This Date in Cardinal Football: 10-03-92
#18 Stanford turns #6 Notre Dame into a Lou-ser!"
Forget talk of malfunctioning clocks. Save the metaphors of blind,
tree-minded rodents for other conversations. Stanford's startling 33-16 victory
at Notre Dame on this very date in 1992 was less of a fluke and more of a
punishment leveled against a team ranked in the top ten. After scoring 33
unanswered points, Stanford left the In-Fighting Irish just plain shell-shocked.
"The most physical secondary I've ever played against," commented
wide receiver Lake Dawson, whose broken rib resulted from being on the business
end of a vicious John Lynch tackle.
Irish eyes were crying, literally, on the sideline late in the game. NBC
television cameras caught tears welling up in the eyes of Irish quarterback Rick
Mirer (see cover of program), whose Heisman Trophy hopes and national title
dreams went "kaputt" after he managed to complete just 13 of his 38
throws.
Stanford led 20-16 early in the fourth period when Notre Dame appeared ready
to take back the lead. From third & goal at the Cardinal eight yard-line,
Mirer saw his primary receivers covered before firing to the far sideline in the
direction of tight end Irv Smith. Lynch, a former quarterback himself,
immediately broke toward the ball and intercepted it in stride, the Cardinal
pitcher and one-time quarterback returning the interception 24 yards up the
sideline.
"That was the biggest play of the game," said Stanford senior
linebacker Dave Garnett.
Lynch totaled six unassisted tackles on the afternoon, the biggest coming on
the second half's very first play. Irish fullback Jerome Bettis, who had scored
four touchdowns in Notre Dame's convincing win in Palo Alto the year earlier,
had a head of steam going before getting spun around by an initial hit deep into
the Cardinal secondary. Lynch met him head on, forcing a fumble recovered by
Garnett at the Notre Dame 22. The 247-pound Bettis had a good 30 pound advantage
on his future NFL foe.
"Lynch just labeled him," Garnett said. "The ball was
just sitting there."
Stanford's star tailback Glyn Milburn ran 20 times for 119 yards and a pair
of touchdowns. Much of that came late against a tired Irish defense. A full 18
minutes of the second half saw Stanford owning possession. Bruised ribs may have
sidelined him from practicing until the Friday before the game, but Stanford QB
Steve Stenstrom dissected Notre Dame in ruthlessly efficient fashion - to the
tune of 21 of 32 throws for 215 yards.
"Our line did a great job," said the redshirt junior quarterback,
who found all-conference receiver Justin Armour and fullback J.J. Lasley for key
touchdowns. "I told the line all week that if they gave me time, there were
holes in the Notre Dame defense."
This was Stanford's first NBC appearance since Notre Dame inked its national
TV contract with the Peacock a year earlier. Tom Hammond had the play-by-play.
Former Bengals wide receiver Cris Collinsworth handled the same commentating
duties held by Coach Walsh the previous season alongside veteran broadcaster
Dick Enberg. For the 104th straight game, Notre Dame Stadium was completely sold
out.
The Cardinal would not disappoint! They had been confronted with a formidable
challenge! After all, Notre Dame had garnered a No. 3 rating in the AP's
preseason poll. Only 1991 co-national champs Miami and Washington were ranked
higher. Mirer and Bettis would each be first-round NFL selections the following
spring. Linebacker Demetrius DuBose had nabbed All-American honors in 1991. The
late Domer star had certainly looked like one on the game's first play from
scrimmage.
Stenstrom dropped back near the goal line, only to be leveled from his blind
side. Fortunately for Stanford, senior guard Brian Cassidy recovered the ball in
the end zone to salvage a safety. The scoreboard showed the home side up 2-0 and
the lead was soon to grow. Notre Dame took the free kick and capped a drive with
a star tailback Reggie Brooks' nine-yard scoring run. Stanford fell into 9-0
hole just three minutes into the game. "Touchdown Jesus" looked down
upon a 16-0 margin with nine minutes remaining in the first half.
Notre Dame had won the Sugar Bowl over Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators nine
months earlier. Their previous foray against an SEC outfit featured an epic
comeback, a stirring 35-34 win by Tennessee after the visiting Vols had fallen
behind 31-7.
"We only watched films of this year's Notre Dame games because last
year's games have no bearing on this year, except the Tennessee game,"
commented Stenstrom, who watched the Irish amass 200 yards of offense in the
game's first 22 minutes. "We definitely looked at it to get the right
understanding of what can be done when you're behind."
Averaging an impressive 512 yards per-game coming in, Notre Dame began to
stall. Mirer missed wide open receivers, especially on third down. Stanford
clawed within 16-6 at the break following Milburn's six-yard run (the two-point
pass failed). Just as it had for the Cardinal's first score, a Notre Dame fumble
set up the second touchdown.
After Lynch roughed up Bettis, Stenstrom hooked up with Armour cutting across
the middle for a six-yard score. A 16-13 deficit stood as Stanford's next
operation began at its own 34. The Cardinal mixed passes to JC transfer Mike Cook (a game-best nine catches for 78 yards) and runs by University of
Miami-transfer Ellery Roberts (who ran free on a fourth & one during the
march) before moving to the Irish 20.
Rolling to his left went Stenstrom. Curling out of the backfield ran Lasley,
on play designed to find the Crespi High alum in stride while running toward the
near sideline. Stenstrom took a mean hit but lofted the short pass perfectly.
Lasley was uncovered. The free-spirited fullback sprinted untouched toward the
goal line and found himself facing NBC's end zone camera.
"Hi mom!" he barked into the lens, a celebratory pointer finger
directed skyward.
Some how, some way, Stanford had gained its initial lead with 4:49 still
remaining in the third. The Irish's ensuing 12-play drive died with Lynch's
aforementioned interception. Down went the Notre Dame comeback hopes as the
fourth quarter elapsed. Sandwiched around two Eric Abrams field goals, Milburn's
score was the decisive dagger.
The backpedaling Irish dug in from their 14. Milburn took a handoff on a
sweep to his right. Dalman pulled ahead of him. The play - dubbed "18
BOB" in the famed Walsh playbook - ended with the fifth-year senior
tip-toeing inside the pylon. A crushing lead block saw Dalman send DuBose to the
turf. The 72-yard march culminated with a comfortable 30-16 Stanford edge. Pure
punishment! Not that Stanford's players expected anything less that day.
Walsh broke into tears of joy in the visitors' locker room. "This game
is as big as any I've won," he said after Notre Dame experienced just its
fourth home loss in the previous six years, with two of those coming courtesy of
the Stanford Cardinal! Senior linebacker Ron George reflected a more unfazed
attitude.
"We were hanging off the rafters," he said, recalling the aftermath
of the previous 36-31 upset of #1 Notre Dame in 1990. "This year we won.
That's it."
It....certainly was.
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