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Cotton Bowl 1979
Notre Dame 35 Houston 34 |
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Then, reminiscent of a dramatic rally against Southern Cal in the regular season, the Fighting Irish came up with the finest comeback in the 43-year history of the Cotton Bowl.
Montana, the senior quarterback, sent the drama to the final second Monday, completing an 8-yard touchdown pass to diving wide receiver Kris Haines, who made the catch just in bounds as time ran out (video).
Then placekicker Joe Unis had to kick the winning extra point twice for the amazing 35-34 victory over the stunned Cougars.
The first time Unis kicked his extra point, Notre Dame was penalized for illegal procedure. Unis made the second try and the delirious, frostbitten band of Fighting Irish fans stormed the frozen field (video).
Haines said of the game-tying touchdown pass play, "We ran it with 6 seconds to play, but we got a little mixed up." That pass was incomplete, but with 2 seconds to play, Montana decided to try it again.
"Joe asked me if I could beat my man again," said Haines. "I said, 'Yes.' I beat the linebacker, but I don't know who it was."
"This team never quits," said Haines. "I was hurting and starting to feel sorry for myself, but I looked around, and saw the others weren't quitting, so I told myself I couldn't quit."
Unis said concentration was the key to his winning kick.
"Every kicker fantasizes about being in a position like that," he said. "When I kicked the first time, saw the yellow flag and prayed the penalty wasn't on us. Then I had to get my concentration back. I had to get my composure back. I took two deep breaths and concentrated on the tee, on keeping my head down and on following through. I hit both of them well."
Notre Dame Coach Dan Devine said: "When it was 34-12, I felt we had to do something to turn it around. It happened when (Steve) Cichy scored on the blocked punt."
Cichy returned a punt blocked by Tom Belden 33 yards for a touchdown that, combined with a 2-point conversion pass from Montana to Vagas Ferguson, narrowed the count to 34-20 with 7:25 to play.
A poor Houston punt put the Irish on the move again and Montana scored on a 2-yard run with 4:15 to go. Then came some questionable Houston strategy by Cougars Coach Bill Yeoman.
On fourth and 1, Yeoman decided to go for a first down with 35 seconds to play and the ball on the Houston 29. Running back Emmett King was stopped cold by defensive tackle Mike Calhoun and Notre Dame took over (video).
Montana ran 11 yards and completed a 10-yard pass to Haines, who ran out of bounds on the Cougar 8 with 6 seconds to go.
Then came the incompletion followed by the game-winning pass.
“I was completely responsible for that call," said Yeoman of the decision to go for the first down. "We were kicking the ball only 10 or 12 yards into the wind and (Center) Chuck Brown had a bad wrist and couldn't snap the ball well."
There was every indication the game would be bizarre from the weird opening coin toss.
Notre Dame won the toss and took the 20 mile per hour wind at its back for the first period. Houston insisted on kicking into the wind because the Cougars wanted Notre Dame to handle the ball first in the 20-degree cold.
The weather bureau said there was a chill factor of 6 degrees below zero, and the chill may have been partly responsible for the seven turnovers the Irish made.
But the referees started off by giving Houston the wind and Golic finally won the argument that Notre Dame should have it.
The Irish jumped on the Cougars quickly on this coldest day in Cotton Bowl history. Montana scored on a 3-yard run and freshman Pete Buchanan charged across from a yard away for a 12-0 lead.
But a freak play on a punt gave Houston its first touchdown on a disputed call. Officials ruled the punt had hit Dave Waymer of Notre Dame and Brown recovered at the Irish 12. After being pushed back, Houston quarterback Danny Davis completed a 15-yard touchdown pass play to Willis Adams (video).
Notre Dame came unraveled in the cold at that point. A fumble set up Randy Love's 1-yard touchdown run to put Houston ahead 14-12 with 6:27 left in the first half and two interceptions set up Kenny Hatfield field goals of 21 and 34 yards.
The Cougars scored two quick touchdowns in the third period on runs of 2 and 5 yards by the elusive Davis, a senior from Dallas who had never lost a game in this stadium.
The final Houston touchdown came after Bobby Harrison blocked a Notre Dame punt.
Montana, who was sick at halftime, came back into the game when- on the Houston bench- the players were congratulating Davis for his fine game and backup quarterback Delric Brown was playing.
Notre Dame center Dave Huffman said: "They told us Joe was not coming back and we thought it was over. But we learned over the last four years that it's never over. We were terrible for three quarters, but the last 7 minutes we played football like we know how."
Devin said of Montana: "What makes him the leader he is: Well, you saw it today."
Davis said of the Houston gamble which backfired, "I didn't have second thoughts about going for it. I felt like the law of averages just caught up with us."
The Irish overcame a 24-6 deficit in their final regular season game against Southern Cal, only to lose 27-25 on a last-second field goal.
Before the Cotton Bowl, Devine had said: "We would have hated for the season to have ended with a game like that."
Now the season has ended successfully for the 10th-ranked Fighting Irish. The ninth-ranked Cougars have to live with that until next fall.
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Jerome Heavens tries the heart of the Houston defense.
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Montana was masterful in the miracle comeback. |
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The comeback started with Steve Cichy's return of a blocked punt.
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Danny Davis rolls out. |
Kris Haines celebrates with Dave Huffman. |
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Attendance- 72,000 |
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About
this time, many of the estimated 32,500 fans who braved traveler's
advisories after Dallas' worst ice storm in 30 years, began leaving.
