November 1, 1997
By Patrick Downes, The Scholastic 1997 Football Review
The ball hung in the air for a few seconds, spiraling through a gray, rainy sky, before it started its descent. With that ball hung any lingering bowl hopes that both the Irish and the Naval Academy still had on the first of November – and it was up for grabs.
The ball descended into a crowd of four or five Irish jerseys, was tipped by safety Deke Cooper and scooped up at knee-level by Navy receiver Pat McGrew, who continued to streak down the sideline. The shock of a near-loss had just begun to register on the drenched crowd when senior cornerback Allen Rossum alertly hustled in from the middle of the field to knock McGrew out of bounds at the 2, preserving Notre Dame’s 21-17 victory, their 34th in a row over the Naval Academy.
The teams entered the game with a combined 6-8 record, fighting for a post season berth. One more loss for either team would likely have knocked them out of contention. This desperation showed in the tightly fought battle that included three lead changes in the second half.
The final play was a thrilling end to the tight game, but Rossum’s heroics could have been avoided. Notre Dame seemingly had the game won when a Midshipman stepped offsides on fourth-and-one and gave the Irish a first down on Navy’s 19-yard line with a little over a minute left to play.
On first down, fullback Jamie Spencer carried the ball up the middle for a 2-yard gain and Navy immediately called a time out. Fifty-three seconds remained. Following the timeout, quarterback Ron Powlus took a knee and Navy called its last timeout with 49 seconds left. On third and fourth downs, Powlus sat on the ball again in an attempt to run out the clock. But that attempt was unsuccessful and Navy got the ball back with three seconds and 71 yards to go for the win. They covered 69 of those yards. “We kind of miscalculated a little bit,” admitted Jim Colletto, Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator. “We shouldn’t have taken a knee quite so fast.”
Notre Dame Head Coach Bob Davie defended the decision. “We didn’t want to hand the football off,” he said. “I think we made the right decision…. To give them the football back with one play left in the game, I’ll take our chances on that one.”
But Davie did not want to dwell on the game-ending adventure. “I’m not going to let the last play of the game take away from what a big, big win this was,” he said. And there was little doubt that this was a big win for a team that entered the game with a 3-5 record.
Even before the last play of the game, though, the Irish were outsmarted, out-coached and simply out-McCoyed by the Midshipmen. Quarterback Chris McCoy, Navy’s erstwhile Heisman candidate, showed why the Academy was hyping him for the award by rushing for 147 yards, seven first downs and both of Navy’s touch downs. After a 29-yard kickoff return put Navy on its own 40, McCoy took the ball straight to the Irish and straight to the end zone, evoking unpleasant memories of another service academy quarterback by the name of Beau Morgan. He began the drive with a 27-yard option run off right tackle and finished it with a 9-yard touchdown run around the left end.
“It’s always tough that first series, playing option teams,” Davie said.”It’s tough to get comfortable with it.”
After that impressive beginning, though, McCoy showed why most sportswriters took him off their short lists for the Heisman. He kept the Irish in the game with three interceptions – two of them in his first three passing attempts.
On Navy’s second drive, linebacker Kory Minor picked off the option quarterback’s first passing attempt at the Navy 28. It was the junior’s third interception of the year and it left the Irish 16 yards from the end zone. Wide receiver Bobby Brown scored two plays later on a 14-yard pass from Powlus to tie the game at seven.
But Powlus’ touchdown pass didn’t keep him off the bench for the entire game, as another chapter in the season-long quarter back drama was played out. Junior Jarious Jackson was inserted on the first drive of the second quarter and showed his inexperience. He completed one of three passes and handed the ball off once, but then Jackson lobbed an interception to Navy linebacker Russ Tate in an attempt to avoid being sacked.
Powlus played the rest of the game. While Davie did intend to give Jackson another chance, it was not to be. “I was going to get Jarious back in, but those possessions are so critical,” the coach said.
Navy, starting at the Notre Dame 35-yard line, capitalized on the miscue. The Midshipmen drove 30 yards on eight plays before place kicker Tom Vanderhorst put them in front with a 22-yard field goal.
Despite bruising his left knee in the first quarter, Powlus came back in and shined with a clutch performance. Though the rain hampered the passing game – Powlus completed only seven of 17 passes for 99 yards – he did connect on several key plays, including a fourth-and-10 pass to Bobby Brown during a critical fourth-quarter drive.
The defense showed some impressive play as well. After Navy’s disastrous opening drive, the defense held together well and allowed only 10 points in the final 57 minutes of the game. Defensive end Melvin Dansby amassed a season-high 18 tackles, and linebacker Bobbie Howard pitched in with a few big plays of his own.
In just his second week back from injury, Howard stifled both running back Manny Metcalf and an early second quarter Navy drive with a huge hit for a 2-yard loss. And in the fourth quarter, Howard kept Navy from responding to Notre Dame’s critical final touchdown by batting down a fourth down pass intended for McGrew. “All you have to do when you watch our defense is watch Bobbie Howard,” said Defensive Coordinator Greg Mattison of the junior linebacker. “I knew at the start of the season … he has the chance to be one of those linebackers who leads.”
Junior running back Autry Denson turned out to be another gutsy performer, gaining 125 yards on the ground. As the Irish trailed 10-7 after halftime, the slippery junior took a pitch and went 48 yards down the left sideline for the go-ahead touchdown just 1:12 into the second half. Later, on Notre Dame’s game-winning march, with only 5:48 left in the game, Denson picked up his second touchdown to cap off a 17-play, seven-and-a-half minute drive that included three third-down conversions and one on fourth down.
What was incredible about Denson’s 5- yard scoring run was that on the first play of the same drive, it appeared he had seriously injured his right knee. After several minutes of thrashing painfully in the grass, Denson was assisted off the field. The apparent injury to the team’s leading rusher worried several Irish players and coaches. “If he’s down on that field, he’s hurt,” Davie said of the tailback.
Denson had only bruised his knee, however, and before long, he was begging the coaches to go back in. “I had to kind of sell him on it,” Denson said. “He wanted to hold me out. I mean after all, Clement [Stokes, the backup tailback] was doing a good job. But with the game on the line, I would hate to be on the sidelines.”
Davie did not need much convincing. “He’s a competitor. Trust me, if he wants to go back in, he’ll go back in,” the coach said. And when he did go back in, Denson’s healed legs carried the ball over the goal line for a 21-17 lead that the Irish would just barely hold on to.
After the final gun sounded, Navy didn’t want their unsuccessful Hail Mary to be the last prayer of the day. “We always go to the middle of the field after the game, and one of the players usually leads us in a prayer,” Navy Head Coach Charlie Weatherbie said. And that they did, paying no attention to the Notre Dame Marching Band, who were attempting to play the Alma Mater, their own post-game tradition.
Navy players reportedly attacked some band members during their prayer time, and when Irish Guard members asked the team to leave, the guard was rebuffed. “We weren’t doing anything different than we normally do,” Weatherbie explained. “We have never been asked to get off the field before, to say a prayer.” Navy finished their prayer and the players were roundly booed for their intrusion.
Despite his nonchalance about the final play, Davie did go home with more experience and new insight into winning football games. “It’s a great, great lesson, and what it teaches me is how hard it is to win football games…. And that’s why I never take these wins for granted.”
These days, the fans don’t either.