Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions sneak into Notre Dame Stadium and steal a last-second, 24-21 victory

By Kevin T. Kerns

1990 Scholastic Football Review

Penn State coach Joe Paterno said that nearly an entire quarter went by before he noticed that Raghib “Rocket” Ismail hadn’t come out for the second half with the rest of the Notre Dame offense. For Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, the Rocket’s absence was all too obvious.

“No doubt we have built our offense around him,” said Holtz of Ismail, who sat out the second half against the Nittany Lions due to a deep thigh bruise, a recurrence of the injury which sidelined him in the earlier loss to Stanford . “But you have to rise to the occasion.”

To the shock and dismay of the sellout crowd at Notre Dame Stadium, they didn’t rise to the occasion. Instead, they blew a 21-7 lead, falling to Penn State 24-21, on a 34-yard field goal by Chris Fayak with four seconds remaining.

The loss cost the Irish their number one ranking and any legitimate shot at a national championship. The stunned Notre Dame locker room was closed to the press, although, as usual, Ricky Watters found it in himself to comment on the game.

“The only thing I got to say is we shouldn’t have lost. I can’t believe it,” said the senior tailback, who gained 102 yards on 19 carries, marking the first time in his career that he posted consecutive 100 yard rushing efforts.

With the score tied at 21 and only 2:15 showing on the clock, Notre Dame took possession on its own seven-yard line after Paterno had elected to punt on fourth and two from the Irish 37. Four offensive plays netted just eight yards and now only one minute remained. Irish fans thought back to 1966, when coach Ara Parseghian had ordered his team to run out the clock against Michigan State and settle for a 10-10 tie, preserving Notre Dame’s top ranking.

But this was 1990, and unlike Parseghian’s team of a quarter century before, the Irish were playing at home. There would be no tie. With good protection, Rick Mirer faded back and surveyed the field. He saw Tony Smith streaking across the middle. Mirer threw a ball that sailed like an arrow straight through the hearts of the Irish faithful and into the waiting hands of Penn State safety Darren Perry. Three plays later, as temperatures dipped below freezing in the November night, Fayak put the game on ice.

Mirer was one of the few Irish players who faced reporters immediately after the game. “I probably forced it a little bit,” admitted the quarterback of his errant pass. “Earlier we won a couple of games right there at the end. We got burned by it this time.”

“We weren’t going to settle for a tie,” added a subdued Holtz. “When you go over the middle there is a 50-50 chance the safety is going to be there.”

In the first half, Notre Dame scorched the vaunted Penn State defense for 292 total yards. The Irish did not have to punt in the first quarters, failing to score on only two missed Craig Hentrich field goals, of 53 and 43 yards in length, the latter coming as time ran out in the half. His failure to convert would come back to haunt the Irish.

After winning the opening coin toss, Penn State decided to defer until the second half, as Paterno confidently sent his defensive unit out to meet the Irish. Notre Dame responded with an impressive nine play, 63-yard drive, which Watters capped with a nifty 22-yard touchdown run.

Penn State’s next possession yielded nothing, and after an 11 yard punt return by Ismail, the Irish took over at their own 41. Eight plays later, Tony Brooks burst through a gaping hole from the 12 yard line and cut left into the end zone for the score. After the conversion by Hentrich, Notre Dame had built its lead to 14-0, with nearly seven minutes still showing on the first quarter clock.

At this point, the Irish seemed to be well on their way to a lopsided victory over the Nittany Lions, similar to when the teams met the previous two seasons. In those contests, Notre Dame rolled to wins with scores of 34-21 and 21-3, respectively. But this Penn State team was a more mature and disciplined group than the teams which had folded in the face of the enormous pressure and athleticism which the Irish inevitably bring to the party. Close early season losses to Texas and USC had served to motivate the Nittany Lions, as they had reeled off seven consecutive victories before traveling to South Bend.

This was the game that would show Penn State could not only play with the big boys – but that, as in their glory years, they could beat them. “We are a better football team than people give us credit for,”stated Paterno after his team had pulled off the upset.

Trailing by two touchdowns early in the contest, Paterno decided to put the game into the hands of his junior quarterback, Tony Sacca. Sacca, often criticized for erratic play, responded with the finest game of his career.

“It was a big game for him,” praised Paterno. “I thought he grew up today.”

Sacca took his team 68 yards in only 2:05, capping the drive with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Terry Smith. After faking a reverse, Sacca rolled right and hit Smith who had turned around Notre Dame cornerback Todd Lyght inside the five. Smith stumbled into the end zone, cutting the deficit to one touchdown.

Midway through the second quarter, the Irish marched 92 yards in 16 plays for their third touchdown of the game. Thirty-eight of those yards were accounted for by Ismail, who rushed three times and caught one pass on the drive. Mirer sneaked in from the one, giving the Irish a 21-7 lead. That lead would hold until halftime, as Hentrich missed a 43-yard field goal with only seconds remaining in the half.

When the second half began, the Irish offense ceased to be rocket powered. Instead, it operated like a solar engine during an eclipse. Rocket Ismail, who caught four balls for 76 yards in the first half, was no longer available for duty.

Notre Dame managed only four first downs in the dismal second half, and played as if it was lost without its star performer. With Ismail gone, Penn State could afford to take more chances on defense, thus creating opportunities for turnovers. That defense harassed Mirer into a one for nine, two interception second half performance. By contrast, Sacca was 20 of 34 for 277 yards with three touchdowns for the day.

“We were being too tentative,” said Paterno of the large cushions his secondary gave Irish receivers. “I told my players not to have too much respect for them and try to make things happen.”

Through most of the third quarter, the teams stood toe to toe, with neither gaining an appreciable advantage. The closest either club came to scoring was a missed 39-yard field goal by Fayak.

Then, with 1:30 left in the quarter, Penn State got a break. Linebacker Mark D’Onofrio intercepted a pass intended for Shawn Smith and returned it to the Irish eleven. Shortly thereafter, Sacca found Rick Sayles in the left comer of the end zone. Sayles juggled the ball for what seemed like an eternity, but gained possession in time, and the Nittany Lions were within a touchdown.

The Lion defense was now in a frenzy.

”The coach challenged us,” said defensive tackle Lou Benfalli. “He made us go out and show our character.” That they did, and the Irish were reeling. Their last four possessions of the game yielded only 22 yards.

Meanwhile, Penn State was creeping closer. With 7:15 remaining in the game, Sacca rolled right and threw back left to tight end Al Golden, who was wide open fora 14-yard touchdown catch. “They scored on a trick play and they got me biting up on the run,” mused Notre Dame’s Lyght, who seemed less than impressed with Paterno’s innovative play calling.

Some seven minutes later, Fayak’s winning field goal sailed through the uprights, sending Notre Dame to their second home loss of the season. It was small consolation that this year’s senior class had finished with a 21-2 record playing in front of their loyal fans.

“We didn’t get field position and they won the battle up front in the second half,” observed Holtz. When faced with the obstacle of playing without Raghib Ismail, the Irish failed for the second time in as many opportunities this season. Even Joe Paterno would notice that right away.