Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE 50 SEPT. 19, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T he 1966 national championship Notre Dame football team celebrated its 60th reunion during last week's home weekend versus Rice Sept. 12. Stories were told, maybe embellished a bit, and friendships were renewed. Memories of grueling practices and glo- rious victories were recalled. The players remembered teammates recently lost, like backup quarterback Bob "Brick" Belden of Akron, Ohio — whose family business, the Belden Brick Co., helped construct numerous Notre Dame buildings over the decades — and reserve center John Lium, who went on to earn his law degree from St. John's University and pursue a success- ful career. An accomplished entrepre- neur, Lium owned and managed various commercial and residential properties throughout his life. His dynamic person- ality and diverse interests also brought him into the entertainment and hospital- ity industries. He was a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild, starring in sev- eral commercials, and was the purveyor of multiple establishments, including a popular disco in Greenwich, Conn. In the season opener against No. 8 Purdue, two sophomores — quarterback Terry Hanratty and receiver Jim Sey- mour — made a splash on the national stage, leading the Irish to a 26-14 vic- tory over the Boilermakers. Over the next seven weeks, Notre Dame rolled to seven one-sided victo- ries, outscoring the opposition 275-14 while posting five shutouts en route to their titanic battle with Michigan State to decide the national title. Only one of those seven games was against a ranked team, when the Irish traveled to Southwest Conference ter- ritory to take on the No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners on Oct. 22 at Norman, Okla. The Sooners came into the game 4-0, with relatively easy victories over Ore- gon, Iowa State and Kansas plus an 18-9 triumph over archrival Texas in the Red River Rivalry. Oklahoma was led by first-year head coach Jim Mackenzie, who would coach only one season before dying suddenly in the spring of 1967 at age 37. The team had big-name coordinators — future Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer on offense and eventual Oklahoma, New England Patriots and Colorado head coach Chuck Fairbanks on defense. Notre Dame head coach Ara Par- seghian showed his respect for the Soon- ers, saying they are "an extremely quick, highly spirited team that has tremendous momentum. This will be the toughest team we have met, including Purdue, be- cause we won't surprise them a bit." Parseghian handed out awards to sev- eral players for their performance in the North Carolina game — senior lineman Paul Seiler received the game ball, Nick Eddy was the top back, John Pergine was the top linebacker and Tom O'Leary was honored among defensive backs. Parseghian spoke of the Irish rise to the No. 1 ranking. "Ratings are good. They create in- terest and a stimulus for college foot- ball, but they are difficult to judge," he noted. "There are times when I can't see why we should be ahead of three or four other teams, nor why three or four should be ahead of us. We've got three undefeated teams left on the schedule, and starting with Oklahoma this week, they'll all be after our ranking." A record Oklahoma crowd of 63,439 on a windy fall afternoon watched Notre Dame's defensive front of Alan Page, Kevin Hardy, Pete Duranko and Tom Rhoads display their "bend but don't break" mentality, allowing the Sooners just 39 yards rushing. Seymour caught 3 passes for 47 yards before leaving the game due to an ankle injury. Rocky Bleier, "running and catch- ing at his best," nabbed 4 receptions for 55 yards. Eddy chipped in with two short-yardage touchdowns. Hanratty scored one and completed 11 of 17 passes. A key early play was captain Jim Lynch's interception with 5:14 left in the first quarter. The Irish drove to the Okla- Notre Dame's Southwest Trip En Route To The 1966 National Championship Linebacker Jim Lynch, one of 12 Irish players to earn All-America recognition in 1966, intercepted a pass to help No. 1 Notre Dame to a 38-0 win at No. 10 Oklahoma on Oct. 22, 1966. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Notre Dame's formidable defensive front of Alan Page (above), Kevin Hardy, Pete Duranko and Tom Rhoads limited the Sooners to 39 yards rushing. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS