1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State - Clip #7

[Shatamx]

Watched this game. They should of went for it. Real winners take chances. Ask Doug Flutie.

[marquettefootball]

Glad there's overtime now.

[kozmon0t]

They could have at least stopped the clock with 1 second left and tried something. Send some receivers downfield and then run, pitch or shovel pass and maybe get lucky. Could get unlucky too, but a defensive td off a fumble would be less likely than a lucky offensive score.

[tommy9lives1989]

RIP Bubba Smith

[oldjizzy]

Dont ever let anyone here or anywhere try and lie to you that Notre Dame was the better team that game, OR that year. Michigan State dominated that afternoon in virtually every statistical category.

Except the final score.

Teams like ND and especially Parshegian, lobbied and drew votes that last weekend. That's the way things were settled back then. Popularity and good connections. But make no mistake, Michigan State was that years true National Champion.

[MrBEB123]

Sports. A big waste of time and money.

[scottto58]

Notre Dame acted like a bunch of pussies....not much has changed.

[altfactor]

I believe this was also the first sports telecast broadcast live via satellite to both Alaska and Hawaii.

Reportedly, this game was the first time that hand-held color TV cameras were used on the sidelines of a football broadcast.

[a1cjlock]

For ABC to cover even keep a game this old in color is phenominal. Majority of games aired at this time were b&w.

[altfactor]

@a1cjlock Actually, in 1966, most of ABC's college football games, nearly all of CBS's NFL games, and all of NBC's AFL games were broadcast in color.

[jfleisch213]

Coley O'Brien was struggling late in the game and Parseghian worried that the backup QB's diabetes might be affecting him -- though O'Brien says now his diabetes did not factor in his play.

[RollOnToVictory]

1966 Alabama Crimson Tide! The True National Champions

[greymoose1000]

@RollOnToVictory Good to see another delusional Crimson Turd follower somewhere. Fight ON USC BABY!!!

[DuckPredator96]

why was this game considered such a great game if it ended in a tie?

[sportsoracle]

The Rose Bowl was not very good that season. Big Ten had a no repeat rule and so runnerup Purdue played a USC team that was destroyed by ND 51-0.

[pjbmrad]

furthermore neither ND or MSU head coach was even worthy to be mentioned alongside the great BEAR BRYANT,,,college football coaching legend who was the winninest coach when he retired...R.I.P. Bear.....you are missed

[MrJoeybagodnuts]

Only one Big Ten went to a bowl every year-the Rose Bowl, until about 73. State had gone the year before and you could not go two years in a row. Look up the history. Bama cheated back then and you recently were on probation somethings never change. You probably don't even know Bama wouldn't play blacks at that time and thats why Bama was voted third as the voters knew Bama didn't have the best talent in the country and would not have had a chance against MSU. Your ignorant boy.

[BigBlackRod]

@MrJoeybagodnuts To his credit, Bryant knew he needed to get Black players to be able to compete nationally, so he asked his good friend John McKay if he would bring his USC team, led by Sam "Bam" Cunningham to Tuscaloosa. Cunningham ran over around and through the outmatched Tide, and the next year, Alabama had its first Black player, Sylvester Croom...PEACE.

[pjbmrad]

ND and MSU were 2 undeserving teams that year. ND was too cowardly to participate in bowl games and apparently MSU was cowardly as well, neither team appeared in a new years day bowl that season. ALABAMA on the other hand finished undefeated and untied, stomped a mudhole in Nebraska 55-14 in the orange bowl, yet finished 3rd in the final polls ( which came out before the outcome of the new years day bowl games ) ALABAMA would have stomped matching mudloles in either ND or MSU that year

[MrJoeybagodnuts]

@pjbmrad

Stupid ignorant hillbilly.

[huskyjerk]

Who won the national championship that year?

[lordofwrath88]

@huskyjerk well, undefeated, two time champion Alabama should have.

[rafaelvicentecarlos]

@huskyjerk N D won the champs.

[huskyjerk]

Boy, the boos really rained down from the stands at the end of the game. Geez!

[Spartan00000000]

Tie, Tie for old Notre Dame......

[ErikS1975FreeState]

Ah the famous Irish Spartan tie bowl.

[PhillipCreeper]

Where was Terry Hanratty in this series? He was a great throwing QB who would have had a chance to have completed one long pass and got ND in field goal range.

[tjnd88]

Hanratty left the game in the first quarter with a separated shoulder. You're right....he might have made a difference late in this game.

[PhillipCreeper]

@tjnd88

That makes sense. For some reason I never realized that.  That makes sense why Ara didn't try a long pass since Terry was out. A lot of players may be substituted but your QB is critical in my opinion. Look what happened to Texas against Alabama when Colt got hurt. What Ara did now makes perfectly sense as to why he didn't take a chance. Thanks for the information reminder.

[PhillipCreeper]

ND should have tried at least one long pass.

[tjnd88]

Backup QB Coley O'Brien was diabetic and floundering late in the game. People will argue this forever but Ara made the right call. It was actually quite an achievement to salvage a tie while losing 3 of their best players during this game.

[trickymutha]

Wow, it was funny watching #95 Bubba Smith on the field. The man was huge- he is a pretty good actor. To think, in those days a black kid from Texas couldn't get a scholarship offer from any southern schools due to segregation. Michigan State hit paydirt because of this- the post 1966 era has been unkind to MSU- starting with a 37-7 loss in 1967 to Houston.

[bogota2003]

A couple of other facts about the 1966 Irish. The defense gave up only 38 points the entire season and they also beat Oklahoma 38-0 and USC (Pac

Ten champ) 51-0. Yea but I'm sure Bama would have killed the Irish that year...hahhahaha.

[Bamruff62]

Are there any CFB fans who remember this game? Are there any ND, Mich St or Bama fans who saw this game when it was played and also watch the 67' Sugar Bowl between Bama and Nebraska? Which team was really the best? I'm willing to be objective and hear what you have to say. This game was before my time. I am curious to know what other people who actually saw the teams play back then have to say. ND and MSU were a lot bigger but "they" say Bama was faster. Neb. was alot bigger than Bama.

[Foxrrob]

I hate Bama but this game was a travesty. There is no way Notre Dame should have won the national championship in 1966.

[turkeytonite]

michigan state should never have punted with only one minute and changed left in the game. they new they would never get the ball back again. The cowards were willing to end with a tie on their own field .

[wooddog21]

Typical Notre Dame fan, State went for it on 4th and 1 at their 29, and made it, maybe Notre Dame should have played in a bowl game that year, wait, bowls were beneath them

[maryannpotter]

I was a senior at MSU and was at this game. Incredible to see these clips. What memories.

[jaytf123]

This video forgot to show that on something like 3rd and 12 they threw the ball and made a first down. Then they ran the ball an the game ended. Many people believe that Alabama was hurt in the voting because they were an all white team where as ND and Mich.State had a decent number of black players on the teams.

[headley62]

Notre Dame had one black player on their team.

The only and first black at Notre Dame.

Alan Page from Canton Central Catholic.

[jaytf123]

A really good college player and a great pro player. Hall of famer and won an MVP in 1971. A defensive tackle winning an MVP. I believe he is now a Minnesota Supreme Court justice.

[speedy45rpm]

I remember this game -- it was the most hyped college football match-up I had seen up to that point. Listening to this also reminds me what a clueless broadcaster Chris Schenkel was. His idea of insight was to keep repeating the player's weight, number and hometown. Still, it brings back pleasant memories of unpretentious Saturday afternoon football. Thanks for posting this.

[huskyjerk]

Yes, Schenkel has no sense of drama in his description nor in his voice. Both announcers here missed the fact that they played for a tie, and made no comment about that.

[cynic2all]

""Ara defended running up the score on USC the next week by saying..."Should I have told my players to lie down?""

Up by 51 points and that quote ... does anyone else remember when Ara was a commentator for college football years later, in Gerry Faust's final game, against Miami trying to be voted a national title. The margin was 51 points (!) and Ara accused J.Johnson and Miami of running it up on poor ND and poor Gerry. LOL

[Alan1234x]

Tie one for the Gipper. Great clip from the Game of Last Century. A disgraceful act for ND.

[lordofwrath88]

The boys on Bryant's team watched this in amazement. The Bear never played for a tie and it went against everything they'd been taught. 

Imagine if back in 2005, USC, the two time defending national champion and undefeated, were BCS #3.

[mcparla1]

This was instance when the Big Ten rules hurt MSU big time. Since MSU had appeared in the Rose Bowl the previous season they were not allowed a return trip. Also, the Big Ten forbid conference teams from appearing in other bowl games. It took until the mid-1970's for the Big Ten to change that.

[rshindo1]

The amount of talent on both these teams was staggering.  Either of these two would have thumped Alabama!

[bsptlw]

Bullshit. You must be a ND fan, becuase they was "VOTED" National Champs, even though Alabama finished undefeated.

[jlsmsu12]

MSU's running back Bob Apisa got hurt in the previous game and only played two downs in the ND game. If you watch the game, compare the size of Notre Dame's line to MSU's. ND is HUGE compared to MSU. MSU had more passing yards, rushing yards, first downs, and had fewer fumbles than ND. Its B.S. why ND won the two major poles for the national title after TYING MSU. MSU won the National Football foundation pole along with consensus, helms, and poling.

ND and MSU were co-national champions 1966

[jaytf123]

Don't forget The Irish were missing their starting QB Terry Hanratty and their second string QB was hurt, Sophomore RB Coley O'Brien played that game.

[1400deadwood]

If I recall correctly, Coley was a diabetic who had been ill that week and hadn't practiced. Thus, he came in cold and unprepared. Yet,he did his best.

I still do not understand why Spartan fans booed at ND's late efforts. Irish tried to get that 1st down but fell short. Both teams gave it their best.

GREAT game. One for the ages.

[jaytf123]

ND fan that I am, I believe after that first down Ara played for a tie. It's obvious. He knew in 2 weeks if they beat So.Cal by a good margin they were Nat. champs because the Big Ten had a rule then that you couldn't play in back to back Rose Bowls, so they couldn't get a shot at the Trojans in the Rose Bowl. Purdue won by one I think. Ara played it right so ND would win the title. Had the Spartans been allowed to go to the Rose Bowl I'm sure ND would have tried to win the game at the end.

[cfoster81]

I knew that the Big Ten had a rule back then that the previous year's conference champion could not go back to the Rose Bowl, but which year did they end the rule?

[jaytf123]

Late 60's early 70's . 1970 I believe.

[amd77j]

yep, this is the real deal. b4 cfb became simply a business. abc, chris schenkle, bud wilkinson, etc, etc. wow, i could watch these old games every saturday NOW and not miss a thing about today's game.

[dave4248]

The thing that cracked me up was Ara defended running up the score on USC the next week by saying..."Should I have told my players to lie down?" Well Ara, you told 'em to lie down against Michigan State a week earlier,...and you weren't even WINNING that game.

[tjnd88]

Against MSU, ND had lost their starting Running Back, starting QB, and starting center. Their diabetic backup QB was obviously floundering late in the game, and it became obvious that ND wasn't going to be able to move the ball offensively. Having rallied for the tie, the most prudent thing to do (though not popular with fans of either side) was to try not to lose the game instead screwing the whole thing up trying to win it.

If you watch the entire game, you might see it differently.

[coachfb18]

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS DIPSHIT!

[mcoltrane5]

@dave4248 what cracks me up is that Ara complained about the score being run up on Notre Dame by Miami in 1985, but he did the exact same thing to USC in 1966. It's easy to talk about class when you lose. How bout showing some when you actually win?

[Bamruff62]

I have to admit, as a Bama fan, I don't see the big deal behind Parseghian settling for the tie. What could he really do in the end? ND tied MSU late in the game. They were somewhat lucky to do that.

I do believe, though, the AP and UPI were partial to ND that year.

[OldTownIrish7]

Unlike Alabama, ND played a very strong schedule in 1966, and whomped on Rose Bowl bound USC right after Michigan State game. Alabama fans should learn how to count actual (versus claimed) national titles.

[Bamruff62]

Claimed Titles? U of Alabama and Bama fans do not include the 66 season as a NT. Bama played just as hard schedule as ND. Bama blew away #6 Neb in the Orange bowl. Ole Miss had good teams in the 60's. Tenn had a decent team that year. Both went to bowl games. Bama defeated both in the rgular season. I believe

ND and MSU were promoted over Bama to the #1 and #2 positions before their game.

[vitoduval]

Did Stabler quaterback at Alabama that year?

[Bamruff62]

Yes, Kenny Stabler was the Bama QB in 66 and 67.

[thanksforthemusic]

Bud Wilkinson and Chris Schenkel-R.I.P.

[planetime]

Lets see... how about we throw a pass it gets intercepted for a touchdown. Oh sorry that was 2006 Mich St game ARA did the right thing not having all his starters. He is remebered as one of the best unlike John L Smith

[JFB91]

Ara had no choice the starting QB was out along with the starting HB. While the back-up was a diabetic and couldn't do much

[ralphkool]

Nobody liked the tie.The trip back to South Bend was a very quiet one.But inside of every one of us we knew that Ara had played the correct move.I kept until the other day the flyleaf inviting to the pep rally:"Humpty Duffy had a great fall. Follow the band"

[oppppppe]

I hate ties. There's no resolution. Nobody wins. Every game should have a winner and a loser. Thank goodness we have overtime.

[gjs78]

Except for College Hockey and Soccer, Ties either don't exist or never happen.

No more Ties in the NHL, Shootouts! College Football! Not Since 1995. Play Overtime until someone one wins; The NFL has had a regular season tie since 2002; and with field goal kickers more accurate than ever, you probably will never see one again in the NFL.

[jsharp1701]

Parseghian wimped out. Up the gut with 15 seconds left in a tie game - before overtime existed? Wimp.

[Kicker1981]

Alabama would have beated Notre Dame and Michigan State in 1966, had they been given the chance...

[ralphkool]

Bear Briant vs Ara and sex of angels ,two matters to disscus for thousands of years. Rafael BSME66

[georgehr3]

You got that right. Bama got screwed, the 2 time defending national champs and undefeated ranked third behind the lame "lets tie" teams.