Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/98978
��� In 1977, Notre Dame won the national title with a stunning 38-10 triumph against 11-0 and No. 1 Texas, vaulting it all the way from the fifth spot to the summit. ��� In 1988, 11-0 West Virginia wasn���t No. 1, but the top-ranked Irish secured the national title with a 34-21 conquest of the Mountaineers in the Fiesta Bowl. ��� In 1989, 11-0 and No. 1 Colorado was defeated 21-6 by a Notre Dame team that finished 12-1 and No. 2. ��� Finally, in 1992, 12-0 Texas A&M, ranked No. 4, became the seventh unbeaten team in 23 seasons to lose in a bowl game to the Fighting Irish (28-3). These victories overshadowed the fact that Notre Dame also defeated two 10-1 teams during this stretch ��� No. 3 Florida in the 1992 Sugar Bowl and No. 7 Texas A&M in the 1994 Cotton Bowl. In Notre Dame���s first 19 bowl games, including the 1925 Rose versus 7-0-1 Stanford, 13 of the Irish foes were either unbeaten or had only one loss. Amazingly, even the epic 35-34 comeback victory against a 9-2 and No. 9 Houston team, spearheaded by quarterback Joe Montana after facing a 34-12 fourthquarter deficit, can be marginalized as a victory against a ���below average��� bowl foe. In 2012, it feels like old times again with the contest against 12-1 and No.��2 Alabama. ��� Voting Rights When Notre Dame was still relatively new to the bowl scene in the early 1970s, postseason play was not always seen as a ���reward.��� In 1971, an 8-1 Notre Dame team was so disappointed with its campaign, the veteran players led a vote to not attend the ���minor��� Gator Bowl in December. A second vote was taken after some second-guessing, but the vote again went against participating. ���We were kind of egotistical because we were the preseason No. 1 and we weren���t playing for the national championship,��� remembered 1971 Lombardi Award winner and defensive end Walt Patulski. Head coach Ara Parseghian was stunned, but didn���t seek veto power. ���My attitude was, ���If you don���t want to go to a bowl game, then I don���t want to coach you,��� ��� Parseghian recalled. ���If you don���t want to go in the first place, what are your chances of winning?��� In 1975 under first-year head coach Dan Devine, timing was an issue when the players voted to reject the Cotton Bowl. It came the morning after a 303-yard rushing performance by Pitt���s Tony Dorsett in a 34-20 Panthers victory that dropped the Irish to 7-3. ���I wanted to go to the bowl and voted for it, but we didn���t have a lot of senior starters [seven], so the other seniors didn���t see the point,��� said 1975 co-captain and linebacker Jim Stock. Devine was livid and vowed the decision would no longer be left in the players��� hands. The next season after an 8-3 regular season, Notre Dame eliminated its self-imposed ban on going only to major bowls and accepted a bid to play 7-4 Penn State in the Gator Bowl, resulting in 20-9 Irish victory. Over the past 15 years, Notre Dame has accepted bids to play with a 7-5 record at the Independence Bowl in 1997, the Insight Bowl at 6-5 in 2004, and the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl at 6-6 in 2008. Times and attitudes change. ��� Lou Somogyi