Remembering Notre Dame's Greatest Kickoff Returns
Earlier this week, CBSSports’ Dennis Dodd reported that preliminary and informal discussions have begun with the American Football Coaches Association and the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee about the possibility of removing kickoffs in the future.
Regarded as the most dangerous play in football because of the speed/momentum involved on both sides, the potential elimination of the kickoff would be to increase emphasis on player safety. Pop Warner youth football understandably has eliminated kickoffs, and it is generally not used in college spring games either, including at Notre Dame. Even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in 2012 said the competition committee would consider removing kickoffs.
A form of “compromise” was reached when the NFL in 2011 and the NCAA in 2012 moved kickoffs up five yards to the 35 to create more touchbacks. Proposals for banning kickoffs also have arisen because of the expanding liability issues that have been occurring from head trauma.
This possible action inspired us to think about the most memorable kickoff returns in Notre Dame’s history, and what if it had been illegal then. Here’s our top 10 in chronological order, with an emphasis on impacting victory in important contests:
1. Opening Act — Oct. 18, 1919
There have been a handful of occasions where Notre Dame returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. This one created a watershed victory at Nebraska (all the games betweent the two teams from 1915-20 were played in Lincoln), which had handed head coach Jesse Harper’s Notre Dame teams their lone loss in 1915 and 1917.
On Nebraska’s opening kickoff, junior star George Gipp fielded the ball, and immediately drew the attention of the coverage team. As he veered to his right, Gipp passed a lateral to Alfred “Dutch” Bergman, who raced for a 97-yard TD that proved to be the catalyst in Notre Dame’s 14-9 triumph. It was Knute Rockne’s first marquee victory and propelled a 9-0 season, resulting in Notre Dame being declared “Western Champions.”
2. Opening Act, Part II — Oct. 4, 1930
In the first game ever in the new Notre Dame Stadium, SMU took the opening kickoff and quickly drove to a 7-0 lead. Then the first time a Fighting Irish player touched the ball in the new digs, Joe Savoldi, a future pro wrestling star, returned the kickoff 100 yards to help propel another national title march in the hard fought 20-14 win.
3. Yet Another First — Nov. 8, 1947
From 1913-1947, Notre Dame and Army played every season except one (1918, because of the Spanish Influenza that swept the nation) — but never at Notre Dame.
That changed on this day, and on the opening kickoff Terry Brennan, the future Notre Dame head coach from 1954-58, fielded a boucning kickoff at his three and raced 97 yards along the Notre Dame sideline toward the north end zone. The Irish went on to defeat the No. 9 Cadets 27-7 and win a second straight national title.
4. Preserving The Streak — Dec. 4, 1948
Notre Dame’s 27-game unbeaten streak was in peril at the sold out Los Angeles Coliseum when USC took a 14-7 lead with only 2:30 left in the game. The Irish offense had committed seven turnovers and had reserve sophomore QB Bob Williams in the game. Bill Gay then took the kickoff and raced 87 yards to the USC 12, setting up an Irish TD and extra point (the two-point conversion didn’t come into play until 1958) with 35 seconds left.
Notre Dame would finish No. 2 thhis season, but the unbeaten streak would reach 39 before ending in 1950.
5. Johnny Come Lately — Nov. 7, 1953
A blizzard and other issues resulted in 5-0 and No. 1 Notre Dame arriving 15 minutes late for their game at Penn in front of a capacity crowd of 74,711 in Philadelphia. It resulted in a 15-yard penalty to open the game, and the Quakers took advantage by taking a 7-0 lead on the initial series.
On the kickoff, Johnny Lattner weaved through the snow for a 93-yard score — his favorite individual memory of his Heisman Trophy winning season. Later in that same game after a Penn score, Lattner returned the kickoff 56 yards to set up another TD in the 28-20 win.
6. In The “Nick” Of Time — Sept. 24, 1966
In the opener, this year’s Rose Bowl champ Purdue would draw first blood with a 90-plus yard fumble return (think USF in the 2011 opener) for a quick 7-0 lead. Senior halfback Nick Eddy then would return the kickoff for a 96-yard score to swing the game’s momentum. The Irish would go on to win 26-14 on their way to the national title.
7. The Lone Hunter — Dec. 31, 1973
With the national title on the line in the Sugar Bowl, No. 1 Alabama had just taken its first lead, 7-6, versus Notre Dame in the second quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, freshman speedster Al Hunter found a small crease and raced for a 93-yard TD. It would prove pivotal in the 24-23 Irish victory that resulted in a national title.
It would be eight years before Notre Dame scored again on a kickoff return (the 1981 season finale).
8 & 9. One For The Money, Two For The Show – Sept. 16, 1989
On Oct. 26, 1957, the University of Minnesota’s Ron Engel scored on a kickoff return during the Golden Gophers’ 24-7 loss at home to Michigan. For the next 32 seasons, the Wolverines would not yield another kickoff return for a touchdown. Then The Rocket came to town.
On this day, Michigan surrendered not one but two kickoff returns for TDs in the second half to Notre Dame sophomore Raghib “Rocket” Ismail. The performance transformed Ismail from a burgeoning football star into a college football legend in this No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown.
Michigan kicked off to start the second half trailing 7-6, and Ismail returned it 88 yards for a touchdown. The Wolverines then cut their deficit to 17-12 with 12:46 left when Ismail returned the kickoff for a 92-yard tally in the 24-19 win, part of a school record 23-game winning streak.
10. Blowing By Hurricanes – Oct. 20, 1990
After defending national champ and No. 2 Miami took a 10-3 first-quarter lead, Hurricanes head coach Dennis Erickson and premier placekicker Carlos Huerta agreed that with about a 15 miles per hour wind at its back, Miami could kick the ball out of the end zone.
Wrong guess. Ismail fielded the ball at his six, and exploded for his fifth – and final – career kickoff return for a score. It would be Notre Dame’s lone TD through nearly the first 54 minutes of action, but a record five Craig Hentrich field goals aided the cause as the No. 6 Irish toppled No. 2 Miami, 29-20.
To appreciate the degree of difficult of scoring on a kickoff return, consider it’s been done at Notre Dame only four times the past 13 years: Armando Allen in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl, George Atkinson III twice in 2011, versus Michigan State and USC, and CJ Sanders in the loss at Stanford last season.
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