The late Ara Parseghian’s 11 seasons on the Notre Dame sidelines (1964-74) saw him coach 116 games. Ninety-five of them resulted in victory, with only 17 defeats and four ties. Which were his most defining/powerful moments that resonated?
Here is our top 10, with explanations:
10. Wisconsin, 1964 — 31-7
Setting: Parseghian’s debut came on a rainy day in Madison when Notre Dame was coming off a 2-7 campaign — its fifth straight non-winning season — and averaged an anemic 12.0 points per game.
Furthermore, Wisconsin head coach Milt Bruhn was 6-2 all-time versus Parseghian, including a 37-6 win in 1962 when Parseghian’s 6-0 Northwestern Wildcats were No. 1 in the country. Bruhn had won three straight versus Parseghian and won at Notre Dame the year prior.
Notes: Wisconsin finished with minus-51 yards rushing, a Notre Dame defensive single game record to this day. New Irish quarterback John Huarte passed for 270 yards while receiver Jack Snow grabbed nine passes for 217 yards and two scores. No Irish QB threw for more than 243 yards the entire combined season in 1963. The top Irish receiver that same season totaled 233 yards in nine games.
Impact: After years of famine in the college football desert, the Notre Dame fandom sensed with ecstasy the Messiah Coach had arrived to lead them to the Promised Land.
9. USC, 1965 — 28-7
Setting: Led by that season’s Heisman Trophy winner in tailback Mike Garrett, No. 4 USC entered the cauldron at No. 7 Notre Dame with Parseghian’s troops bent on restitution after costing the Fighting Irish the 1964 consensus national title with a 20-17 comeback win in the closing minutes.
Note: Garrett was limited to 43 yards rushing while all four starting members of the Irish backfield — fullback Larry Conjar, halfbacks Nick Eddy and Bill Wolski and quarterback Bill Zloch — out-rushed him. Conjar scored all four TDs while totaling 116 yards.
Impact: In Parseghian’s 11 seasons, the only two where this rivalry did not have one of the two teams playing with a shot at the national title on the last day of the regular season or New Year’s Day was 1965 and 1971.
8. LSU, 1970 — 3-0
Setting: In the Notre Dame Stadium home finale this season, the No. 2 and 8-0 Irish squared off against No. 7 LSU, that year’s SEC champion, with national title aspirations on the line. It was Notre Dame’s first-ever meeting versus an SEC foe.
Note: Despite two future NFL MVPs at quarterback — Joe Theismann for Notre Dame and Bert Jones for LSU — the epic defensive slugfest saw the Irish limited to 240 yards total offense and LSU 169, with Notre Dame defensive end Walt Patulski credited with eight tackles for loss. The Irish won on a 24-yard field goal by Scott Hempel with 2:54 left in the game.
Impact: Although Notre Dame actually dropped to No. 4 with the win, it had a bid to play No. 1 Texas for a rematch in the Cotton Bowl with the national title on the line.
7. Purdue, 1966 — 26-14
Setting: No. 6 Notre Dame had zero experience at quarterback and receiver in this opener. No. 8 Purdue, that year’s Rose Bowl winner, featured Heisman candidate Bob Griese, who had led Purdue to an upset of the No. 1 Irish a year earlier by completing an astounding 19 of 22 passes for 283 yards.
Notes: Similar to the senior Huarte-to-Snow tandem in 1964, the sophomore combination of Terry Hanratty and Jim Seymour made a stunning debut in the hard fought 26-14 victory. Hanratty completed 16 passes, with 13 of them grabbed by Seymour for 276 yards (still a single game school record) and three touchdowns. Nick Eddy tied the game on a kickoff return after an early Purdue score on a fumble return.
Impact: With an impregnable defense that allowed only 24 points all season, and a strong rushing attack, the unveiled passing attack was the last element needed to lead the Irish to their first consensus national title in 17 years.
6. Alabama, Jan. 1, 1975 — 13-11
Setting: Parseghian revealed just over two weeks earlier this Orange Bowl clash with the 11-0 Crimson Tide, would be his final game at Notre Dame. This was supposed to be the second straight national title matchup between the two, but the 9-2 Irish had lost 55-24 at USC in the regular season finale after leading 24-0 just before halftime.
Note: A double-digit underdog in some circles, especially after the USC fiasco, Notre Dame dug deep to hang on for the two-point win, with cornerback Reggie Barnett intercepting an Alabama pass deep in Irish territory with about 1:15 left.
Impact: For the third time in five seasons, Notre Dame defeated an unbeaten and No. 1 team in a bowl game, a feat unmatched by any other coach. Parseghian retired with a 95-17-4 record that included two consensus national titles, a share of a third and a top 5 finish in at least one of the two polls eight times in his 11 seasons.
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5. Michigan State, 1966 — 10-10
Setting: The “Game of The Century” between 8-0 and No. 1 Notre Dame and 9-0 and No. 2 Michigan State in East Lansing would ostensibly determine the national title.
Note: On the road without their starting quarterback, star halfback Nick Eddy and All-American center George Goeddeke, the Irish rallied from an early 10-0 hole to knot the game while not allowing the Spartans past midfield in the second half.
Impact: Parseghian was vilified the rest of his life for “playing for the tie” after the Irish received the ball late in the contest at his 30, a charge that he emphatically would have to defend and deny repeatedly. Many might contend this was his most famous game of all, despite not winning. Still, the Irish remained No. 1 with one game left versus No. 10 and Pac-8 champ USC.
4. Texas, Jan. 1, 1971 — 24-11
Setting: For the second year in a row, the Cotton Bowl matched up No. 1 Texas — the defending national champ with a 30-game winning streak — against the No. 6 Irish. It was supposed to be the national title matchup until the Irish lost the regular season finale at USC, 38-28.
Note: Parseghian concocted the “Mirror Defense” versus the Longhorns’ vaunted triple-option attack that would generate nine fumbles (five lost) by Texas. Meanwhile, QB Joe Theismann ran for two touchdowns and tossed a third in his final game with the Irish.
Impact: After No. 2 Ohio State was upset by Stanford in the Rose Bowl, Notre Dame was staring at No. 1 until No. 3 and unbeaten Nebraska rallied in the fourth quarter to beat LSU in the Orange Bowl, 17-12. However, it was the first of seven Notre Dame bowl wins over an unbeaten and/or No. 1 team over a 23-year span.
3. USC, 1973 — 23-14
Setting: The mighty Trojans entered Notre Dame Stadium against the No. 8 Irish with a 23-game unbeaten streak and had not lost in seven years to Parseghian’s teams. The knock on him was he could “not win the big one” — meaning USC, specifically. The defending national champ Trojans saw Anthony Davis score six touchdowns, two on kickoff returns, the previous year in a 45-23 win over the Irish.
Note: Highlighted by Eric Penick’s 85-yard touchdown run and a defensive effort led by Greg Collins and Luther Bradley that helped limit Davis to 55 yards rushing on 19 carries, Notre Dame ended its USC drought with this victory in the rain.
Impact: The victory propelled Notre Dame to Parseghian’s first unbeaten regular season (10-0) in his first 10 seasons with the Irish, and a national title showdown with No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
2. USC, 1966 — 51-0
Setting: One week after the 10-10 tie at Michigan, the physically beaten up and emotionally drained No. 1 Irish had to travel to Pac-8 champ USC — which two years earlier shattered Notre Dame’s national title bid.
Note: With backup QB Coley O’Brien’s pinpoint passing and the defense led by end Alan Page and linebacker Jim Lynch asserting its dominance, Notre Dame handed Rose Bowl-bound USC what to this day remains its worst defeat ever in point margin.
Impact: With the national title voted on at the end of the regular season, the 9-0-1 Irish clinched their first No. 1 finish in 17 years, putting Parseghian in the immortal company of school icons Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy.
1. Alabama, Dec. 31, 1973 — 24-23
Setting: For the first time ever, the two superheavyweight programs — 11-0 and No. 1 Alabama and 10-0 and No. 3 Notre Dame — would meet. The Sugar Bowl matchup for the national title was labeled the biggest game in the history of the South by Crimson Tide head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.
Note: In one of the greatest college or pro championship matchups ever, which would include an unmatched seven lead changes, Notre Dame survived the epic duel with maybe the most famous play in school history, a 35-yard completion from the end zone on third-and-eight from its three from Tom Clements to Robin Weber with about two minutes left.
Impact: The victory clinched Parseghian’s second consensus national title, further cementing his legacy as one of the all-time greats.
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