Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? that the first team meeting is memora- ble," he said. "You see teammates that are four, five years older than you are and you wonder if you really belong. You are still maturing while those up- per-class players are men." Still, in 1976 Foley became the first added to that pressure. I did not want to be the guy that ruined the shot at a national championship." By the end of the season, Foley was freshman offensive lineman to play regularly at Notre Dame since the freshman eligibility rule was passed in 1972, appearing in all 12 games at tackle, center and special teams. By his sophomore year, the 257-pound Foley was the third largest lineman on the team and the starting left tackle for the pre-season No. 1 pick in college football. His initial start came against Pitt's Randy Holloway, a first-round NFL Draft pick the next spring. "He was lightning quick and I did not block him the entire game," Foley said. "Had I played against him later in the season, after I got more experi- ence, I would have probably done a better job. Starting at Notre Dame is a pressure situation during any sea- son, and the No. 1 preseason ranking playing so well that he and guard Ted Horansky (another Ohioan) were among the top vote getters for Offen- sive MVP — unheard of for a lineman — in the 38-10 thrashing of No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl to win the national title. Halfback Terry Eurick's first two touchdowns came on six- and 10-yard runs off the left side, and the Irish ground attack consistently opened holes there, while fullback Jerome Heavens rushed for 101 yards and halfback Vagas Ferguson added 100. "There was a play in which I blocked down on the defensive lineman over the guard that seemed to work the en- tire game, and we ran that play many times," Foley said. After winning the Cotton Bowl again the next year and leading the Irish to a No. 7 finish, Foley, Ferguson and cornerback Dave Waymer were Making The Time Notre Dame's most reliable players. He appeared in every game as a freshman and answered the bell for 35 consecutive starts in his final three seasons, the first at left tackle and the final two at right tackle. As a sophomore for the 1977 national champs, his 293:58 playing time was the third most on the Although he almost missed the 1979 Cotton Bowl because of the stomach flu, Foley became one of team, just a few seconds behind senior guard Ernie Hughes and a couple of minutes behind tight end Ken MacAfee. Foley played more minutes than anyone else on the 1978 offense (312:27, including the Cotton Bowl), while earning honorable mention Associated Press All-America notice, and followed suit as a team cap- tain the next season (295:32), when he was a first-team UPI All-America selection. "Many times it seemed like I was the last one to be taken out of the game," said Foley, who downplayed his reliability and durability. "To me, it was just doing my job." — Lou Somogyi