While it may not seem like it on the surface, there are quite a few present-day connections to Notre Dame’s 48-0 shutout of Purdue in 1992.
The Irish and Boilermakers will face each other in 2024. Although this game will take place in West Lafayette as opposed to the 1992 game in South Bend, a player involved in that game, Irish All-American [autotag]Aaron Taylor[/autotag], will be seen on that game’s broadcast on CBS as he just joined the network’s college football pregame show.
On ESPN’s recap of the game, you can see Taylor being highlighted as a blocker for one of [autotag]Jerome Bettis[/autotag]’ two touchdowns that day:
— College Football Classics (@ClassicsCFB) May 22, 2024
While Bettis did well on this day, he still couldn’t touch Reggie Brooks, who ran for three touchdowns and 205 yards. In fact, all of the Irish’s touchdowns for that game came on the ground with [autotag]Rick Mirer[/autotag] and [autotag]Kevin McDougal[/autotag] rounding out the scoring. How times have changed considering today’s pass-heavy game.
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hen you look at the long history of Notre Dame football you’ll be hard-pressed to find a player responsible for a pair of more memorable plays than Reggie Brooks. Brooks followed his older brother Tony’s lead and enrolled at Notre Dame in 1989. Originally a defensive back, the younger Brooks transitioned to tailback back for his junior season in 1991. That move resulted in Lou Holtz and the Irish getting one of the best years from a running back in program history.
Brooks didn’t make a major impact in 1991, rushing just 18 times all year. He made the most of those opportunities though as he ran for 122 yards (6.7 ypc) and a pair of touchdowns. The next year he soared and became forever entrenched in Notre Dame lore for two incredible plays (and for having a monster year).
The first came on a touchdown run against Michigan that Brooks broke at least five tackles during before being knocked out just before crossing the goal line.
That run came early in the year and helped set the tone for what would become a massive season. Brooks totaled 1,343 rushing yards that year while scoring 13 times on the ground and catching one pass for a 24-yard score. It was another reception he had that didn’t count as a reception in the box score, but is still remembered as clear as day by any Notre Dame or Penn State fan that watched it.
I tried my hardest but couldn’t find the outstanding Tony Roberts call of this sequence online.
A week later Brooks overcame a stomach bug to rush for 227 yards and three touchdowns at USC. His two memorable scoring plays earlier in the year paired with that performance in front of a national audience helped him to finish fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Not bad for someone who shared a backfield with some guy named Bettis, huh?
Brooks, [autotag]Rick Mirer[/autotag] and [autotag]Jerome Bettis[/autotag] were the first real stars at Notre Dame that I remember watching. I know I watched games before that but those three were the first few that I grew an attachment to as a young fan.
Brooks would go on to be drafted by the Washington Redskins and played three years for them before finishing his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Today he celebrates turning 52 so happy birthday to Reggie.
I might not have been able to find a clip of it but after writing this first thing this morning I promise you I’ll be yelling “REGGIE BROOKS! REGGIE BROOKS CAUGHT IT FOR A TWO-POINTER!” in my head all afternoon.
Happy birthday, 40!
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
No position in sports is more important than the quarterback. Notre Dame is lucky that it will have a good one this season in [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag]. Though his services only will be for one year, the potential for him to have a history-making season is high. With that will come high expectations.
But how will Hartman measure up to the great Notre Dame quarterbacks of the past? For that, let’s turn to AI writing tool ChatGPT and see what it believes is a fair list for the top 10 men under center to play for the Irish.
Keep in mind that ChatGPT has this disclaimer:
“Ranking the top 10 quarterbacks in Notre Dame history is subjective and open to interpretation, as different eras and playing styles contribute to individual greatness. However, based on their impact on the program, statistical achievements, and team success, the following list represents 10 notable quarterbacks in Notre Dame’s storied history.”
And this one:
“Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and there are many other talented quarterbacks who have contributed to the Notre Dame football legacy. The rankings can vary depending on personal opinions and criteria used to evaluate their performances.”
On that, here is the list with some entries edited for clarity and accuracy:
Not the best but who is your favorite ND quarterback of all-time?
In the long history of Notre Dame football its difficult to come up with a favorite all-time quarterback. Sure, the likes of [autotag]Paul Hornung[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Montana[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Theismann[/autotag], and [autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag] all achieved great things in blue and gold but so many others reached great heights as well.
Then there were others that didn’t go on to get drafted into the NFL but led successful Notre Dame squads in their own right like [autotag]Kevin McDougal[/autotag], [autotag]Tony Rice[/autotag], and [autotag]Everett Golson[/autotag].
Who is your favorite quarterback in the history of Notre Dame football?
Who do you think was the best?
And who is your favorite one-hit-wonder?
A day after [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] announced he was entering the transfer portal, here is a look back at photos of several Notre Dame quarterbacks over the years.
Before the game of football became as pass-heavy as it has, Rick Mirer was busy helping lead Notre Dame to three straight major bowl games in the early 90’s with both his arm and his legs. Mirer won 29 games he starred for Lou Holtz and Notre Dame between 1990 and 1992 and his 18 touchdown passes in 1991 were a then-school record.
After leading Notre Dame Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl victories over Florida and Texas A&M respectively, Mirer was the second player to have his name called in the 1993 NFL draft. That remains the highest a Notre Dame player has been taken in the NFL draft since, something Kyle Hamilton hopes to match next month.
Mirer never won a national title at Notre Dame but he was the star quarterback on some fantastic teams. Celebrate his birthday, which he shares with other Irish greats Julian Love and Quenton Nelson, by taking a look at some of his best photos at Notre Dame.
Who were your first couple of favorite Notre Dame football players? One of mine is celebrating a birthday today. Happy birthday @40RBND!
When you look at the long history of Notre Dame football you’ll be hard-pressed to find a player responsible for a pair of more memorable plays than [autotag]Reggie Brooks[/autotag]. Brooks followed his older brother Tony’s lead and enrolled at Notre Dame in 1989. Originally a defensive back, the younger Brooks transitioned to tailback back for his junior season in 1991. That move resulted in [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] and the Irish getting one of the best years from a running back in program history.
Brooks didn’t make a major impact in 1991, rushing just 18 times all year. He made the most of those opportunities though as he ran for 122 yards (6.7 ypc) and a pair of touchdowns. The next year he soared and became forever entrenched in Notre Dame lore for two incredible plays (and for having a monster year).
The first came on a touchdown run against Michigan that Brooks broke at least five tackles during before being knocked out just before crossing the goal line.
That run came early in the year and helped set the tone for what would become a massive season. Brooks totaled 1,343 rushing yards that year while scoring 13 times on the ground and catching one pass for a 24-yard score. It was another reception he had that didn’t count as a reception in the box score, but is still remembered as clear as day by any Notre Dame or Penn State fan that watched it.
I tried my hardest but couldn’t find the outstanding Tony Roberts call of this sequence online.
A week later Brooks overcame a stomach bug to rush for 227 yards and three touchdowns at USC. His two memorable scoring plays earlier in the year paired with that performance in front of a national audience helped him to finish fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Not bad for someone who shared a backfield with some guy named Bettis, huh?
Brooks, [autotag]Rick Mirer[/autotag] and [autotag]Jerome Bettis[/autotag] were the first real stars at Notre Dame that I remember watching. I know I watched games before that but those three were the first few that I grew an attachment to as a young fan.
Brooks would go on to be drafted by the Washington Redskins and played three years for them before finishing his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Today he celebrates turning 52 so happy birthday to Reggie.
I might not have been able to find a clip of it but after writing this first thing this morning I promise you I’ll be yelling “REGGIE BROOKS! REGGIE BROOKS CAUGHT IT FOR A TWO-POINTER!” in my head all afternoon.
Happy birthday, 40!
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
Every prank a friend by changing their listed birthday on Facebook to the current date? That’s pretty much what we did to @RickMirer and we apologize.
Technology is great, it truly is. Until it isn’t. Then it can be a real pain in the backside. If you follow us on social media – and seriously, why on God’s green earth wouldn’t you (seriously – go follow us on Twitter immediately and like our Facebook page if you haven’t already), then you missed us sending a former Notre Dame quarterback birthday wishes on Wednesday night.
The only problem is that his birthday was in March. So we were either eight months late or four months early depending on your perspective. Oh, and it wasn’t like a quarterback that played just a few games or one season or something, it was one of the best to ever do it at Notre Dame.
If you didn’t see it, here is how our interaction with Notre Dame legend and former second-overall NFL draft pick [autotag]Rick Mirer [/autotag]went last night:
Fighting Irish Wire apologizes for the endless birthday wishes and promises to find the bug in the system that keeps auto-posting that, 3.In the meantime, happy 30th anniversary to Mirer, Jerome Bettis, Reggie Brooks, and the rest of the 1992 team as the Snow Bowl was played 30 years ago earlier this week.
Even if it’s not your birthday we hope you accept our apologies and are able to enjoy one of your finest bottles of wine to forget about the ill-timed birthday messages we would have been responsible for you receiving.
It had been 40 years since an unranked Notre Dame team last defeated a top-five team. That came when the 1982 Irish upset Dan Marino and top-ranked Pittsburgh. Clemson wasn’t the top-ranked team entering Notre Dame Stadium in 2022, but the final outcome was no less impressive. The Irish beat the Tigers, 35-14, almost two years to the day of them beating this same program in the same location.
Irish fans in South Bend and beyond will be celebrating this one for a long time. If a national championship wasn’t in the cards, this was the next best thing. All reservations about [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] have gone out the window, at least for the moment. There no longer appears to be a limit on the possibilities with him at the helm in the years to come.
Here are some of the best reactions to the big win on Twitter, many of which came from program alumni:
Who is your favorite team in all of sports and what year did you become a fan? Perhaps there was a year your fandom became an obsession?
That was the case for me in the early-90s with Notre Dame football as I know I have been a fan for as long as I can remember but my first memories of watching the Irish came in the 1992 season that saw a 10-1-1 conclusion led by my first set of favorites in [autotag]Rick Mirer[/autotag], [autotag]Jerome Bettis[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Brooks[/autotag], [autotag]Bryant Young[/autotag], [autotag]Jim Flanigan[/autotag], and plenty of others.
A year later we know what happened as the Irish, led by quarterback Kevin McDougal, had wins over No. 3 Michigan and No.1 Florida State in starting the year 10-0 before being upset in the regular season finale by Boston College. I don’t care what the final polls say, I saw the 1993 “Game of the Century” against Florida State and despite it coming down to the final play, anybody who watched that game saw Notre Dame beat the daylights out of Florida State that afternoon. Seriously, if All-American [autotag]Jeff Burris[/autotag] turns one of his several passes defended in that game into an interception then the Irish win by two or more scores.
Instead, Bobby Bowden received his lifetime achievement award from the Associated Press and his fellow coaches.
Notre Dame was the best team in the country in 1993 and I’ll never come down from this hill no matter how hard my Florida State fans try to get me to.
Even with the heartbreak from that Boston College game of ’93, I can’t help but be grateful of catching onto Notre Dame football when I did because had I been just a couple years younger I don’t know if things would have been quite the same.
Over those two years Notre Dame went 21-2-1, won a pair of Cotton Bowls over Texas A&M, and it was the last two years of the Fighting Irish being the “it” thing in college football under [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] as things were never quite the same for him in South Bend after ’93.
With there being 93/92 days until the season kicks off this fall (Thursday and Friday), here is a look back at a few photos from the 1992 and 1993 seasons that I’ll always remember from my youth.
Which Notre Dame quarterback were you most excited for before they ever played a down for the Irish?
Over the years Notre Dame has had more than a couple great quarterbacks.
[autotag]Joe Theismann[/autotag], [autotag]John Huarte[/autotag], [autotag]Tom Clements[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Montana[/autotag], [autotag]Rick Mirer[/autotag], and [autotag]Ron Powlus[/autotag] are just a few of the all-time signal callers the university has had. All of those men came to Notre Dame during much different times however, as recruiting and the available information around it has changed significantly over the years.
[autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag], [autotag]Jimmy Clausen[/autotag], and [autotag]Ian Book[/autotag] are a few of the best Notre Dame has had at the position since the year 2000, but how were each rated as recruits? And just how high might the next quarterback commitment check in in these rankings?
247Sports has compiled a list of Notre Dame’s quarterback recruits since 2000 and included each of their final recruiting rankings. Here is how the top 20 turned out.
