Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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148 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW was sophomore Kent Graham, a prototype passer who would play 11 years in the NFL. Plus, Rice was the losing quarterback in the 1988 Blue-Gold Game while completing only 6 of 19 passes with two interceptions. 7. A leading candidate to become the new kicker was a diminutive 5-5, 131-pound se- nior walk-on and pre-med major from Hawai'i named Reggie Ho. 8. Only five of the 22 starters on offense and defense were seniors: Left tackle Andy Heck (converted from tight end) and tailback Mark Green on offense, and Stams, inside linebacker Wes Pritchett and strong safety George Streeter on defense. Free safety Corny Southall and drop end Darrell "Flash" Gordon also vied for starting spots as seniors. 9. Promoted to a college defensive coor- dinator position for the first time was unher- alded Barry Alvarez, who instructed the out- side linebackers in 1987. The entire defensive staff was new, including John Palermo (line), Chuck Heater (secondary) and former tight ends coach George Stewart tutoring the outside linebackers. With Stewart moving to defense, Holtz hired Temple offensive line coach Joe Moore, for- merly of Pitt, to instruct the tight ends and tackles, while Tony Yelovich oversaw the guards and centers. 10. The schedule was classified as too treacherous. Michigan, the opener, was Sport- ing News' preseason No. 1 pick, followed by a trip to defending Big Ten and Rose Bowl champion Michigan State. Holtz's Irish were 0-2 against Pitt and had to make a trip to the Steel City, while Penn State would come to town sporting a 6-1 mark against the Irish since 1981. The regular season would conclude at Pac-10 champion USC. Oh … and in the middle was defending na- tional champion Miami, which had terrorized Notre Dame throughout the 1980s. So how did Notre Dame go from potentially its worst decade of football ever from 1980-87 to a school-record 23-game winning streak in 1988-89, with a 12-0 national title in 1988? Let us count the ways: Position Switches • Senior tri-captain Heck went from an ad- equate but relatively slow tight end to a first- team All-American and first-round pick in the NFL Draft at left tackle. • Stams went from a tentative fullback to a fearsome pass rusher, a first-team All-Ameri- can and a second-round selection. • Junior Pat Terrell went from an unproduc- tive wide receiver (two catches in 1987) to a playmaking free safety, highlighted by his 60-yard interception return for a TD and clutch pass broken up on a two-point conversion with 45 seconds left in the epic 31-30 victory over No. 1 Miami. • Sophomore Chris Zorich went from a burly linebacker to a dominant nose tackle, earning him induction into the College Football Hall of Fame 20 years later. • Sophomore linebacker Tim Ryan became the starting left guard on offense. • To aid a thin receiving corps sans Brown, sophomore Ricky Watters was converted from running back — where tri-captain Green and sophomore Tony Brooks already packed a po- tent punch — to flanker. • Also moved out wide was freshman run- ning back recruit Raghib "Rocket" Ismail. Super Sophs … And Stellar Freshmen In 1968, Holtz was the defensive backs coach for Woody Hayes' Ohio State team that went from 4-5 in 1966 to national champs in '68 while starting an astounding 13 sopho- mores. Twenty years later, Holtz leaned on another phenomenal sophomore class to make a dif- ference from going 5-6 two years earlier to the national title, just like Hayes. The No. 1-ranked recruiting class from 1987 came to the forefront as sophomores, high- lighted by Zorich and George "Boo" Williams helping make the defensive front impregnable against the run. Todd Lyght at cornerback was one of the team's best athletes, while Watters and Brooks 1988 Season Date Opponent Result Sept. 10 Michigan W, 19-17 Sept. 17 at Michigan State W, 20-3 Sept. 24 Purdue W, 52-7 Oct. 1 Stanford W, 42-14 Oct. 8 at Pitt W, 30-20 Oct. 15 Miami W, 31-30 Oct. 22 Air Force W, 41-13 Oct. 29 at Navy W, 22-7 Nov. 5 Rice W, 54-11 Nov. 19 Penn State W, 21-3 Nov. 26 at USC W, 27-10 Jan. 1 vs. West Virginia* W, 34-21 * Fiesta Bowl at Tempe, Ariz. • The 1988 national champions became only the fifth college football team — and the first in 43 years — to defeat four opponents who finished in the final Associated Press top 10: Miami (No. 2), Michigan (No. 4), West Virginia (No. 5) and USC (No.7). The others to achieve the feat were Minnesota (1941), Notre Dame (1943) and Army (1945). Since then, the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers and 2000 Oklahoma Sooners have joined the fraternity. • The victory versus Miami snapped the No. 1-ranked Hurricanes' 36-game regular-season win - ning streak. Plus, in the four previous meetings between Miami and Notre Dame from 1983-87, the Hurricanes had outscored the Irish 133-20, winning in 1983 (20-0), 1984 (31-13), 1985 (58-7) and 1987 (24-0). There was no meeting in 1986. • Pitt and Penn State each owned three-game winning streaks against Notre Dame entering the 1988 season. • This was the first season ever Notre Dame played seven home games. That occurred by ac - cident because the Irish were supposed to play at SMU that season, but in 1987 the Mustangs were hit with the NCAA's "death penalty" for repeated violations and were out of football until 1989. The Irish were able to lure Rice as a home game in their place. • For the first time ever, Notre Dame and USC met when they were ranked 1-2, with each sport - ing 10-0 records. • This marked the first 12-win season ever at Notre Dame. There have been two others since then: 12-1 outcomes in 1989 and 2012. Head Coach: Lou Holtz Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers: Barry Al - varez Defensive Tackles: John Palermo Defensive Ends: George Stewart Secondary: Chuck Heater Offensive Backfield: Jim Strong Receivers: Pete Cordelli Guards/Centers: Tony Yelovich Tackles/Tight Ends: Joe Moore Recruiting Coordinator: Vinny Cerrato Team Captains: Ned Bolcar, Mark Green and Andy Heck In the Fiesta Bowl win over West Virginia to clinch the national title, quarterback Tony Rice connected on 7 of 11 passes for 213 yards and ran for a team- best 75 yards to earn MVP honors. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH DIGITAL MEDIA