“I understand why you feel that way, Coach, but I think I can lead this team to a national championship.” That’s what Kevin McDougal told Coach Holtz at the start of the 1993 season, my senior year. Kevin was a Manorite, like me, but there the similarities ended. Well, other than the winning smile and a funny throwing style.
When the 1993 football season started, the program was, to be honest, kind of a hot mess: Coach Holtz was battling his health and relevance, there was a book out taking shots at ND’s reputation and a young QB named Ron Powlus showed up, to claim what would be his. Quickly, Powlus established himself as the starter, and Coach Holtz pulled Kevin, the quarterback qua “best-man-but-never-the-groom,” aside and broke the news to him. That’s when Kevin gave Holtz the line about leading the team. A broken collar bone later, Kevin got his chance.
By the time the FSU game rolled around, Kevin was, indeed, leading the team to a national championship. ND was ranked #2 and the ‘Noles were #1 and roll into South Bend they did. They brought Bobby Bowden at the peak of his talents, Charlie Ward, Derrick Brooks and a ton of attitude – during practice, they scalped the field, taking trophy bits of turf, and toured the campus in custom green, FSU baseball caps. ESPN’s GameDay came to campus, too – the first time they ever travelled to a game. To be fair, storm clouds were gathering on the far horizon, but on November 13, all we could think about was “changing the numbers” and graduating. All that stood between us were a lot of exams, papers, Charlie Ward, Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn…
We beat the hell out of them. Sure, it came down to a blocked pass at the :03 mark, but in my mind, and even when I watch the highlights, her loyal sons out-played the ‘Noles and Holtz out-coached Bobby Bowden. The crowd was intense, and while FSU travelled well, there were Irish roars I haven’t heard since. When we busted their crazy double lateral, the thunder… it came down.
I may be going out on a limb here, but I see a lot of what our team now can be when I look back at what our team was, then. I see a lot of McDougal in Golson, and a lot of our stacked lines in the horses who will trot out against Navy. We didn’t beat FSU (or anybody, really) in 1993 with a flashy passing attack. Instead, Ray Zellars and Lee Becton ran OVER people. Holtz put playmakers in spots to make plays – remember that Jeff Burris (S) and Adrian Jarrell (P) rushed for three TD’s between them against Florida State. McDougal extended plays and ran the ball himself, all things I see developing in today’s Irish.
We crashed onto the field when it was over, when the ball crashed to that battered turf. Later, the Number One did light up. It was magic in the chill of the November night. We were surrounded by ourselves in a celebration of their accomplishment. These were our friends and roommates and they had done it on a national stage that was still being constructed by something called “the internet,” cable and ESPN. We didn’t know what would happen next but we knew we were graduating and that this was our last chance.
Watch the magic all over again. Ask yourself: did we really think those hats and sweatshirts looked good?
Hating Hurricanes Since 1990.
Bayou Irish is a Jersey boy and Double Domer who fell under New Orleans' spell in 1995. He's been through Katrina and fourteen years in the Coast Guard, so we cut him some slack, mostly in the form of HLS-subsidized sazeracs. But, when he's not face down on the bar and communing with the ghosts of Faulkner and Capote at the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone, he's our man in SEC-land, doing his best to convince everyone around him that Graduation Success Rate is a better indicator of success than the number of MNC's won in the last five years.
- Finding Flaws in a Diamond: Clemson’s Rushing Offense - December 17, 2018
- Why Nobody Will Cotton to Notre Dame - December 3, 2018
- Irish Finish Regular Season Perfect 12-0 - November 26, 2018
One of my earliest and best memories of Irish football!
It was unseasonably warm the day of the FSU game; I went wearing a rugby shirt and sleeveless vest. The following week was bitterly cold, in more ways than one.
What I (re)realized watching the second video is just what kind of punks were playing for FSU… It seems like every big ND play has some FSU defender pushing the RB into the crowd, trying to get a late tackle in after the touchdown is already signaled, etc. They definitely won on cheap shots that day.
“The ghost of Knute Rockne is living – and he is smiling.”
This is one of my greatest Notre Dame experiences ever, the wins over West Virginia and Miami in 88′ notwithstanding. There was something so raw about being the underdog at #2 and almost no one thinking we could win that made this so satisfying. The Boston College loss still resonates, but this day against FSU is what it is all about. I have watched this video a thousand times.
Let me also say that I believe even without the koolaid that I feel Coach Kelly can create this magic again. It truly was a game of the century. It was a great game….it helped that we won.