On the 2 yard line with 50 seconds to go to preserve the road win.
That was the last game I went to with my dad (class of ‘48)
(Officially from the 30. It happened right in front of me and I remember it being more like the 29).
Here are several others:
Olden Days:
1. John Lujack – touchdown-saving tackle against Army in the Game of the Century 0-0 tie. It’s not often a Heisman winner’s career is remembered for a single play
2. Joe Perkowski – Game winning FG in controversial 17-15 win over Syracuse. A roughing the kicker penalty was called on the original attempt as the clock expired. We were allowed an additional try, which was not in the rules at that time. Syracuse president request to Father Ted that we forfeit the win
3. Nick Eddy – Kickoff TD against Purdue in 1966. Purdue was very good, led by Bob Griese, and had scored a potentially back-breaking TD on a fumble return as we were scoring. Turned around the game in NC season.
4. Andy Pilney, Bill Shakespeare, and Wayne Millner – Last second touchdown against tOSU in 1935 in one of the first national radio broadcasts. Pilney was hurt on a last second scramble. Shakespeare tossed game-winning pass to Millner as we scored 3 TDs in last quarter to win 18-13.
5. Frank Varichione – Lineman from Leahy era and later good pro. We tied Iowa 14-14 in 1951. Our TDs were scored at the end of both halves abetted by the Fainting/Feinting Irish when linemen had injuries to enable clock stoppages and no TOs left.
6. Bill Gay (I think) – In another Leahy tie, this time with Southern Cal. He asked the ref how much time was left in the game before receiving the KO and when told there was 1:30 left, he said that was enough and returned the kick over 80 yards to set up tying score.
More recent
7. Stephon Tuit – outrunning Navy backfield on his fumble recovery touchdown
8. Shawn Wooden – pass breakup at the end of 31-24 victory over FSU
9. Trevor Laws and Darren Walls – 3 or 4 lateral TD interception at the end of the first half against Stanford that was nullified by a BS penalty against Trevor
10. Miles Boykin – predict the TD catch against LSU will fall in this list and perhaps the Finke catch against Michigan last year
11. Torii Hunter Jr – textbook missed targeting call
12. Luther Bradley (?)- welcoming Lynn Swann to South Bend
13. Terrell Lambert – 2006 MSU game interception. The ball had been batting and was lying on the back of the prone receiver. The camera view was blocked by players at the sideline, and the announcer called in incomplete, not realizing Terrell had grabbed the ball. His earlier pick-6 might have qualified them as we rallied from down 37-20 with little time left to 40-37.
14. Greg Davis – the questionable or borderline call on Rocket’s TD against Colorado
15. Huntley Bakich – Lou’s embarrassing sideline moment
16. Cam McDaniel – fumble while running out the clock, made worse by decision to go for 2 with an 11 point lead
17. Mike Ragone – chasing down a Washington State player trying to return a blocked extra point (might have preserved a shutout)
18. Steve Cichy – Blocked field goal TD against Houston in Joe’s “Chicken Soup” game that put us in range for a famous comeback
and went to my first game (10+ years later). I was watching on TV and that is my most vivid ND college FB memory of the 1970's.
from a NY Times article
Robin Weber
"I had tackle shoulder pads, a lineman's cage face mask; and I had never caught a pass from Tom Clements-not even in practice."
and from another later article remembering that play
"Holy crap, Weber was thinking. They want me to run a 40 yd flag route? I've run that in sandlot football, but other than that..."
"The play almost never happened. Weber said he couldn't believe Notre Dame would call a play that might remotely involve him (Casper was the primary receiver)".
Convinced it was a mistake & ND had the wrong personnel on the field, Weber thought about calling timeout......
was that the only reason people remember it and remember him is it was practically the last play of the game and the [tremendous] overall result.
I guess he was trying to keep it in perspective. But I still think of him as a hero.
I confirm his sentiment. If you remember, Casper made a magnificent catch of a lame duck throw over the middle to preserve a drive. And Thomas made the field goal, Hunter the long run, lots of heros! Others can talk about the defense for me.
ND had just tied game at 21 all. Shannon's tackle, which we heard in the stands, separated Larry Grigg from the ball and led to ND's winning touchdown.
my next door neighbor my freshman year. Nice, quiet guy. Kick bounced on cross bar and... fell back. Argh!
lined the field (at halftime)and had grabbed/pulled on the goal posts. IIRC, the ball hit dead center (middle) of the cross bar and bounce up and back. Hempel was a good kicker (straight on - old school). Game ended in a tie score.
1926
Late in the very first ever USC-ND game-in the LA Coliseum....USC was leading 12-7
Rockne inserted little used (and little=5'6) left handed QB Art Parisien. Parsien drove ND down the field (60yds in 6 plays)-hitting HB John Niemiec with a 23 yd game winning td pass with less than a minute left.
Final ND 13 USC 12
Legend had it that the Trojans were fooled on the td pass-because Parisien rolled left & the USC defenders assumed little Art was running-not knowing that Parisien was left handed.
Good story...but...Parsien had already completed a 35 yd pass to Niemiec just 3 plays earlier...the Trojans were pretty stupid if they hadn't noticed that Art was left handed after the first pass.....
Parisien never threw another pass for Notre Dame-this was the final game of the season. Little Art transferred to Boston U after the semester.
Another player appearing in his final game that afternoon in the Coliseum was Trojan tackle Marion Morrison #24.
Morrison quit school soon after the ND game, took up acting, & changed his name to John Wayne.
Was it that USC "thought" Parisien was passing, or that they were just habitually accustomed to left-side rollouts being runs, such that they didn't think about the fact that he was left handed?
The essence of the story sounds plausible, even if the usual explanation might be lacking in nuance.
Not a relevant play in real terms, but that's certainly what comes to mind first when his name comes up.
I think of his 85-yard TD scamper vs. USC in '73...
He's done a kick ass job with the Dallas Club's Tutoring program. The work he does for kids is incredibly impressive.
I was meeting friends of relatives & my sister mentioned that I was an ND grad & this guy from Cleveland said he was at the Penick game. "Ran right past me on the ND side of the stadium." I was at that game as well.
The first carry of his career, he ran for one yard and scored a touchdown. It also turned out to be the *only* carry of his career. I don't know if it's still true, but at one time, he was the only Notre Dame player whose only career carry was for a touchdown.
In retrospect, at that moment, the golden era of 1988-93 came to a close.
and he was running right at me on that return. Lousy seats, but the best view of that play.
4th down stop at the goal line vs BC in 1998
It's hard to say that his career was defined by that one---indisputably fantastic---play.
And didn't realize until Monday that we won
That final drive was a work of art. The Robert Hughes express train could not be stopped and blew through the Gallipo stop on the way to tocuhdown-ville.
I know he had many positive moments for the team but this one sticks out above all others for me. It encapsulated his spirit as a player as it would have taken Zeus himself to keep him from reaching the end zone. No way he was going down.
Just took the ball right out of the running backs hands. Loved that.
I need to watch that play more often.
It was deafening inside the stadium for that return. Pandemonium. It was the first time I thought to myself, this is what it must have been like for Miami in 88.
But after the insane celebration in the stadium for Zbikowski's punt return, I somehow ended up several rows below (or above, I can't even remember which) where my seats were.
I literally lost my voice for 3 days after that game. An amazing experience only slightly ruined by the loss.
Our seats were on the wall in that endzone at the hashmark. When Zibby pulled his jersey and pointed to the ND it was literally right in front of us.
Two years later when Jon got a dog (a Vizsla) to help distract him during his chemo, there was only one choice for a name...Zibby. That dog didn't always see eye to eye with me. In fact when my brother spent recovery time with my folks on their farm, that dog would go out of his way to crap in my old room.
After Jon passed in 2009, Zibby mellowed a bit and we had a good relationship after. I would care for him whenever my parents needed a dog sitter. In the last few months, poor Zib could barely get up off his bed. Gone was the dog that needed crazy long hikes to get him to settle. Last time I watched him I had to carry him up and down my front steps because he couldn't go up and down any more. He finally passed away a few weeks ago. He was a good dog and hopefully is now fetching sticks for Jon and pointing butterflies.
Bob Crable is still the all-time leader in tackles at ND. His hit in the Sugar Bowl that separated Herschel Walker's shoulder and, perhaps better, his hit against Charles White in ND Stadium (Oct 1981) were among the dozens of intimidating, great plays made by Crable.
Time tends to make us forget the body of work.
Crable was neither a "one hit" nor "one block" wonder.
ND/The refs game UM 30 yards in penalties to start that drive.
a rather large piece of sod (remember that?) out of his face guard!
players, both of their infamous plays have gotten an unfair label from some. Buckner didn't cost the Red Sox the World Series and calling the Brown play a drop is a bit harsh, especially for a tight end.
I hate thinking about those losses in '90.
drawn the play up in the grass on the sidelines during the timeout.
But the opposing coach would have been so humiliated that his player got trucked on national television that he would threaten a walkout unless Zellars got ejected.
I wished that there was a video board so I could confirm what I just saw.
they overhyped Purdue's FB and I think it motivated Mr. Zellars
He was worthy of the hype.
Which is to say, Alstott is the tallest midget.
Missed interception to "ice the game". Obviously not his fault entirely that BC marched down the field in no time at all to get the game winning field goal.
It erased an amazing effort by Kevin McDougal who does not get enough credit for his tremendous season (out of nowhere) in 1993
As noted, Pete had a great Notre Dame career and made some fantastic plays. But for anyone who saw it in 1993, there is no way, if they are honest, that they can hear "Pete Bercich" and not think of what would have been if he had closed his fingers a split second sooner on that 1993 BC pass and made that interception. I think I thought of that play everyday for a year afterwards. It shouldm't have, but the fact is that the game, the incredible comeback to take the lead after being listless all game, and the national championship came down to that single play. And he just didn't make it. It still haunts me.
Pete had a diving interception in the 4th quarter of a tied game in the Cotton Bowl that in a just world would have won the national championship.
of this game. I have probably had 10 people mention Bercich's missed int vs. BC over the years and not one (until you) mention the one in the Cotton Bowl
Bill Buckner had some great moments too, but the one people remember defines him in the eyes of most fans
Pete is a fellow alumnus (and a good guy). Also, it's not like Buckner made a run saving defensive play in game 7.
I remember thinking "did he just hand the ball off to boston college?"
Fast Forward to 7:33
...I still can't puzzle out how it made it through his arm.
Some sort of dark sorcery is the only explanation.
He had that epic game winner against MSU to Battle, but...Josh Ott
There were two brothers I remember who wrestled and played football in South Jersey, Kip and Damien Covington. They were two of the best athletes I've ever seen in this area.
Think he was a star of either the Texas or Washington won earlier in the month with a return for a touchdown. This play swung momentum hard, as we were up 20-14 getting the ball back in the second half and proceeded to get routed 45-26