Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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bama in the 1973 Sugar Bowl, Bryant referred to it as the most important game in the history of the South. By 1970, Notre Dame lowing year, the most re- cent meeting between the two superpowers. had scheduled a home- and-home series with the Crimson Tide, hosting it in 1976 while traveling to Birmingham in 1980. When the Irish de- time record against Okla- homa happened mainly from 1952-68. The roots of the Irish- NOT ALWAYS BETTER Notre Dame's 8-1 all- THE 'SOONER' feated Alabama 21-18 in 1976, it kept up the pat- tern of winning by one point in the first meeting (24-23), two in the second (13-11), and three in the third. "I don't think I'll be around for the four- pointer," Bryant la- mented after the 1976 loss, referring to the scheduled 1980 meeting. I f only Alabama Sooners series occurred after the 1949 season when 10-0 Notre Dame captured its third na- tional title in four years, while Oklahoma under third-year head coach Bud Wilkinson finished No. 2 with an 11-0 ledger. Wi lkinson hosted wouldn't have missed a second-half field goal against the Irish in 1980, the final score would have been 7-3 instead of 7-0 — one of only two times in Bryant's 25-year career with the Crimson Tide that he was shut out at home. Alabama would finally end the drought with a 28-10 victory at home in 1986 — but second-year head coach Lou Holtz's Irish posted a 37-6 whip- ping of the Tide the fol- ings in 1952-53 before re- tiring from coaching. His successor, Terry Notre Dame head coach Frank Leahy in his home to arrange a series, and the two coaching titans agreed to meetings in 1952-53 and 1956-57. Leahy won both meet- Brennan, endured what remains the largest mar- gin of defeat at home for Notre Dame, 40-0 from No. 1 Oklahoma in 1956. He followed that the next year with the most dra- matic upset in Irish foot- ball lore, a 7-0 triumph in Norman to snap the Sooners' NCAA record 47-game winning streak. ing fact in the Oklahoma series is that even the lone Notre Dame coach to finish with a career losing record — Joe Ku- harich, 17-23 from 1959- 62 — was 2-0 against the Sooners and Wilkinson with victories in 1961 (19- 6) and 1962 (13-7). Ara Parseghian contin- Maybe the most amaz- ued Notre Dame's streak of excellence against Oklahoma by thrashing the No. 10 Sooners 38-0 in Norman en route to the 1966 national title, and following up with a convincing 45-21 win in 1968 against No. 5-ranked OU. The last time Notre Dame met any of this blessed football trin- ity was 1999, when Bob Stoops was the first-year head coach at Oklahoma. Notre Dame trailed 30- 14 in the second half be- fore senior quarterback Jarious Jackson directed a thrilling rally for a 34- 30 win. Meeting Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama on the gridiron has usually been an onerous task for most college football pro- grams. For Notre Dame, those encounters have bought out its best … maybe even in 2012. ✦