Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Anniversaries In Notre Dame Athletics History: February 30 Years Ago: February 1982 Despite a 5-6 debut campaign under first-year head coach Gerry Faust, Notre Dame responds to its first losing season in 18 years by landing the No. 2-rated recruiting class in the land, according to Joe Terranova, who today is known as "The Godfather" of an industry that has now morphed into a national obsession. A year earlier, Faust landed the No. 1 class that featured a record 13 Parade All-Americans. Terranova rates the 1982 Irish harvest behind Georgia and just ahead of Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Although it's ranked "only" No. 2, Terranova notes the 24-man harvest "isn't like any in recent memory." Two of the coups in the class are Virginia natives Allen Pinkett at tailback and Eric Dorsey along the defensive line. Of 6-8, 240-pound Texas tight end Wally Kleine, Terranova says: "He can eat peaches off a tree without using his hands." Also landed are receivers Mike Haywood and Milt Jackson, plus the nation's No. 1 kicker, Hal Von Wyl. 25 Years Ago: Feb. 11, 1987 Just like Gerry Faust in 1981, first-year head coach Lou Holtz finishes 5-6 in his debut season with the Irish. And just like Faust, he blazes the recruiting trail afterward with a consensus No. 1 haul. It also marks the last time Notre Dame would sign 30 players in one class. Headlining the group are running backs Ricky Watters and Tony Brooks, quarterback Kent Graham, flanker/athlete Todd Lyght, tight end Frank Jacobs, linebackers Tim Ryan, Donn Grimm, Scott Kowalkowski and Andre Jones, and All-American linemen Norm Balentine, Joe Allen and George Marshall. Overshadowed are other prospects such as defensive linemen George Williams, Bob Dahl and Mike Heldt, and relatively obscure linebacker Chris Zorich from the Chicago Public League. "What Notre Dame did in recruiting this year should be illegal," said a facetious Max Emfinger, owner of the National High School Football Recruiting Service. "On paper, it could be one of the greatest classes ever," said Tom Lemming of Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report. "The question is whether it is the best recruiting class [in college football] the last 10 years," said SuperPrep publisher Allen Wallace. 5 Years Ago: Feb. 7, 2007 Five different recruiting services rank Notre Dame anywhere from as high as No. 7 (Tom Lem- ming) to as low as No. 11 (Scout.com) with its 18- man haul that is top heavy with offensive stars. Leading the way is National Player of the Year Jimmy Clausen at quarterback. He is augmented by running backs Armando Allen and Robert Hughes, wide receivers Duval Kamara and Golden Tate, and tight end Mike Ragone. On the other side of the ball, however, the Irish fall short, landing only one true defensive lineman (Florida's Ian Williams) when it needed a minimum of four. The defensive backfield also is short in numbers, but safety Harrison Smith and cornerback Gary Gray arrive with high reviews. Getting third-year Irish head coach Charlie Weis' dander up is the decommitment of several prospects, notably defensive lineman Justin Trat- tou (Florida), offensive lineman Chris Little (Geor- gia) and athlete Greg Little (North Carolina). "My biggest problem is what the word 'com- mitment' means," Weis said. "A lot of times people think we're stupid, we don't know about [prospects looking around]. You have to be ready to make a stand in recruiting … if you're looking, we're looking. That's the way it's got to be." 10 FEBRUARY 2012 Head coach Charlie Weis inked a highly rated offense in 2007, most notably quarter- back Jimmy Clausen, but fell short in filling defensive needs. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND Brady Quinn is the lone Irish quarterback to throw more than 30 touchdown passes in a season twice, earning a top-five showing in the Heisman Trophy voting in both 2005 and 2006 in the process. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS ✦ GIMME FIVE Entering the Champs Sports Bowl against Florida State Dec. 29, Notre Dame sophomore quarterback Tommy Rees was attempting to become the fifth different Irish player to throw at least 20 touchdown passes in one season, when you include the bowl games. Rees threw 19 during the 8-4 regular season this year. Up until 1991, Joe Theismann held the Notre Dame single-season record with 17 in 1970, including one in the 24-11 Cotton Bowl upset of No. 1 Texas (bowl games were not included by Notre Dame back then). In 1991, Rick Mirer threw 18 scoring passes during the 9-3 regular season — and then added two more in the 39-28 Sugar Bowl victory versus No. 3 Florida to be the first to reach 20, with the postseason included. Here are the top five single-season TD passes by a Notre Dame quarterback. Player (Year) 1. Brady Quinn (2006) 2. Brady Quinn (2005) 3. Jimmy Clausen (2009) 4. Jimmy Clausen (2008) 5. Ron Powlus (1994) TD Passes 37 32 28 25 22 Entering this year's Champs Sports Bowl, Notre CORRECTION Dame had four previous classes that had a 3-0 bowl record during its four years on campus — the ones that enrolled in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976. In the January 2012 "By The Numbers" section, we had listed only 1975. We regret the error. BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED