January 2, 1995
Notre Dame vs Colorado – Orange Bowl – Final Stats
By T. Ryan Kennedy, The Scholastic 1994 Football Review
Some say there are cacti in Arizona with needles sensitive to intruders. When a careless person or animal gets too close, the needles can jump out at the trespasser. The same was true of a few Buffaloes in Tempe.
The razor-sharp Colorado Buffaloes jumped all over Notre Dame from the outset But against a team that was 229-6-1 when scoring over 30 points, against a team that set more than 51 individual or team records in 1994, against a team that boasted two Heisman Trophy candidates and seven All-Americans, and against a team whose beloved coach was retiring, Notre Dame played very, very well. Put bluntly, Colorado was a national championship caliber team, explosive and arguably more dangerous than last year’s Florida State juggernaut. It was a team with more weapons than Arnold Schwartzenneger, but it was also a team that was worried about Notre Dame up to a week before the game.
“It’s going to be a dogfight,” said Colorado line backer Matt Russell before the showdown. “I expect a fourth-quarter game. As far as we’re concerned, it’s two 10-1 teams playing. Notre Dame is a top-5 team.” Free safety Steve Rosga agreed, “Notre Dame is not a team that you’ll ever blow out”
Notre Dame players seemed to agree with Colorado that they belonged in the bowl, despite the talk they heard to the contrary. The players were loose and confident, not cocky. Ryan Leahy believed the Irish could play “out of their minds.” Lou Holtz had a month to prepare top talent injuries healed. Notre Dame was not ranked #2 in the pre-season for nothing. Colorado Coach Bill McCartney warned his players about all of this and more.
On game day, Ron Powlus trotted onto the well conditioned field, clad in a kelly green jersey that seemed to scream at skeptics of Notre Dame. The Irish meant business. In fact, Holtz’s teams had never lost a bowl game or any other when wearing the green. Back in 1992, in the Sugar Bowl against Florida …
But for once, Notre Dame had nothing, or very little, to lose. Justin Goheen wanted his class to be the first to win all four bowl games they played in. That was as important as it got. Those who said this game was about pride had a lot to learn. Notre Dame had lost its pride earlier in the season, when poor kicking cost them three games. The Irish were in Tempe nonetheless, where they supposedly did not belong, with their backs up against the wall one more time. The game was in Colorado’s backyard, but no one would have known it from the throngs of Irish fans who arrived on the scene days before. They carried the pride with them.
The Notre Dame players were unusually calm and cool when they walked onto the field with their heads down. The Buffaloes danced and pranced their hoofs, waved their arms and pumped their fists. The Irish, however; seemed focused and determined. They huddled by the end zone, then burst onto the gridiron. In one corner of the south end zone the band played the Victory March. The throngs clapped hands to its rhythm. A tingle of hope shone down with the rays of sunshine that reflected off the nearby mountaintops.
Perhaps Notre Dame was in over its head from the beginning. Colorado was not supposed to have a diverse offense. Throughout the year, it utilized a power offense, always with one man in the backfield, two wideouts. But Goheen and the 4-3 defense (good for stopping the run) were seeing a two man backfield, sometimes three wideouts. Before Notre Dame could adjust, they were down 30-3. On defense, Colorado used a 4-3 formation which also caught Notre Dame off-guard. “We did this out of our great respect for Notre Dame and Lou Holtz,” McCartney later claimed.
This game did not symbolize the entire season for Notre Dame as others did, because Notre Dame was playing well. They made few mistakes early on, although the pressure on Powlus was often great but Powlus was breaking out of the pocket like he had eyes on the back of his head.
Cengia hit a field goal. Becton rumbled up the middle with grace. On the other side, Salaam rushed for an average of 2.9 yards in the first half, almost five yards below his season average.
But the hurricane of quarterback Kordell Stewart could not be stopped. No one told Notre Dame he was this good. Stewart would run 39 yards on an option then connect deep on the next play with Kidd or Westbrook.
With four minutes left in the half, Colorado had 200 yards more offense than Notre Dame, and Stewart already had over 100 yards rushing and over 100 yards passing.
Notre Dame would leave the first half with some momentum on its shoulders after Powlus unloaded a 40-yard prayer for Mayes in the end zone. Touchdown, Irish. A perfectly thrown pass preceded an amazing catch. Down 30-10 at the half, Holtz was bubbling with thoughts of a comeback.
Late in the third quarter, Notre Dame was marching downfield, again, after failing to convert a fake field goal minutes earlier. The Irish had 117 yards in the quarter to the Buffaloes’ six yards of offense. The crowd was going crazy as Notre Dame advanced to the Colorado 30. “The Valley of the Sun is now setting,”exclaimed NBC announcer Charlie Jones. “And here they come,” he shouted in a battle cry as if he expected a Notre Dame blitzkrieg of Colorado’s defense. The momentum was all Notre Dame’s until fate came swooping in, from the deserts and mountains, in the name of Colorado All-America linebacker Ted Johnson.
Johnson’s interception was the nail-in-the-coffin and the definite turning point of the game. “I thought the big play was Ted Johnson’s interception,” said McCartney. “They needed to score then.”
“I think that was the finest performance by any other team I’ve coached,” noted Holtz of Colorado after the game. “I’ve never seen a team so sharp and so crisp. I doubt that any team in the country could have beaten them today.”
Lee Becton came up to speak, finishing as one of Notre Dame’s top-10 all-time rushing leaders. He did not dwell on the loss or the season, but what should count most “I wouldn’t trade these guys for any other group in America,” Becton said. Powlus realized the impact of Becton and the seniors. He said, ”As soon as the clock hit zero, we all looked forward to next year. We want to be undefeated next year, the best, national champions, and if we are, we’d owe it all to the seniors this year.”