Throwback Thursday: 1966 and the Game of the Century
By Greg Hadley
In anticipation of this Saturday’s game, relive the most epic contest in the Notre Dame-Michigan State rivalry: 1966’s Game of the Century.
Over 119 years, Notre Dame and Michigan State have faced off 77 times. While many Irish fans may not count the Spartans among the team’s most bitter rivals, there is an enormous amount of history between the two programs. Entering this Saturday, Notre Dame leads the series 48-28-1.
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That one at the end of the record stands out. It’s not some relic from the turn of the 20th century, when football was still developing and ties and low scores were the norm. It’s the product of one of the best college football games in history.
It’s 1966, East Lansing, Michigan. On one side, the No. 1 Fighting Irish, undefeated and under the leadership of third-year coach Ara Parseghian, still in search of his first national title. On the other, the No. 2 Spartans, also unbeaten and led by legendary coach Duffy Daugherty, who had beaten the Irish eight straight times between 1955 and 1963 and won a share of the national championship in the previous season.
More than 80,000 fans, the biggest in Michigan State history at that point, packed the stadium. Things could hardly have started worse for the Irish. Already missing their starting running back Nick Eddy, who had slipped on ice upon arriving in East Lansing, the Irish promptly lost their starting QB, Terry Hanratty, after he was sacked in the first quarter, and their center, George Goeddeke, after he twisted his ankle.
Michigan State, meanwhile, responded with 10 unanswered points, with running back Regis Cavender plunging in from five yards out in the second quarter, and kicker Dick Kenney tacking on a field goal. Fun fact: Despite the weather being just around freezing, Kenney always kicked barefoot.
Notre Dame finally got some points on the board late in the second quarter though on a 34-yard pass from backup quarterback Coley O’Brien. Then, the Irish tied things up at the beginning of the fourth quarter on a field goal from Joe Azzaro.
But most famously, once the game was tied, 10-10, neither team scored again. Azzaro missed a field goal by inches, and when Notre Dame got the ball at its own 30-yard line with 1:10 left, Parseghian made the decision to run out the clock and preserve his team’s unbeaten season.
For an excellent breakdown of this moment in Notre Dame history, check out this feature on Grantland.
Parseghian’s decision is still one of the most infamous in college football history. But he’s never backed down from it. In the run-up to this week’s game, the Chicago Tribune asked him about it, and he told them in no uncertain terms that he does not regret it.
The concept of a tie is completely foreign to today’s players, as evidenced by the fact that someone asked Notre Dame’s current stars how they would feel if Saturday’s game ended in a tie. They did not respond well.
One thing’s for sure: ties would certainly have made the opening week of this season a lot more boring but a lot less heartbreaking for Notre Dame fans.