November 23, 1996
Notre Dame Rutgers Final Stats
By Peter Bergin, The Scholastic 1996 Football Review
After an emotional and historic victory over Rutgers, which marked the end of an era at Notre Dame, Lou Holtz had little left to say. “Today I went into the game with one thought: gratitude,” he said. “Gratitude for the people, the students, but especially the coaches and players. I’m just left with thankfulness.”
If only the regular season could have ended at this moment. It was, after all, the perfect game, complete domination in every respect. A testament to Holtz and to the character of the teams he has coached at Notre Dame.
It was Holtz’s 100th and last win at the school. It was the last game in the old stadium. It was the game in which Autry Denson eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing for the season, only the sixth player in Notre Dame history to do so. It was the game in which Ron Powlus broke Rick Mirer’s mark for career touchdown passes to move into the record books. It was a gracious farewell to a coach who is already a legend and whose accomplishments are outshined only by a character that embodies the spirit of Notre Dame.
But the season did not end here, and the heartbreaking loss to USC a week later overshadowed not only the final home game but the entire 1996 campaign, leaving the Bowl Alliance out of reach. In retrospect, it must be considered that the victory over Rutgers, though the final score indicated an easy win, was emotionally draining. The players left their hearts on the field that day, causing them to travel to Los Angeles without the same intensity they showed against the Scarlet Knights. Flat play the week following an emotional victory is as common to Notre Dame football as clouds are to South Bend.
Nevertheless, the Rutgers game was one of the most entertaining in recent memory, even though the contest was over quite early. Four plays after an Allen Rossum interception at the Rutgers 42, the Irish got on the board with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Powlus to Denson, Powlus’s first of four touch down passes. On the next series, Kevin Carretta blocked a Rutgers punt, which was scooped up by freshman Joey Goodspeed and returned 33 yards for Notre Dame’s second touchdown. The Irish owned the momentum for the rest of the game.
Eight different players scored in the 62-0 rout. It marked the most points scored by the Irish since 1977 and their largest margin of victory since 1966, when the Duke Blue Devils were the victims of a 64-0 massacre. From the opening offensive series, it was apparent that Lou Holtz wanted Powlus to throw the ball. After the game he admitted, “We just got into a rhythm. Today we planned to throw more.” No kidding. At halftime, the Irish had 202 passing yards and only 99 rushing, an unusual ratio for a Holtz-style offense.
Did Holtz plan for Powlus to break Mirer’s record for career touchdown passes? Let’s just say he had it in mind. “I’m happy that Ron Powlus beat Mirer in touchdowns thrown in a career,” he said.
After Powlus’s 42-yard touchdown strike to Malcolm Johnson on the first series of the third quarter (the record-breaking 42nd touchdown pass), which made the score 41- 0, it was substitution time and a last chance for the graduating seniors to enjoy a stadium in which they would never play again. What followed was a quarter-and-a-half of running out the clock.
This game was special for the seniors, particularly for defensive leader Bert Berry. “This was a great experience for my last game at home,” he said. “We wanted to go out in style this year. In years past the seniors were not able to go out in style. We never let down today, because we did not want to lose.” Hopefully, this is the game the seniors will remember, although pain is traditionally more difficult to shake than happiness.
Even if the memory eludes the players, it will always be with Lou Holtz: “I think today is my favorite memory. I’m proud to leave the university and say that I did not embarrass it, at least I think I did not. I ran an honest program. I tried to live and encourage the players to live by the values that this university espouses. I can look at God and say that I think I left it clean.”