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MIAMI- After years of failure at the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame finally
found success wrapped in bittersweet irony.
The Fighting Irish's 21-6 win over previously unbeaten and No. 1 ranked
Colorado Monday night helped their tormentor of the '80s, Miami, who had
defeated Notre Dame five times in the Orange Bowl in the decade, secure
the national title. Notre Dame’s victory cleared the way for the
Hurricanes, a 33-25 winner over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, to win the
national championship. But the Fighting Irish, 11-1 and ranked No 4
claim they should win the national title despite their 27-10 loss to the
Hurricanes here Nov. 25.
NotreDame coach Lou Holtz said after the game, "I can honestly say we
have the best record and played the toughest schedule. I don't know how
you can decide anybody else is number one, unless you say who was number
one on November 25th. We played the toughest schedule, we were No. 1 for
11 weeks, and the one week we weren't number one we came back and beat
number one by 15 points.
"I just believe in my heart if you have the best record against the
toughest schedule, the case rests.
Said tight end Derek Brown of Merritt Island, I believe with the
schedule we played, the road we had to travel, we're number one."
Colorado moved the ball in the first half (186 yards) but failed on
three scoring opportunities and the game was scoreless at the half.
Notre Dame stopped Colorado who had scored on 50 of 57 penetrations
inside the opponents 20 at the 1 late in the first half. Holtz equated
the goal-line stand with Alabama's famous goal-line stand against Penn
State in the 1978 Sugar Bowl.
"As a defense, we sucked it up," Notre Dame defensive tackle Jeff Alm
said. "It was a case of opportunities we didn’t capitalize on," Colorado
coach Bill McCartney said.
 The first half saw the teams jockey back and forth for field position
with Notre Dame failing to cross the 50 in the first two quarters.
Colorado managed to drive to the Notre Dame 1 behind quarterback, Darian
Hagan. Three tries resulted in a net two yard loss and Colorado lined up
to attempt a field goal from the Irish three with 3:31 to play in the
first half. But, the Buffaloes attempted a fake. Holder Jeff Campbell
tried to run the ball in but was stopped at the one yard line (video).
Notre Dame took over from there and it appeared the Buffaloes might get
the ball back with time to score until Tony Rice scrambled 18 yards on
third and 5. Ismail ran 16 yards on the next play then Rodney Culver
went for 5 and Rice threw 12 yards to Derek Brown at the Colorado 45.
That play, with 33 seconds left in the half, put Notre Dame in Colorado
territory for the first time in the game. Rice rolled left and threw
back to his right to Pat Eilers at the 14. Just 14 seconds were left,
and Rice ran a quarterback draw for four.
With 3 seconds to play, Billy Hackett lined up for a 27-yard field goal
attempt, but it-was, blocked by Greg Thomas to end the half. The blocked
field goal at the end of the first half gave Colorado momentum going
into the locker room (video).
Rice quickly quelled it. On third-and-11 from his own 31, Rice threw 26
yards to Tony Smith. Two plays later, fullback Anthony Johnson broke two
tackles at the line scrimmage and ran 30 yards to the 11. Ismail ran 9
yards around right end before Johnson gave Notre Dame the lead with a 2
yard run. Craig Hentrich's kick made it 7-0 with 11:48 left in the third
quarter.
The Notre Dame of offense wasn't on the sidelines long. On the second
play of the ensuing possession, Colorado's Hagan intended a pass to
Perak. Perak tipped it twice before Ned Bolcar intercepted at the
Colorado 46. Rice found success again, throwing 13 yards to Johnson on
the second play. Two holding calls backed the Irish to the 48, but Rice
threw to Pat Eilers for 13. Ismail then took a reverse around right end.
He broke the attempted tackle of All-America linebacker Kanavis McOhee
in the backfield, then outran the Buffaloes down the right sideline for
a 35-yard scoring play Hentrich's extra point made it 14-0 with 7:19 to
play in the quarter (video).
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Attendance- 81,190
Scoring Summary
Third Quarter
ND- Johnson 2 run (Hentrich kick)
ND- Ismail 35 run (Hentrich kick)
CU- Hagan 39 run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
ND- Johnson 7 run (Hentrich kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
ND- Ismail 16-108, Johnson 15-89, Rice 14-50
CU- Hagan 19-106, Bieniemy 11-66, Flannigan 12-49
Passing
ND- 9-5-99
CU- Hagan 13-4-65
Receiving
ND- Eilers 2-47, Smith 1-27, Johnson 1-13, Brown 1-12
CU- Kissick 2-33, Perak 1-16, Pritchard 1-16
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