Notre Dame’s Top Classes: No. 4
The class ratings were based on 1) impact through production, championship contention and talent level of other classes around them, 2) balance at the various positions and 3) overall depth in number of major producers.
The 1987 Recruiting Class
Players Signed: 30, five of whom transferred
Record At Notre Dame From 1987-90: 41-8 (.837), with a 34-21 victory over 11-0 West Virginia in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl and a 21-6 conquest of 11-0 and No. 1-ranked Colorado in the 1990 Orange Bowl.
Associated Press Final Rankings: No. 17 (1987), No. 1 (1988), No. 2 (1989) and No. 6 (1990)
LEADERS IN THE LINEUP
Fullback: Ryan Mihalko
Tailback: Tony Brooks, Ricky Watters
Flanker: Watters (in 1988)
Tight End: Frank Jacobs
Offensive Line: Mike Heldt, Tim Ryan, Winston Sandri, Joe Allen
Defensive Line: Chris Zorich, George Williams, Bob Dahl
Linebackers: Andre Jones, Scott Kowalkowski, Donn Grimm
Defensive Backs: Todd Lyght (corner), Greg Davis (safety)
Kicker: Billy Hackett
IMPACT
Popular opinion prior to the 1988 football season was that Notre Dame —43-36-1 the previous seven years — was a “year away” from better football days under head coach Lou Holtz. That’s because most of its top players were in the sophomore class.
That year away came early thanks in great part to the “super sophs.”
Eleven members from the group started at least one game during their sophomore campaign in 1988 when Notre Dame won the national title. Zorich and Williams provided a powerful new presence along the defensive line, while center Heldt and guards Ryan and Sandri made an impact along the offensive front. Meanwhile, seldom have the Irish recruited three skill position people such as flanker/tailback Watters, tailback Brooks and cornerback Lyght in one class.
From 1988-90, this recruiting haul helped the Irish to an astounding 11-2 mark against opposition ranked in the Associated Press top 10 — and 7-1 versus the top five.
A half-dozen others along the way helped Notre Dame to consecutive 12-0 and 12-1 ledgers in 1988-89, highlighted by a school-record 23-game winning streak.
BALANCE
The only position not represented was quarterback, and that’s because Kent Graham, who backed up Tony Rice for the 1988 national champs, transferred to Ohio State and played a decade in the NFL.
After Notre Dame lost its last three games in 1987 while yielding an astronomical 256.7 rushing yards per contest, Holtz inserted the fiery Zorich at nose guard and Williams at left end in 1988. They helped a renaissance that saw the Irish place 10th in run defense and third in scoring defense (12.3 points allowed per game). Zorich already is in the College Football Hall of Fame. The secondary featured Lyght, a two-time consensus All-American cornerback. In 1989, Lyght intercepted eight passes for the 12-1 Irish, the most over the past 43 seasons — and he is now in his second season of coaching the Notre Dame secondary. He too is one day destined for the College Football Hall of Fame.
Another sophomore regular on defense was drop end Jones (the late father of 2010-13 receiver TJ Jones), who finished his career with 23 starts and 147 tackles.
Only one regular returned from the previous year’s offensive line, so Holtz began the season with 258-pound Heldt at center and 253-pound Sandri at left guard. Heldt had never played center, but that’s where he became a three-year force (37 consecutive starts) and a second-team All-America pick in 1990. Sandri started four games in ’88, but classmate Ryan, who was only 245 pounds in ’88, moved ahead of him and twice earned honorable mention All-America acclaim.
The backfield featured Watters and Brooks. In need of more explosiveness at wide receiver, Holtz shifted Watters to flanker in 1988 due to the presence of the powerful Brooks and steady senior captain Mark Green at tailback. Watters went on to lead the Irish in receiving, and he scored the first touchdown of the campaign with an 81-yard punt return in the 19-17 win over eventual Rose Bowl champ Michigan. One of only 29 players in NFL history to eclipse 10,000 rushing yards, Watters shifted back to tailback in 1989 when Green graduated.
Brooks racked up 667 yards rushing yards as a sophomore while averaging 5.7 yards per carry. His 2,274 career yards have ranked among the top 10 on the Irish chart. Also in this class …
• Defensive lineman Dahl became a two-year starter (1989-90) and a six-year NFL player.
• Despite the shift of Zorich and Ryan from linebacker to linemen, the linebacker positions still featured Jones, Kowalkowski and Grimm. When All-American rush end Frank Stams graduated after the 1988 campaign, Kowalkowski made honorable mention All-America twice and played 11 seasons in the NFL. Grimm started 18 games in 1989 and ’90, and his 93 tackles for the 12-1 unit in ’89 were second best on the team.
• Strong safety Davis had 17 career starts and registered 126 tackles.
DEPTH
Quality depth included offensive linemen Sandri and Allen, fullback Mihalko, tight end Jacobs and kicker Hackett.
Sandri had seven career starts at three positions while playing 345:27, and Allen started the famed 1988 Miami game.
Mihalko, a special teams standout, was a recipient of the Nick Pietrosante Award, bestowed annually to a player who best exemplifies the Notre Dame spirit.
Jacobs played nearly 200 minutes as a freshman and sophomore, and started six games for the ’88 champs, catching a TD pass in the Fiesta Bowl win over West Virginia.
Hackett was a backup for both Reggie Ho and Craig Hentrich, but still converted 11 of 14 field goal attempts, including a 45-yarder in the national title tilt in the ’89 Fiesta Bowl.
In addition, this class had several transfers — QB Graham (Ohio State), RB Lincoln Coleman (Baylor) and WR Bobby Carpenter (Syracuse) — who went on to NFL careers.
Not including the transfers, the ’87 Notre Dame haul had 10 players drafted, with Lyght a first-round selection and Watters and Zorich in the second.
SUMMARY
The main reason this class wasn’t rated higher is because it was buoyed by the haul that preceded it in 1986 (our No. 9-ranked class led by Rice) and the 1988 group (No. 14) that featured Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, Derek Brown and Arnold Ale.
The greatest sophomore impact class in college football history was the 1968 group at Ohio State, which featured 13 soph starters who led the Buckeyes to the national title. Twenty years later in 1988, Holtz — the defensive back coach at Ohio State in ’68 that included a couple of sophomore starters in Jack Tatum and Mike Sensibaugh — had his own crop of “super sophs” at Notre Dame.
“Our class brought a different attitude to the program,” Zorich said of its cockiness combined with work ethic. “I can’t tell you how many arguments there were during practice between our young punks and the older guys, but it was a perfect mix that wound up helping us win the national championship.”
When you measure this class by our three criteria, it merits “Final Four” or “College Football Playoff” consideration in Notre Dame annals.
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