Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Again, the game ended in a tie, and again, Notre Dame was the beneficiary of the deadlock. And this time, there was much more indignation from the two-time defending national champ about the final results in the polls. In this case, though, it was Alabama, not Army, with the complaint. Enter- ing the Nov. 19 showdown in East Lan- sing, Notre Dame, MSU and Alabama were all unbeaten. Despite losing their star halfback (Nick Eddy), quarterback (Terry Hanratty) and center (George Goeddeke), the Irish rallied from a 10-0 deficit to knot the game at 10, and just missed taking the lead in the fourth quarter when a 41-yard field goal at- tempt barely went wide. Notre Dame had a final chance when it took possession at its 30 with 1:10 left. Because backup quarter- back Coley O'Brien, a diabetic, was weakened to the point where he could barely pass, head coach Ara Par- seghian took the safe route and ran out the clock. He reasoned that while it was Michigan State's final game, Notre Dame still had to play at Pac-8 champ USC the next week to stake its claim to the title. Entering the game, Notre Dame had 35 first-place votes, Michigan State six and Alabama one among the 42 par- ticipants that week. After the game, 73 votes were cast, with Notre Dame receiving 37 first-place votes. Michigan State gained momentum with 27, Ala- bama had eight and Nebraska one. The UPI did move Michigan State to the top spot and dropped the Irish to No. 2. In the final week of the season, Notre Dame slaughtered USC, 51-0, and both the AP and UPI had Notre Dame at No. 1, with the AP giving Notre Dame 40 of the 57 first-place votes, Michi- gan State 10 and Alabama seven. Style points mattered again. It wasn't until 1968 that the bowl game results also counted in the final standings for good. Thus, Alabama's 34-7 victory over Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl was rendered meaning- less, despite an 11-0 finish. (This was a primary reason why Notre Dame didn't go to bowl games from 1925-68. They were glorified exhibitions.) The question is still asked: Why were 9-0-1 Notre Dame and 9-0-1 Michigan State ranked ahead of 11-0 Alabama? Here are some of the main theories: 1. There was a consensus opinion that Notre Dame and MSU clearly had the most talent in the country. Four of the top eight players taken in the 1967 www.BLUEANDGOLD.com 1. Ohio State 2. Alabama 3. Oklahoma 4. Michigan 5. Notre Dame 6. LSU 7. Penn State On Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 22), The battle between Notre Dame and Michigan State in 1966 was loaded with NFL talent on both sides, and both were easily regarded the top two teams in America. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS NFL Draft were from Michigan State. Meanwhile, among Notre Dame's 22 starters on offense and defense that year, 11 were among the top 60 picks in the NFL or old AFL. That's not even including people such as fourth- round pick Bob Kuechenberg, a peren- nial All-Pro, and 16th-round selection Rocky Bleier, a four-time Super Bowl starter and champion. Alabama had only three first- or second-round picks among its 1966 starters. 2. Alabama governor George Wal- lace and the segregation policies in the South back then polarized the country. 3. Unlike today, the South was not necessarily a football hotbed in the 1960s. The balance of power was be- lieved to be in the North, partly be- cause teams there were integrated. 4. The Irish played four teams — Purdue, Oklahoma, MSU and USC — that were in the AP top 10 at the time of the game. Notre Dame outscored the Sooners and Trojans in Norman and Los Angeles, respectively, by an 89-0 count. THREE FOR THREE No. 3 on Maisel's list for most fa- mous ties also indirectly resulted in a third national title for 11-0 Notre Dame. The year was 1973, and the tie game oc- curred on Nov. 24 between Ohio State and Michigan, a 10-10 deadlock. Here was the scene: The week of the game, 8-0 and No. 5-ranked Notre Dame agreed to play the SEC confer- ence winner (either Alabama or LSU) in the Sugar Bowl. However, that week, the AP poll had seven unbeaten teams in its top seven: Notre Dame easily dispatched Air Force 48-15 to improve to 9-0, while Alabama won at LSU 21-7 to clinch the SEC title and the right to face Notre Dame. Meanwhile, although No. 3 Oklahoma destroyed Nebraska 27-0 a day later, the Sooners seemed to be out of the national title mix because 1) they had a tie earlier in the year with USC and 2) Oklahoma was ineligible for a bowl game because it was on NCAA probation for recruiting violations. The fly in the ointment for Notre Dame was that both 9-0 and No. 1 Ohio State and 10-0 and No. 4 Michi- gan had no blemishes. If Ohio State beat Michigan, the Buckeyes would remain No. 1 and play for the national title in the Rose Bowl, thereby not al- lowing Notre Dame to determine its own destiny. Yet if Michigan beat No. 1 Ohio State, the Wolverines could leapfrog to No. 1, again leaving the Irish poten- tially on the outside looking in. Notre Dame and Alabama were hoping against the percentages that the showdown between the Buckeyes and Wolverines would end in a tie — but what were the chances of that hap- pening? Neither program had been involved in a tie game in 10 years. Lo and behold: Ohio State 10, Michi- gan 10. Two days later the AP poll had 1. Al- abama, 2. Oklahoma, 3. Notre Dame. Because the Sooners had a tie and could not go to a bowl, it was official — the Crimson Tide and Irish would play for the national title in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame won the classic, 24-23. Even though Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes made a case for his Buck- eyes to be No. 1 after clobbering USC in the Rose Bowl, 42-21 (whereas the Irish only beat USC 23-14 at home), Notre Dame had defeated the No. 1 team and did not have a tie on its ledger. ✦ Note: The 1995 season was the last in which ties were allowed in college foot- ball. Since 1996, Notre Dame is only 3-8 in overtime contests, losing most re- cently to Michigan State at East Lansing on Sept. 18, 2010. DECEMBER 2011 19