Irish zapped ’76 Ducks
By Paul Danzer
Of th« Emerald
Notre Dame showed that it's
as strong as ever, and Oregon
showed that it is still trying to
find an offense, as the
fourteenth-ranked Irish blanked
the Ducks 41-0 Saturday
Emerald, Oct. 17,1976
If the exerpt above sounds
like the same old story — it is.
This version is six years old
It comes out of a little berg
called South Bend, Indiana It
involves an airplane, a Holiday
Inn, a wild party, and a not-so
wild football game
It is the story of the first clash
between the Fighting Ducks and
Fighting Irish It took place Oct
15, 1976, in front of 59,075 fan
atics who ate up every bit of
destruction the Irish could
create on the gridiron en route
to a 41-0 shellacking of Oregon.
Notre Dame was ranked 14th
in the nation when then Oregon
coach Don Read led the Ducks
up against the irish for the
one-and-only time Notre Dame
entered the game with a 3-1
record, the only blemish being a
31-10 season-opening setback
against Tony Dorsett and the
Pitt Panthers
The Ducks, on the other
hand, entered the contest with a
3-2 mark They owned wins over
Utah, Utah State and Colorado
State, but had lost Pac-8 games
to USC (53-0) and Cal (27-10)
Among other difficulties, the
Oregon quarterback situation
was up in the air when the
Ducks left Eugene Starter Jack
Henderson was questionable
because of a broken hand They
didn’t know whether he would
be able to take a snap
Friday evening the Oregon
entourage was still in the dark,
largely due to a delay in their
flight plans which kept them
from practicing until after dark
on a field with no lights
"You can hardly believe
you’re any place," said Read,
describing the landing on a
gravel-like runway when
Oregon finally reached South
Bend
Read should have known it
was going to be a long night
The Ducks had one wing of
the South Bend Holiday Inn all
to themselves. Unfortunately,
the other three wings were
swarming with Notre Dame
boosters who had no need to
rest up for the game The cele
brating spilled into the cour
tyard and into the daylight
hours, making it impossible for
the Ducks to get an adequate
night's sleep
"I went and pleaded with
some of them to quiet things
down a little bit,’’ recalled Read,
now head coach at Portland
State "It didn’t do any good It
probably just revved them up
again
That is the way things went on
Saturday too The supposedly
run-oriented Irish surprised the
Ducks with several gadget plays
which helped them to blow the
game open The first came mid
way through the first quarter
when a freshman receiver
named Dave Waymer threw a
pass off an end-around to Dan
Kelleher at the Oregon
1-yard-line. From there Irish
quarterback Rick Slager carried
it in, and the rout was on
Before it ended Notre Dame
accumulated 519 yards of total
offense, including 213 through
the air They ran 30 more plays
and had 17 more first downs
than Oregon
In addition to being stymied
by the likes of Ross Browner
and Willie Fry on the defensive
line, the Oregon QB situation
remained chaotic. Henderson
started the game, but was both
ered by his wrist When Read
went looking for reserves he
found that his number-two man
had left his knee brace in
Eugene and was unable to play
"We actually had three
coaches warming up on the
sideline," said Read We really
didn't know what to do."
Read eventually brought on
sophomore Rick Washut. who
finally got the Ducks into Irish
territory in the fourth quarter
Despite the Ducks dismal
showing. Read called the game
"a good experience
"We played a tough game,"
he said "They were just so big
and physical up front that we
were unable to handle them "
It is the atmosphere that Read
remembered best "From the
tailgate parties to the students'
parades and cheers, it’s all ex
citing. It makes a great football
atmosphere and tradition
"Every minute you are there,
there is something going on,"
he said
If nothing else, it makes for a
good old story
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