Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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148 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Parseghian (1964-74), who directed two con- sensus national titles. Hunk Anderson was fired three years after stepping in for the deceased Rockne in 1931, and Leahy successor Terry Brennan was axed in 1958 after five years and despite three top- 10 finishes. Devine was on a similar course. Through only his first 25 contests (18-7), Devine had lost as many regular-season games as Parseghian had the previous five years com- bined, with the latter also winning three bowl games against No. 1-ranked teams. When he was hired, Devine asked the ad- ministration if he could return Notre Dame to the green-jersey look he remembered Leahy's teams having in the 1940s and 1950s. He was told the school colors would remain gold and blue. Yet with the aid of Irish basketball coach Digger Phelps — known to dabble with uni- form looks occasionally — Devine pulled off one of the best-kept secrets in athletics history. Over the summer, Devine ordered Kelly green jerseys for the Oct. 22 showdown with archri- val USC, ranked No. 5 and the winner of three straight versus Notre Dame. With only team captains Browner, Fry, Terry Eurick and Steve Orsini and a few confidants aware of the ruse, Notre Dame warmed up in its traditional blue against USC while student managers carried the boxes to the locker room and hung the sparkling new green jerseys inside the locker room. When Notre Dame returned to the locker room for final instructions, it was akin to Clark Kent entering the phone booth to transform into Superman. The "Green Machine" was born. Beginning with the program-changing 49- 19 demolition of USC, the Irish scored 151 points in their next three games (all at home), their most over a three-game stretch in 45 years. This included a 69-14 destruction of Georgia Tech, which had upset the Irish 23- 14 a year earlier and referred to the perceived out-of-shape Notre Dame linemen as "hog mollies" and "mud womps." Over the final seven games, Notre Dame tallied 317 points (45.3 per game) — the most in any Fighting Irish seven-game stretch since Jesse Harper became the first full-time head coach in 1913, and still to this day. The Green Jersey Game was planned to be a one-time deal for USC, but the team did not want to mess with the spiritual energy or "juju" that had infiltrated the ranks. It was an operation now dressed to kill, and for the rest of the Devine era through 1980, Notre Dame would "go green." Survive And Advance One of the most underrated classic games in Notre Dame annals was the 21-17 victory at No. 15 Clemson to improve to 8-1. The game in "Death Valley" saw the Tigers build a 17-7 second-half lead and then had the reeling Irish on the ropes by driving first to their 33-yard line and then their 13 before losing fumbles. In another fourth-quarter rally, Montana di- rected two touchdown drives that culminated with him sneaking over for touchdowns both times. The close call actually dropped Notre Dame from No. 5 to No. 6 in the Associated Press poll. When Notre Dame then defeated Air Force the next week (49-0), it accepted a bid to play No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. In today's four-team playoff system, such a postseason matchup would not be tenable, but bowl tie-ins back then left the door ajar for Notre Dame to climb all the way to No. 1. • No. 1 Texas (11-0) would open the fes- tivities versus No. 5 Notre Dame (10-1) in the Cotton Bowl. • No. 2 Oklahoma (10-1), the Big 8 champ, was an 18-point favorite over No. 7 Arkansas (10-1) in the Orange Bowl — and that was even before Razorbacks head coach Lou Holtz 1977 Season Date Opponent Result Sept. 10 at No. 7 Pittsburgh W, 19-9 Sept. 17 at Mississippi L, 20-13 Sept. 24 at Purdue W, 31-24 Oct. 1 Michigan State W, 16-6 Oct. 15 at Army W, 24-0 Oct. 22 No. 5 USC W, 49-19 Oct. 29 Navy W, 43-10 Nov. 5 Georgia Tech W, 69-14 Nov. 12 at No. 15 Clemson W, 21-17 Nov. 19 Air Force W, 49-0 Dec. 3 at Miami W, 48-10 Jan. 2 vs. No. 1 Texas* W, 38-10 * Cotton Bowl in Dallas • Notre Dame was the lone school in 1977 to defeat four teams that finished in the final As- sociated Press top 20 (there was no top 25 until 1989): No. 4 Texas, No. 8 Pittsburgh, No. 13 USC and No. 19 Clemson (three of them on the road). No other team defeated more than two. • The victory over Pitt marked the first time Notre Dame opened a season with a win over the defending national champion. It matched that in 1998 by defeating 1997 co-national champ Michigan at home. • In the 17 years from 1966-82, Notre Dame defeated archrival USC only three times. In each of those three — 1966, 1973 and 1977 — Notre Dame won the national title. • The 38-10 victory versus No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl was at the time the worst defeat ever of the top-ranked team in a bowl game. It has been surpassed since then only once — No. 3 Florida's 52-20 victory versus No. 1 Florida State in the 1997 Sugar Bowl. No. 2 Alabama's 42-14 win over No. 1 Notre Dame in the 2013 BCS Championship Game matched the 28-point margin. • Since the opening of Notre Dame Stadium in 1930, the 1977 season has been the only one for the Fighting Irish where the first three games were all played on the road. — Lou Somogyi The 1977 Fighting Irish became the first team ever to soar from No. 5 to No. 1 during the bowl season, following a 38-10 victory over No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS