Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/998819
BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 149 added star power at receiver and running back, respectively, with Watters also a top return man. Center Mike Heldt and left guard Ryan would become mainstays, with Winston San- dri and Joe Allen also receiving starts during the regular season. Others from the class who would provide quality depth in- cluded linebackers Andre Jones, Scott Kowalkowski and Donn Grimm, plus tight end Frank Ja- cobs. Another No. 1 recruiting class ensued in 1988, and that fresh- man class would include lumi- naries such as split end/return man Ismail and tight end Derek Brown, the Parade National Player of the Year who helped prompt Heck's switch to tackle. Also starting or playing ma- jor minutes that year as frosh were outside linebacker Arnold Ale and defensive tackle Mirko Jurkovic. The elders in the class such as Heck, Green, Stams, Pritchett or Streeter had tasted the bitter dis- appointments of 5-6 seasons in 1985 and 1986, plus personal setbacks, but that helped them keep the cockier younger talents somewhat in line. "Our class brought a different attitude to the program," Zorich said. "I can't tell you how many arguments there were during practice between our young punks and the older guys, but it was a perfect mix that would help us win the national championship." The Spice Of Rice Rice was always the "other" quarterback throughout 1988. • Heading into the game with No. 1 Mi- ami, Rice was overshadowed by Steve Walsh, who already had a national title ring. Yet Rice completed eight passes for 195 yards that set up three scores, and he ran for a fourth, while Walsh tossed four interceptions and lost two fumbles on sacks by Stams. • In the No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown versus USC, Trojans quarterback Rodney Peete — the runner-up to Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders in the Heisman race — stole the headlines. But whereas Peete was harassed all day in the 27-10 loss, including an interception by junior Stan Smagala that was returned for a 64-yard TD, Rice opened the game with a 55-yard completion out of his end zone to Ismail, and on the next possession followed with a 65-yard scoring run that put the Irish ahead for good. • In the Fiesta Bowl, West Virginia quarter- back Major Harris was the media darling, but it was "The General," Rice, who ran away with the MVP award, completing 7 of 11 passes for a whopping 213 yards and adding a team-high 75 yards on the ground. Despite an awful start to the season that saw him miss his first nine passes against Michi- gan, Rice made several crucial plays in the game-winning drive that set up Ho's game- winning 26-yard field goal (his fourth of the contest) with 1:13 left in the 19-17 triumph. Early in the year, Sports Illustrated stated Notre Dame could not be realistically consid- ered in the same class as Miami with Walsh, USC with Peete, or UCLA with Troy Aikman. "Only the quarterback-elite teams are unde- feated and likely to stay that way for a while," SI wrote. "No, we're not forgetting Notre Dame, but just imagine if the Irish had Rodney Peete." Critics carped about Rice's passing woes, but in his last 10 games he completed 56.3 percent of his tosses while averaging a whop- ping 10.2 yards per attempt and 18 yards per completion. He also led the team in rushing with 775 yards and 5.8 yards per carry. "He's a winner, he's a leader and he's the guy they get the meal ticket from," Holtz sum- marized. Depth/Attitude The recruiting success and development of the talent took hold in 1988. When junior Anthony Johnson was injured at fullback in midseason, class- mate Braxston Banks came off the bench to make several crucial plays in a hard-fought 30-20 win at Pitt, and caught a TD pass the following week against No. 1 Miami. When guards Grunhard and Ryan were unable to start against Miami, Allen and walk-on Mike Brennan, for- merly a lacrosse player, got the call in the biggest games of their lives. When All-America line- backer Michael Stonebreaker suffered an Achilles tendon in- jury early in the Fiesta Bowl, the Irish didn't miss a beat with captain Ned Bolcar in the contest, and sophomore Grimm added six more tackles off the bench. When repeated tardiness prompted Holtz to send home leading receiver Watters and top rusher Brooks prior to fac- ing 10-0 and No. 2 USC in the regular-season finale, the Irish attitude was "close ranks and move on." "If you're going to be a good team, two guys aren't going to make a difference," Stams said. "That's the way we felt." Good Fortune If you're going to win a national title, fickle Lady Luck must sometimes have a role. In the opener, Notre Dame survived an er- rant 48-yard field goal attempt by Michigan's Mike Gillette as time expired. Minutes earlier, Gillette had kicked a 49-yard field goal to put the Wolverines temporarily ahead 17-16. Against Miami, the Irish forced seven turn- overs, one of them a debated fumble at the Irish one. With the Irish leading Pitt 17-14 and one minute left until halftime, Panthers quarter- back Darnell Dickerson had a clear path to the end zone — but he lost the ball without anyone hitting him, and Smagala recovered it just before it went past the end line. Such factors all played into the making of a champion — even in the midst of "rebuild- ing" with so much youth. "There will be better talented teams and better coached teams that will come along at Notre Dame," Holtz said after the Irish had staked their claim to their 11th consensus national title at the end of the 1988 season. "But no team better typifies the Notre Dame spirit than this one." It is a spirit that one hopes won't need an- other 30 years on the gridiron to recapture. ✦ In his first two seasons as the head coach at Notre Dame, Lou Holtz posted records of 5-6 and 8-4, before leading the Irish to a 12-0 mark and the national title in 1988. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH DIGITAL MEDIA