1988 Tony Rice Highlights

[warrior34able]

If the Irish can start another dual-threat guy like this, they can have more success. Puts defenses on their heels. Everett Golson should start next season. Go Irish!!!

[ericstutzman]

rice is a beast

[txsray1]

what a great runner

[nykia31]

Tony Rice...one of my all time favorite ND players. Great leader.

Not as gifted as many of the great option QBs like Jamel Holieway, Charles Thompson, Turner Gill, Darien Hagan, Eric Crouch, Dee Dowis..but the guy had heart, and toughness, and intangibles. He was ND's Derek Jeter, basically.

[gatorboy46]

Timmymac2400, which one?

[timmymac2400]

his son is one of my friends

[Mklhorvath]

Why he never got a shot in the NFL can be explained in a few ways. As a quarterback, how many touchdowns did he lead the team to as a starter against Michigan in 88 & 89 and at Miami in 87 and 89. A good quarterback along the lines of John Schaeffer of Penn State a couple of years earlier. The defense was the reason for the 88 Championship season and some fortunate bounces of the ball.

[idster7]

@Mklhorvath Trust me, the reason why Rice did not get a shot in the NFL wasn't because his team had a couple poor games against good teams in college. dan marino's team only scored one field goal in his final college game. john elway never even made a bowl game, i believe. there are many late round picks who succeed as pros who didn't have the college career rice had. the reason why rice never made it as a pro is that a) he was a black qb, b) he was an option qb, c) he had a terrible arm.

[deltapunk21]

@idster7 No its because Tony couldn't throw was undersized and injury prone he would have been an nfl third down back or wr liek a drew bennet or other college qb's liek Matt Kones

[deltapunk21]

@Mklhorvath Along with Rocky Watters the o line and other playmakers and oh yeah the defense plsu he was an undersized non thrower which is not what the NFL needs to win with Pocket Passer and big frame

[abaum295]

those days were gold haha i kno him

[D16A6SI]

One of the greatest college qbs.

[getyoasshome]

hell no i can name 10 QBs better.

[weeezerguy812]

Haha what the hell was Rocket doing at 2:25

[irishjuwan]

great stuff!

[humblephil]

ND's "Three Amigos"--Stams, Pritchett and Stonebreaker:

"The person who was glue, the person who really put it all together, was Barry Alvarez," says Stams of the '88 Irish defensive coordinator, now the very successful head coach at Wisconsin.

"Our personalities fit very well with Barry's," elaborates Pritchett. "He believed that you had to keep the guys loose."

Does that sound like ND Defensive Coordinator in recent memory to you? And you wonder why ND's D dropped off after BA left?

[dbohemian1]

Hard to believe that he never got a shot to make an NFL roster. He played some CFL and WFL... one can only wonder what may have been.

[dwm1812]

Quinn would have won a national title if he had played on the 1988 team. Rice, if he had played on the 2005 - 06 teams would not have. I enjoyed the "quiet" year that Kevin McDougal had in 1993!

[moonboy320]

@dwm1812 Thank God for Tony Rice in 88. The perfect fit for a Lou Holtz offense. Quinn...let's not even go there.

[dwm1812]

Rice and Holtz - a perfect marriage!

[KaraLarson26]

I would take Tony Rice over Brady Quinn on any given day of the week. Rice went 24-1 as a starter in his final 2 years, won a national championship, won both bowl games, and led Notre Dame to a school record 23 game win streak. Meanwhile Quinn went 19-6, lost both bowl games, and couldn't led his team to a win over a quality ranked team. Quinn might have been the better passer and have all of the school passing records; but Rice had the leadership and skill of a champion.

[dwm1812]

Let's not get carried away. Rice played with an incredible defense - ND had Stonebreaker, Zorish, Stams, and an incredicle secondary on that team.

Brady Quinn didn't lose any bowl games - the offense performed in those losses. He plays qb not db. ND has not had a good (or great) D in awhile. Your critique is unfair. Rice was awesome though!

[humblephil]

I agree, totally.

[wholly33]

dwm1812 i am a diehard ND fan and I really enjoyed Brady Quinns performance. However, Tony Rice was a true leader that had the confidence of his offense and defense. Brady may have been the better passer, but did not have full confidense of his offense. Brady had true wide Receivers as well unlike Rice. I'll take a all around leader with a desent arm over a player that really only had a strong are and popularity like Quinn. Bottomline, Rice won a champion ship.... Brady didn't.

[dwm1812]

Quinn had unbelievable confidence in his offense. You can tell by their success on 4th down. Rice did have receivers - a young Ismail, Johnson, a fantastic TE in Derek Brown and several runners - Green and Banks. Quinn was a huge leader esp. his senior year ala the UCLA comeback. I'm not knocking Rice (I worship him!) but I think to compare one by lessening the other is silly. They also played a decade+ apart after the game has changed. Rice had a great D to back him - Quinn did not

[wholly33]

dwm1812, I completely disagree. Quinn may have had confidence in his offense but his offense did not show they had confidence in him and thats my point and thats what the difference was between the two. the team knew that they were going to win with Rice because of his image as an effective and confident winner. he never broke down under pressure, he just appeared to be calm at all times. Quinn seemed to be confident off and on, but never consistent in that way, nevertheless he got the job done.

[humblephil]

How did the best offense in ND history NOT have confidence in Quinn?? Are you insane?

[humblephil]

That reply is all over the place. leadership often has NOTHING to do with your ability, so trying to compare their ability to pass makes Rice look much less capable a QB, which he was not, but leadership cannot be measured by any real statistic. Still, why does Rice need the confidence of the ND defense? He never played defense. I think that both defenses realized that if they gave their QB a chance, they could win (look at USC 05, UCLA 06). Still ND rarely trailed in many big games w/ Rice

[ItalianQue]

When I first started watching this clip I said to myself....Now I know that I remember him actually throwing some passes. He went undreafted...I never understood that..He could have atleast went in the second round as a wideout/kick returner, hell, the man won a National Championship.

[toribaltimore]

he made a lot of would-be pro linebackers are d-backs look silly with his wishbone reads

[druffpc2007]

He went undefeated twice at Woodruff High in South Carolina. Him and his coach Willie Varner's 10 state championships are my towns claim to fame!

[AngryChair723]

tony rice went to my High School and set numerous records GO WHS!!

[SFFOOL76]

This is incredible, but there is a but.... you forgot tony rice's pass from the endzone to the rocket in the usc game in the 1st quarter.

[pianoguy2733]

he lives down the street

[dome1972]

I loved watching that Holtz team shut up all the Irish haters. As far as I'm concerned I would rather watch the option as opposed to the any "pro" style offence...even Charlie's. The cool thing about college football in those days was that the best player was on the field. Today, coaches wilt to the pressure to put the best pro prospect out there. That doesn't always give the team the best chance to win.

[SDBoy19]

My all-time favorite player. Best montage since Team America. Thanks.

[pmeitner]

I loved Tony Rice! BRING BACK THE OPTION!!!!!!