1989 Notre Dame Highlights

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] through 103 years of Notre Dame football taking on top ranked opponents from one end of the country to the other has been the rule rather than the exception when Knute Rockne played for the Fighting Irish in 1913 Notre Dame first traveled to West Point the battle powerful army that inaugural game set the stage for a series of memorable match jumps between the Irish and the cadets in Yankee Stadium in the 1920s 30s and 40s Rockne coached at Notre Dame in 1926 when the Irish first traveled to Los Angeles to take on USC that began a series that has become one of the great intersectional rivalries in college football history but even the legendary Rockne probably did not envision the challenge placed in the hands of Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz in 1989 confronting a back-breaking schedule that included eight road games played from New York to California the Fighting Irish took on all comers the 1927 New York Yankees lineup led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig came to be known as murderers row but the list of teams facing Poltz in the Irish in 89 was no less awe-inspiring [Music] this is Casey Kasem bringing you the top college football hits from coast to coast for 1989 and the team that played the best of the best in 89 it was the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame they played nine Bowl teams eight teams that ranked in the final AP top 25 and five teams that played on January 1st from that kickoff classic against Virginia all the way to that rockin evening in the Orange Bowl against top-ranked Colorado with Michigan USC Penn State Miami and all the rest in between Notre Dame beat the best that college football had to offer in 89 becoming only the second team in history to win 12 games in two straight seasons the Irish did it by taking their show on the road for all but five home games and they did it with all that went with being the top ranked team in the land the number one team on the charts for 12 straight weeks of 1989 its Lou Holtz Fighting Irish Irish fans might have thought they had seen it all with Notre Dame left the Fiesta Bowl with the national crown in 1988 1989 with all its challenges and expectations proved to be just as much of a storybook season Notre Dame's traveling gridiron group opened its 89 Roadshow in the Kickoff Classic in the New Jersey Meadowlands against ACC power Virginia watching were more than 77 thousand fans the most ever for a college game at Giants Stadium it marked a dazzling opening act for junior all-america cornerback Todd light as the Irish picked up right where they had left off in winning 12 straight games the previous year the first ball game of the season is always very exciting we played the University of Virginia you know it's a great powerhouse from the ACC I was fortunate enough to come with intercepts not their play the season to set up the first Irish score we play mistake-free football the first half and we were doing really well the interception of Shaun Moore's first pass set up the Irish and Virginia's 31 and 5 running plays later junior tailback Ricky Watters took a pitch from senior quarterback Tony rice for the final two yards after Notre Dame held the Cavaliers without a first down the dominating Irish ground attack took command Tyler's wide left as a flanker double tight end item this time hand off Johnson he dives over into the end zone touchdown 57 yards 9 plays and Notre Dame has a 13 nothing lead waters we turn the first virginia punt for 24 yards and his second run back for 37 but the irish and business at their own 46 Rice's first pass of the night covered 52 yards the sophomore rug give a smile and sophomore fullback Rodney covers two yard slant made it 19 nothing before the first period was finished the second quarter was no different than the first expertly mixing the run with the past rice created big gains on three key down Johnson's second short touchdown burst made a 26 to nothing wishbone backfield and off to Anthony Johnson forget it in standing up touchdown Notre Dame scored on its fifth straight possession on the strength of its quarterbacks arm is Right fired - if smile for 26 yards and two waters for 30 more this time rice kept it himself for the touchdown it made it 33 to nothing with more than five minutes still remaining in the first half junior linebacker Don Grimm's interception further frustrated Virginia the Irish ended up with a first-half advantage of 16 to 3 in first downs and 333 to 60 in total yards the Irish proved they were human in the second half giving up two touchdowns on fourth down passes and even fumbling the ball away once but light served notice that he'd be one of the best in 89 blocking a putt in the third period and intercepting a second pass in the final two minutes of the 36 - 13 opening victory Tony rice in the media's vote for game MVP Watters finished with 189 all-purpose yards and his smile had a career-high 121 receiving yards Notre Dame finished with an even 300 yards rushing [Music] against a Virginia team that won ten of its next 11 games in the ACC title as well as a citrus bowl berth the opening Irish effort earned passing marks from Lou Holtz it was the first step of what would prove to be a long journey for another Dame in 1989 the steps that rugged a smile took two and a half weeks later in Michigan Stadium proved as memorable as those taken by any Irish player all year in particular it was his to kickoff returns for touchdowns that broke records as well as the backs of the second ranked Wolverines before the game in Lockland coach J Hayes whose coach the special teams he came up to me and it was not very good whether I saw and he told me you know rock this is gonna be just like rice game and I was like really say yeah because I have a feeling that we want his return to kickoffs and I looked at him like okay lo and behold after the game was over he came out to me and he was like a property's like what I tell you in the rain both coaches played it close to the vest in the 25th game in history between the nation's numbers one and two teams other than an early missed field goal by Notre Dame the two teams traded punts on their first half dozen possessions not until Don grim forced Michigan's Michael Taylor to fumble and junior defensive end Scott Cole costly recovered at the Wolverine 24 did anyone threaten again with Anthony Johnson bullying his way for 17 yards while carrying on for the first five plays the Irish pushed their way to the two following a motion penalty it was Tony Rice's only past completion of the day a six yarder to Johnson that put Notre Dame on top seven to nothing Michigan nearly evened it up on a perfect Taylor pass to Chris Callaway in the final minute of the half but the conversion kick hit the upright Notre Dame had won the toss to start the game and deferred until the second half and that decision looked huge as the rocket blasted off for 89 yards to open the third period this wheel down around the five-yard line the kick will come down and right Gabe will take it take it [Laughter] the game took another swing on the following series when senior linebacker Ned bolcar who finished with 19 tackles collided with Taylor on a third down attempt that sent Taylor to the sidelines and brought on redshirt freshman elvis grbac a highly regarded passer who had never played it down in a michigan uniform trailing 17 to 6 after a 30 yard field goal by freshman Craig Hendrick Grbac said about putting his team back in contention completing six of seven passes on a 61 yard drive Grbac connected with teammate Derek Walker two minutes into the final quarter full Michigan within 17 to 12 then yes smile did his trick for the second time no Rockets backport he's at the nine to the ten get to the 15 to 25 [Laughter] it was the first time any player had returned even one kickoff for a touchdown against a Michigan team in 32 years and it effectively squashed what momentum Michigan had built up Grbac came back to series later to throw another touchdown pass to make it 24 to 19 with four minutes left but the iris recovered the onside kick and then got a critical fourth-down conversion run by Anthony Johnson let the Irish run out the clock Johnson led the Irish with 80 rushing yards as Notre Dame rolled up a 213 294 yard advantage in that category despite the Wolverines gargantuan offensive line it was a satisfying victory for the Irish who became the first team to defeat a Bo Schembechler coach Michigan team three straight years and it came against a Wolverine team that won its next 10 games and claimed a second straight Big Ten title [Music] with the Irish in the midst of a two season stretch that saw them play seven of eight games on the road Notre Dame's only home field appearance in the first six games of 89 came against Michigan State for Irish players as well as their ardent fans an afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium is what college football memories are made of while the Irish fans enjoyed the color and pageantry of an autumn afternoon in picturesque Notre Dame Stadium Ricky Watters was facing Notre Dame's ground attack against the Spartans with 89 yards and two touchdowns but his memories of that contest revolved around the physical nature of the matchup coming into the Michigan State game we knew we were for a hard-hitting game there was gonna be a war and it turned out to be even more than we expected because they came in and they hit very hard and they were playing with great tenacity on defense and we led by percy snow who we felt was one of the best linebackers improved to be throughout the year and they really came Hart the Irish had things all their own way early using two drives of 70-plus yards to grab a 14-nothing advantage midway through the second period with Tony rice mixing his Carl's expertly Notre Dame use 14 plays once culminated by watters short dash to the corner then used the big play from waters to stick the Irish to a two touchdown advantage [Applause] meanwhile the Notre Dame defense was doing its part in fact it was only because of too late Irish turnovers that the Spartans got in position for two field goals in the final three minutes of the second period Michigan State wasted little time evening things up after halftime denied once on an acrobatic interception by Todd light the Spartans came right back after a third Notre Dame mistake on a picture-perfect scoring throw by Dani noce then the two defenses took over with all-americans Chris Norwich of Notre Dame and Percy snow of Michigan State making their presence felt neither team to generate any steam on offense the pendulum swung Notre Dame's way on a Don grim interception but it went right back when the Spartans stripped the football away [Music] finally the Irish ground game got results getting four big gainers some water rights and Anthony Johnson Notre Dame methodically worked its way toward the goal line with Johnson turtled the file yard for 21 to 30 need double tight end either zip left halfback Johnson the fall back Ricky Watters everyone halfback Tony rice the quarterback takes the snap on the option running off he did give it to anthony judgment break the plane of the goal line for a touchdown finally it was up to the defense one less time the visitors marched patiently into Irish territory but on fourth and one from the Notre Dame 25 the Irish stop Michigan State's Highland Hickson short of the marker and Notre Dame's third triumph of the young season was preserved over a Michigan State team that ended up winning its last eight games finishing 16th in the final poll but with three straight road contests staring them in the face the Irish had little time to celebrate a [Music] visit to West Lafayette to battle old nemesis Purdue turned out to be just what Tony rice needed to air out his passing arm it also turned out to be a spectacular day for the Notre Dame defense which came within a whisker of shutting out the Boilermakers senior defensive tackle Jeff fobb remembers the feeling looking back in the 50 game I think coach Alvarez and coach thermo helped us the most they seem to have us keyed in on all the Purdue offensive strategies and we knew exactly what they were going to throw against us luckily for us Tony had a really good day throwing the ball and we managed to run the ball really well also the we created something like five turnovers in the first half alone and I even managed to grab a ball and run it back for 16 yard touchdown we knew they were a passing team and we came up prepared to deal with it Purdue fumbled the ball away on its second possession with senior cornerback stance Maga no recovery three plays later rice hit wide-open sophomore tight end Derek brown for 27 on the first of his career high for reception one play later Anthony Johnson made it seven nothing and that's how it went all day for the Boilermakers the Irish even got a touchdown after an interception from all who tied for the team lead in that category as a junior todd light and senior free safety Pat Terrell also pulled down interceptions in the first half and terral's interception prompted an 80-yard Drive for a score with a rice to brown play counting 38 of the yards then in the final three minutes of the half Notre Dame marched 97 yards getting nearly half that on a rice cluster a gibbous mile Chris sriracha's fumble recovery ended the first half with the Irish leading 34 to nothing Notre Dame had totaled 344 yards in the first two periods and scored in all but two opportunities the Irish enjoyed a much-needed chance to play the second and third teamers after intermission with a pair of Craig hen fake field goals finishing the Irish scoring Purdue managed to avoid the shutout only on a scoring crow with 33 seconds remaining rice finished with a career-high 12 completions in 15 attempts for a career-high 270 yards in the 40 to 7 win as the top-ranked Irish rolled to their 16th straight win the renewal of the stanford series brought back memories of the Rose Bowl matchup between the four horsemen and the great Ernie Nevers as Notre Dame in its first visit to Palo Alto in 26 years in Stanford Stadium the Cardinal threw everything at the Irish but the kitchen sink literally Stanford was a game I'll never forget we went out there as 85 degree weather after playing in South Bend and and Midwestern colleges the weather change was definitely a factor as far as the secondary goes we were out there they threw the ball an unbelievable amount of times we definitely had our work cut out for a Stanford had a great team and they had a great game plan for us fortunately we came out on top the first four possessions combined did not produce a first down until Stanford quarterback Steve Smith began his record-setting passing assault by completing seven throws in a 14-play excursion that led to a 34 yard field goal in fact it wasn't until the Cardinal hood added a second field goal for a six nothing lead that Notre Dame finally managed its initial first down late in the first period on a 30-yard throw from Tony rice to rag it a smile the IRAs required just over a minute to get the lead back Anthony Johnson's first down attempt for 25 bottled one play later by Rice's keeper for 38 [Music] Johnson went left for the final seven yards in a seven to six lead a 20-yard return on an interception by senior strong saftey de Juan Francisco put the visitors in prime position at the Stanford 30 and rice went to work he zeroed in on his smile for 14 yards on third down and then converted himself on fourth and one before rodney culver took a pitch out to make it 14-6 but the Cardinal wasn't finished yet after holding the Irish to start the second half Stanford promptly marched 79 yards to narrow the gap with Smith flowing to teammate Ed McCaffrey for 28 yards and then again for 2 yards in a touchdown the Cardinal tied the score with a two-point conversion but if smile then delivered a crushing blow running back the ensuing kickoff 66 yards to the 16 yard line Johnson went the final yard to make the score 21 to 14 and Notre Dame's opportunistic defense took it from their junior safety Greg Davis recovered a fumble in front of the Irish bench after a Stanford past completion to end the next threat and even though Notre Dame came up empty on a fourth down play from the Stanford 5 the field position paid dividends the Irish came right back to advance 38 yards to the Cardinal to where Craig Henrik converted the 20 yard field goal for a 24 to 14 edge in between late field goals by each team Pat tail intercepted a pair of passes to keep Stanford a day his second pickup with a minute left marked the last of Smith's 68th throws most ever by Stanford and the most against Notre Dame Smith 39 completions also were the most ever allowed by the Irish but they weren't enough to keep Notre Dame's winning streak and number one ranking from remaining intact a week later in Colorado Springs Notre Dame played its fifth road game of a season that wasn't even half over it was billed as the battle of the unbeatens top ranked Notre Dame against six and O and 17th ranked airports it was billed as a battle of Heisman Trophy Canada quarterbacks with D Dallas and Tony rice matching offensive wits it was billed as a battle between an Irish defense permitting 93 rushing yards a game and a falcon offense leading the nation at 449 rushing yards per contest and the largest crowd and falcons stadium history turned out to see it if only Notre Dame's defenders had known how it would turn out well coming into the week you know we we knew what to expect from our force they run the wishbone and they run it well they're very disciplined Dallas executes great they're the rushing game had really been proven and we wanted to come in and we felt we could shut him down the first half we did that in the second half things changed a little bit in the second half they came out passing a little bit more than running they hit the open zones and our defenses and they scored a couple of times but we made changes to compensate for that you would tell us before the game the deed I wasn't gonna pass for 300 yards we wouldn't have believed it quickly establishing its dominance in the trenches Notre Dame needed five minutes and ten plays to negotiate 80 yards for its first score a Tony rice to Derek brown pass for 24 yards and a Ricky Watters run for 25 did most of the damage [Music] after three Air Force runs in a punt the Irish did it again using most of the rest of the period in 14 plays they traveled 69 yards with waters rush making it 14 nothing by the end of the period Notre Dame had had the football for nearly 13 minutes while accumulating 11 first downs in 154 yards compared to 0 and 11 for airports when rocket Ismail ran a punt back 56 yards one play into the second period the Irish had a lead they would never lose here's the putt end over end or the Rockets going to take it at the 45 to the 45 40 but Notre Dame's big lead created a philosophy change by the home team that caught everyone off guard while the Irish kept the Falcon attack in tow Dallas made sure the air force offense lived up to its name first he found Greg Johnson on a 61 yard scoring play after Rice located Anthony Johnson for 27 yards and seven more points for the Irish Daoist bounced back with a 26 yard throw to Steve sin to make it 28 to 14 but a Daoist fumble with less than three minutes and a half set up the Irish on the Falcon 35 on the fifth play his smiles go to the left end for an easy 24 yard scoring run air force moved into Notre Dame territory on each of its first three second half possessions only to lose the football in all three occasions first the Falcons came up empty and a fourth down play from the Irish 44 next sophomore defensive end Devon McDonald lets down to a Daoist fumble at the irish 39 finally todd light intercepted a fourth down dallas pass in the end zone as the falcons came away with no points after having first and goal at the 7th in the meantime Tony rice served as the architect of a pair of 50-yard drives that led to Craig Henrik field goals and that proved to be enough of a margin to withstand to fourth period scores by air force the first rushing touchdown permitted by Notre Dame this season behind his smiles 180 all-purpose yards Rice's 193 total offense yards plus 96 rushing yards some waters the Irish nearly doubled the 168 rushing yards managed by air force at six and OH after it's 41 to 27 win notre dame could finally leave its traveling bags in the closet for a while we had visions of friendly Notre Dame Stadium dancing in their heads the Fighting Irish returned home for a month-long stay at Lou Holtz and the Notre Dame players weren't the only ones preparing for four straight home games [Music] [Music] ninth ranked USC did everything it could to try to spoil the Notre Dame homecoming but just when the number one ranking the 18 game overall winning streak and the three-year perfect record in Notre Dame Stadium appeared to be headed down the drain the Irish got just what they needed from reliable quarterback Tony writes you know we knew it was gonna be a really tough game you know it seemed like a lot of teams that was an acog oh just love to play them and that was one of those team that we've been playing for a long time plus it was my third year plan against them also and I just want to go out and star and just go out there and perform and try to play to my ability and just by looking at the game situation silicon was down for a while in the first half of the second half we knew exactly what to do and to score didn't have a good time doing it in one of make things happen and get the ball into the end zone the Sporting News ranked 'it is the most exciting college football game of the year it surely ranked as one of the more impressive irish comebacks in memories but it started quite uncharacteristically with a sweeter nor a gibbous smile fumbling the opening kickoff from there USC's todd marinovitch needed eight plays to get into the end zone flowing to larry wallace for 12 yards and six points that would be just the first of what seemed like dozens of changes in momentum what his smile gave the way to open the game he got right back returning the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to the USC 38 [Music] from there Tony rice needed seven plays to get into the endzone dragging Trojan safety Cleveland Coulter there himself Brad West enter the tight ends right now on the left side so double ten an i10 of hand off the anthony the irish held USC on its next possession but 20 mile-per-hour winds made fielding punts a dangerous game as his smile found out deep in his own territory this time Marinovich required only two plays hitting John Jackson for one of his 14 receptions that total 200 yards cat Terrell personally halted another Trojan charge and Juan Francisco did the same midway through the second period [Music] but only strong defensive plays by Stan's Megillah and junior tackle Bob doll enabled Notre Dame's defense to hang tough inside its 20 and force a USC field goal that made it 17 to 7 at intermission Notre Dame rebounded immediately to start the third period taking over at midfield after a USC punt the Aris got a key gain by Rice on 4th and 3 from the Trojan 33 two plays later waters took a pitch for six to cut the deficit to 17 to 14 the Irish turned the ball over twice more in the third period with a lost fumble starting USC at the Notre Dame 20 Marinovich worked his way to first and goal at the 7 but on third down Todd Light intercepted in the end zone and started the Irish on their way culminating an impressive 80-yard Drive was a 35 yard scamper by Anthony Johnson Johnson the pull back Dara's at deacon [Applause] but the lead was short-lived 1/5 Irish mistake this one a fumble at their own 34 put the Trojans in business again Marinovich needed just four plays to put USC back on top 24 to 21 with nine minutes left in the game but Notre Dame wasn't done yet battling to his own 45 Rice completed possibly the biggest pass of Notre Dame season a 40-yarder to Ismail who caught it in stride and took it to the 15 the very next play rice option to the left side for what proved to be the game-winning point Tony rice runs the option left rice looking to cut in down to the 10 to the 5 [Applause] Marinovich who finished with a USC record 33 completions in 55 attempts for 333 yards took one last shot but three straight pass plays into the end zone from the Notre Dame seven were rejected by the defense and the win streak remained intact in another Bend but never break performance the Irish did what was necessary to win in the meantime they managed 266 crucial rushing yards 197 of them after halftime against a Trojan defense that ranked first nationally in rushing defense while giving up just 36 yards per game in a series that has seen more than its share of classic confrontations there was another one to add to the list if the experts thought Notre Dame might not have much left emotionally or physically after that win over USC they were dead wrong playing perhaps their most impressive all-around game of the season against a team that given the average fits in recent years they completely dominated a Pittsburgh team that came up an open date unbeaten in six games and ranked seventh nationally to go into the Pittsburgh game it was kind of a different game for me because my brother played at fifth part and I'm from the Pittsburgh area so I knew a lot of the players I wasn't really hard for me to get up to the game at all and we knew going into the game that we hadn't played very well against them in the previous years defensively and you know he's come into this game they were even better offensively than they had been in the past so there's no doubt that we came into this game with something to prove but it was Pittsburgh that did the proving to open the ballgame taking the opening kickoff in marching 68 yards redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Van Pelt capped off the drive with an 8 yard pass to Ronald Redmond for an early 7-nothing advantage then it was all Notre Dame from there the Irish played field position with a punt pushing the Panthers back to their own 7 3 plays later Van Pelt went to the turf in the end zone for safety backed up on there for the neck time the Panthers punted it out to their 36 Notre Dame needed only seven running plays to punch it back in rodney culver nats the touchdown and Tony rice added a two-point conversion the Irish defense provided the next big play with Pat Terrell grabbing a VanPelt pass and bringing it back 54 yards through the entire Pittsburgh team the statistics were nearly even at halftime but Notre Dame flat-out dominated the second half on both ends of the field the irish converted three pit turnovers into touchdowns after the intermission and route to what turned out to be an easy victory first got coal Kowski stripped Van Pelt and Notre Dame converted twice on fourth down Culver from the nine and waters from the one [Music] after Van Pelt misfired on fourth down from the Notre Dame 39 the iris got a 50-yard sprint from miss smile on the second play brochette handoff to rock at 50 down to the 45 40 great from the sideline keep going 2015 [Applause] when de Juan Francisco intercepted and returned 41-yard late in the third period the average required but six plays to make it 38 to seven a final interception this one by Jim Thorpe Award finalist Todd life set up a final back-breaking 80-yard Drive by the Notre Dame reserves thanks to Don Grimm 17 tackles plus 10 from junior defensive end Andre Jones Notre Dame limited Pitt to 117 rushing yards while gaining 310 themselves against a panther defense that had been permitting 92 yards per game it marked a record-tying eighth straight win against teams in the top 20 and it marked the worst Pittsburgh defeat in 18 years [Music] Notre Dame account ever so close to blanking opponents during the Lou Holtz era ten times holding teams to a touchdown or less but even that wasn't good enough to satisfy Notre Dame's all-star junior nose tackle Chris Zurich who ended up one of the four finalists for the Lombardi Award how do I say a host strategy as a defense it's not anybody score and it gets nailed we finally had that dawn and I mean all affairs from producing babies and everything else the 41 nothing victory over the Midshipmen enabled Notre Dame to reach a couple of milestones the win marked the 150th in Lou Holtz's career and it also enabled the Irish to tie their record 21 game winning streak set back in the 1940s it came in typical Notre Dame fashion with a dominating rushing attack and an overpowering defense whatever pretense Navy held out for victory might have ended on Notre Dame's first play from scrimmage Ricky Watters burst up the middle set the stage for the Irish rushing show and a six yard scoring run by Tony rice behind rodney culver got Notre Dame off to a quick start big plays kept the Notre Dame engine purring smoothly bruh give his smile 30 yard gain set up the second Irish touchdown and Watters who ended up with a career-high 134 rushing yards galloped 452 to make it 21 to nothing when the Midshipmen proved pesky enough to come near the goal line cat Terrell and his teammates took care of the problem the Irish offense kept his half of the bargain in the second half with freshman Ric Meyer in Dorsey Levens keeping the pressure on but it was the defense that made life particularly miserable for navy Jeff almond freshman defensive end Erik Simeon each force navy fumbles and unanimous all-american cornerback Todd light added another interception to his total the midis were limited to 166 total yards compared to 506 for the home team Notre Dame's 414 rushing yards marked its most in 16 seasons the closest Navy came to scoring was when it reached the Notre Dame 34 and even Chris George had a smile about that one is the Irish blank an opponent for the first time since 1983 [Music] it may take a few years to sink in but Notre Dame's 1989 victory over SMU won't soon be forgotten by the Fighting Irish players who played a part in it for one the game marked Notre Dame's 22nd straight win breaking the all-time Irish record established by Frank Leahy's teams from 1946 through 48 may be just as impressively it marked the last home appearance for Notre Dame seniors it enabled them to finish a third straight season without losing at home while the 88th consecutive sellout crowd of more than 59 thousand fans looked on I think coming out of the tunnel was a big deal to all us seniors I mean it was a special moment for all of us not only at being our last home game but it'd be the last time we'd be together as a team and I think we're a part of something really special and winning one national championship and come in one game away from winning another one and it was just a great feeling to be a part of it you know you don't ever really forget the first time you came out of the tunnel and you know the last time especially with the fifth year seniors and the other seniors on the team and coming out of there and really feeling the unity of the classmates and the alumni they come back and you know when people are watching on TV there's a real dynamic atmosphere and it's full spirits someone always remember once the Irish got going they left no doubt what the final verdict would be tying an all-time Notre Dame record with 35 points in the second period they scored in nearly every conceivable fashion included in the fifty nine to six win was a safety when SMU sputter stepped out of the end zone and a two-point conversion when Andre Jones ran back an SMU point after attempt that was blocked by freshman linebacker Nick Smith though the final score wasn't close it was an afternoon of memories for the 28 seniors in uniform for the final time in their home stadium [Music] while veterans like Anthony Johnson were more than used to crossing the goal I'm it was a whole new experience for seniors Pete Graham and rod West who scored their first career touchdowns against the Mustangs the Irish utilized 92 players in all with an interception by senior walk-on Doug DiIorio in the final minute capping off a day to remember for him and his fellow seniors seniors Brian Flannery and Juan Francisco contributed earlier interceptions while the defense shut off the SMU running game limiting the visitors to minus 7 rushing yards the record-setting home finale featured an all-time longest punt return of 97 yards by Ricky Watters [Music] and that helped pave the way for a special moment for Lou Holtz and his captains in the postgame locker room as the Irish enjoyed a brief celebration of their history-making 22nd consecutive victory not the greatest good to the modern era this is just a milestone [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] four times in the decade of the 80s Notre Dame had traveled a frigid Beaver Stadium in search of a victory over Penn State and each time the Fighting Irish had been denied three of those defeats had come by four points or less but nonetheless the home of the Nittany Lions had been anything but friendly to Irish fans during the decade with the chilly gusty conditions making passing the football difficult the Irish head of state college in 1989 knowing the running game would prove all-important it would be particularly challenging against the Penn State defense ranked first in the nation in scoring defense giving up just nine points a game but it was a challenge than Notre Dame offensive linemen relished from the beginning of the season we knew that we had to capability a bit and explosive offensive unit it was all a matter of putting everything together carrying out the assignments and doing what the coaching staff had in store for us to do throughout the whole season and in the Penn State game we played virtually every ball which consequently put us in a position where we could execute the way we were supposed to not surprisingly the 17th ranked Nittany Lions played with great emotion early in their home finale and they scored on each of their first two possessions to take a 10 to 7 lead but Penn State should have known what was in store after the very first play from scrimmage Tony rice scooted 24 yards in a draw play up the middle and that proved typical of what the Irish would do to Penn State's defense all day long behind by a field goal Notre Dame stayed with its bread-and-butter first rice skirted left end for 17 yards then waters headed the same direction for 19 more four plays later waters - to the flag gave the Irish a lead they would not relinquish lock to the right here's the fake law the handoff in coming around the light side is water ten water's down to the five to three the one into the endzone touchdown after stance makalah made a key stop on Penn State Blair Thomas the Irish were off and running rice who had finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting did complete a pass connecting with Raghav a smile on first down but Notre Dame kept it on the ground the rest of the way with Anthony Johnson finally getting the six points on fourth down the second half was much the same story when smogula recovered a fumble deep intense State Territory on the Lions first possession the Irish wasted no time converting rice back to his way in on third down from the one ten state wasn't ready to pull yet but Notre Dame's running attack was simply relentless with rice gaining a career-high 141 yards waters 128 and Ismail 80 for the Irish finished with an astounding 425 yards on the ground that marked the most ever given up by a Penn State team in the history of the school fittingly CBS Sports named the Irish offensive line is MVP of the game as seniors grunt are brown Brennan junior center Mike kelp and junior guard Tim Ryan manhandled a Penn State defense that had been permitting only 104 rushing yards per game with visions of the warm weather finale against Miami in the Orange Bowl now officially permitted the Irish could turn their sights to the Hurricanes the challenge was clear to all it was a matchup that needed no hype [Music] number one Notre Dame versus once beaten Miami no one needed to add anymore winless in the Orange Bowl since 1977 the Irish had hopes of ending that jinx the same way they had done the trick in Beaver Stadium there was just one problem the 7th ranked hurricanes had other plans thanks to four or five key plays that all went Miami's way Dennis Erickson's Club did what no other team had been able to do for two seasons they beat Notre Dame and they did it with a bone-crunching defense and a patient offense that took only what the Irish gave it in preparation for Miami game I believe our team and our coaching staff was hopin that we would go down Miami and we took him away with a victory as it turned out I think we played the worst football game that we have in the past two years here at Notre Dame and it's just so happened on that very day Miami played the very best game of their season along with the crowd noise and I think the weather a little bit and the fact that Miami fellow investing the country and ended up as our only blemish on our first in game schedule this season there's only at the very end after a long difficult Road do we fall trades probably that's one of the best teams in the country Miami didn't dominate the Irish as much as it did all the things that had to do to win Notre Dame held the Hurricanes to a respectable 305 total yards but a couple of huge passing plays had as much to do with the Irish undoing as anything else after grabbing a three nothing edge on their first possession their hurricanes made big play number one just before the end of the first period on a bomb from Craig Erickson to Dale Dawkins but with all-america quarterback Tony rice both running and throwing the Irish fought back they drove impressively to first and goal at the 1 until a tough stand by the home team forced Notre Dame to settle for a field goal by junior kicker Billy Hackett with its defense finding the key who Erickson success Notre Dame Doug idli hung tough and when Ned bull car picked off a pass and showed his hurtling form and tying the score the Irish faithful waken three wide receivers white Harrison back to throw with Notre Dame in position to add to its point total in the final moments of the half Miami turned the tables a Bernard Clark interception set up a hurricane score just 13 seconds before intermission making it 17 to 10 but the Irish weren't finished on Miami's first possession of the third period freshmen tackle Erik Jones sack Compton a fumble that Devon McDonald nearly recovered for Notre Dame now backed up to their own three and seemingly needing a miracle on 3rd and 43 the Hurricanes got just that the backbreaking completion to Randall Hill took some steam out of the Irish defense and turned out to be the key note play in a 22 play touchdown drive that lasted nearly 11 minutes Notre Dame's last shot came in on 87-yard March to began at its own five [Music] [Music] once inside the 10 the Miami defense stiffened forced to go for six on fourth down the Irish came up empty Miami then used up most of the clock while marching to a final field goal the amazing 23 game streak against unparalleled opposition was history but for consensus all-american Chris Origen his teammates redemption and a return trip to the Orange Bowl were little more than a month away Notre Dame's postseason matchup with top-ranked Colorado brought back a variety of bowl game memories for Fighting Irish fans Notre Dame would be playing in the Orange Bowl classic for the first time since a win over top ranked Alabama in 1975 continuing another Irish tradition Notre Dame was poised to take on the number one team in the land in a postseason game for the seventh time since 1969 in fact the Irish had claimed national championships by virtue of their 2423 triumphs over top ranked Alabama in the 73 Sugar Bowl and they're convincing 38 210 rap over number one Texas in the Cotton Bowl in 1977 all those history-making wins were simply pages in a scrapbook for the 89 Notre Dame team these Irish were more interested in making history of their own and their mission was to do it and it's the hectic wake of palm trees media appearances Sun and fun [Music] for some teams ball games were a pleasant reward at a warm leather site for a season of accomplishment but there was so much more at stake for Notre Dame in 1989 the Irish Orange Bowl challenge was no different than those they had faced all year long it proved themselves all over again in one more football game against the best the college football could offer Glen's Colorado game there are three factors that mean we needed to concentrate upon one was the fact that we still had a chance to win a national championship he played the toughest schedule throughout the course of the year and Colorado being number one was the best way for us to prove that we had best team to is the fact that just the seniors didn't win by losers period three was the fact that we knew that for the University of Notre Dame we had to come out and dominate coach Schultz told us that as this game was important because you need to reset the northern standard and we went out there and I feel that most of us believe we accomplished in this time it was unbeaten Colorado that stood in the way of the Irish and the Buffaloes in the midst of a storybook season were on a mission of their own with everyone else needing an Irish win over Colorado to keep the National Championship up for grabs blue hopes his team ironically even earned the cheers of Miami Hurricane fans but once game time came around the Sun in front of Miami gave way to some fierce football especially the defensive sort [Music] both sides have their first half opportunities inside of a record Orange Bowl crowd but neither team ended up with much to show for them although the Notre Dame defense made its presence felt immediately Colorado managed to move the football early but the luck of the Irish was anywhere but with the Buffaloes that Big Eight champions appeared on the verge of snatching a lead but with Eric the enemy in the clear deep in Irish territory a leprechaun knocked the ball loose as the Buffalo back was changing hands on the next series usually dependable kicker Kenny Culbertson pulled a chip shot field goal attempt part of the left after Colorado had reached a Notre Dame five Colorado's final first half possession showcased a momentum shifting goal line stand one of the most impressive ones Irish coach Lou Holtz could recall after the Bucks had rumbled impressively - first and goal at the Irish 1 de Juan Francisco single-handedly repelled the enemy and first down Darian Hagan tried to sneak his way into the end zone to no avail then he misfired on a pitch out on fourth down the buff selected to pass up a chance for three points here comes a snap the spot the pass by Campbell killer Onix with Campbell down to the end the defensive surge seemed to ignite the dormant Irish offense moving from its own one in the final three minutes of the half Notre Dame benefited from big gainers by Tony rice and consensus all-american flanker turned tailback bruh give his smile a nifty catch by senior split end Pat eilers drove the Irish into field goal range but after three successive timeouts Colorado rose up to block Billy Hackett's attempt from 27 yards out that left the team tied at 0-0 at halftime for the first time in the Orange Bowl since 1938 but the momentum generated by the goal line stand in the late offensive awakening seemed to carry over for Notre Dame after intermission on third and 11 Rice toss to sophomore Tony Smith for 27 yards then Anthony Johnson added 29 of his own [Music] two plays later Johnson put the first points of the evening on the scoreboard as the Irish needed just over three minutes to negotiate the 69 yards Colorado had suffered only 13 turnovers all season the next one at commit had proved deadly on the third play after another dames touchdown Ned bolcar got his fingertips on a Darian Hagan pass that finally ended up back in his hands at the Colorado 46 the Irish quickly dug a hole for themselves as successive penalties made it first in 32 back in the Notre Dame end of the field rice found eilers once for 18 yards then on third and 14 rebus smiles streaked down the Irish sideline for a 14-nothing lead his smiles performance earned him the MVP award from NBC Sports and proved especially timely considering Ricky Watters role was reduced to that of cheerleader after an injury on the third play of the game Darian Hagan had some magic of his own up his sleeve as his touchdown scamper kept the Buffaloes in range but after an exchange of punts the Irish embarked on a 9 minute drive that both typifies Notre Dame's relentless running game and ended whatever hopes remain for a Colorado national championship the heroes were many for the Irish rice guided Notre Dame flawlessly as the Irish controlled the football for nearly 20 of 30 minutes while taking command in the second half and it was the Notre Dame defense that held a Colorado team that had been averaging 473 yards in 41 points per game to just 282 yards in a single touchdown blue hopes had told his Irish players at intermission that how they reacted in the second half would determine their approach to think the rest of their lives he wasn't disappointed and neither were the fans of the Fighting Irish [Music] once the clock had run out on the 1989 season final tally was an impressive 112 victories for the second straight season wins over champions of the Big Ten the Big Eight the pac-10 and the ACC twelve straight weeks as the unbeaten number one team an all-time record win streak of 23 straight games and an Orange Bowl win over the number one ranked team - but Notre Dame's football season comprised far more than statistics and records the Fighting Irish earned the respect of the college football world as they risk their unbeaten record and number one ranking week after week in emotional confrontations against the most talented teams in the nation I'll remember this team is a group of unappreciated winners there's a group of young men have played the game not to please the fans for the news media the television commentators there's a group of played a game because they really truly loved again and they loved one another it was obvious we had outstanding senior leadership we had a closeness but yet at the same time we had a group of people were completely dedicated to see in this season to a successful conclusion this football team had more adversity than any I've ever been around yet they didn't cause a single bit of it themselves they never complained he never made excuses they just went out and probably accomplished as much as any football team I've ever been associated with we've often said Lydon what you do what you had to overcome in order to do it that's why I think I look back on the 1989 season and say the disk football team was a group of overachievers and maybe the best I've ever been associated with [Music]

Channel: Grey Beard

Views: 3,151

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Lou Hotz, Golden Dome, Orange Bowl, Tony Rice, Rocket Ismail, Rick Mirer, Ricky Watters

Id: 6QqIX1COB-0

Length: 64min 46sec (3886 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 25 2019