Wake Up The Echoes (Featuring cards for the 1977 Fighting Irish for Strat-O-Matic College Football)
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Dropbox Link for 1977 Notre Dame Cards for Strat-O-Matic College Football
For me, Notre Dame is definitely personal, as they were my first choice in Colleges to attend. I missed early acceptance by a few days which meant my application went to the top of the pile for normal admissions. The problem is then (as now) Notre Dame has a quota by state set in order to promote their status as a nation-wide school, and the state of Michigan had already met that quota. They never came back to me. Over the years I’ve kind of taken that personally. Generally speaking, I like to see them lose.
Well, this has been a tough year; since in point of fact The 2024 Irish defense in particular has a marvelous charm, and the team on the whole is immensely entertaining, just as they were when I was a lad, during the eras of Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine.
To be a Notre Dame fan in the Seventies was something else- they came very close to a National Championship in 1970 (finishing 10-1), then suffered through losses to USC in particular the next couple years to ruin great seasons late. But they broke through in 1973, finishing undefeated and beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Parseghian went 10-2 and beat Alabama again in 1974, but the expectations were so high after his 95-17-4 career and two National Championship Titles that he quit to join the broadcast booth.
Dan Devine had actually been a leading candidate for the head coaching job at Notre Dame in 1964 when Ara Parseghian was hired. When approached for the job following Parseghian's resignation a decade later, Devine accepted immediately, joking that it was probably the shortest job interview in history.
In his six seasons at Notre Dame, Devine compiled a 53–16–1 mark (.764). His lasting achievement came midway through this run when the Fighting Irish won the 1977 national championship, led by junior quarterback Joe Montana and senior defensive lineman Ross Browner.
The regular season was highlighted by the Irish's 21–17 come-from-behind win over 21st ranked Clemson at Death Valley when Devine repeatedly gave the middle finger salute to the raucous home crowd, and The Green Jerseys Game versus USC in South Bend on October 20, 1977, when Devine surprised his players by ordering green jerseys for the game, which was a rare occurrence at the time. The Irish dominated the Trojans, winning 49-19. Montana threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more after the team stormed out of the locker room behind a Trojan horse to a thunderous ovation from the crowd.
It started slowly- The Irish played their first three games on the road, handling 7th ranked Pitt and the emerging Purdue Boilermakers with Mark Hermann, but a surprise loss at Ole Miss put them behind the eight ball. But the Irish beat a solid Michigan State team and Army before hosting USC and reentering the Title Chase.
The championship season was completed with a convincing 38–10 win in the 1978 Cotton Bowl Classic over previously top-ranked and unbeaten Texas, led by Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell. The win vaulted the Irish from fifth to first in the final polls.
Special Thanks to the Author, Chris Stewart!
