My Reaction:
They make their top ten and to save you from having to click “back” or “previous page” here is the top ten:
10. Julius Jones vs. Nebraska ’00 (kickoff)
9. Joey Getherall vs. Nebraska ’00 (punt)
8. Golden Tate at Pitt ’09 (punt)
7. John Lattner at Penn ’53 (kickoff)
6. Tom Zbikowski vs. USC ’05 (punt)
5. Ricky Watters vs. Michigan ’88 (kickoff)
4. Raghib “Rocket” Ismail vs. Miami ’90 (kickoff)
3. Al Hunter vs. Alabama ’73 Sugar Bowl (kickoff)
2. Raghib “Rocket” Ismail vs. Michigan ’89 (kickoff x2)
1. Tim Brown vs. Michigan State ’87 (punt)
10/9: The first two make me more upset than anything. You get two special teams scores against the top-ranked team in the nation but can’t pull off the upset on your home field, even if it didn’t appear that way? Frustrating but we found out later that Arnaz Battle wasn’t right and would miss the remainder of the season afterwards. Even with that, Bob Davie sitting on the ball late and playing for overtime still angers me.
8: Golden Tate’s was exciting and it wound up being his only punt return for a score at Notre Dame. With everything else he accomplished, especially in 2009, it’s easy to forget him as a returner but that roughly 15 seconds of action was about the only positive 15 seconds of the second half of that season.
7: Lattner makes me wonder if the only reason they added it to the list is because they actually have Johnny Lattner footage? That said, Lattner did win the Heisman that season and his return for a score helped the Irish to a one-possession victory in what finished up an unbeaten at 9-0-1 and ranked second in the nation.
6: Zbikowski is understandable because the five that came ahead of it all resulted in wins, but it’s my favorite play I’ve witnessed since I started watching Notre Dame football in the early nineties.
TOP 5 THOUGHTS: