Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/871976
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 18, 2017 51 BY LOU SOMOGYI T he Ara Parseghian era (1964- 74) often is noted for his prolific offenses tailored to the team's specific talents. In 11 seasons, he had four different starting quarter- backs that finished in the top four of the Heisman Trophy balloting, with John Huarte winning it in 1964 and Joe Theismann the runner-up in 1970. His 1973 national champs set the unbreakable school record for rush- ing yards per game in a season (350.2), the 1968 squad still holds the program standard for most points per game in a year (37.6), and the 1970 unit is still the only one ever at Notre Dame to average at least 250 passing yards and 250 rushing yards in the same season. That team also ran an average of 92.4 plays per game — still an NCAA single-season record. Yet Parseghian's hallmark came on defense. Other than at quarterback, he would almost always assemble his greatest athletes on defense while reciting one simple premise in foot- ball: "If they don't score, you don't lose." During his 11 seasons, Parseghian's defenses ranked an aggregate No. 1 nationally while allowing only 215.6 yards per game, and never more than 258.3. It's a far different world in col- lege football today regarding offense, but for context consider that even the stellar top-ranked Irish defense in 2012 finished at 305.5. Putting together an All-Ara unit on defense could be just as challenging as it was for the opposition going against it. The criteria was the same as on offense: 1) body of work/pro- duction, 2) impact toward a national title or contention and 3) number of years played. DEFENSIVE LINE: WALT PATULSKI AND ROSS BROWNER AT END, AND KEVIN HARDY (OR MIKE MCCOY) AND ALAN PAGE AT TACKLE Patulski, the 1971 Lombardi Award winner, is the most recent Fight- ing Irish player t o b e s e l e c t e d No. 1 overall by the NFL, while B ro w n e r ' s p ro - found impact as a f re s h m a n f o r the 1973 national champs began a career that made him Notre Dame's most productive defensive lineman ever. The duo also reflected how Par- seghian's preference was to load the defense with the best athletes. Patul- ski played fullback on the freshman team before converting to defense. Browner was also recruited as a tight end and was given that option at Notre Dame, but defense was the much wiser choice. Although Page (1964-66) was an end at Notre Dame, he played tackle in the pros, so we'll shift him there because he is one of only six Irish players to make both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame (join- ing Wayne Millner, George Connor, Paul Hornung, Dave Casper and Tim Brown). The second tackle position was the most difficult of all to select on defense, similar to quarterback on offense. There was never a more dominant defensive tackle at Notre Dame than Steve Niehaus, the No. 2 pick in the 1976 NFL Draft. He was a starter at tackle in the first game of his freshman year, yet was quick enough to star at end, out of The All-Ara Parseghian Team: Defense & Special Teams Dominant defenses were the hallmark of the late head coach's program PATULSKI BROWNER As a freshman on the 1973 national champions, Ross Browner led the linemen in tackles (68) and stops for loss (15), not including his effort in the Sugar Bowl win over Alabama in which he had two sacks. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS