Back On Track

Notre Dame rebounds from the shocking Stanford upset to pummel Air Force in a tune-up for the long-awaited Miami game

By Kevin T. Kerns
1990 Scholastic Football Review

After his team was shocked and embarrassed at home by the Stanford Cardinal, head coach Lou Holtz had cause for some genuine concern in preparing his Fighting Irish to take on Air Force. “Hopefully we won’t wallow in self-pity,” stated the uneasy Notre Dame mentor.

The Irish desperately needed to gain some momentum for its upcoming, long awaited meeting with the Miami Hurricanes. Thoughts of a national championship for the Irish seemed far-fetched, replaced with the reality of salvaging a season which I could easily turn into a disaster if the sting of the Stanford loss was allowed to linger.

The visiting Air Force Falcons hoped to swoop down on Notre Dame Stadium and take advantage of a wounded animal. Instead, they found that they had grabbed a tiger by the tail.

“Notre Dame was an angry team coming in to play today,” observed seventh-year Falcon coach Fisher DeBerry. Air Force never got off the ground, and the Irish rolled, Ii 57-27. When the dust had cleared from Notre Dame’s first half explosion, Air Force trailed 31-7.

“We really hurt ourselves today,” lamented Deberry. “We never really gave ourselves a chance to win this football game.”

The Irish tallied 542 yards of total offense despite controlling the ball less than 22 minutes, giving credence to the theory that time of possession is a sometimes misleading statistic. Of those total yards, 253 came via the arm of sophomore quarterback Rick Mirer, who enjoyed his most productive day thus far at Notre Dame, completing 11 of 15 passes.

Fullback Rodney Culver gained 102 yards on just 10 carries, Culver gained over 100 yards for the second straight week. going over the century mark in yardage for the second straight week. The 92nd consecutive sellout crowd at Notre Dame Stadium enjoyed a career-best performance from Raghib Ismail. The Rocket garnered six receptions for 172 yards receiving, both career highs. His personal best of 223 all-purpose yards was achieved despite the fact  that Air Force chose not to kick the ball to him in kickoff or punting situations.

“It wasn’t frustrating,” said Ismail. “I guess it’s just a ‘sign of respect.'”

Perhaps the Falcon punting unit afforded the Rocket a bit too much respect. Maybe the blockers for punter Jason Christ were so enthralled by Notre Dame’s Heisman Trophy candidate that they could not take their eyes off of him. Whatever the case, they were not concerned with fullback Ryan Mihalko. The senior special teams standout waltzed in untouched and blocked two Falcon punts in the first quarter, both of which led to Irish touchdowns.

“We had the punt block called on both of them,” said Mihalko of his two blocked punts. “Everybody hit their gaps well and I was able to get in there pretty clean.”

After the initial block, .the Irish, leading 3-0 courtesy of a 28-yard field goal by Craig Hentrich, took over at the Air Force two yard line. Sophomore tailback Dorsey Levens, enjoying his first career start, promptly took a hand-off up the middle and got into the end zone on the first play of the drive, giving the Irish a lead of 10-0.

“It was a great opportunity that Coach Holtz gave me,” said Levens of his starting assignment. “It was really exciting to be out there with the first unit.”

Air Force was unable to move the ball in its next possession, and was forced to punt. Once again the punt caromed off the outstretched arms of Mihalko and the Irish took over at the Falcon 48 yard line. Seven plays later, Levens powered in for the touchdown behind left guard Tim Ryan.

With only 13 minutes elapsed, Air Force trailed 17-0. The game could not have unfolded worse for the visitors. With their wishbone attack and obvious physical disadvantages, Air Force was fighting an uphill battle against an Irish team determined to exorcise the ghosts of the Stanford loss. In six outings prior to facing Notre Dame, the Falcons had completed only 14 passes total. The Air Force, at least on the football field, operate almost totally on the ground. This fact seemed to spell doom for the Falcons against the Irish if the game turned into a high scoring affair.

On their next possession, Air Force put together their best drive of the day, a 15-play, 76-yard march which culminated in  fullback Jason Jones’ three-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Rob Perez attempted only one pass on the drive, a four yard completion to Darryl Woods for a first down.     

Notre Dame’s next drive stalled, and Air Force got the ball back with 6:39 left in the half. The Irish defense, keyed by senior linebacker Scott Kowalkowski’s sack of Perez, held and the Falcons had to punt. The Irish had turned back what would prove to be the visitor’s last chance to get back into the game.

On their first play after the punt, Notre Dame unleashed the Rocket. Mirer faked an option left, pulled up, and hit Ismail on a post pattern for a 52-yard touchdown. That play, for all intents and purposes, ended any chances Air Force had for an upset. It was also a perfect example of how quickly Ismail can change the complexion of a game. While Air Force had just consumed nearly seven minutes in driving down the field for a touchdown, the Irish drive totaled only one play.

“It’s always good to feel like the guy’s going to be open,” observed Mirer of his favorite target. “If he’s behind the secondary, you really don’t have to throw a perfect pass. You just kind of let him run to it.”

More punting woes befell Air Force on its next possession. After the Falcons failed to get a first down, Christ got off a 25-yard punt, giving the Irish good field position at their own 35.

“That was probably the worst job kicking we have ever done,”  complained DeBerry. “It was pretty obvious that we were trying to kick the ball away from Ismail. There is not a better football player in the whole country.”

One week earlier, Mirer’s desperation pass to tight end Derek Brown had agonizingly eluded his grasp, ending the Irish comeback attempt against Stanford. On this day, the vastly talented junior from Merrit Island, Florida, got a measure of revenge. Executing the two minute drill masterfully, Mirer connected with Brown three times for 43 yards near the end of the first half. On the final play of the half, Mirer rolled right and threw back across the field to a wide open Brown, making the score 31-7.

“We wanted to get the ball to Derek, because he can do so many things with it,” said Mirer of his 6’7″, 243-pound tight end. The “so many things” that Brown is capable of was evidenced by his 24 yard reception which preceded his touchdown play. On that play he broke two tackles and dragged several defenders before finally being hauled down.

The Irish responded well coming off a defeat, giving Holtz the consistent half he sought. The coach was specifically pleased with the defense, to which he had directed most of his attention during the week’s practices. Usually, Holtz spends his time on the offensive side of the field. Perhaps their coach’s presence inspired the defense to better play.

“We played a lot better as a unit,” said defensive tackle George Williams of Holtz’s involvement with the defense.

“The intensity was very good and I thought we played well,” added linebacker Michael Stonebreaker.

The Irish starting defensive unit took on a big of new look against Air Force. At inside linebacker, sophomore Demetrius DuBose started in place of Donn Grimm, and freshman Greg Lane got the nod at cornerback in place of Reggie Brooks, who had a rough day against Stanford.

In the second half, which turned out to be a statistical formality, Air Force never got within three touchdowns of the Irish. Many players got a chance to get out onto the field and impress Holtz under game conditions.

Jerome Bettis, a 235-pound freshman fullback, carried four times for 46 yards, earning rave reviews from his most important critic.

“I thought Bettis performed very, very well,” praised Holtz.

Freshman Jeff Burris, making his collegiate debut, gained 30 yards on five carries, including a one-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. In that drive, Burris carried on four consecutive plays, culminating in his touchdown.

Ricky Watters, who did not see action in the first half, came off the bench to contribute two fourth quarter touchdown runs. Despite being blown out, Air Force controlled the ball for over 38 minutes and rolled up 337 yards of total offense, with 244 yards resulting from 62 rushing attempts. However, most of those numbers were piled up in the second half against Notre Dame’s reserves.

The Irish made some significant strides in preparation for Miami, but the second half letdown seemed to leave Holtz in a state of concern over his team’s readiness for their archrival.

“I was glad to win, but we needed to see a few more positive things,” commented Holtz. “We have to make an awful lot of progress this week in preparation for Miami.”

The Irish had easily turned back an invasion of the Air Force, but the following week they would be in the eye of a hurricane. Senior captain Todd Lyght captured the entire team’s sentiments concerning Miami.

“They’re finally here.”