1989 Penn State @ Notre Dame 1

[Music] [Music] lou holtz has put the notre dame victory march on hold because today the irish begin their final dash for another perfect season they've run their win streak to 22 straight and now the ultimate prize is once again within sight the mission is clear notre dame must sack penn state miami and colorado to celebrate a second straight national championship joe paterno can almost taste an upset his nittany lions have been numbed in 89 especially in recent weeks but nothing could satisfy them more than tripping the mighty irish at happy valley they are not running scared they are ready to challenge the nation's number one ranked team today two of college football's giants are going to collide notre dame and penn state next [Music] bundled up temperature at 30 degrees but the wind chill factor makes it feel like six degrees and good afternoon everybody i'm jim nance and welcome on this wintry afternoon to state college in the 80s this place has presented an enormous obstacle to the irish in the decade notre dame has played at beaver stadium four times four times notre dame has lost the most recent 1987 in the final seconds the irish went for the win with a two-point try and the quarterback is tony rice brown in the slot they've got him double covered now karpinsky comes in here's the rollout made the call that day for us here on cbs as penn state prevail 21 20. it was a day weather-wise very similar to today in fact there are other similarities and for more on that let's take it down to our sideline man john dockery jim nance it is wicked cold it is bone chilling cold down here and it's not snowing now but earlier this morning a snow storm blew across happy valley leaving a dusting of the white stuff all over the place now there's more forecast later on in the day right now as you mentioned jim nance the temperature's around 30 the wind chill is heading down towards zero but the real story is the wind it's gusting up to 25 miles an hour and sure both these teams are used to the cold and they rely on the run so it may not affect their offenses that much but where it will affect this game is in the kicking game mistakes and field position will help decide this game and pat hayden it's the way the players and the teams deal with the elements that will help to determine who wins this game today well john in many stadiums across the country thousands of senior college football players be running into their stadiums for the last home game here at penn state they have a tradition of introducing their seniors before their last home game in a few moments these are reflective moments thinking about how important this game is to these players i think it's the biggest game for penn state in the last five years other than the national championship especially i think the way this season has gone the way things have happened to us this is our national championship game this week this is my national championship game this is everybody's game there's no pressure on us there's we have nothing we have everything to gain notre dame has everything to lose and for blair thomas is a very special day as he runs out in the field for the last time the man who's rushed for over a thousand yards this year sat out all last year with a knee injury but he had over 200 yards when they last played against notre dame two years ago he needs to have that kind of game today so great gumball as blair thomas and his teammates run into beaver stadium for the very last time they hope they have the kind of game that they can remember for a lifetime all right pat hayden good afternoon everyone and welcome to our studios in new york season 22-game win streak the longest in notre dame history challenged today by 17th ranked penn state the nittany lions at six two and one and the irish leave the locker room and head for the field where they are winless in the 80s at beaver stadium let's get a report now from john dockery doc you know jim the big question all week long here at penn state is who will the starting quarterback be will it be tom bill the cerebral high percentage pastor or tony sack of the man with unlimited potential no amount of detective work has been able to come up with a clue but joining me now is a man who can solve the mystery of the starting quarterback joe paterno who would be joe's still very tight-lipped and mum on the subject if i had to guess i say it would be tony sacca he sure is smiling for a man with no sweater on in this 30 degree weather we'll see the real joe paterno in a minute but now the notre dame fighting irish coming out let's get another report down there pat hayden jim mate the wind is going to be very much a factor today particularly for the kickers and punters i talked to craig hendrick the punter from notre dame just a moment ago and he said when he's punting the ball into the win he's going to have to keep the ball low and try to drive it and tony rice the quarterback said when he throws the ball into the win he needs a very tight spiral to pierce the win today penn state nittany lions at six two and one a one point loss three weeks ago to alabama missing a last second field goal for the win [Applause] today the power drive for notre dame begins penn state this afternoon at miami next week and then on to the orange bulb again where they'll face colorado penn state would like nothing more than to spoil all the plans of the number one irish [Music] [Applause] lou holtz has won here before but he was the coach at that time of north carolina state he has not won here as the notre dame coach and now joe paterno and the nittany lions [Applause] these two have met 13 times the series record is 6 6 and 1. today the deadlock will be broken notre dame and penn state coming up next cbs sports presents college football live from beaver stadium in university park pennsylvania it's the top ranked notre dame fighting irish versus the penn state nittany lions today's cfa game is sponsored by toyota's quality line of cars and trucks toyota i love what you do for me ups passed efficient service to 175 countries and territories worldwide and by rca number one with the toughest critics in the world [Music] games played prince state was a little delayed coming out of the notre dame was a little delayed coming out of the locker room then during a coin toss look at this the entire notre dame team lined up behind their captains a type of intimidation saying here we are we're in your house jim nance but we're ready back to you gymnast doc penn state won the toss and deferred they will defend the goal to our left notre dame will receive to start it and that means the rocket will they kick it to him he leads the nation and kick returns having run two back for touchdowns both against michigan four on his career he has returned for touchdowns [Applause] as well as a punt return this year and the kick bounced into the end zone it straddled the sideline and a touch back notre dame will start from the 20. tony rice the leading rusher for the irish at quarterback in the backfield he's joined by anthony johnson has scored 12 touchdowns ricky waters has scored nine on the year eilers and ismail are the receivers rice keeps it rice picks up 25 yards on the opening play of the game [Applause] finally tackled by andre commons [Applause] i have seen tony rice do this so often over the years it looks like there's a little bit of a mix up and he runs almost like a quarterback draw off a trap action then he's going to pick up a block by number 13 eilers and his mile number 25. one thing about notre dame their wide receivers block and block all day long great walk by eilers to help freedom first and ten notre dame from the 44. ricky waters off right tackle stacked up after a three yard gain tackled by collins and dieter dieter is the nose tackle a couple of seniors on that defensive line gia nettie and schoenwolf chismar and andre collins two outstanding senior linebackers on the inside on the outside it's dinofrio and freshman reggie gibbons he'll give waters four on the carry second down and six for notre dame william pollard has come into the game as a receiver for the irish [Applause] pitch to waters no gain deductrio ran down the line with him [Applause] the notre dame offensive line starts at center with mike helt and it guard ryan and grenhard the two tims the tackles mike brennan and dean brown another brown tight end derek brown always a threat to go deep the tight end derek brown third and six out of the eye notre dame schoenwolf makes the sack on rice not that notre dame throws that often 112 attempts this year for rice but only the third time he's been sacked o.j mcduffie returned man waiting for the kick from hendrick bouncing around and will die near the 20-yard line you know rich stonewolf jim has made an awful lot of plays in his four-year career at penn state number 75 just as a swim move right behind grunhard number 75 went right over his head and made the sack and jim this is going to be a defensive game in a game decided by field position and turnovers and i think it's going to be a fourth quarter game well there's the answer to the starting quarterback question at penn state soccer the sophomore will remain the starter he sends smith in motion on first down blair thomas tries it up the middle and picks up three [Music] zaca starts today completes only 39 percent of his passes but he's got a big arm can go long thompson and blair thomas the running backs thomas already over a thousand david daniels and terry smith the receivers will also see o.j mcduffie in the mix for the nittany lions at a receiver spot [Applause] second down we'll call it eight now saka incomplete in the hands of dave jacob well jim you will see actually both quarterbacks today that is tony saca the man who has played most of this year but tom bill is the man who started this season started the first two games of the season and then was suspended from the team but tony saca is a man who's come in and played well number 12 you will see him back last week he played the second half against maryland that was a 13-13 tie last week against the terrapins third down and eight [Applause] what a hit put on dave daniels by ned bolkar right at the first down yardage at the 31-yard line daniels held on and this is ned bowl cars kind of game number 47 in the middle of the screen when you play michigan's and michigan states and southern cals and penn state ned balcar is in his element because they're going to throw passes like that they're going to run the ball at him 40 or 50 times he loves these kind of games boy that's the kind of hit that shakes and rattles the teeth on a cold day like it is today in state college it is a first down for penn state from its 31-yard line out of the full house backfield mcduffie gets the run picks up five don grimm cut him under for notre dame now let's talk more about the irish defense it starts at nose tackle with chris zorich i don't think there's a better one in the country bob doll and jeff hallm on the defensive line the backers grim and bolcar inside and outside it's andre jones and scott kowalkowski [Applause] second down and five for penn state [Applause] [Music] pitch to thomas zach out in front first down penn state andre jones holds on to him as thomas goes out of bounds at the 45-yard line very nice offensive line here for penn state roger duffy the best that joe paterno has ever had at center monahan and zod at the guard zod a very good pulling guard and freeman and mccartney at the tackles the tight end dave jacob needs to catch some balls today and penn state needs to have some success throwing the ball downfield first penn state from its 45. [Music] quickly now hits daniels again a quickie route that gets into notre dame territory and another first down a gain of 11. and jim i can't tell you how important this start is for tony sacca he is a quarterback struggling with his confidence he acts very confident but deep down he has been troubled the last few weeks but he's come out this game and thrown some very nice balls [Applause] two receptions by dave daniels and on first and ten leroy thompson hit at the line by chris zorich now you mentioned zorage being the best u.s scene i don't think there's a better nose guard in all of america because what chris zorage does for this team is just about everything he'll fight off the center he'll run down field on screenplays he'll fight off double teams he'll make sacks he does everything that's possibly asked of a nose tackle only a junior from chicago zorrich [Music] running out of there and getting to the 36-yard line [Applause] holding on down by an ankle along with andre jones and penn state about three yards shy of a first and jim penn state has the ball has the ball in the wind right now we've talked about the wind a couple of times and it's very important when you have the wind at your back to try to make the quarter as long as you can and that means throwing the ball with the wind and they brought in an extra tight end number 80 todd young [Applause] [Music] [Applause] third and three [Applause] play action fake sacko with all kinds of protection now throwing it down field and the catch is made by mcduffie [Applause] 22 yards for the notre dame 15. fabulous protection by the penn state offensive line now mcduffie is the only receiver out of this pattern and zach is waiting waiting waiting and what mcdovey does a great job he was supposed to run deep but then we saw he was not going to beat the man he turned around and was wide open a nice adjustment by o.j mcduffie first and ten [Music] blair thomas pushes his offensive lineman in front and knocks down a couple of guys it was mcarton he was directed traffic out there a little bit it helped out that cleared the way the notre dame secondary todd light with eight interceptions on the year stands for gala the other corner and the safeties are terrell and francisco this has been a sluggish penn state offense all year by this opening drive they have been very impressive mixing the run and the pass second and four jericho at fullback claire thomas with a three and a first down for penn state clear in the way forum the fullback that was just inserted john jarrett you know what offense last week against maryland they got down in scoring territory inside the ten yard line and had trouble punching the ball in but just since there's a different attitude you sense those seniors that were introduced before this game are carrying the emotion on their sleeves and one very much to get this ball into the end zone first and goal [Applause] collins in there now out in motion keeps and gets to the one-yard line brian flannery on the tackle for notre dame we said bolkar this was he's in his element today number 47 right there in the middle of your screen his eyes see the play taking him to his right he is sacrificing his body he knows a national championship perhaps is on the line great play by volkar second and goal from the one right into the end zone where the frenzy student fans are sitting player thomas touchdown player thomas with his fourth touchdown of the year penn state puts together a 13-play 79-yard drive to start it off first time they touch the football they use over five minutes on the clock and tarasi out of markowitz is hold and it's 7-0 penn state [Applause] and give this touchdown to the offensive line jim watch how they come off and create a crease there's white bodies on the ground see all the notre dame defenders on their hands and knees and then blair thomas keeps his head down and penn state is off to an early 7-0 lead two years ago 214 yards in a victory against notre dame just three weeks later while practicing he said somebody it made a noise like somebody had cracked some knuckles his knee had been blown out he had to miss the entire 88 season he bypassed a chance to go into the nfl to come back for this year today it has given penn state the early advantage over the irish five carries 24 yards on the drive and the touchdown for blair thomas joe fraternal says he is not courageous enough to kick the ball to ismail today unless he kicks it short there's this mile from the 14 and to the 35-yard line what's number 57 the guard sean love for penn state he is a man who's going to play a lot today in place of ed monaghan and he is the one who really cleared the way bounced off number seven andre jones and then get another guy it was a second effort by the offensive guard you know you're always talking about second after the tailbacks that time he had the second effort of sean love the guard out of the wishbone first and ten notre dame and a good tackle made as he was cut under as we go back now to new york for an update jim oklahoma nebraska doesn't mean as much as it usually does this year but an intense rivalry nevertheless jerry gadowski has run for one touchdown thrown for two including that 24-yarder to chris garrett and in the first quarter nebraska leads the sooners 22-7 jim well on a day where that great rivalry does not have anything riding on it like it usually does anthony johnson pass the 40 to the 41-yard line anthony johnson all year long and throughout his whole career has gotten more yards out of nothing than just about any running back i've ever seen you know there's there's he has to get those dirty yards the tough yards inside and as a fullback he averages over four yards of carry and anthony johnson by his inside running sets up the outside runs on the perimeter for tony rice third down and four ricky waters near the first down at the 45. he got it a spot gave him the first down i'll tell you that was an important first down too i think gym for notre dame colorado as expected all over kansas state today and that's the reason why oklahoma and nebraska is not as special as it often is well it's not for the big eight crown but again for those seniors playing in that game today it's a very special moment for those guys as well [Applause] tony smith in as a receiver for tony rice first and ten from the 45. inside give to anthony johnson now what notre dame will do jim is they will continue to run anthony johnson inside until you take him away but what that does is set up tony rice on the perimeter and all the big plays in college football come on the perimeter of the defense and sooner or later tony rice will be at the end of the defense with rocket isma on his corner on his side that was a great hit we saw early in this game by ned bolkhart i still think the hardest hit this year in college football is the one leveled on anthony johnson against michigan state he was back on his feet a play later rice on the option gets to the 49-yard line andre commons tripped him up first and charade range was there also the free safety number 32nd at 36. and every time you play an option team your free safety has to have the game of his life and if penn state is going to knock off this number one team charade range at free safety is going to have to make a lot of tackles and still be cagey enough not to give up any cheap touchdowns on the post patterns third down and four pollard to the right ismail in a slot right bryce throwing to waters and it's a first down just enough yardage reggie gibbons on the coverage and tackle rice's pass caught his first attempt of the day you know much has been made you're going to see waters come right out here into the flat much has been made about tony rice and his ability not to throw the ball terribly effectively but i want to say on third downs and when the game is on the line he can throw the ball well that guy was open and that was ricky waters in the flat for the easy first down into the win first and ten from the 44 of penn state now the option in the keep 27-yard line tony rice tackled by charade range after a gain of 17. running the option plays is one of the funniest things to see i think because defensive players run away from the guy with the ball you're going to see number 27 gary brown run right past the quarterback with the ball but he has the pitch man that's his responsibility i've always thought it was a strange sight not running past the guy with the ball but the option forces you to play disciplined defense that's already twice in this quarter rice has broken a couple of long ones first and ten and a timeout called by rice insult state leads the nation in scoring defense mark donafrio's one of their best but he knows the irish have many ingredients tony rice makes he's the key to the offense makes the whole offense go and i'm very impressed also with the with their fullback anthony johnson he seems like every time he hits someone he's getting right up looking to hit the next guy so you know all around they have of course just mail and waters i mean with speed i mean they're just a great team all around there's not a you know soft spot in there this guy mark d'onofrio has made two tackles 11 sacks on the year for d'onofrio why the timeout by rice two seconds left on the down clock he was trying to call an audible at the line of scrimmage realized he would have run out of time first and ten notre dame and anthony johnson barrels to the 23-yard line dieter and givens on the tackle let's go back to john dockery you know jim nance we talked about the wind before the game and the weather conditions it's very cold down here the field was covered before the game so it's not frozen it may freeze up later but the wind is very strange it's gusting at this moment it's blowing across the field so it's hard to say where the advantage is at this moment in time back to you guys second and six eyelers to the right ismail in a slot right out of the eye option left and right to the 6 17 yard line chismar and range on the tackle brian chismar is a much like ned bull car we talked about bull car but chismar number 28 the inside linebacker for penn state is the same type of player and you know college football is about making adjustments well he's had to make a lot of them he is right here but you're going to see him make the play and fight through a couple of guys shifting down never crosses his legs fights through one block of anthony johnson and makes the stop we talk about making adjustments though he was recruited as a as a running back then he was a starting strong safety and moved him to the outside linebacker and now he is an inside linebacker and has really found a home inside brian chismar [Music] you mentioned he came here as a running back 10th all-time rusher in the high school ranks in the state of pennsylvania but here he's played defense throughout his career they're going to measure for the first down just to be sure and about a foot short third and one and this is where notre dame has been so good this year on short yardage situations by the nature of their offense they're going to be in a lot of third and shorts and when they get in that wishbone and option formation they have four different guys who can pick up the first down for you they bring in rod west number 43 is the extra tight end this smile is in the backfield in this wishbone set with anthony johnson and ricky waters on the sneak rice has it first down notre dame and what about the block of mike helt when you're a defensive man you know the ball is going to come right over you but watch the center mike held number 55 on jim deter number 72. they lock helmets he gets low there's a big push and tony rice just follows the big block and the big body of hell for the first yard for the first down that is a nice charge by the center from the 16. eilers at the top of your screen this smile in a slot inside again to go with anthony johnson jim dieter on that play pat and a great match-up dieter the nose tackle number 72 in the middle and hell these guys going to go at it all day long the play before help got the better of it this time dieter fights off the block thinks he stops anthony johnson right there but anthony johnson went for five more yards play of the drive for the irish second down and three [Applause] anthony johnson driving his legs to the four yard line and a notre dame first down what you should really look at when you watch anthony johnson play this game is how many yards he gains after he gets hit [Applause] watch he's going to get hit by a couple andre collins does a nice job of getting around the block and then you see how low he is he's hard to stop for no game because he runs so low and keeps his legs moving all the time [Music] the footballs inside of the five first and goal connie rice touchdown notre dame every time you challenge tony rice he seems to respond to you and particularly in the fourth quarter when it counts craig hendrick a freshman will try to tie the game here with 219 left in the first quarter kick is good jim we talked about anthony johnson as a runner but watch him at the full back position throw the key block here again he gets low and clears the way for tony rice to dive into the end zone notre dame comes back to tie the game 7-7 irish riding in on a 22-game win streak here's how they have done it [Music] a lot of ways i think that one is one of the key ones the force 26 more turnovers and they committed and look at the special teams lou holtz put as much puts as much emphasis on the special teams as any head coach in america that's the first thing they do every week is set up their special teams game plan looks like they're in a battle today however bobby samuels is set at the 10-yard line to return the kick and henrik just flat out missed it ball blew off the tee as long as he doesn't touch it he can do that i think we just got about 30 000 cases of whiplash everyone jolted their head to the left and looking for the football like a tennis match yeah but now they're gonna have someone hold it and that's that exactly explains the reason why and also while samuels is on the 10-yard line all right just driving it into the ground and the return to the 43-yard line by jeff anderson the son of rutgers head coach dick anderson jim you have to think with 214 remaining in the first quarter and penn state have having the win behind him maybe you think about using your timeouts here rather than at the end of the second quarter and try to gain as much of the time and clock as you can with the wind at your back 2-14 left in the first quarter number 32 blair thomas lined up behind tony saca first down carry for thomas and he darts to the 48-yard line devon mcdonald on that side along with todd light but blair thomas has such a great feel of where people are on the field and not just not just defensive players he has a real sense of where all his teammates are and he can pick up blocks a lot of guys can't because of that feel for the game second and six sacko passes deflected but still caught bob dahl got a hand on it but the pass was caught more and more teams we have seen in college football this year tipping balls because more and more teams have short passing attacks and you can't sack the quarterback if they have short drops but notre dame this time it's bob dahl number 93 who gets his hands up there we have seen jeff holm tip balls for notre dame zorage has as well but if you can't get to the quarterback get those big thomas on the catch third and one from the 48 of notre dame thomas again looking for the corner looking for the marker he has it and a first down for penn state you know you think of blair thomas there's a flashy runny back that can get you 40 yards well that's a tough yard that you need for a first down to keep a drive alive against number one team that's a big run but jim i'm still a little bit surprised that we aren't seeing more passes from penn state right now when they have this big win at their backs they'll have the win for one more minute [Applause] on first down setting up the reverse for mcduffie now looking to throw no one open downfield so mcduffie runs with it and gets to the 31-yard line got away from bull car [Applause] and mcduffie able to improvise and pick up another first down a gain of 15. then bowl car was a funny thing if the inside linebacker got his shoe and was so disgusted because he ran right out of it and they just threw it down the bull car is right about in the middle of the screen right now mcduffie's trying to throw the ball down field but smugalo is not fooled but watch volkar he picks it up and then he threw the shoe down disgusted he ran right through it first and ten penn state [Applause] claire thomas on the short side of the field out of bounds at the 26. a lot of people thought it was a late hit after blair thomas was out of bounds all of a sudden you have 85 000 referees but no call was there there was a call there was a flag we're a bit blocked out by the sidelines here down below on our near side they called the late hit on terrell i'm not so sure it was as aggravating as they believed then ball personal foul offense defense first down it wasn't a hard hit but it was a hit when thomas was out of bounds blue holtz wants to talk about it with pat terrell he takes terrell out brings in george poorman at free safety but it's first and ten for penn state jericho at fullback thomas the tailback gets the carry and maybe a yard that will be the last play of this quarter [Applause] penn state has driven it for a touchdown notre dame came back to answer so it's 7-7 notre dame and penn state college football and cbs sports will return after this message and a word from your local station score tied at seven penn state threatening now you see some sunshine coming across the field but folks it is wicked cold here the wind chill is approaching zero temperature just dipped below 30 degrees but the real factor is the wind it's gusting up to 30 miles an hour affecting both teams now back to you pat and jim all right doc and we start the second quarter with penn state driving again they have it second and nine from the notre dame 13-yard line leroy thompson hit right at the line [Applause] tackled by troy ridgely third and long coming up you know leroy thompson number 44 the man who ran that ball jim is really a converted tailback and they really wanted to play and see a lot more of john jarrett number 34 at fullback because he was the kind of powerful fullback you need to play against notre dame third and nine saca tucks it in takes the sack devon mcdonald and that is a big sack when taurasi now has to kick against the wind number 45 the left of your screen the best pass rusher at notre dame and it's all attitude that's all pass rushing is and he's got a rusher's attitude ray tarasi will attempt a field goal measuring 38 yards this to put penn state in front kind of a low snap fielded by markowitz and the kick is good tarasi now 16 of 20 on the year [Applause] penn state's offense has had the football twice they've scored on each possession and now lead by three [Music] state back in front 10-7 over notre dame but the irish now will have the wind at their backs here for the first time today the rocket about to return the kick today is rajiv ismail's 20th birthday he is the most exciting man in college football this season has been as a kick returner as a receiver and sometimes even as a running back gerassi kicks it instead on a wing to anthony johnson johnson look at this all the way to the 40-yard line notre dame seems to always start with excellent field position and tomorrow we position our day starting at 12 30 with the nfl today and then regional coverage many will see minnesota against philadelphia tampa bay in chicago saints atlanta detroit phoenix against the rams green bay san francisco those are four o'clock games you see there check your local listings looking forward to see that viking defense keith lamar 15 sacks on the year it's incredible the year millard's having it culver the fullback in front on the option helping clear the way for rice he steps out at the 41-yard line of penn state part of that was the block by rodney culver the fullback and the rest of it was tony rice we saw earlier anthony johnson doing watch the fullback right here this is rodney culver number five watch the block that he gets after the fake he's the one that really clears the inside he blocks 31 andre collins and that creates a huge lane for rice he makes a guy miss and that's a good combination of block and run by the irish 17-yard gain in rice now eight carries for 62 yards and the notre dame touchdown ricky waters sidesteps a defender has a first down and he pushed his way all the way to the 22-yard line was talking to jim strong the offensive coordinator at notre dame and he said we have challenged ricky waters in the final part of the season we want him to be our physical block and he follows the block on the left side there by number 64 mike brennan who comes around on sean wolfe number 75 the fullback kicks out that's johnson and then ricky waters just runs right through the arm tackle he gained 19 on that play another first down from the 22. inside handoff anthony johnson and a gain of four [Music] is getting some help from the guard number 52 tim ryan is a double team jim deter one goes low the other goes high but it's great coordination look at that they blocked max six yards one goes low one goes high and then anthony johnson just hugs that double team second and six and another timeout called by rice as again the down clock was about to expire irish left with one timeout in the first half [Applause] trail by three they'll clear the way for tony rice 62 yards rushing here early he's in the race for the heisman as well oh that means everything because uh it's more of a team award and i don't think tony could get it by himself so to speak without the rest of the team and just knowing that tony and he cares about us and he's told every all of us that you know he cares about us and that if he wanted to just be the best because you know we feel like we're helping him do it and he respects us one thing everyone always mentions about tony rice he saves his best for the big games and he's off to a big start second down and six from the penn state 18. faking quickly and keeping and rice near the first down i believe he has it at the 12-yard line we're early in the second quarter at beaver stadium notre dame ranked number one in the country in for a fight today against 17th ranked penn state with nittany lions a touchdown and a field goal and they're two possessions today and the irish now driving and trying to regain take over the lead and it's been a day thus far jim of linemen and defensive play and offensive lineman and nose tackles and that's the kind of day it's going to be all day it's going to be a fourth quarter game lou holt sending in a play with rod west the back up tight end you see notre dame just inches shy of the first you know jim everybody falls in love with passing teams but both these teams win by running the football and notre dame in particular when they get inside the 15-yard line they are very tough because they take the approaches we can run the ball four times and always pick up the first down well they come out break the huddle with the wishbone now anthony johnson's the fullback the two tailbacks waters and ismail on third inches anthony johnson advanced it just a little and i think it's enough for the first that's all we needed just a little is right they moved the chains first down notre dame and here on defense on penn state defense you have to decide what you're going to try to do are you going to try to stop anthony johnson inside with your nose tackle or your linebacker andre collins or do you force tony rice to pitch the ball and hope you get support from the secondary to on the pitch waters breaks the tackle and gives notre dame the lead touchdown championship teams respond this is a physical run by ricky waters that's what they want but it was a great block by the wide receiver number 13 on the right of the screen right there then ricky set up ricky waters touchdown if eilers doesn't make the block waters didn't get in but it's the timing of these notre dame blocks too that is so impressive just when the guy makes the block the running back is right there to make the cut off the block 58-yard drive and six plays and hendrick on for the extra point attempts 14-10 notre dame ricky waters breaking the tackle of jim deter to get away from the line of scrimmage and take it on in for the go-ahead score [Applause] ricky waters number 12. scoring from 12 yards out and it's notre dame in front rivalry started here in 1913 at the old beaver field in 1928 the series was shifted to philadelphia because of the demand for tickets and today 86 000 plus at beaver stadium the second largest crowd in penn state history to see number one notre dame against penn state jim dance along with pat hayden and john doctor on a cold wintry-like afternoon but the action is hot and bobby samuels is the return man fielding it at deny up the middle he goes and a flag down on the field after the return to the 34-yard line [Applause] sean smith made the tackle but a clip on the play will back up the nittany lions [Music] so far in this game total offense pretty even in fact penn state's offense has driven it both times for a touchdown and a field goal rice 67 yards rushing and the touchdown claire thomas scoring the touchdown for penn state bolkar in on five tackles you know the scoring so far has kind of surprised me i really thought it would be a lower scoring game certainly in the first half but also surprise has been penn state's offense they've shown a lot more life than they have the last couple of weeks that has been the big surprise sacka is four for five passing but all of that in the first quarter when he had the win at his back on first and ten to give to blair thomas and out to the 18-yard line you know blair thomas will make a lot of 30 and 40 and 50 yard runs for you but i think what's most impressive about him are those kind of runs the four and five and six yard runs inside from tackle to tackle when he runs right through guys got a notre dame defender down on the field [Music] and it's chris zorich wow i think it was maybe ned bolkar number 47 who landed on top of zorich right there on top of his shoulder and again it's going to happen when you have a defense that's flying around the football like bolkar and zorage and alm and doll do you're going to be running into your own guys from time to time chris zorich has had one sensational year at noah's garden let's remind the folks we got a big week ahead thanksgiving weekend on friday college action all kinds of cotton ball implications in this game arkansas and texas a m and then next saturday we have two games for you penn state against pitt [Music] and then later that day let us be your ticket for notre dame against miami zorrich back on his feet was able to walk off to the sidelines under his own power replaced by ridgely second and four claire thomas may have been bumped forward about a yard short of the first bolkar and andre jones did andre jones number seven come all the way from the weak side of the defense to make the play okay you are seeing a lot of fired up guys today including andre jones lined up on the weak side ran all the way across the field to help with a tackle that's the kind of day it is it's going to be a hundred percent effort type of day now on third and one penn state shows its own wishbone pitching it to thomas pursuit in the backfield smuggala ran him down andre jones had broken through there to force them even wider penn state will have to punt corner support great corner support by stance magala he is up here now watch he is just going to make the play right here smagala has been a guy that people try to test week in and week out and every time he seems to make the play doug helkowski a 38-yard average into punt on fourth and five waters is the deep man on the return a couple of short guys in front and that's steve bellis who was flanked by pat eilers and bellis makes the fair catch only a 30-yard punt into that wind byu looking good in the beehive with booth lot of traditional rivalries today playing for all sorts of awards and bells and apple cups and all sorts of stuff like that on traditional a very traditional day college football what a great season for duke and steve spurrier now his name linked to practically every job in america but i'll tell you he is an outstanding football coach he may be coaching at five different places next year new way of going about it from the 48 at penn state rice drops back looking for ismail and he has him at the 32-yard line [Applause] let's go down to the sidelines with our man john dockery doc you know jim next it's interesting to watch tony rice you don't see any of these hand warmers or anything on tony rice before the game he had one around his waist guys keeping their hands warm but before the game tony rice attitude how he presents himself as a winner is all important he took it off threw it away as if to say hey the cold won't bother me today quickly two for two passing is rice and again good numbers for him on the ground on the first down play ricky waters into the secondary and tackle by leonard humphries along with brian chismar boy once again the center mike held right to watch you watch out the job that he does on dieter and again if your running backs are going to have big holes like that you need your offensive lineman dean brown number 71 really kind of does the job on his man but mike held the center cleared dieter all the way three yards to the left that made the big hole for ricky waters a nine yard game second and ward from the 23. [Applause] anthony johnson has the first down to the 17-yard line [Applause] notre dame has had a remarkable year running the ball and even better today and that's even when defenses know they're going to run the football and today they're facing one of the nation's best defenses the best scoring defense in all of america with penn state well the most points scored on penn state 17 by alabama and notre dame is going in right now trying to top that figure here in the first half rice on first down to the 10-yard line and a gain of seven well did you see the way rice hugged his blocks by his backs both anthony johnson and ricky waters were there blocking and rice just kind of hugged those terrific timing as he just cuts off that those blocks and picks up about seven all these these guys these runners at notre dame just seem to have a nice sense of feel for the game of football second and three waters tackled at the five by leonard humphries had he been able to dodge humphreys it would have been another touchdown for waters [Music] but he has the first down first and goal from the five you know clever formations that notre dame is using they're using a lot of slot formation two receivers to a side to prevent penn state from getting into an eight-man defensive front to stop the run rod west the extra tight end comes in this mile drops back into the backfield first down anthony johnson gets halfway there here's a man who has 31 rushing touchdowns on lots of guys squeeze yards jim different ways he i think he squeezes extra yardage just out of his body lean the way he carries the ball leaning forward all the time eilers now comes in as a tailback out of the wishbone on second and goal anthony johnson to the one [Applause] his offensive line is playing extremely well he's got a full back is running and joe paterno is looking for a negative play out of his defense we need we need jeter or gian eddie or schoenwolf to give us some penetration on defense this smile brings in the play and is sent to the right notre dame lines up out of the eye johnson and waters on third and goal anthony johnson did he break the plane no third straight run with anthony johnson and he's inches shy who holds is taking touchdown all the way here now again they have four different ways of getting this ball in the end zone they've got a quarterback sneak they've got anthony johnson the option either where rice keeps it or pitches the ball on the corner of the defense it's fourth and goal penn state stopped alabama just before the half in the same situation three weeks ago anthony johnson touchdown notre dame this has been a fun game jim watching both teams respond to each other's scores hendrick on the extra point try rush coming through there but the kick is good this drive and this touchdown was set up by the center mike health and his offensive lineman and the running and blocking of the fullback anthony johnson he crosses the plane and that's a notre dame score those words were pinned by sports writer grantland rice following notre dame's game with army in 1924 not only did rice's writing immortalize this brilliant backfield but led to an amazing accomplishment the four horsemen are the only entire backfield in college football history to gain membership in the hall of fame but this is brahmsburger recalling the great traditions of college football

Channel: Scott Berrong

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Id: JvACN3fZGlI

Length: 62min 7sec (3727 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 27 2020