Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI No. 1 is Jimmy Clausen — the same Clausen who tossed 17 interceptions in his second season of starting (2008). Not even in the top 10 are luminar‑ ies such as Heisman Trophy winners Angelo Bertelli, John Lujack and John Huarte, Hall of Famers Bob Williams and Ralph Guglielmi, and national ti‑ tle winners such as Terry Hanratty, Joe Theismann, Tom Clements, Joe Mon‑ tana and Tony Rice. As a junior in 1967, Hanratty tossed 15 interceptions in just 206 throws (7.3 percent), while Theismann in his junior year was picked off 16 times in only 192 attempts (8.3 percent) — and that was with superior running attacks. Theismann's most legendary game is one where he threw for 526 yards but also tossed four interceptions and lost a fumble in his own end zone dur‑ ing a 38‑28 loss to the Trojans. Montana's most remembered game at Notre Dame is when he completed only 13 of 34 throws with four inter‑ ceptions and a lost fumble — a 35‑34 win over Houston in the Cotton Bowl. With a much more media‑infiltrated and paralysis‑by‑analysis 24‑hour news society, all mistakes are magni‑ fied today. In 1952 with one of the great back‑ fields in college football history — all four starters were top‑10 NFL picks, led by 1953 Heisman winner John Lattner — Notre Dame still fumbled 57 times. Would we consider Frank "The Master" Leahy a soft and tolerant coach today because of those miscues? Of those 57 fumbles, "only" 29 were lost, five of them by Lattner in a vic‑ tory at Purdue. Meanwhile, the pass‑ ing attack featuring College Football Hall of Fame member Guglielmi, tossed 15 interceptions in only 197 at‑ tempts. That resulted in 44 turnovers during the 10‑game season. After the Purdue win, Leahy handed Lattner a football with strict instruc‑ tions. "He said, 'If I see you around campus without this football, you'll lose your scholarship here at Notre Dame,'" Lattner said. "One of my teammates put a handle on the foot‑ ball to make it a little easier to carry around. I did that for a whole week. I went to classes with it, slept with it … I did everything he wanted me to do." Cute story, but it didn't solve all the problems. The Irish lost a school‑re‑ cord seven fumbles in a 21‑3 loss later that year to national champ Michigan State. And even during the unbeaten 1953 campaign the following year, Notre Dame fumbled "only" 37 times and lost 19. The 1977 national champs, who have always been so perfect in my romanticized imagination with Mon‑ tana, fumbled 34 times (losing 25) and tossed 14 interceptions. It helped that the Notre Dame defense forced 52 that same year. Mistakes will always be with us, just like original sin. Working on limiting or overcoming them remains eternal. ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com