But For One Flag...

A controversial late penalty costs the Irish a victory in the Orange Bowl

By Jon Paul Potts
1991 Scholastic Football Review

There is no greater testament to the great American love affair with sports and hype than college football bowl week.

There are parades, beauty pageants, tennis tournaments and anything else that the particular bowl committee can concoct, all of which serve as  precursors to the culmination of the whole, spectacle, a college football game.

Bowl week 1990-91 was no exception.

But on New Year’s Day, 1991, when the average bowl score was 37-12, perhaps the only game that lived up to the hype preceding it was the Orange Bowl, or should we say, “The Federal Express” Orange Bowl” which, unfortunately for Notre Dame fans, resulted in a heartbreaking 10-9 Irish defeat at the hands of the Colorado Buffaloes.

Heartbreaking because due to turnovers and penalties, well, one penalty in particular, Notre Dame managed to stuff defeat down the throat of victory.

The one penalty that hurt more than any other was a clipping call that came in the last minute of the game to negate a 91-yard Raghib Ismail punt return for what appeared to be the winning touchdown.

‘The return by Rocket Ismail was one of the greatest individual efforts I’ve seen,” said a dejected Irish coach Lou Holtz. “That was incredible. I don’t mow if the clip had anything at all to do with the run – I sure hope it did.”

After two consecutive Irish sacks of Colorado quarterback Charles Johnson, Buffalo coach Bill McCartney elected to punt with 1:55 left Ismail fielded the Tom Rouen punt at his own 9-yard line, burst up the middle and broke a few tackles, almost fell down once, then broke up the sidelines for the end zone. The Irish side of the stadium erupted into a frenzy, and Buffalo defenders fell to their knees in despair and some even whipped off their helmets in disgust.

But Notre Dame senior linebacker Scott Kowalkowsi had been on the field in special teams play and saw the flag.

“I did not see the play,” he said. “As soon as the play happened, I went over and asked the ref what happened. I had my back turned blocking a guy. After [Ismail] was gone, I turned around and immediately ran to the ref, but he couldn’t tell me who [the flag] was on.”

The penalty was on senior Greg Davis, and though many may question whether the block from behind had anything at all to do with the run back, or if it was even a clip, the flag was thrown and Ismail’s spectacular clutch effort was called back.

“When they threw the flag, I was just hoping it wasn’t against us,” said Ismail. “I just heard about it when I got in [to the end zone].” .

“Everybody puts all that pressure on Rocket and the fact is, he did it,” said senior linebacker Michael Stonebreaker. “He scored the winner. That’s what you want in that situation, and he did it. Unfortunately, it was called back. But, that’s football and that’s why you play the game.”

After a desperation pass by the Irish was intercepted, Colorado had triumphed and one of the weirdest seasons in recent Notre Dame football history had ended. The game and the week leading up to it could serve as a lesson in hype. All week, the press followed the teams around looking for something, anything that they could develop into their daily story.

Like dogs waiting for table scraps, the media hung on the respective coaches’ every word as Holtz and McCartney cleverly created stories to deflect pressure away from their players.

At one point, Holtz lamented the lack of respect Colorado players had for Notre Dame, which Holtz felt the Irish deserved. Buff’s coach McCartney quickly fired back.

“To me, he’s just fooling around, because Notre Dame doesn’t have to resort to that,” the Colorado coach told the press on New Year’s Eve. “Obviously our players respect his players. Every college football team respects Notre Dame. I don’t know if he does that for the humor in it, or if he’s getting his game face on. He’s trying to get mad at us for some reason and we haven’t given him a reason.”

Holtz’s statements cam in direct contrast to comments he made a year ago at at pre-bowl practice which a Denver, Colorado, television station caught on tape.

“Let me tell you what, they have been living a lie. They have been living a lie all season,” Holtz told his players four days prior to the 1990 Orange Bowl. “Remember, I told you… and we’re going to whip them.”

A more subdued Holtz in 1991 kept his comment at a more modest level, speaking of how “… we’ll play well, play hard and with intensity. The question I have is, ‘Are we good enough?'”

Meanwhile, among other t-shirts circulating during bowl week was a catchy shirt billing the the ’91 Orange Bowl as the clash of Eric ‘Public’ Bieniemy vs. Raghib ‘Rocket’ Ismail.

NBC, the television network broadcasting the game, picked up on this theme with two tacky pre-game features on Ismail and Bienemy. One showed Ismail emerging from a foggy set while a voice over wondered if this was to be his final college football season. Looking obviously uncomfortable, the media-shy Ismail stood in the fog while NBC spliced in colorized pictures of the Heisman runner-up running with the ball while flames trailed off his back.

Also in NBC’s pre-game, O.J. Simpson interviewed Stonebreaker and Chris Zorich in their hotel room early on New Year’s Day (the Orange Bowl had an 8:30 p.m. kickoff). Asked if he was nervous, Zorich chuckled and playfully held out a trembling hand for the cameras while he watched the other bowl games on television.

Perhaps it was really NBC and the rest of the media crunch who were really scared. After all, in the Fiesta Bowl, Louisville had leveled Alabama 34-7, and Miami had simply destroyed the Texas Longhorns 46-3 in the Cotton Bowl. Would the Orange follow suit and develop into a Colorado or Notre Dame rout?

When it finally came time to actually play the game, though, the players on the field left the hype on the sidelines and played a tough, grind-it-out football game. The first time the Irish had the ball could have well served as an omen for the rest of the game. On first-and-ten, sophomore quarterback Rick Mirer dropped back to pass and was hit as he threw it by Butkus Award winner Alfred Williams. The resulting pass was a wounded duck that Colorado free safety Greg Thomas picked off and returned to the Notre Dame 49-yard line. This was the first of an uncharacteristic three Mirer interceptions. Mirer seemed rusty and out of sync with his receivers all night and finished a poor 13 for 31 passing for only 141 yards.

“The first one, I got hit and let go a floater,” said Mirer. “The last one was just a last ditch effort, but the one down the middle was just a bad throw. I just didn’t get it far enough for my receiver and Thomas made a great play.”

Those interceptions were three of five crucial turnovers that resulted in seven points for the Buffs. At one point in the third quarter, the Irish coughed the ball up on three straight possessions. Th first, a Ricky Watters fumble, gave the Buffaloes the ball on the Notre Dame 40-yard line. Colorado drove the 40 yards in eight plays, scoring on a one-yard “Public” Bieniemy plunge off the right side.

“I thought we really had some momentum,” said Holtz. “Then we turned the ball over three times in four plays. The third quarter was a disaster.”

While the Irish were self-destructing, Colorado averted a potential disaster thanks to one Charles Johnson. With 50 seconds left in the frrst half, Buffalo starting quarterback Darian Hagan scrambled right and was hit hard by Bob ”The Crippler” Dahl, who had earlier put Bieniemy out for a few plays.

Hagan got up limping, suffering from a ruptured tendon in his left knee that would put  him out of commission for the night.  Johnson, the backup quarterback who had led Colorado to victory in the controversial “fifth down game” with Missouri, came in and played splendid football. He chalked up 80 yards on five-for-six passing on his way to Most Valuable Player honors for the game and an appearance on “The Tonight Show.”

“Darian told me at halftime to concentrate and play tough in the second half,” said Johnson. “We came together as a group in the second half to pull out the win. I feel good about winning the MVP, but it was a total team effort.”

Johnson’s success may have come as a result of the great confidence his teammates and coach had in him. “Charles had some experience at quarterback, so we weren’t concerned about the change,” said Colorado wide receiver Mike Pritchard. “We were not shocked about Hagan’s injury, but we felt sorry for him. Hey, Charles pulled us through on offense. ”

“Our ability to rally behind a backup quarterback, Charles Johnson, was great,” agreed Colorado coach McCartney. “I just couldn’t be prouder of him. It was fitting that it should end this way because all year long we’ve been having to reach deep to find a way to scratch out a victory.”

One bright spot for the Irish on an otherwise frustrating night was the exceptional play of the defense, particularly senior nose tackle Zorich. The Lombardi Trophy winner was everywhere, going under, over, around and even through the Colorado front which featured All-American offensive guard Joe Garten and second-team All-American tackle Mark Vander Poel. For the game, Zorich recorded ten tackles and a sack which earned him defensive MVP honors for the game.

George Williams had himself a game as well, blocking a Colorado field goal attempt, recovering a fumble and sacking the quarterback Johnson for a nine-yard loss.

And so, despite a great effort by a defense which had been maligned all year long, the Irish lost because the offense simply couldn’t perform. In fact, since halftime of the Penn State game and including the Orange Bowl, the Irish offense produced just 20 points in ten quarters of football. Two missed field goals and a blocked extra point attempt proved to be the difference between a win and, at 10-2, a claim to the national title, and a disappointing loss.

Notre Dame’s troubles did not end with the bowl loss. The cloud which has hovered over Holtz all season grew darker and more ominous with the January 3rd acknowledgment by the University of Minnesota of 19 of the 23 allegations of rules violations by the NCAA rules committee.

Holtz, who coached the Golden Gophers for two seasons in 1985 and 1986, figures in three of the admitted allegations. So ended Notre Dame’s personal “Season of Our Discontent.”

A wacky year featuring two upset losses at home; a Raghib Ismail run at the Heisman Trophy foiled by a man named Ty from Utah; and all kinds of controversy, ending on a fittingly sour note on New Year’s Night in the Orange Bowl with the toss of a little yellow flag. Despite what the legends may say, national championships are not a divine right under the Golden Dome.