Slow news day so let's look back at one of the greatest games ever in College Football, The Catholics (Notre Dame) vs. the Convicts (Miami). Depending on how you feel, you might hate one of these teams or maybe both. Both Miami and Notre Dame over the years are probably the most talked-about/derisive/disdainful teams in all of college football. You're either a fan of both of these schools or you loathed them. This was especially true for those Miami teams of the 80's and early 90's. Add all that up and the 1988 Miami at Notre Dame game was a must watch for fans/detractors of both of these schools.
Before the game Miami had won the previous year's national championship and was riding 36-regular season game winning streak and was the number one ranked team in the nation. Notre Dame, was an rising team lead by quarterback Tony Rice, headed into the game as the 4th ranked team in the nation.
The game got it's name "The Catholics vs. The Convicts" from an enterprising Notre Dame student named Patrick Walsh who printed T-shirts before the game with the "The Catholics vs. The Convicts" as the slogan. Of course the press caught on to Walsh's slogan and ran with the name.
Before the game started a brawl broke out between the two teams in the tunnel. That was only a preview of what was about to happened. The game was close throughout the day and the winner came down to the last play of the game. Steve Walsh lead Miami down the field in the closing minutes to a score and to pull Miami within one point of Notre Dame. Instead of going for the tie, Miami coach Jimmie Johnson went for the 2-point conversion and the win. Walsh's pass was knocked down and Notre Dame won the game 31-30 and snapped Miami's winning streak.
A controversial call was made in the fourth quarter of the game that is still much talked about today. Walsh completed a pass on fourth down to Cleveland Garry. Garry ran towards the end zone and was tackled on the 1-yard line. Garry fumbled the ball and Notre Dame recovered. Miami swore Garry's knee was on the ground before the ball was fumbled. It didn't matter, Notre Dame recovered and the ref's said it was Notre Dame's ball. After the game the Notre Dame student newspaper even admitted that wasn't a football. Just another legendary story from "The Catholics vs. The Convicts" game.
Notre Dame would go on to an undefeated season and would win the Fiesta Bowl over West Virginia and the national championship. Yes this was the team coached by
The Catholics vs. The Convicts game will live on forever in the lore of college football. If that's not enough to watch the video above, it's narrated by the sweet dialect of Harry Kalas. That should be enough reasons to re-watch the highlights of the "The Catholics vs. The Convicts."
(Sources: College Football Reference, Wikipedia, Sports Illustrated)
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ReplyDeleteI'm old enough to remember the famous Nebraska-Miami game in the Orange bowl when Schnelly was the coach. I always loved those Miami teams. They were so over the top that it made them really cool.
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