Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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144 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW a loser in its previous game versus Oklahoma (who Notre Dame crushed 38-0) was not going to move the needle anyway. Second, the South still had segregationist Jim Crow policies (just like Notre Dame had a no- bowl policy), and it wouldn't be until the early 1970s that the SEC would see black football players integrated into its lineup. That did work against the Crimson Tide during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, although it didn't hurt them winning the 1964 and 1965 titles. Notre Dame also had only one black player — All-American defensive end Alan Page — on its roster, but the stronger football in that era was believed to be in the North/Midwest the same way the balance of power now ostensibly tilts to the SEC or warm-weather schools. 3. Big-Time Talent There is a reason the 1966 contest at Michi- gan State was labeled the "Game of the Cen- tury." Football historians generally agree there seldom has been more talent on a college foot- ball field than in that showdown. Seven of the first 23 players taken in the 1967 NFL Draft were from Michigan State or Notre Dame. Four Spartans, all black, were No. 1 (defensive end Bubba Smith), No. 2 (running back Clint Jones), No. 5 (linebacker George Webster) and No. 8 (wide receiver Gene Wash- ington), an unprecedented feat. Among Notre Dame's 22 starters on offense and defense in 1966, 11 were among the top 60 picks in the NFL Draft or AFL Draft. Contrast that with Alabama, which had three players on the 1966 varsity roster who were eventual first- or second-round choices: Les Kelly and Dennis Homan in the first and quar- terback Ken Stabler in the second. 4. Depth Perception And Reality While the 1966 starting lineups on offense and defense spell out the talent disparity be- tween Notre Dame and Alabama, the Irish depth that year highlights it even more: • When offensive tackle George Kunz — the No. 2 overall pick in the 1969 NFL Draft (behind O.J. Simpson) — was injured in the second week of the season and sidelined for the balance of the campaign, sophomore Bob Kuechenberg replaced him. "Kooch" is a Pro Football Hall of Fame candidate. Kunz was a Pro Bowl selection eight times, while Kuech- enberg made it six times. • The third-leading rusher for the 1966 champs was Rocky Bleier — a 16th-round pick who become a starter on four Super Bowl champions in Pittsburgh. • John Pergine, whose nine career intercep- tions are the most ever by an Irish linebacker, was an 11th-round pick that had a strong seven- year NFL career. • How many teams can lose their starting quarterback (Terry Hanratty) in the first quarter of the "Game of The Century," and then still rally from 10 points down on the road with a sophomore quarterback (Coley O'Brien)? With O'Brien taking the snaps the next week, the Irish won at No. 10 USC, 51-0. Fur- thermore, the No. 3 quarterback that season for the Irish, Bob Belden, made the Dallas Cow- boys roster for two seasons. • Sophomore backup running back Bob Gla- dieux, who played four years in the NFL, had to replace injured All-American Nick Eddy in the Michigan State game. It was Gladieux who snared a clutch 34-yard touchdown pass from O'Brien against the Spartans before he too was injured in the second half, forcing the Irish to use their third-team back. Rallying from 10 points down on the road against the nation's No. 2 team without your star quarterback (Hanratty), top running back (Eddy) plus center — third-round pick George Goeddeke — is a feat few teams in history would be able to achieve. 5. Defense Never Rests The Crimson Tide defense was outstanding and yielded only 37 points that regular season, while Notre Dame's defense, led by College Football Hall of Fame members Jim Lynch and Page, surrendered 38. However, two of the touchdowns came on a Purdue 90-plus yard fumble return and a blocked punt by Navy when the game was out The showdown between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State was dubbed the "Game of the Century" in part because of all the talent that participated, which included All-American defensive tackle Pete Duranko (64). PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS 1966 SEASON Date Opponent Result Sept. 24 No. 8 Purdue W, 26-14 Oct. 1 at Northwestern W, 35-7 Oct. 8 Army W, 35-0 Oct. 15 North Carolina W, 32-0 Oct. 22 at No. 10 Oklahoma W, 38-0 Oct. 29 vs. Navy W, 31-7 Nov. 5 Pittsburgh W, 40-0 Nov. 12 Duke W, 64-0 Nov. 19 at No. 2 Michigan State T, 10-10 Nov. 26 at No. 10 USC W, 51-0 • Purdue, with future Heisman Trophy runners-up Bob Griese and Leroy Keyes, would go on that season to win its first and still lone Rose Bowl. Its two losses were to Notre Dame and Michigan State. • Army finished 8-2, including shutouts of Penn State (11-0) and Pitt (28-0), earning Tom Cahill National Coach of the Year honors. • North Carolina won at Michigan (10-7) and had an extra week to prepare for the Irish, but Notre Dame knocked out the Tar Heels' top two QBs during the first quarter to wreck their season. • Oklahoma defeated Texas for the first time in nine years, and upset 9-0 and Big 8 champ Nebraska in the finale — but suffered its worst shutout defeat at home ever against Notre Dame. • Defending co-national champ Michigan State had won 19 straight regular-season games. • Pac-8 champion USC, which would win the na - tional title the next season, endured what is still its largest margin of defeat. — Lou Somogyi The sophomore quarterback-receiver combina- tion of Terry Hanratty and Jim Seymour graced the cover of Time during the 1966 season. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS