Irish Echoes: After tie with MSU, ’66 team had to ‘close the deal’ vs. USC
The 1966 Notre Dame football team gathered last month for its 55-year reunion since capturing the national championship in Ara Parseghian’s third season as Fighting Irish coach. Some 50 members of the program came back to campus to share stories, remember those who couldn’t be with them, and celebrate decades of friendship and camaraderie.
For many, of course, that season will always be remembered for “The Game of the Century” — the much-anticipated battle between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State at Spartan Stadium on Nov. 19, 1966. Throughout that autumn, the two teams were on a collision course, rolling through their schedules with one impressive victory after another.
The Spartans were coming off a 1965 season in which they were undefeated at 10-0 in the regular season before losing 14-12 to UCLA in the Rose Bowl. Head coach Duffy Daugherty’s squad thus brought an 18-game regular-season win streak into the clash with the Irish. Due to the Big Ten’s “no-repeat” rule regarding the Rose Bowl participation, the Spartans knew the Notre Dame game would conclude their season.
The Irish, on the other hand, had one more challenge after the MSU showdown: a trip to the West Coast to face archrival Southern Cal the following Saturday. Any such battle would test the mettle of a team involved in such an epic fight as was Michigan State versus Notre Dame.
“It was by far the hardest-hitting game I ever played in, and that includes the pros,” said Irish center George Goeddeke, reflecting on the MSU game.
Starting quarterback Terry Hanratty left with an injury when felled by Spartans star Bubba Smith, and Goeddeke followed him to the bench with a twisted ankle suffered on punt coverage.
Backup Coley O’Brien came in at quarterback and withstood a barrage of pressure from Smith and his mates on the Spartan line. Before halftime, O’Brien hit halfback Bob Gladieux with a 34-yard pass for Notre Dame’s only touchdown, cutting Michigan State’s lead to 10-7. Joe Azzaro’s 28-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter produced the only second-half points in the 10-10 tie, after which Notre Dame retained its No. 1 ranking in the polls.
“The team was very down immediately after the MSU game,” guard Steve Quinn recalled. “Guys were crying in the locker room and we felt like our season was ruined. Ara explained that we had one more game, but Michigan State was done. A good showing against USC could salvage the national championship. The team bought in to that line of thought and went to work for USC.”
“We all understood the situation,” Goeddeke said. “If we lost to USC, it would negate the great effort of the Michigan State game. It was for all the marbles, so to speak. We knew we needed to close the deal.”
“The Michigan State game took a lot out of the team physically and emotionally,” Quinn added. “I think we had a relatively light week of practice before going to Southern Cal.
“But Ara was a master at getting players ready for a game. We all recognized the importance of the game ahead.”
Nobody could have foreseen what was to unfold on a sunny afternoon before 88,520 at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Nov. 26, 1966.
Head coach John McKay’s Trojans brought a No. 10 national ranking into the game. USC had captured the Pac-8 title with a 4-1 record and recorded non-conference victories over Texas (10-6), Wisconsin (38-3) and Clemson (30-0).They had dropped close contests against Miami (10-7) and archrival UCLA (14-7). The Notre Dame game represented a chance to close out the regular season on a high note before the upcoming meeting with Bob Griese and Purdue in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1967.
“The games against Southern Cal were always dogfights,” Goeddeke recalled. “Remember that in 1964, Ara’s first year, they tripped us up out there (20-17) to keep us from a likely national championship. This time (1966) we were ready for anything. We were invested, we were prepared.”
Right from the start, Notre Dame dominated. Larry Conjar scored the first touchdown on a two-yard run, then Tom Schoen returned an interception 40 yards for a 14-0 first quarter lead.
The second quarter belonged to O’Brien, who became one of most celebrated backups to assume a starting role in Notre Dame history. The sophomore from McLean, Va., hit classmate Jim Seymour (Berkley, Mich.) on touchdown passes of 13 and 39 yards to propel the Fighting Irish to an unheard-of 31-0 lead at halftime.
“Coley was lighting it up,” Goeddeke said. “It spoke to the frame of mind we were in. We held USC in high esteem, and we wanted to have a peak performance to take them on.”
In the second half, backup halfback Dan Harshman grabbed a 23-yard touchdown pass from O’Brien, Dave Martin returned an interception 33 yards for a score, and Azzaro added a couple of field goals. The final count: Notre Dame 51, Southern Cal 0.
“I don’t think anyone expected the blowout score,” Quinn noted. “I also don’t think Ara ran up the score. The second-team offense was scoring easily. Beating a Rose Bowl-bound USC 51-0 was beyond impressive. Ara was right about our chance to salvage the national championship, but I doubt that even he thought it would go the way it did.”
“The second team came in and kept things on the same roll,” Goeddeke said. “It was all a lot of fun, and we didn’t let Traveler [the Trojan horse] run around the field all day.”
Goeddeke’s injury kept him out of the USC fray, but as a team leader he was still in uniform on the sideline. That’s when one of his fondest football memories occurred. With the result no longer in doubt, “Ara sent me in for a token appearance — one play to finish out my Notre Dame career. And, though I didn’t realize it right away, McKay sent in a backup nose tackle with instructions to not lay a hand on me.
“It was a real act of sportsmanship on Coach McKay’s behalf, and it gained our respect.”
Meanwhile, Notre Dame earned the respect of the college football world — and a consensus national championship.
Jim Lefebvre is an award-winning Notre Dame author and leads the Knute Rockne Memorial Society. He can be reached at: jlefebvre@blueandgold.com.
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