Author: Karen Crocker
The week of the LSU game, Irish tri-captains Mike Golic, Larry Williams and Joe Johnson visited with head coach Gerry Foster after get off work.
Notre Dame just lost its third straight game at home — a frustrating 36-32 loss to South Carolina. The Irish, embarrassed at a 3-4 season, traveled to a stadium often referred to as Death Valley to face an undefeated and sixth-ranked Tigers team with a 10-point lead.
Golic, Williams and Johnson were confused. The Irish had a great performance against South Carolina. They showed heart, determination, intensity and desire. They did everything they had to do, but they still lost.
“Losing the South Carolina game was really tough for us, especially after we looked like we had it under control,” Foster recalled. “We struggled in the second half against Miami and Air Force. But our young guys came back and really committed against South Carolina against a team that was undefeated and ranked 11th.
“I told the players that if they keep playing with this intensity, the ball will definitely start bouncing.
“I knew we were going to beat LSU.”
Faust and his troops rolled into Baton Rouge like Sherman tanks, crushing anything that stood in their way. The Irish shocked the football world by defeating the overwhelmed Tigers 30-22. And the game really wasn’t as close as the score suggested. Notre Dame dominated LSU with a near-perfect ball-control offense and a dynamic defense. Fans at Tiger Stadium and ABC viewers watching at home were shocked.
“You have to give the players a lot of credit,” Faust said after the game.
“To get a win over an undefeated team in this place, it’s a real compliment to the kids. These kids work hard and they don’t give up. The way it’s been said this year, they’re going to give up long before the first quarter. They’re just tough kids and I’m a tough guy. I’m going to stick with it, I’ll tell you that.”
How did the Irish pull off this gridiron miracle on a hot, muggy day with an ugly mob shouting “Tiger Bait!”
Tailback Allen Pinkett enjoyed his biggest and best day of the season, scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 162 yards on 40 carries.
Quarterback Steve Beuerlein completed 16 of 23 passes for 168 yards.
Kicker John Carney had field goals of 44, 37 and 34 yards.
Notre Dame’s defense held LSU to 118 rushing yards, its lowest of the season.
And, according to first-year Tigers coach Bill Arnsperger, “Notre Dame did a good job of controlling us after the first quarter. They dominated the line of scrimmage. They dominated the defensive line of scrimmage as well.”
But it took the Irish a while to get their game plan going. From the looks of Notre Dame’s first possession, it looked like the Irish were on the verge of another devastating defeat.
On the second drive of the game, Pinkett fumbled the ball at the Irish 48-yard line and Tigers linebacker Gregg Dubroc dove on the ball.
Quarterback Jeff Wickersham quickly got to work on his business. He hit split end Eric Martin with a 22-yard pass and then connected with tailback Garry James for an 18-yard pass. Then running back Dalton Hilliard, second on LSU’s all-time rushing list, took matters into his own hands. After gaining five yards on two carries, he caught a three-yard pass from Wickersham for a touchdown. Juan Betanzos’ PAT gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
Then on the first play after the kickoff, freshman cornerback Kevin Guidry caught Berlein’s interception and returned it to the Notre Dame 28-yard line. Death Valley is shaking. Irish food looks like a delicious afternoon snack for hungry Tigers.
But strange things started happening. On the third and third offense, No. 5 defender Hiawatha Francisco beat James but did not get a chance to sweep. LSU had to settle for a 38-yard field goal attempt, but Betanzos’ shot missed.
The Irish breathed new life into it. Berlein went 4-for-4 for 52 yards and finished with 79 yards in nine plays, capped by Pinkett’s one-yard touchdown run. Carney’s shot tied the score.
Betanzos missed another 48-yard field goal attempt, and then Wickersham was sacked twice by Jerry Winler and Wally Klein.
The Irishman began to roar.
Carney’s 44-yard field goal gave the Irish a 10-7 lead. Minutes later, Notre Dame scored another touchdown when Allen Pinkett leapt past two men over the goal line. Carney’s kick changed the score to 17-7.
“We just had a lot of fun,” said Williams, a tall, muscular offensive lineman who cleared the way for Pinkett for much of the afternoon. “We didn’t listen to what LSU said. They called us slow and fat. We knew they were going to be fast. But we didn’t want that speed to bother us.”
The Tigers really didn’t have a lot of opportunities to use their speed. Notre Dame outscored LSU 30-7 with less than two minutes to play from LSU’s first touchdown, running 82 plays to the Tigers’ 50, advancing 352 yards to LSU’s 213 yards and holding the potent Tigers offense to just 14 carries in the scrimmage in the second and third quarters.
Notre Dame scored another goal in the third period. Carney completed a 66-yard score with a 37-yard punt to extend the lead to 20-7.
But the Irish got the Tigers back in the game. Beuerlein’s second interception gave LSU the ball at its own 31-yard line. On the second play from scrimmage, Hilliard rushed 66 yards for a touchdown. A shot from Betanzos brought the Tigers back within striking distance, 20-14.
While the Irish showed a knack for letting victory slip through their fingers in the fourth quarter, this time they put it right. But it won’t be easy.
With center Mike Kelley’s pants soaked in sweat, Berlein was unable to grab the football and fumbled both kickoffs.
“When Mike put the ball in Steve’s hands, it just squeezed like a sponge,” offensive coordinator Ron Hudson said, trying to keep a straight face.
Reserve tackle Marty Roddy heroically dropped his pants in front of 78,033 strangers.
After the problem was resolved, Ireland’s Carney hit another field goal from 34 yards to take a 23-14 lead.
The Tigers threatened again, moving to the Irish 28-yard line, where linebacker Mike Larkin intercepted a Wickersham pass for the first steal of his injury-plagued career, killing the drive.
“I just focused on the remaining guard and Mike Gann put a lot of pressure on him,” Larkin said. “The defensive line played a big role. LSU is a great pass-blocking team. Gunn even said it was the best team he’s ever faced, including Pete and Bill Fralick.”
The Irish got some insurance with a final touchdown with less than a minute left in the game. Mark Brooks bulldozed the ball across the goal line from the three-yard line. Carney was great again on the PAT as the Irish dominated 30-14.
Wickersham completed 19 of 27 passes for 213 yards on the afternoon, and he threw a Hail Mary pass as time expired. Fullback Roger Magee caught the ball out of the crowd for a 50-yard touchdown. Wickersham connected with Herman Fontenot for the two-point conversion, but it was too late and Notre Dame pulled away for a 30-22 upset victory.
“We think the team is capable of playing this type of football year-round,” Berlein said. “It shows we can play with anyone in the country, which is something we’ve always known.”
Thanks to a one-back setup and another two-back setup (both using two tight ends), the Irish offense rushed for 202 yards, its most since rushing for 212 yards against Colorado earlier in the year.
“When we use one back, they play basic 50 defense,” Hudson explained. “We just wanted to keep them out of the game and get physical at them.”
“We” is indeed spelled Allen Pinkett. The 5-foot-9, 183-pound junior earned every one of his 162 yards.
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” said the Irish workaholic, who equaled Phil Carter’s record for most possessions in a game. “Our first goal is to get on track. We see this game as a real challenge in this noisy stadium and the odds are stacked against us. We won’t back down from a challenge.
“I thought we got rid of the ball well on dry ground. The linebackers were able to maintain their blocks and stir their feet — something they haven’t been able to do the past few games because of the rain.”
The linemen accepted Pinkett’s praise with ease.
“I thought we did a good job for a bunch of slow, fat guys,” linebacker Tim Scannell said. “When we can maintain a rhythm and eliminate mistakes, we’ll be fine.”
Defensively, the Irish limited the Tigers to 331 yards of total offense, but 99 of those yards came in the first quarter and the other 66 yards came in a single quarter.
“Notre Dame reduced it to pound for pound,” Tigers offensive line coach Pete Mangurian said. “How many teams have used three wingers against us? No one. But you use the talent of three of their guys against us, and that’s… let’s go! They’re just that good.”
Notre Dame’s victory marked the first time since 1984 that the Irish defeated a team with a winning record.
“There are two things that make it successful,” Pinkett said. “One is pride. We just won’t lie down; it’s too easy to give up. The other is poise.
“But it makes you think how much more we could have done without these mistakes.”
The Irish, who just a week ago were burying their bowl bid dreams, now venture into Death Valley and are rejuvenated. Is this just a temporary reprieve from the heartache and disappointment of the past few weeks, or can this Irish team – one that has shown consistency, intensity and talent – make it to the final three games of the season? Only Faust and his players know for sure.
