On New Years Eve 1973 the table was set with undefeated titans Notre Dame and Alabama set to face off in the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship. Tulane Stadium was packed to capacity with 81,161 fans anticipating an instant classic between the Bear Bryant led Crimson Tide and the Fighting Irish commanded by Ara Parseghian. I was 12 years old at the time and was already a diehard Irish fanatic, having grown up in a Catholic family and having watched Lindsey Nelson’s iconic Sunday morning Notre Dame recaps seemingly since birth. When my grandparents told me we were going to Saturday night Mass at 7:00 I nearly fainted. The game was at 7:30 and missing even a minute of the action was unthinkable. Well apparently Father Welp, the pastor at St Francis in Newport, Ky., agreed. He began Mass by saying, “This will be the shortest Mass you have ever attended because we all need to get home and root for Notre Dame to kick Alabama’s butt. And since God is an Irish fan I know he will be fine with that.” Disaster averted and sure enough I was sitting in front of the television for kickoff.
For three quarters the game went back and forth as expected with the Irish clinging to a slim 21-17 lead until, with 9:39 remaining, Bryant called for a trick play that had running back Mike Stock hit backup QB Richard Todd with a 25 yard TD strike to give the Tide a 23-21 lead. I nearly had a heart attack. Amazingly the PAT was missed leaving Notre Dame needing only a field goal to retake the lead. The Irish were able to mount a drive that ultimately stalled at the Alabama 2 yard line but, because of the missed extra point, the decision was easy for coach Parseghian. Out trotted Bob Thomas to attempt a potential game winning 19 yard field goal with 4:26 remaining on the clock. Thomas drilled the FG and Irish fans everywhere exhaled. Still everyone knew the great Bear Bryant and the Bama machine would not go gently into that good night, especially with so much time left on the clock. But on the subsequent drive the Notre Dame defense held and it looked like the Irish would have good field position needing only to run out the clock to secure the national title. But Bama punter Greg Gantt had other ideas as he launched a booming 69 yard punt that finally settled at the Notre Dame 1 yard line with 3 minutes to play. What followed is forever etched in Sugar Bowl and Notre Dame lore as possibly the greatest play call ever considering it clinched a National Championship. After two running plays and an offside penalty the Irish faced 3rd and 8 from their own 3 yard line. Every fan in the stands and on TV, along with the entire Alabama defense, expected a running play. Surely Parseghian would not risk a safety or a turnover so deep in his own territory with only 2:12 remaining? Bear Bryant was so sure of a run play that he was busy huddling with the punt block team and did not even see the 3rd down play. Ara would later say he decided to roll the dice because he feared punting out of his own end zone and also giving the ball back in great field position with Bama only needing a field goal to win. So the call was made; “Power I Right, Tackle Trap Left” out of a two tight end, full backfield set that clearly indicated a running play was coming. It was designed to give QB Tom Clements two options but the primary option was running a bootleg left off of a play fake and hitting tight end Dave Casper (future Hall of Famer) on a shallow crossing route from right to left for the first down. Unfortunately Casper got caught up in traffic. At the last second Clements saw wide receiver Robin Weber on a deeper cross and heaved the ball in his direction. Weber, who had not had a single reception all year and had not practiced the last two days due to injury, would later say, “I saw the ball coming my way and my only thought was oh shit, this is one I better not miss”. Well he didn’t miss it and when the play was over Notre Dame found themselves with a first and ten at their own 38 yard line where they were able to run out the clock. Mike Dubose, the Tide’s standout linebacker and later their head coach would say, “I was the outside linebacker on the play and we were completely fooled by it. You are thinking run and it was a great call.” To this day, some 50 years later, I remember that game like it was yesterday and it still counts as one of the best nights of my life. For all who love sports, and football in particular, you know what I mean.
There were several other items that stuck out from that game. Al Hunter returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown which stood as the record at that time. Notre Dame QB Tom Clements won the MVP. But most notably, it changed the way the college football National Champion was crowned. After the game the Fighting Irish were rightfully named the National Champion by the AP. But the UPI Coach’s Poll, which named the their champion before the bowl games, had already anointed Alabama as the champion, so in 1973 there were split champions. Needless to say the UPI was left with much egg on their face and soon after changed their policy for the 1974 season to coincide with the AP where their champion would not be declared until after the bowl games.