#1 Notre Dame vs. #2 USC 1988

[MrUnctarheels5]

R.I.P HARRY KALAS

[babykevinxoxo]

It's been all down hill from there ha ha

[warrior34able]

U$C= cash. Lol. Go Irish!!!!

[AmericanMarine0311]

I'm from southern california. And I LOVE Notre Dame football. No other school has the pride, tradition, standards of excellence, heart and determination than the Fighting Irish Of Notre Dame.

Of course all my friends and family are USC fans so I get a lot of crap from them.

Not this year though! NOTRE DAME 20 USC 16

[greymoose1000]

@AmericanMarine0311 It is a shame that a fellow Marine has not got better sense than you do in saying some flattering things about the DOMERS. ND is a national disgrace that murdered their own student this past fall when they placed him negligently up in a scissors tower to film football practice. The local weather service had issued inclement weather alerts about severe and dangerous winds in the area around South Bend.

[deanmcguire37]

@greymoose1000 accidents arent called murder dumbass. quit being so over dramatic.

[ripperduck]

Nice to hear Tony Roberts do the Irish play by play again. Nothing against who they have now but TR was the voice I grew up with hearing the Irish games and he was SO damn good.

[AllAmerican1964]

I remember watching this game when I was at Ft. Devens in the Army. This 1988 season was a golden dream for me and Notre Dame. Golden Domer for life baby!!!!

[dcbandnerd]

Harry Kalas. :-( RIP.

[mulder1021]

Cant we fudge the records and get Tony Rice back for one more year?? Maybe a 6th year of eligibility?? There was noone like him. He seems like a cool guy as well.

[jonnybaze]

touchdown Irsh,no sweeter words

[MrBillyBatts1]

USC will be finished now that the cheating is over with, they will go back in time to the 80's now that they are exposed for the cheaters they are!!

[AllAmerican1964]

@MrBillyBatts1 Their program is now in the toilet and I am so happy we got the best of them this year! You can't spell suck without USC!!

[MrBillyBatts1]

Hate to break this to you junior cause i know your stilll wet behind the ears and all but ND won like 12 straight from USC and it really wasnt all that long ago. I wouldnt be surprised to see ND run the table on them for a while now that they been exposed to be frauds like OSU is. Yeah time to pay the piper jackass

[ripperduck]

@MrBillyBatts1 What did the Buckeyes do THIS time? When nothing major happened with the Clarett debacle I don't see how anything will happen now. Not that I don't want it to, OSU is dirty big time. But they are the biggest ticket item in the Big 10 and the 2A will probably sit on their hands forever before they bring the hammer down, if they ever do....

[AllAmerican1964]

@MrBillyBatts1 Hey man, whay are you talking about? I was trying to say that I am glad USC got exposed for their cheating and happy their program is in the shitter, been a long time coming! Please do not call me wet behind the ears because I probably know more Notre Dame history than anyone! Next time Sir, please know who you are writing about before you get exposed like USC and everyone will know you are a MORON!!!!

[MrBillyBatts1]

@AllAmerican1964 hahahhaha you were still sucking your mama's dick when i was watching Joe M lead ND to a NC, challenge someone you at least have a chance against junior

[greymoose1000]

@MrBillyBatts1 ND = exposed for the murderers they are in killing young Declan this past fall.

[MrBillyBatts1]

@greymoose1000 HAHAHAHAHHAHA 

[greymoose1000]

@MrBillyBatts1 USC football equated to excellence/ND football equated with murder!!!

[MrBillyBatts1]

@greymoose1000 HAHAHHAHA OMG stop i fell out of my chair!! Oh is that a good one!! You are one hell of a funny guy, i got tears in my eyes from laughing!

[greymoose1000]

@MrBillyBatts1 THE MOOSE only speaks the TRUTH!

[MrBillyBatts1]

@greymoose1000 sure thing grey, LOL

[deanmcguire37]

@greymoose1000 usc equal to cheating not excellence

[greymoose1000]

@deanmcguire37 USC = CLASS!

[ErikS1975FreeState]

The 1988 Irish team was a great team & perhaps the best under Lou Holtz.

[zcatera074]

The faggots hate being called Southern Cal; that's why Holtz does it! U.S.C.= University of Spoiled Children

[Jackpotxx]

im gunna love to see when its #1 vs #2 again, that or 1 Michigan 2 ND

[Senaleb]

2009

NOTRE DAME > Nevada...

MICHIGAN > notre dame

Congrats to the Irish, you've improved.

[RocketShark]

Apparently so have the Wolverines -- to a degree.

[willdye87]

2009

MICHIGAN STATE > Michigan

NOTRE DAME > Michigan State

Congrats to the Wolverines, you've improved.

[DCSk8er529]

i met tony rice

[phatwhre786]

Holtz coached under Woody Hayes to!!!

[KaraLarson26]

2 reasons Lou Holtz was so successfull as coach at Notre Dame was the following: He had over 15 yrs of college coaching experience with stints at William & Mary, NC State, Arkansas, and Minnesota. Each one of those schools experienced winning seasons when Holtz coached them. Also Holtz recruited skilled speed players on both sides of the ball that was needed to turn Notre Dame into a more competative team.

Charlie Weiss had no prior coaching experience and can't recruit like Holtz did.

[FightingIrish595]

@KaraLarson26 \\get your facts straight, weiss was a fine recruiter, just couldnt develop the talent

[GenericNameBeta]

@KaraLarson26 and Weiss ate all the Burritos.

[74mackd]

@KaraLarson26 Wrong. Weiss was a great recruiter, and the ND teams under Holtz were really that fast, except for a couple of guys here and there. Back then, the game was primarily played between the tackles. So a team who wasn't as skilled, like ND, always had a chance. Just needed the right motivation, which is what Holtz mastered. Now the game is all about team speed. ND simply can't compete anymore. They will now and always be a mediocre team. The glory days are over.

[AllDay560Productions]

@KaraLarson26

It is now the brian kelly era, he does have coaching experience and he is recruiting very skillful and speedy players. Look at the freshmans this year. Notre Dame Football is back

[HarpuaND84]

Notre Dame, has played in two BCS games in the past four years. Do you realize that only "elite," teams play in BCS games.

[proffromgview]

Hard to believe that Notre Dame isn't relevant anymore to college football's elite level.

[hurleya1211]

Notre Shame what a joke.

[RocketShark]

Get some sleep, sonny. It's a school night.

[redsoxguy617]

@hurleya1211 USC what a joke

[Ndfootball1016]

well actually since of late, our schedules start out within the top 10 hardest then every team does shitty and ends up like 7-5 then that makes ND look like shit.. or if your michigan 3-9

[SquirrelEmperor]

Too bad ND can't be like this today.

[dhxon]

Until the Irish can get the beasts like Rice, Rocket, Stams, Heck and so many others, then it won't matter who they have as coach, they will never challenge for the national title.

[510631]

wait til next year-HERE COME THE IRISH!

[pandaexprezzle]

And for those of whom who argue that ND never has a "cupcake" schedule,

I'm sorry, I meant for those who say that ND ALWAYS have a weak schedule

[pandaexprezzle]

Lol Nd is basically the best football teams in history, since they have had some of the most famous players, and coaches, one of whom actually invented the forward pass, and ND is tied for the most nat. champ. wins with Mich. And for those of whom who argue that ND never has a "cupcake" schedule, their schedules have been ranked in the top ten in difficulty for at least 6 out of 10 years every decade. But USc has definetly been the most dominant team in college football in the last 12 years.

[bullish2bearish]

Notre Dame is and has always been the most over rated team in NCAA football history.

[DCSk8er529]

if ur a buckeye fan then stfu cos ohio state

is the most overrated team ever. they get a free ride to the national championship

and get blown out. if ur an usc fan grow up! nd still leads the series 42-33-5. u guys may have won 7 in a row but y don't usc fans talk shit about nd when they sc takes the lead of the nd-usc series.

if ur a um fan stfu. u guys went 3-9 plus nd whooping u 35-17. if ur an msu fan at least we won our bowl game. if ur a purdue fan stfu cos nd killed purdue

38-21!

[backtobackreviewers]

the 60's-90's notre dame was the best college football team ever! especially the 80's!

[tk0173]

Hard to picture a USC team that couldn't beat ND, but in reality Miami was the team to beat of the 80's. They, much like the USC of today, had thirty some straight wins before ND pulled out a thriller in October.

[JBSchmoov]

tony rice, tommy frazier, eric crouch...option qb's that made an excellent transition to the nfl. lol.

[imaFreakinRican]

ok listen im not here to say that Notre Dame sucks i mean 6 straight wins but i have to say USC rules sorry but thats where im from

[RocketShark]

Six straight wins is certainly commendable. Seven is better. Eight...nine...ten...eleven...­talk to me when you get there.

[humblephil]

Try a 12 year unbeaten streak. Under ND, the Irish were 11-0-1 under Holtz!!! GO IRISH!!

[humblephil]

Sorry it started under Faust if you can believe that.

[redsoxguy617]

@imaFreakinRican usc sucks. like the yankees

[notredamefan98]

i loved that 1988 season

[TEXAZHAZE]

@notredamefan98 88 the year dan quinn made "the play" greatest stop in nd history and got fired for it

[devinesp]

Rice carries on the option for he first time, he may go all the way, he's gonna win the race touchdown Notre Dame!

[Kurz1018]

Here Come the Irish!!!

[Rhenoism]

Should have been Auburn instead of USC going against ND. If the earthquake game hadn't happened, maybe it would have been. But, Auburn went to the Sugar Bowl and lost because of Deion's last-play interference.

[uscg1975]

You need to get your facts straight. This was

regular season game. The Irish next game was

the Fiesta Bowl in which the defeated West

Virginia. WVU was the only undefeated team left that year. That year ND beat the Big 10

champ (Michigan), the Pac 10 champ (USC), the

defending national champ (Miami), and the

eventual number two team (West VA.). They also

beat Penn State that year. Auburn wasn't a

factor that year.

[humblephil]

Very true. I think that ND's 1988 team's schedule was the hardest ever for a National Champion. The Irish had to beat the #1 (MIA) #2 (USC), #3 (West Va), and the Big Ten Champion, 11-1, Michigan Wolverines.

No team has ever had to run that kind of gauntlet...and won it all, in my lifetime, at least.

[dabbott14]

I'm partial in this argument, but I can make a case for the 2000 Oklahoma schedule being tougher than this. They beat #11 Texas in Dallas (62-14), won at #2 Kansas State (41-31), beat #1 Nebraska at home (31-14), and beat #8 Kansas State in a rematch in the Big XII title game (27-24). They then went to Miami and defeated heavily favored #2 Florida State (13-2).

The amazing part is that the games against Texas, at Kansas State, and Nebraska were played consecutively.

[humblephil]

Well, other than the WVU game, all the game were on ND's actual schedule, not the result of a rematch in a conference title game. So the title game is not what I was would say is actually part of the schedule. And KSU was never really anything but a paper tiger that year anyway. Still a tough schedule.

[devinesp]

agreed plus, Florida State shouldn't have been in that title game Miami was a better squad at the end of the year and dismantled Florida in the Sugar Bowl if memory serves me right this 88' schedule is probably still the toughest I have ever seen a national champion go through.

[humblephil]

Also, the Irish's big games against MICH, USC, MIA and WVA were all Top Ten Teams. It was the #1 ranked schedule in the nation and they ran the table. I find that more impressive than OU, but then again I am partial too.

[SFFOOL76]

Michigan went 9-2-1 that year, and there two losses was to Notre Dame and then Miami was their next game.

[humblephil]

Whose next game? MICH was the first game of the season and Miami was the 5th game I think.

[SFFOOL76]

It was referring to Michigan's schedule

[humblephil]

Oh, okay. But still MICH never played MIA that year. Did they?  If so, that just shows how good MICH was that year....and ND, too, of course.

[kukulcan12]

Early in this season USC had completely shut down the wishbone of Oklahoma and kept them from scoring any points when the first team defense was on the field. USC defense was highly dependent on their safeties to stop the option and since they had the two best safeties in the country, they did it well, however since their SS was out for this game against ND with an injury, it was much more difficult to stop ND's option offense.

[kukulcan12]

Interestingly, the long run by Rice in the first quarter for a touchdown directly involved the two defensive players for SC that were substituting for injured starts OLB Michael Williams, and first team All-American SS Cleveland Culter. No way that run would have happened had those two players not been out with injuries for this game!

[RocketShark]

FWIW, Notre Dame was also without two star players on this day. Coach Holtz sent starting flanker Ricky Watters and reserve tailback Tony Brooks (128 carries for 702 yds) home for being late to a team meeting.

They had to watch the game from the airport, but they were never late to a team meeting again.

[kukulcan12]

I remember that and you got to admire Holtz for his discipline, but while Watters was a very good player as a sophomore he was hardly a star player in 88' with only 15 receptions that whole season. Brooks as you mentioned was a reserve tailback, Mark Green was ND's starter and he played. The losses don't compare to USC's losses, playing ND without the best safety in the country that year, and a very good veteran OLB has to really hurt especially playing an option style offense.

[RocketShark]

Watters was a multi-dimensional player, even as a sophomore. When you return a punt for your only touchdown in a victory against Michigan, you are a star player as far as ND is concerned.

But I think you and I can find common ground in agreeing that even if both teams had all their talent on the field that day, Notre Dame was still going to come away with the win.

[kukulcan12]

Yes, I agree, ND still probably would have won, ND was extremely intense for the game, and SC was not all together, especially Rodney Peete who played terribly that day. ND kept blitzing their safties, and Peete could not adapt! I loved it when ND beat Miami that year, I freckin hate Miami!

[kukulcan12]

or was that the year after?

[oblsh]

miami is extremely gay

[ciccone39]

One thing you need to remember back then with Notre Dame was there were no really "Stars". Lou Holtz ran the ball most of the time so a reciever just wasn't going to have many catches. Also, Lou used many, many different players at running back and reciever so no single player was going to have huge numbers. 15 receptions back then at Notre Dame was very very good. The low numbers were just that. They always added up to wins in the end.

[RocketShark]

1988 and 1990 were the most recent defeats of Miami.

By the way, not to rehash an old debate, but I recently came across the stat that Brooks was the leading rusher at ND at the time of being disciplined by Holtz. Watters was the leading receiver (even though we weren't really passing back then) but he was also the 4th best punt returner in the nation.

[Kurz1018]

Tim Brown won the Heismen in 1987 as a WR and The Rocket was screwed out of won in 1990. So yeah there were stars. Bettis, Brooks, Rice, Rocket, Brown. Some many good players.

[gsfish]

If ND had tried to score in the fourth quarter it would have been 41 - 10. Wake up. The game wasn't close.

[SFFOOL76]

Notre Dame put a serious ass kicking in this game. This was so fun to watch, I wish Notre Dame / USC games were played in the daytime instead of the night game in L.A.

[NDMike]

This was one of the hardest hitting games by a Notre Dame defense that I have seen. The 1966 Game against Michigan State was the hardest hitting I had ever seen but this game is up there. The nasty pounding Notre Dame's defense gave USC was viscious! Rodney Pete would get hit so hard in this game that at the end of the game that you could see he wanted no part of Notre Dame anymore. GO IRISH!

[chitownhustle247]

1988 NC Team, undefeated 12-0 GO IRISH!!