Notre Dame's 1966 National Champs Celebrate Golden Anniversary

The passage of 50 years can understandably skew memories of the past. There is a tendency to remember “the good ol’ days,” or how “the older I get, the better I was.”

In recent years, that hasn’t always been the case with Notre Dame’s 1966 national championship football team, which is returning to the campus for this weekend’s Golden Anniversary reunion.

It fittingly comes during Michigan State weekend. The Spartans finished No. 2 to Notre Dame in the two wire service polls that year (Associated Press and United Press International), but they jointly shared the MacArthur Bowl, also emblematic of a national title and recognized by the NCAA.

It was shared because of their 10-10 tie on Nov. 19, 1966, the first “modern” epic No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup that had the nation abuzz because of its demand to be on national television and because back then the national title was decided at the end of the regular season (which changed in 1968 with the AP poll).

Unfortunately, that 1966 run to the national championship has led to much revisionist history as time has passed.

Forty years later in 2006, author/journalist and proud Alabama supporter Keith Dunnavant published The Missing Ring, with the emphasis that Notre Dame’s 1966 national title was “the greatest injustice in the history of the national championship selection process.” On paper, that might appear true considering Alabama — which won the two previous championships — finished 11-0 compared to Notre Dame’s 9-0-1.

That followed with the 2008 book The Maisel Report by ESPN’s Ivan Maisel, who ranked the 1966 Irish as “the most overrated team to win a national title.” Maisel is as fine a historian on college football you will find.

That’s their side of the story. Now let’s present ours.

First, a final record is not necessarily indicative of superiority, and Alabama faithful especially should know that. In the 2012 title clash between 12-0 and No. 1 Notre Dame and 12-1 and No. 2 Alabama, it was the Crimson Tide who were huge 9.5-point favorites. Those with objective knowledge knew who had the better roster, despite Alabama having a lesser record.

Likewise, there was no comparison between the talent level at Notre Dame/Michigan State and at Alabama during that era. Among the 22 Fighting Irish starters on offense and defense in 1966, 11 of them were among the top 60 picks in the NFL Draft or AFL Draft (seven in the first round and four in the second). Conversely, Alabama had three players on the 1966 roster who were eventual first- or second-round picks.

As good as Alabama’s defense was, it did not have future Pro Bowl luminaries such as Alan Page and Jim Lynch, who led a unit that allowed 24 points in 10 games (not including a fumble return and a blocked punt return for touchdowns).

That’s not even including Notre Dame’s peerless depth. When future eight-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman George Kunz suffered a season-ending injury in game two, he was replaced by future six-time Pro Bowl selection Bob Kuechenberg. The third option in the backfield was Rocky Bleier, a starter on four Super Bowl champions at Pittsburgh.

At Michigan State — which featured four of the top eight NFL picks in the 1967 NFL Draft, led by Bubba Smith — Notre Dame had to play without its top quarterback (Terry Hanratty), top running back (Nick Eddy) and top center (George Goeddeke), yet still rallied on the road from a 10-0 deficit to tie the nation’s second best team.

Second, there is the matter of scheduling.

Notre Dame played four teams during the 10-game regular season ranked in the top 10: Rose Bowl champ Purdue, at Oklahoma, at Michigan State and at Pac-8 champ USC. Michigan State played two, and Alabama none.

Notre Dame won at USC (51-0) and at Oklahoma (38-0) by a combined 89-0 count, and played half of its regular season on the road.

Alabama left its state twice in 10 regular-season games and won those outings by a combined 28-17 score. Notre Dame’s opponents combined to win more than 50 percent of their games. Alabama’s were 42-59-1.

Ah yes, there is Alabama’s 34-7 win over Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl to make it 11-0.

Bowl games were irrelevant back then, which is why Notre Dame didn’t go. Alabama lost the 1965 Orange Bowl to Texas — but had already been declared the national champion. No bickering about that on Alabama’s part, I see.

Besides, that Nebraska team had already lost to Oklahoma — the same Sooners team the Irish demolished 38-0 in Norman.

Finally, there is the incessant argument that “Notre Dame played for the tie.”

What is not mentioned is with about 1:30 left, Michigan State had fourth-and-four from its 36. Surely, it must have realized that with a punt it probably would not get the ball back. If it was truly “playing to win,” it could have gone for broke there. The Spartans were smart enough to play the percentages.

So when Notre Dame took possession at its 30 with 1:24 left, it too went into a “play not to lose” mode. With a No. 2 QB in Coley O’Brien whose diabetes reportedly required a couple of shots already, had weakened him by game’s end (he had missed his last six passes), five first-year players on offense because of injuries, the wind against him and the Spartans waiting for the pass, Irish head coach Ara Parseghian played it cautiously — although he had O’Brien sneak for it on fourth-and-one from his 39 before he was sacked for a seven-yard loss on the next play. He played it safe for at least two reasons.

One, after falling behind 10-0 midway into the second quarter and having lost Hanratty on the game's second series, Notre Dame took command, not allowing the Spartans to get beyond the Irish 47 the rest of the game. The Irish tied the game on the first play of the fourth quarter on a Joe Azzaro field goal, and later an interception by safety Tom Schoen put them at the MSU’s 18, ending in a missed field goal after a breakdown on a running play.

Schoen had two interceptions, but he also fumbled Michigan State’s final punt at his 30 which he was able to pounce on in a pile-up. The course of history could have been changed had the Spartans fell on it, but that play might have reinforced to Parseghian how so much could be lost on one miscue.

“We were trying to get to midfield and then throw,” Parseghian said of the final series. “But I wasn’t going to do a jackass thing like letting them get an interception on us and cost us the game after 60 minutes of football like our boys played."

Crimson Tide faithful were incensed that Notre Dame and Michigan State remained Nos. 1 and 2 in the ensuing poll, but it remained clear to virtually everyone that the Irish and Spartans possessed the best overall football talent in the country.

Part 2 of Parseghian’s strategy was the knowledge that it was MSU’s final game (the Big Ten did not permit its conference champion to go to two straight Rose Bowls back then, another example of how different the bowl system was), while Notre Dame still had a contest to play at Pac-8 champ USC (who would win the national title the next year). In essence, the game at USC became Notre Dame’s bowl or Playoff game.

After trouncing the Trojans 51-0 (still their worst defeat ever) — with backup QB O’Brien and backup center Tim Monty working for the Irish — the final AP vote on Nov. 28 to determine the champion wasn’t even close.

1. Notre Dame (506 point, 41 first-place votes)

2. Michigan State (471 points, eight first-place votes)

3. Alabama (418 points, eight first-place votes)

“Time will prove everything that has happened here,” Parseghian told his troops after the Michigan State game.

With the passage of 50 years, the 1966 Notre Dame national champs should continue to look only better.

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