Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/921206
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com FEBRUARY 2018 11 UNDER THE DOME Please add Sales Tax if you live in NC (7.5%), MI (6%), or IN (7%) Blue & Gold Illustrated PO Box 2331 • Durham, NC 27702 1-800-421-7751 Visit our online store! BlueGoldOnline.com/store 62" UMBRELLA #6486 $34.95 + $10 S&H WHEELED TRAVEL COVER #6488 $229.95 FREE S&H VICTORY CART BAG #6483* $229.95 FREE S&H CLUBHOUSE CART BAG #6479* $169.95 FREE S&H S P E C I AL O FF ER ! *FREE DIVOT TOOL SET WITH PURCHASE OF GOLF CLUB BAG! ($23.95 Value!) Notre Dame Offensive Line Wins 2017 Joe Moore Award It took about 20 years, but 1988-96 Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Moore's ghost — or at least a positive remnant of it — has returned to the campus. On Dec. 19, Notre Dame's offensive line beat out Alabama and Auburn as the recipient of the 2017 Joe Moore Award, which was first bestowed in 2015 to Alabama and then in 2016 to Iowa. It is the lone award in college football that honors a collective group or unit, and also the biggest hardware at roughly 350 pounds with a five-man offensive line unit that is five-feet wide by four feet tall. It was sculpted by Jerry McKenna, whose work is prominent throughout the Notre Dame campus. The Joe Moore Award is predicated on toughness, effort, teamwork, con- sistency, technique and "finishing," and the committee is comprised specifi- cally of people who played or coached the offensive line — including all current offensive line coaches at the Division I/Football Bowl Subdivision level — plus former players, coaches, colleagues of Moore and select media. The award was the brainchild of 1993 Lombardi Award winner Aaron Taylor, a two-time consensus All-American for the Irish who excelled under Moore. Taylor presented the award to Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand in a surprise ceremony at the school's football auditorium. Led by unanimous All-American left guard Quenton Nelson, consensus All-American left tackle Mike McGlinchey, plus seniors Sam Mustipher (center), Alex Bars (right guard), and co-starting right tackles in sopho- more Tommy Kraemer and freshman Robert Hainsey, the Irish were the lone team nationally to compile at least 2,000 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns against FBS opponents with a winning record. One of college football's most renowned offensive line coaches while at Pitt (1977-85), Temple (1986-87) and then Notre Dame, Moore sent 52 of his players into the NFL ranks. Moore filed an age discrimination law suit against Notre Dame when new head coach Bob Davie did not retain him on the staff in 1997. The court reportedly awarded Moore a victory in July 1998 with $150,000 in pay and almost $400,000 in legal fees, but Moore would not coach again full time and then died from lung cancer at age 71 on July 3, 2003. Behind the play of the offensive line, Notre Dame was the lone team nationally to compile at least 2,000 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents with a winning record. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL