Great summary. And to think, with instant replay BC woulda had another TD and we wouldn’t have had that theatrical game winning FG.

Holtz leaving and some bad hires did that.

ND itself killed ND football with bad hires and the unwillingness to relax education standards to attract better recruits. But yes, bad HC hires over the decades have set the program back decades and the help they have had from the media over the decades is no longer there. Wouldnt be surprised if ND tries to rekindle the catholics vs convicts rivalry

And also ND missed the bus on trying to get into a conference ie big 10 big 12 instead of feigning a conference alignment with the ACC which will be another dead conf in a year or two

Haha go BC

Yeah because ND kicked your ass the week before

@@stephenarato5391 its all good at the end of the day who got the ring? Because we handled ours after playing notre dame as where you guys? Well not so much. You beat us, and that can be your little substitute national championship! Kinda like the participation kids get now. In the annals of history your just the team who happened to beat the best team. Just like whoever else beat the last umpteenth 1 lose champs since then. Only the fans of that team will remember.

Lps Layla T other teams lost late in the year and still got to play for the National championship and they lost their conference title game

@@stephenarato5391 the ranking systems changed dramatically since then. Like 2003 Oklahoma had no business playing for the title. If 89 notre dame played during this era they would've probably ended up being champs despite losing the last game. If I was a Notre dame fan I would feel the same way you do. But im a noles fan and fortunately thevvoting worked in our favor. If anything West Virginia got screwed over more the Notre dame or anyone that year going into the bowls. Regardless of their outcome in the bowl.

I agree about Oklahoma. Nebraska got destroyed by Colorado and they made the championship game and got destroyed by miami

I feel for Bercich in this situation, although he would later redeemhimself in the Cotton Bowl with a key play late. The more underrated missed interception that undermined ND's title chances happened the week before. Up 31-17 late in the 4th, ND missed a potential game-clinching interception - or perhaps more correctly for the situation, a knockdown - on a 4th down for FSU, instead tipping the pass in the air where it was eventually caught for a TD. That, combined with Holtz's penchant for conservatism at the end of games (with a shanked punt and faked FSU injury for good measure), set the stage for a thrilling finish, but also left the impression that the game was tight the whole way. The reality was that ND was up double digits for a good portion of the contest. It would have been interesting to see how the pollsters would have treated the Top 5 had ND held on for a more comfortable 2 TD victory. Would FSU have dropped farther than #2? Perhaps ND would have gotten the mulligan that FSU received instead? Maybe WVU gets a crack at the Orange Bowl? Certainly it was one of the bigger "what ifs?" in ND history. Also one small nit if I may: the Rudy game was in 1992 (the 54-7 game that others here have mentioned). The movie was released several weeks before this game. :) Here's to NOT repeating history this coming Saturday!

Rudy was filmed the year before this

Rudy was offsides

@@Coolidge2329 Rudy was actually filmed during the ND/PSU game the year before.

Rudy was filmed at the BC/Notre Dame in '92, not this one.

no way to know

And to think, if we had instant replay the game woulda been out of reach with that BC touchdown in the 4th qtr that the ref called out of bounds. And BC dropped an easy first down at the ND 5 yd line after that onsides kick. And then missed the chip shot FG one play later. This coulda been a 51-17 beat down very easily.

@@JohnnyHads whole game would have been different if there had been instant replay

Yep. When the Giants played the undefeated Patriots I remembered that Coughlin was BC's coach in this game and wondered if he could do it again!

His 90s Jaguars also own the final playoff victory ever over Elway (96 playoffs, Elway won the 97 & 98 Super Bowls), and ended Dan Marino’s career. Legend slayer.

Notre Dame was no "dynasty".

Haven’t been able to win a major bowl since either

UIJames Bowman Is great as Lou Holtz was and despite all the talent that Notre Dame had, this was the peak for Notre Dame Football under Holtz. It’s like the magic ran out but at the same time Boston College came to play.

Yep. They never recovered.....

Anthony Broaddus Yep even though Brian Kelly has had winning seasons, it just doesn’t feel right still because they can’t get it done against the top teams.

I agree - Notre Dame has not been the same since. I think Brian Kelly has done a tremendous job with Notre Dame, but every when they match up in a BCS/Playoff/New Years Six game, they haven't been competitive.

James, also, Notre Dame had to take notice that their 10-2 team from last year could not find a place in one of the 8 New Years Six slots outside of the playoff. I remember in 1994 the Fiesta Bowl did all they could to get a 6-4-1 Notre Dame team into their game. Now, none wanted a 10-2 Notre Dame team.

Michael Eh the College Football Playoff sucks. Plus Nebraska was undefeated so that’s why the awarded FSU the title.

@Michael They lost at home to a weaker opponent. If they had beaten Florida St. on the road it would have been a different story. Made complete sense.

@Michael it wasn't overtime. ND was lucky to even be in the game. They got totally outplayed. But my point still stands. They lost at home to a 17th ranked team. Florida state lost on the road to the #2 team. The right choice was made.

@Michael 24-21 is a convincing bowl win? ND blew it, period, end of story. Definitely the right choice. Only ND fans are blinded to it.

The final score was 41-39, nothing else matters. In the 4th qtr BC got conservative and ND had nothing to lose, that's even more common now than it was then. The fact that ND did come back, and STILL couldn't stop BC from scoring with 60 seconds left tells me the opposite of what your saying. All they had to do, was stop the #17 team from gaining more than 40 yards in 50 seconds, at home, with a guaranteed trip to the Orange Bowl on the line, and they didn't do it. The end.

You still got the Doug Fluttie moment against Miami and this one. I was like 4 months old when the hail mary play happened. I loved both of these moments because it came at the expense of Miami and ND. I am a FSU fan by the way. lol

Where would nebraska have gone?????

Bull. Shit.

WVA were frauds and Florida proved that in the Sugar Bowl.

TennesseeGentleman FSU was nothing to shout about. Outside of the Orange Bowl and Nebraska, They beat a bunch of average teams. Lost to ND, but the media basically was so hellbent on wanting Bowden to win.

@@chrisuncleahmad Really? Florida was SEC Champion that year and we beat them like drums on the road. Nebraska would have housed ND BTW. No one deserved that title more than FSU. It was their year.

TennesseeGentleman it was their year..... to get incredibly lucky. Bowden basically needed a gift from B.C.

Many Boston college fans in stands at Notre Dame as Rudy carried off after Georgia tech game

They beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and Nebraska was Undefeated.

Dropped interceptions happen, it sucks, but part of the game. No excuse for a personal foul in that situation. Just stupidity.

That personal foul on the kickoff needed to be investigated.......what a crock

Dont feel so bad.those plays shouldnt have mattered. Bc touchdown called back with 1 minute to go in 3Q. Turned ball over on downs next play.

It was Bobby's turn, but there was some "Notre Dame fatigue" as well. Every year there was a new kid on the block for the writers to pump up and Lou and ND showed up to kick their asses. Miami, check. West Virginia, check. Colorado, check. FSU, check. There were reports of cheering in the press box at Northwestern when the final score for this game was announced. Writers (who voted in the polls) were tired of ND, so they dropped all the way to #4 after this while FSU remained #2 after the loss to ND. Total BS. It was the exact opposite argument from what was used to prop up Miami in '89. ND was #1 all year and played the hardest schedule in the country (by far) but Miami beat them straight up. In '93 ND won the head-to-head but FSU had the "better loss."

This was a "bad" loss for ND. They should have easily handled BC. Plus they struggled against A&M in their bowl.

@@GentlemanJack295 TAMU was 11-1 and #7 - not a pushover, and FSU also struggled, with Nebraska missing the game-winning field goal. BC was 7-2 and #17 at game time. They finished 9-3 and #13. ND should have won, but if FSU was better than ND, they should have won that game, too.

Eric Daniel TAMU wasn’t that good like WVA which was undefeated. Florida showed that. We beat Nebraska so close doesn’t matter and Nebraska was far better than A&M. The rules then were different than today and the ones who decided the NC felt FSU the better team for the season then ND. It was unanimous too BTW.

@@GentlemanJack295 TennesseeGentleman not unanimous, ftr. FSU received 42 #1 votes in AP vs 12 for ND. Coaches poll was closer with 36 for FSU and 25 for ND. And you can't say that one lackluster win doesn't matter but another does. If beating TAMU in the state of Texas by 3 is lackluster, then beating Nebraska by 2 on a missed FG in Florida is equally unimpressive. And the game that mattered most occurred in November when FSU had a chance to beat ND straight up and wasn't good enough. Honestly, they looked soft in that game. ND was the only team that really came out and punched them in the mouth and they couldn't respond. Charlie Ward was pretty awesome, but his defense got pushed around.

No defense

might have something to do with the fake punt up 37-0 in 1992..lol

Was it a legit penalty? I never saw the replay?