I broke three fingers on my right hand watching this game. Or maybe it was just one finger but the story has gotten better. That final pass to Robin Weber when I left up in my living room jamming my hand into the ceiling.

This was the night that I became a college football fan.

Doesn't get any better than Bear vs. Ara. (And I'm an Ohio State grad.)

RIP Art Best, Pete Demerle, and Willie Fry...

ARA you were great!

Coach Gary DiNardo playing in this game.

Let us not forget Bear Bryant was 0-7 against Notre Dame

Bummer that a 4 team playoff wasn't around. Michigan vs Notre Dame and OSU vs. Alabama in the semis. Winners play for it all in Miami. PS- I have never heard Howard Cosell say so few words in my life! 😂

one of the best games of all time, although I was an Alabama fan as an 8 yr old and pulling for Bama, I now love the wing T offense that Notre Dame ran..ironically I went to school at Auburn still think the Wing T is a great offense that will work at any level

Future CFL legend Tom Clements

Fun Fact: This game has the highest TV ratings of any college game in history. Higher than the 1971 Oklahoma/Nebraska game. Higher than the 1969 Texas/Arkansas game and the 1966 Michigan / ND game.

“They call Alabama the Crimson Tide Call me Deacon Blues”

Line play and running the ball was key. The Irish dominated.

Classic cover photo of one of the great plays in college football history

Alabama still tries to claim the title that year when Notre Dame beat them what bums they are.

The odds of making a 4th&5 after a 5 yd loss, an incomplete pass, and 5 yd qb sack would be, with 3 minutes to go, might be 20 pct, especially with the offense they had then. If you take the punt, the odds are about 5-10 they get a safety and take the lead, the ball, and the clock. The odds stopping them before one first down is about 55 pct. ND was penalized on 3rd down, a ghastly mistake, if they lost, but Tom Clements hits Robin Weber for a first down, presaging Eli Manning to Mario Manningham by 35 years. It was a tough call with both options being close. What if there was no roughing the kicker penalty? Would you still go for it? The score and time is still the same and if you fail you still need to force a 3 and out. I may have gone for it, I was 13 at the time and a USC fan, but Bama was not built for 4th&5. The Tide should have played better defense on that 3rd down. P.S. The completion to Dave Casper on the go ahead FG drive was the more important play. Without it, they probably don’t take the lead. And without the lead, they probably don’t win. I be smart.

This is game that Bama QB (backup?) Richard Todd, later Jets QB, CAUGHT a TD pass on a trick play.

Bear (Bama) - ND trivia : 1st meeting Bama loses by 1, 2nd meeting Bama loses by 2, 3rd meeting Bama loses by 3

Declining the running into the kicker penalty turned out to be a mistake.

Epic game for the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! #1 11-0 Alabama vs #3 10-0 Notre Dame. (#2 Oklahoma had a tie, and was on probation and ineligible to play a bowl game) First time EVER NOTRE DAME VS ALABAMA. Before the game, Bear Bryant called this game "the most important game in the History of the South." Why? Because of the Deep South History of Anti Catholic bigotry and hatred. The KKK was very anti Catholic. Bear and Bama fans also were irked and peeved that they thought ND got "special favor" from sportswriters in the NE and Midwest. He didn't mention the pro Bama sportswriters in the South, lol. Bear also thought he was robbed of a NC in 1966 when Bama's all white segregated team finished THIRD in both polls behind #1 ND and #2 Mich St. This despite Bama being gifted controversial NC in 64 and 65 (split w Mich St). To put it simply, there was a seething hatred of Notre Dame even though they had never played each other by Bear, the Bama fans and most of the Deep South. Finally, Bear and Bama fans wanted to try to catch Notre Dame in all time NC, so they desperately wanted to win this first meeting with everything on the line. It was a classic game, I remember watching it on TV as a young teenager. Epic ND WIN FOR THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!! The 2 best teams meeting in a NC game long before the playoff era. Ara>Bear. FINAL COLLEGE POLL OF THE YEAR (AP) 1. NOTRE DAME 11-0 (33 1st pl) 2. Ohio St 10-0-1 (11) 3. Oklahoma 10-0-1 (16) 4. ALABAMA 11-1 (0 1st pl votes) NOTRE DAME 1973 CONSENSUS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 🏆 PERFECT SEASON BAMA LOST "THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME IN THE HISTORY OF THE SOUTH" Notre Dame would play Bama again in a NYD Bowl in the 1974 season, the Orange Bowl. Ara, in his last game as ND coach, and Notre Dame AGAIN beat UNDEFEATED #1 Bear and Bama 13-11 TO SPOIL 2 POSSIBLE NC IN A ROW FOR BAMA. BEAR BRYANT WENT TO HIS GRAVE 0-4 VS NOTRE DAME. NOTRE DAME DIRECTLY COST BEAR AND BAMA FIVE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. (66, 73, 74, 77, 80) I LOVE IT!!☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘

Down by 2 with 3-4 minutes left in the game - why did Bear not accept the roughing the kicker call on 4th down, and give Bama a chance to take the lead? Giving the ball back, even on their own one yard line with so little time left and trailing by two points is bizarre. A couple first downs and the game is lost…

In the early and mid 70s Alabama would beat up on everybody in the SEC but in the Bowl games they got it handed to them. Texas,Nebraska and ND beat them.

Howard Cosell.... screwing up another game....Boy did ND throw a lot of defensive fronts at the Tide.

This was the first college football national championship after I started following sports as a kid. I have to admit I wasn't that interested, because I disliked both teams. (I was more interested in the Penn St Orange Bowl - which was disappointing, because the Heisman Trophy winner Cappelletti had a poor game rushing). However, this game has a somewhat historical moment. The person who scored the touchdown from the play at 20:00, Wilbur Jackson, was the first African-American to receive a football scholarship from Alabama. He was actually one of 2 to be the first to play for Alabama, because the other, John Mitchell, was a JuCo transfer. Other notable people in this game. One of the QBs for Alabama was Richard Todd, who had a nice career with the Jets. The then freshman ND defensive lineman, Ross Browner, went on to have a storied college career, and is on the all-time Bengals team. Finally, the TE for ND, Dave Casper is in both the college and pro football Halls of Fame.

Refused roughing the kicker and you are down by one? LOL

What a stupid decision. The Bear done lost his mind in the last 2.5 minutes!

P

Segregated team loses to integrated team