Michigan State's Duffy Daugherty made news with a radical new proposal that had the potential to change college football forever: an eight-team playoff to determine the undisputed national champion. Daugherty's proposal was nothing short of radical for 2018 much less 1966. He proposed eliminating all of the bowl games and creating a tournament that would include the six conference champions (ACC, PCC, Big Ten, SEC, SWC, Big 8) and two at-large bids. Responding to the common objection that such an idea would create an over-emphasis on football, Daugherty had clearly done his homework, noting that 12 bowl games mandated 24 teams placing an emphasis on football for an additional six weeks while his own plan would create an emphasis of a maximum of four weeks and only for the two teams that played in the championship game. In his incredible foresight, Daugherty also boldly predicted that the television revenue from such a playoff would be "tremendous," he would include all the schools receiving a cut of the television receipts, and the result would be an undisputed national champion. Daugherty missed nothing in his proposed sweep of changes, noting that the bowl games would oppose it and so would the Southern schools who went to bowl games with 5-5 records, but in response to the argument of missing too much class, he rhetorically asked if anyone thought that was true at the lower levels that already had playoffs. But Daugherty's rhetorical flourish was clear in his statement: "We'll never have a true national champion until we do something like this." It would take the powers that be forty-eight years to act upon his foresight, but Daugherty was (for the most part) correct. Walter Byers, the executive secretary of the NCAA, endorsed Daugherty's idea, and it had a lot of support at the time among the coaches.
LSU's loss to Ole Miss the previous Saturday certainly did not help the Alabama cause. For years the Tide had suffered in perception because they so rarely played Ole Miss or LSU. The departures of Georgia Tech and Tulane as well as the ending of the Georgia series made these games more likely, but the moment Alabama began playing those teams, they suddenly weren't very good anymore. Alabama entered the game as a 19-point favorite, and the 1:15pm kickoff contest was broadcast regionally on ABC. LSU coach Charles "Cholly Mac" McClendon was a former Bryant player in his fifth season in Red Stick. Mac would be fired after the 1979 season in a scene foretelling the fate that befell Les Miles in 2016. He was fired because he couldn't beat the Alabama coach even though he was one of the most successful opponents the Tide coach ever had. Bryant ran up an insane 43-6 record against his former assistants, and McClendon was the only one to beat Bryant twice. It wasn't enough for the LSU fan base, eventually firing the Hall of Fame coach with a .630 winning percentage, seven bowl wins, and an SEC title for no other reason than he wasn't and could not beat Paul Bryant.
Les Kelley, meanwhile, was facing his own storm, watching on television as his school took the field without him, an event that would lead him back to the good graces of his teammates eventually. Bama got right to work, too, forcing a three and out and blocking the game's first punt out of the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead. The Tide forced nine three and outs, Steve Davis kicked two field goals, and Bobby Johns picked off a Fred Haynes pass for a pick six in the final minute of the third period as the Tide held LSU to five first downs and only 90 yards of total offense. When Washington stung UCLA, 16-3, the Tide were back up to number three in the country with three games left. Michigan State crushed Iowa, 56-7, and Notre Dame thumped Pitt, 40-0, so the Irish remained on top and the Spartans second with the season winding down.
Les Kelley returned to the team on the Monday following the LSU contest to find that his name was no longer listed on the depth chart. South Carolina was in town for homecoming, and the Gamecocks were 27-point underdogs despite being led by a man who less than a decade earlier had coached LSU to their first national title, Paul Dietzel, who had been a Bryant assistant at Kentucky. During homecoming week, another story floated that suggested that one of the bowls wanted to match up Alabama with Georgia Tech, less than two years gone from the SEC. It made sense because Tech was unbeaten and ranked fifth in the country. Bobby Dodd, angry over a Bryant comment that Tech's practices were like playing "drop the handkerchief," all but dared Alabama to play Tech with comments that Alabama had nothing to gain and everything to lose, saying that the press would have to ask Bryant if he'd actually play Georgia Tech and that Bryant wouldn't do it because he might "have to eat his words." In the interest of historical accuracy, this comment appeared in "The Atlanta Journal," whose sports editor was none other than Bryant's old nemesis, Furman Bisher. And Alabama was getting more unfavorable coverage by David Densmore, a sportswriter for the Amarillo Daily News. His column appeared on November 11 and covered Daugherty's playoff proposal but managed to disparage both of the Alabama's 1964 and 1965 national titles, noting Alabama's defeat to Texas after the 64 season and feeling Alabama had somehow backed their way into the 65 title thanks to the Michigan State loss. For reasons known only to the mythical brain of objective sports journalism, Alabama's 1965 bowl loss was proof of being unworthy while Michigan State's 1966 bowl loss had somehow robbed the Spartans. I include Densmore only to demonstrate that the anti-Alabama bias was, in fact, real. After all, how many of you had ever even heard of this guy until just now?
Despite facing an unworthy foe missing both their starting quarterback and tailback, Alabama cruised to a 24-0 victory over South Carolina. The homecoming parade featured Sylacauga born Jim Nabors, then a television star as the bumbling private in "Gomer Pyle USMC." Though nobody asked Nabors for a quote regarding the Tide's performance, his likely reaction would have been, "Shazam." Notre Dame beat Duke, Michigan State beat Indiana, and the biggest game in college football history was set for November 19.
THE GAME OF THE CENTURY
College football's "game of the century" was the result of scheduling fluke in 1960. When Iowa decided they'd rather play Thanksgiving in balmy Miami than at Notre Dame in the cold Midwest, the Irish had an open date as did Michigan State. As the ADs were old chums, they scheduled the game at a time when neither was setting the world on fire nationally. By the time the game arrived, it was the rarest of jewels, a 1 vs 2 showdown. Such a game had only occurred twice previously, when Notre Dame and Army tied in 1946 and when USC beat Wisconsin in the 1963 Rose Bowl.
The game was not originally scheduled for television. As it became clear that the game would have major ramifications, discussions began inside the ABC television network. Contractually, they were not permitted to show the game nationally because Notre Dame had already been on TV in 1966, but they were going to show it regionally in the Midwest. A major uproar occurred that saw fans who could afford it making sojourns into the viewing area, and ABC reached a compromise: they would show the game in its entirety via tape delay in the rest of the country. (This was common for several more years. Both the "Miracle on Ice" and the Indy 500s prior to 1982 were shown on tape delay several hours after the contest occurred).
Very little needs to be said about the game itself. Two fine books tell the story, "The Missing Ring" by Keith Dunnavant giving the Alabama perspective while the late Mike Celizic's "The Biggest Game of Them All" tells it from the Irish slant (and with play by play detail). Both books tell the exact same story but with a different spin.
Notre Dame played without star RB Nick Eddy, whose injured shoulder was hurt worse as he stepped off the train. Early in the game, the Irish lost both their All-American center and starting quarterback (Terry Hanratty) on the same possession. Coley O'Brien, the backup QB and diabetic in a different time medicine-wise, took over. After the Spartans took a 10-0 lead, O'Brien brought them back into a tie. With 4:39 left, Irish kicker Joe Azzaro missed the potential game-winning field goal wide right from 41 yards, and Michigan State got the ball in their own territory. After running two minutes off the clock and facing fourth and four on his own 36, Duffy Daugherty opted to punt and put the game on his defense. Punt returner Norm Schoen fumbled a fair catch just before getting plowed by six Spartans, but the ball fell true, and Schoen recovered it. With 84 seconds remaining at their own thirty, Ara Parseghian made a decision that would define the rest of his career in less than inspiring terms. Ara played to win on his own terms, and it cost him his reputation as a great coach.
With a second-string quarterback who had been rather erratic and Michigan State playing the pass, Ara sent in a running play in hopes of maybe catching the Spartans napping. A power sweep by O'Brien gained four yards. On second down, O'Brien dropped back to pass and then gave to Rocky Bleier on a halfback delay. Bleier gained three yards, but it was now third and three. Notre Dame lined up in a tight formation as if on the goal line, and O'Brien gave it to Conjar for two yards. On fourth and one at his own 39 with less than a minute to go, Parseghian called for a QB sneak, and it was good enough for a first down. Realizing what Ara was doing, Michigan State called timeout. Parseghian now sent in a pass play. O'Brien dropped back seven yards but was planted by Bubba Smith, future star of "Lite Beer" commercials and "Police Academy" movies. Smith leaped up and called timeout, but the game was over. With a then record television audience (even with the tape delay) on a dreary East Lansing day, Michigan State and Notre Dame played to a tie in the game that really did put college football on the national map.
In his postgame meeting with his team, Parseghian laid out his line of reasoning:
"Men, I’m proud of you. God knows I’ve never been more proud of any group of young men in my life. Get one thing straight, though. We did not lose. We were number one when we came, we fell behind, had some tough things happen, but you overcame them. No one could have wanted to win this one more than I. We didn’t win, but, by God, we did not lose. They’re crying about a tie, trying to detract from your efforts. They’re trying to make it come out a win. Well, don’t you believe it. Their season is over. They can’t go anywhere. It’s all over and we’re still Number One. Time will prove everything that has happened here today." He made an even more ridiculous assertion when he stated, ""The national polls mean everything to us, and those who vote in the polls put a premium on being undefeated."
But Duffy Daugherty wasn't going quietly into the night, either. Parseghian made repeated appeals to the fact his quarterback and running back were injured. Daugherty pointed out to the press that Notre Dame had beaten a decent Duke team, 64-0, and Eddy hadn't played a single snap. Daugherty was classy enough to not bash Parseghian for the tie, but some of his players weren't so forgiving. Daugherty then said something that may have served as a signal to the voters and certainly spelled out what he expected to happen: "What probably will happen is that the votes will be split between Michigan State and Notre Dame. And Alabama will get it. Of course, you fellows can change that. You could get together and all vote for Michigan State." Daugherty stated clearly he was going to vote his team in the UPI poll, and even suggested the idea of a co-championship with Notre Dame.
Parseghian was banking on the notion that Notre Dame was unique, the rules did not apply, and the voters would never drop the Irish from the top spot for anything other than a loss. Why exactly Ara thought this lacks strong evidence even though he turned out to be right. Alabama had an off week that day. Or more precisely the voters had an off year that year. Surely joy must have gripped the Tide players, who had to figure they now were going to ranked #1 in the polls. A study of every poll from October 19, 1936 to the poll prior to November 19, 1966 shows why they would have thought this. A personal study of the polls over the thirty years preceding the game shows that ties virtually always hurt the higher ranked team but helped the lower ranked team. Ranked teams played tie games 147 times over those three decades. On 111 occasions - a whopping 75.5% - the team that played the tie game dropped in the polls, sometimes severely. In 1952, Coach Bryant's unranked Kentucky team tied the #7 Tennessee Volunteers, dropping the Vols to nine and bringing the Wildcats into the poll. That same year saw #4 Oklahoma play to a 21-21 tie with Colorado and plunge to #20. On ten occasions, a team held the same spot. Two of those ten were the 1946 Army-Notre Dame game, where #1 Army and #2 Notre Dame tied, and Army kept the top spot. In what must have been a confusing finish to the season, Army tied with Notre Dame, won one more game, held onto the top spot until the final poll.....and then dropped to #2 when they only beat 18-point underdog Navy by three points, giving Frank Leahy his national championship. And on 26 occasions, a team that tied moved up in the polls, ALWAYS because their tie had exceeded expectations. Given that Notre Dame was a 5.5 point favorite, there should have been no way for the Irish to stay in the top spot. Parseghian of all coaches had to have known this. He was hired at Notre Dame away from Northwestern, where he had taken the Wildcats to incredible heights, including a #1 ranking. Surely Parseghian could not have forgotten that only four years earlier at Northwestern, his team had moved to number one when Rice and Texas played to a tie, and the voters dropped the Longhorns to five. For Parseghian to say - as he later would - that if you were number one and didn't lose you stayed number one was the kind of comment that would have enraged any sportswriter who actually did his homework. It was also untrue at every level since both Alabama and Michigan State had fallen from the top spot in 1966 despite not losing and, in some cases, winning.
Michigan State was done. They were stuck with a tie, and the UPI was their only real hope for a national title. The UPI had shuffled Michigan State to the top spot - barely - and Alabama was stuck at third in both polls. Notre Dame had one game to go against USC, and Alabama had two games remaining against Tulane replacement USM and a national telecast with Auburn. And when the polls came out on Monday, Alabama realized that their only hope now was USC upsetting Notre Dame as had happened in 1964.
There was also fallout from Dr. Paul Brechler in the wake of the televising of the big game, and his apocryphal warning sounds laughable five decades later. Brechler, the former Athletic Director at Iowa as well as the first commissioner of the WAC declared,"We have just killed football as a Saturday afternoon spectator sport." He insisted that the easy availability of games on TV would kill the sport and result in games before empty stadiums. It appears Dr Brechler may also have advised Columbus that the world was flat. He wasn't the only angry one. The game had sold out on July 15 with seats costing $5. One irate fan who had paid a scalper's price for them snorted, "You mean I paid $35 for a tie?" Alabama also got some public support from Iowa assistant coach Ted Lawrence, who said, "I really believe old Bear's Alabama team would beat either Notre Dame or Michigan State in a one-game shot." Even Nebraska Coach Bob Devaney got into the quotation game. Preparing for a game with Oklahoma - a game he would, in typical Husker fashion, lose, Devaney tweaked Notre Dame - AND Oklahoma - by pointing out that the Irish were so far ahead of Oklahoma that "Notre Dame decided they didn't have to play for a tie."
On November 21, Alabama officially accepted their bid to face Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl, a rematch of the 1966 Orange Bowl that propelled Alabama to the 1965 title. With the bowl games not counting towards the title, Alabama was now doing nothing more than going through the motions and hoping their on-the-field excellence would persuade some voters to their side.
The USM game was played at Ladd Stadium in Mobile, one of several alternative homes the Tide had away from Bryant-Denny Stadium long ago. Alabama smashed Southern Miss, 34-0. The Irish smashed USC, 51-0, and Parseghian made no bones about the fact he wanted and thought his team deserved to be named national champions. After all, they were number one, right? Indeed, now that there was no chance he would face Alabama or Michigan State, Parseghian's mouth got even bigger:
"...but I'd still like somebody to give me an answer as to how they make decisions on football polls. When that one outfit (UPI) placed us No. 2, they gave us all the incentive we needed to be high for the Trojans. I would suspect they might change their strategy-picking board after today." Yes, the same coach who played for a tie was now a testosterone-fueled bully.
On the Monday after the game - before the Auburn game was even played - the UPI issued a shocker in the final poll (by the coaches) by moving Notre Dame up to the top spot and denying Michigan State a shot at a repeat and Alabama a chance at a three-peat (although that word would not exist for another two decades). The National Football Foundation then announced they had selected co-national champions: Michigan State and Notre Dame.
To say Alabama was shocked is to engage in understatement.
Alabama entered the Iron Bowl having won six of the last seven meetings with Auburn, including four straight shutouts (1959-62). After a scoreless first quarter, Stabler drove Alabama close enough for Davis to miss a 31-yarder. After a three and out, Stabler torched the Tigers with a 63-yard strike to Ray Perkins. Another stop and another Stabler drive that saw Les Kelley score from the one made it 14-0, Alabama. Another drive and a field goal, and it was 17-0, Alabama, at halftime. Bryant emptied his bench in the second half, but it didn't matter. The Tide matched their first half points total in the second half and walked off the field after a smashing 34-0 win over Auburn. It was left to Bryant in the postgame to make the point that Alabama was the preseason #1 and had not lost. While methodically picking his spots, this point was a major thrust at Parseghian, who had argued in recent weeks that since his team was #1 and had not lost they should not fall in the polls. If the final choice was not devastating, the final vote had to have been.
On Monday morning, the AP vote tally showed that Notre Dame, the team that tied one for the Gipper, had won their first national championship since before the Korean War. The Irish collared 41 first-place votes while second place Michigan State got eight and the two-time defending champions who did nothing but win got only seven first-place votes and finished third. Despite an unbeaten season and finishing as the nation's only unbeaten team, Alabama lost eight of the 15 first-place votes they had gotten in the pre-season AP poll. Jerry Duncan, who would later serve as one of the Tide sideline reporters, said that at such a young age losing the championship that way "was like the end of the world." For a lot of Alabama fans, this "end of the world" was about to become a decade-long nightmare in the shadow of Ara Parseghian, a great coach who never had the name recognition of Paul Bryant, but who affected his career more negatively than any other coach. In December 1966, however, that was still years away. Bob Devaney, meanwhile, was building his own version of a crimson monster in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The 1967 Sugar Bowl was on January 2, and to call it a game is laughable. Unlike Nick Saban, who would find great difficulty channeling his team's focus in New Orleans bowl games after the brass ring was lost, Bryant had his team ready to unload on the Huskers, and they did. Stabler's first play from scrimmage pass to Perkins picked up 44 yards, and Kelley scored from the one just five plays later to make it 7-0. When Alabama got the ball back, Kelley's career ended with a shoulder injury on a play where he stayed back to block for a Stabler pass. Stabler darted in from the 14 for the Tide's second TD, and they led, 14-0, halfway through the first quarter. The Tide eventually took a 27-0 lead en route to a smashing 34-7 exclamation point on the 1966 season. And then came the final gut punch just two days later when the FWAA, who had waited until after the bowl games, awarded their national championship to Notre Dame as well.
If there is any immediate positive that came out of what must have been a crushing realization, both Bryant and Parseghian (as well as Daugherty) passed an important lesson onto their players: respect the selection process. Bryant's refusal to go beyond stating his disappointment and yet respect for the polls is appreciated more now than it was then. Parseghian gave a variant of the same statement, but it was easy for him to do so after having benefited from his questionable tactic. As it turned out, the choice to not win the game had far-reaching affects both good and bad for everyone involved.
On December 31, 1973, #1 Alabama and #3 Notre Dame finally met on the gridiron in what was basically viewed as a winner-take-all national championship football game. Lily-white Alabama now had some African-American football players, and the Tide had already clinched the UPI championship that was voted in early December. A classic unfolded, a back and forth heavyweight match that befitted the game that had taken so long to arrange. After a missed PAT and subsequent Irish field goal gave Notre Dame the lead, 24-23, the Irish had the ball at their own two-yard line late in the game facing third and long. Conventional wisdom of the passing rules in 1973 suggested that Ara simply try a run for the first down and punt if he didn't make it. Everyone watching the game knew Notre Dame was about to run the ball, including everyone on the Alabama sidelines. Irish QB Tom Clements faked to his running back and looked downfield and unleashed a perfect strike to receiver Robin Weber for a 36-yard game and a play that eventually won Notre Dame the 1973 AP national championship. Yes, the same coach who played it close to the vest and walked off the field with a tie made perhaps the most daring coaching decision in the history of college football at that time. Indeed, it was as insane as replacing a 26-2 starter with a freshman at quarterback while trailing in a national championship game who had never taken a meaningful snap.
One year later, in 1974, Ara left the stage, beating Bryant in his final game, 13-11, and taking yet another national championship from Alabama. To make matters worse, Ara became a broadcaster and touted the Irish for the 1977 national title using the argument, "But they beat number one Texas" to again bypass Alabama and give the Irish another national championship. One year later, Parseghian reversed himself on "beating number one makes you number one" and argued that USC's head-to-head victory over Alabama should determine the champion. The UPI (coaches poll) bought the argument so Alabama and USC shared the 1978 title. It was like Parseghian was a bad rash that wouldn't go away.
It took until the night of January 7, 2013, for Alabama to finally gain some sort of vengeance over Notre Dame. Aiming for back to back national championships, Alabama QB AJ McCarron came out on fire as did Eddie Lacy, and the Tide smashed their way to a quick 28-0 halftime lead that could have been worse and resulted in Irish Coach Brian Kelly's shellshocked halftime interview of mumbling, "It's....all Alabama.." The Tide robbed Notre Dame of their dignity, their unbeaten season, their national championship dreams, and the prestige of being the most glorious college football program in history with Alabama's third title in four years. What can you say about a game where the most notable player was the nonexistent girlfriend of a Heisman Trophy candidate? The toughest opponent Alabama's offense had was themselves, Barrett Jones rising to shove quarterback AJ McCarron as the result of a miscommunication.
The hurt will never subside for the crew of 1966. And Parseghian, whatever his explanation, never outran his reputation from one coaching decision made in East Lansing. When he died in 2017, most of his obituaries mentioned his accomplishments in the context of the tie against Michigan State. For a man who was unquestionably a brave individual (he served in the US Navy in WW2) and a very good football coach, he should be more remembered for his daring call in the Sugar Bowl than his questionable decision on November 19, 1966. But maybe the lessons of that day - and there are many - are the greatest legacy of the tie between Notre Dame and Michigan State. Alabama's players learned that the world is not always just. Ara Parseghian may well have learned the same lesson as well as another: the decisions made often have unforseen consequences that are not anticipated by the decision maker.