Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/181992
where have you gone? and halfbacks Eric Penick and Art Best saw only Best play in the NFL, where he had eight career carries in three seasons. • The leading receiver, Pete Demmerle, was a Rhodes Scholar and became a prominent future attorney, but never latched on in the NFL. He passed away in 2007 from Lou Gehrig's disease. • Among the starting offensive linemen — center Mark Brenneman, guards Frank Pomarico and Gerry DiNardo, and tackles Steve Neece and Steve Sylvester — only Sylvester was drafted (10th round) by the NFL. Defensively, there was a little more marquee talent, but even there it was more about very good college football players achieving maximum potential collectively. • One cornerback was a former walk-on, Tim Rudnick, who was drafted in the 11th round. The other, Reggie Barnett, joined Demmerle as a Rhodes Scholar. He was selected in the 14th round but never played in the NFL. • Safety Mike Townsend, who combined with Casper and Pomarico to serve as captains, did not play in the NFL. • Nose guard/middle linebacker Gary Potempa, a high school teammate of Rudnick's, went straight to dental school after not getting drafted. • Linebackers Greg Collins and Drew Mahalic did have NFL careers, but neither lasted more than four years. Mahalic reportedly became the lone NFL player to graduate from Harvard Law School, and Collins became an actor in Hollywood. The best returning player on the line was sophomore tackle Steve Niehaus — but a knee injury in the fourth game sidelined him the rest of the season. Alternating in his place as a tag team was junior Kevin Nosbusch and senior George Hayduk, neither of whom would suit up in the NFL, nor would starting sophomore end Jim Stock. Junior tackle Mike Fanning would develop into a first-round pick, but a year earlier he was an unheralded reserve defensive end with 13 stops. The kicking game was a strength with seniors Bob Thomas and Brian Doherty returning as third-year starters at kicker and punter, respectively. "We never considered ourselves Ara's most talented team," Pomarico said. "But I think we became his best team." More than 80 of them reunited at Notre Dame for the Sept. 14 Michigan State game to commemorate their 40year anniversary. Four Factors So how did Notre Dame reach the summit in 1973? "Four things," Casper summarized. "One was the freshmen coming in. Two was changes to the defense. The third was we had a great junior class that blossomed, and the fourth was just pure luck. We were so lucky that year." The Freshmen — The NCAA declared in 1972 that freshmen would no longer be ineligible to play in collegiate athletics. Without defensive end Ross Browner and safety Luther Bradley