Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? down, but the 1980 standard remains. "We had a superstar in Bob Crable just like this team has Manti Te'o, but the thing we had most of all was team — an absolute rabid desire to make a play," Gibbons said, echoing what is being said about the 2012 edition. "Every game, it seemed someone new made clutch plays at the right time." The 9-0-1 and No. 2-ranked Irish re- ceived a bid to play No. 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, but there was still the matter of playing longtime nemesis USC Dec. 6. In the bye week before the game in Los Angeles, Gerry Faust was an- nounced as the successor to Devine. "I don't think we ever made a big them." The Irish lost 20-3 at USC to end their national title hopes. "It was unbelievably disappointing," offense to the Bulldogs, but Georgia had to drive only 20 yards and one yard for its touchdowns, and Notre Dame also missed three field goals in the 17-10 de- feat. said Gibbons, who finished his career with 140 tackles, nine interceptions and 10 passes broken up. "If we would have won that game I would have had two rings on my finger, because there is no way we would have lost to Georgia." The Irish yielded only 127 yards total deal out of [Devine's resignation] be- cause there wasn't a lot of speculation early in the year about who would be the next coach," Gibbons said. "By the end of the year, we had a lot of soph- omores and freshmen playing major roles, and there was a lot of speculation going on. It became a distraction for graduate, one month after his May 1981 graduation, Gibbons tried out as a free agent with the Denver Broncos that sum- mer but was deemed too slow by the NFL and cut. He worked as an aerospace engineer Married to wife Alexis, a Saint Mary's BEYOND FOOTBALL That's Smarts! program in 1952, Notre Dame has had 10 student-athletes who were three-time choices, starting with halfback Joe Heap. Aerospace engineer major Tom Gibbons is among that distinguished group. Here is the chronological list: Joe Heap (football) — First-team running back from 1952-54. Bob Arnzen (basketball) — First-team forward from 1967-69. Tom Gibbons (football) — Second-team defensive back in 1978 and 1979, first team in 1980. Greg Dingens (football) — Second-team defensive line in 1983, first team in 1984 and 1985. John Loughran (baseball) — Third-team outfielder in 1985, first team in 1986 and 1987. Joy Battersby (softball) — Second-team pitcher in 1995 and 1996, third team in 1997. Katie Marten (softball) — Third-team designated hitter in 1995, second team in 1996, first team in 1997. Jarrah Myers (softball) — Third-team catcher in 2000, first team in 2001 and 2002. Vanessa Pruzinsky (women's soccer) — First-team defense 2001-03. Erika Bohn (women's soccer) — Second-team goalie in 2003, first team in 2004 and 2005. Since the inception of the Collegiate Sports Information Directors (CoSIDA) Academic All-American — Lou Somogyi