas on Thanksgiving Day in 1913. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: Nov. 19-30