Ohio State led 13–0 heading into the fourth, but Notre Dame rallied with three fourth-quarter touchdowns and fed off several OSU miscues to pull out an 18–13 win.
November 30, 1935: Before a crowd of up to 42,000, the undefeated and untied TCU Horned Frogs (10–0) hosted the SMU Mustangs (10–0) in a late-season matchup that noted sportswriter Grantland Rice called a "Game of the Century".
While the Mustangs established a 14–7 lead in the first half, a touchdown pass by TCU's Sammy Baugh tied the score early in the fourth quarter.
[12][13] This matchup, with the national attention it got in the era before the service academies ceased to be major football powers, was usually played at a neutral site, often in New York City.
Joe Steffy, an Army guard who helped shut down the Notre Dame running game, won the honor, followed closely by Notre Dame right tackle George Sullivan and freshman lineman Jim Martin who helped stifle Army's running attack and dropped Davis on consecutive plays for losses totalling 17 yards.
Both teams would finish the season undefeated with this one tie, but it was Notre Dame that was awarded the national championship by the Associated Press, with Army coming in second.
Sporting News named the 1944–45 Army Black Knights / Cadets / the Corps and 1946 Fighting Irish the second and fifth greatest teams of the 20th century respectively.
But the Irish came back, scoring a touchdown right after Michigan State's field goal and tied the game on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame beat Rose Bowl bound USC 51–0 in Los Angeles the next week, completing an undefeated regular season and moving them to No.
[26] At the time, both teams played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (and did so until 1982 when UCLA moved to the Rose Bowl stadium).
Both USC broadcasters Tom Kelly and Pete Arbogast also stated that it was the greatest win in Trojan Football history – the latter attended the game at the age of 12 and lost his voice that day.
Sensing that the matchup might be a possible 1-vs.-2 showdown, ABC offered to move the game from October 18 to December 6 to give it more of a national audience to showcase the 100th year of college football, and the schools, enjoying the publicity, accepted.
Thanks to a fortuitous upset of top-ranked Ohio State by Michigan, which elevated Texas and Arkansas to the top two spots, the move worked, making their game the focus of the entire American sporting scene.
Representatives George H. W. Bush of Texas and John Paul Hammerschmidt of Arkansas, having announced that he would give a plaque to the winner, proclaiming it to be the National Champion – to the chagrin of observers who thought it premature to do so before the New Year's Day bowl games, and of fans of Pennsylvania State University, which would also end the season undefeated.
The racial and political implications and the build-up to the game were the subject of a 2005 book, Horns, Hogs and Nixon Coming, which paid special attention to the demonstrations by anti-war and anti-racist groups.
The two coaches in this game, Darrell Royal of Texas and Frank Broyles of Arkansas, both retired after the 1976 season and became athletic directors at their respective schools.
His weapons were Heisman Trophy candidate HB Greg Pruitt who averaged a stunning 9.5 yards per carry and speedy split end Jon Harrison.
[33] The Husker offense was led by flanker Johnny Rodgers, who would go on to win the Heisman the next season and bullish tailback Jeff Kinney, a future NFL first-round draft pick.
Devaney coached for one more year, going 9–2–1 and winning a third straight Orange Bowl, before becoming Nebraska's athletic director and handing the reins over to 36-year-old assistant Tom Osborne in 1973.
[39] Of the two teams, Miami had the star-power, as it was led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Vinny Testaverde, running back Alonzo Highsmith, and defensive tackle Jerome Brown, all of whom would be selected within the first nine picks of that April's NFL Draft.
Tensions between the teams were heightened when Miami players attended a Fiesta Bowl barbecue held days before the game dressed in fatigues.
Miami's offense had little trouble moving the ball, yet the vaunted Penn State defense was able to pressure Testaverde enough (four sacks) that the Hurricanes committed a whopping seven turnovers (five interceptions, two fumbles).
Testaverde failed to read the coverage and his pass was intercepted at the goal line by linebacker Pete Giftopoulos, sealing the upset win for Penn State.
2 in the nation respectively, Miami won by one point after Florida State's kicker Gerry Thomas missed a field goal wide right with 29 seconds left in the game.
Unfortunately for the Irish, they subsequently lost to Boston College 41–39 on a last second field goal to scuttle their hoped-for Orange Bowl match-up.
After an interception and a fumble recovery by junior defensive tackle Alan Branch, Michigan cut the Buckeyes' lead to 4 with 14 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith then passed to Brian Robiskie for a touchdown, increasing the Buckeyes' lead to 42–31 with five minutes left in the game.
Another highlight was from special teams: A Brad Wing punt that went 72 yards and sailed over hobbled Crimson Tide player Marquis Maze's head.
Alabama's kickers missed a total of four field goals in the game, including a 52-yard attempt in overtime after being sacked by Sam Montgomery previous on 3rd down.
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, still recovering from ankle surgery just 20 days prior, mounted an impressive comeback in the second half.