Notre Dame. America’s team! Notre Dame is a team that one either loves or hates! There is no middle
ground with the Irish. The very name conjures up images of excellence and tradition both on the football
field and off. The names are familiar to all: Knute Rockne; George Gipp; Paul Horning; the Four Horseman.
And even though the very name “Notre Dame” stirs fear into the hearts of most, everyone wants to play the
Irish on the off-chance they might -- just might beat the Fightin’ Irish from South Bend.
Notre Dame is a difficult program to schedule. Everyone wants to play them. Everyone wants to beat them!
LSU’s Fightin’ Tigers played football for more than 75 years before they had their chance to see how they
would fare against America’s team. Their opportunity would come in the 1970 season. The 1969 season was
among the most memorable in the history of LSU football. That year saw LSU compile one of its greatest
efforts as a team, blasting away opponents with scores like: 35 to 6 over Texas A&M; 42 to 0 over Rice; 63
to 8 over Baylor; 20 to 0 over Miami; 61 to 6 over Mississippi State; etc. The lone loss was to that nameless
person (Who?) from Ole Miss whose sons we root for these days on Sundays. Nonetheless, LSU was all set
to go to Dallas and beat an undefeated Texas squad for the national championship. But Notre Dame, who
had previously disdained going to a bowl, decided at the last minute to accept a bid, at which point the
Cotton Bowl bypassed the Tigers in order to issue an invite to the Irish. Argh!!! Just give us a shot!
At the time of this writing LSU has played Notre Dame 10 times. In my time of following LSU football, the first
meeting between LSU and Notre Dame was among the finest performances ever turned in by a Fightin’
Tiger squad. Played at South Bend, Indiana, on November 21, 1970, LSU, with their All-American, Tommy
Casanova, lost that game 3 – 0 on a field goal kicked within the final three minutes of the game. You
wonder why I would laud that particular performance? Consider this: Joe Theisman was the quarterback
for Notre Dame that year. At the time the game was played, Notre Dame was undefeated and ranked #1 in
the country; LSU entered the game ranked #10 in the AP poll; Even though LSU lost the game, the Tigers
actually moved up two spots in the poll! Normally when you lose you move down; but if you lose to Notre
Dame, and if the game is close enough, you move up! Now that is respect! The promotions department at
Notre Dame had changed the pronunciation of Joe Theisman’s name from his usual “Thees-man” (long e) to
“Thise-man” (long i) to rhyme with Heisman, as in the “Heisman” trophy. After the game against the Tigers,
Joe tried to go back to the original pronunciation, but people had gotten accustomed to it, so it stayed.
Thanks to the ferocious Tiger defense, Joe Theisman and Notre Dame were stymied offensively, and thanks
partly to LSU Joe Theisman did not win that most coveted of trophies.
Even though it was a great moment in LSU history, a 3 to 0 loss to #1 ranked Notre Dame is still a loss. LSU
could lose to a Super Bowl winner and still feel the sting of a defeat, so “almost” beating Notre Dame was
not good enough. We are the LSU Tigers! We are as good as and can beat anybody! Why not Notre Dame?
So immediately after the game of 1970 ended all of Tiger Nation went to their calendars and circled the date:
November 20, 1971. Notre Dame had a scheduled visit for Death Valley. Notre Dame would come to Baton
Rouge, and revenge hopefully would be sweet.
Revenge, indeed! LSU had another set of All-Americans: cousins Bert Jones and Andy Hamilton hooked up
enough times to put a hefty 28 points on the board that night. In Death Valley there would be no defensive
struggle for the Tigers, but there would be a struggle for the Irish. For them points would be rare. Yes, for
the Irish any kind of scoring would be rare – thanks to the usual, rough treatment any team who visits Death
Valley can expect from one of the nation’s perennially top defenses. Although the LSU offense rolled on
that night, it can be said that the real group of heroes was LSU’s staunch and stingy defense – especially
their front four. LSU is famous for its front four, but the number three would the significant number on that
night! Three times the vaunted Tiger front four turned Notre Dame away from pay dirt when they were
within the five yard line. Three times Notre Dame started with first and goal only to meet with bitter
disappointment and zero points! In the end the scoreboard would read: LSU 28, Notre Dame 8, and how
embarrassing for the visitors to be so denied time and again when they had first and goal three times in the
game!
Ah! Notre Dame!
We all know the story. A young man grows up an avid fan of Notre Dame. His entire life he dreams of
wearing the blue and the gold and playing for the Irish. It is this young man’s dream to run through the
tunnel of the Notre Dame stadium to the refrain of Old Notre Dame, and to hear the roar of the crowd as he
runs onto the field. He hopes and dreams of the day when maybe he might find himself going out for and
making the team. However, as he nears his senior year of high school it becomes apparent that he does
not possess the size or skills to play for such a program as the Irish; but even if he is not good enough to
play with the dress squad, he would be willing to participate with the scout squad -- if only they would give
him the chance! What a heroic tale: the young man is allowed to try out as a walk-on, and miracle of
miracles makes the scout team! Then for two years the young man labors ingloriously and in obscurity, in
the mud and the mire, posing as a human tackling dummy for the more glorious All-Americans, knowing all
along that the ultimate glory for which he has always dreamed will belong to someone else. Yet somehow
against all odds the young man actually finds himself being given a game day uniform. He is actually told
that he will be suiting up for the last home game of his senior season. Oh Joy! What a dream come true!
Yes, we all know the story, but …, but this dream of playing football at Notre Dame did not come true. Yes
we all know about Daniel Ruettiger. We’ve all seen the movie. We all pulled for “Rudy,” and we were all
thrilled to see Rudy make the team. We all bubbled over emotionally when Rudy ran onto that field. And we
all cried when we saw Rudy sack that Georgia Tech quarterback. But there was another time and another
young man who had tried to gain entry to that special blue and gold fraternity. This other young man had
previously tried out for the Notre Dame football team, but on that occasion the Notre Dame football team
had told him that he was not wanted. That young man was denied entrance into the fraternity of blue and
gold glory and sent home packing. He was told, “You are not welcome at our house.” They said: “You are
not good enough to wear the blue and gold!” In the end the young man was sent home packing, with those
words ringing in his ears: “Access denied!”
It is a little known fact outside of South Louisiana that deep within the hearts of mostly-Catholic South
Louisiana beats a heart of confliction, where loyalties to God and Country and homeland come into contact
with love of God and the Mother Church. There are many in Bayou Country who do feel a sense of loyalty
and even love for the lovely dame that sits on River Saint Joe. Yes, for many loyal Tiger fans “LSU vs Notre
Dame” is like “Momma” versus “Poppa.” In such a situation loyalties can become mixed, and they do down
on the bayou.
Eventually, most good Louisianians discover that blood indeed does run thicker than water, and they find
themselves rooting for the home-standing Tigers when the Irish come calling. And not only do they root
against the Irish, but sometimes they actually play against them. And so it was on the night of November 20,
1971, when a young man stepped out of obscurity and shone as bright as the night lights in Tiger stadium,
and with him ten of his Bengal compatriots, three of which lined up with him on the defensive line as they
plugged up the wall and said to the intruders: “You are not welcome at our house!” And to the mighty Irish
they yelled: “Access Denied!”
LSU has a rich tradition of strong defensive line play. We can bring to mind many recent great All-American
defensive lineman who recently wore the purple and gold – Henry Thomas, Anthony McFarland, Chad
Lavalais, and Glen Dorsey. There have been many. And on that night of November 20, 1971, one defensive
tackle in particular stood forth. For the LSU Tigers he was an All American, but for all LSU Tigers
everywhere he was a hero. I was a senior in high school the night I watched the glorious LSU front four
embarrass Notre Dame on national television. There would be the Fightin’ Irish knocking on paydirt’s door.
“First and goal!” would be the call, and fear would pervade the atmosphere. Surely the Irish will score, and
the mighty juggernaut from South Bend would show its metal. The Irish were so confident in their
superiority that they simply tried to force their way up the middle.
The mighty and massive Irish linemen looked across and saw one defensive tackle in particular. To them
he was diminutive, surely small enough and weak enough to be a soft touch. “We’ll score over him easily,”
they said among themselves. So forward they plunged right at the smaller man. And each time they did
they were denied. Arrogance can cost dearly, and so it was when the Irish found themselves a third time on
LSU’s goal line with a first down. And again the Irish were denied!
The mighty Irish! The powerful and highly rated hoarder of All-American talent! All that might and all that
arrogance could not save the Notre Dame reputation that night! No, the Irish were stymied before they
even set foot into the Tiger stadium that evening. You see, the Irish were due some payback, and payback,
as they say, can be a major pain! For you see, that young man may have been small in stature, but he had a
giant-sized heart, and he simply refused to be shoved around.
So the young man who had once upon a time knocked on Notre Dame’s door but had been denied -- the
young man who had dreamed of playing for the Irish – the young man who had been told that he was not
good enough to play for the Irish – that same young man who had been sent home packing with those
dreadful words reverberating in his ears: “Access denied!” Yes, that same young man eventually returned
to his home state, to play for his home school. And played he did! Oh, did he ever play! It was he – that
same young man -- who stood in the way of the mighty blue and gold that night. It was he – he who having
once been been denied by the Irish, in turn denied the Irish! It was he who although diminutive in size was
gigantic in heart, and who eventually became the leader of the most ferocious defense in the land – it was
he who sent the Notre Dame team packing that night … bloodied and bruised and embarrassed all the way
back to South Bend, Indiana!
And all the way to the Golden Dome the Irish from Notre Dame did so with the full knowledge of who had
done them in. They knew, all right. For before the snap of the ball each time, Ronnie Estay would stand tall
across the line and yell these words: “Go home, Notre Dame! You are not welcome here! Access denied!”
You guys aren't good enough to play here -- not in Tiger stadium!
Ah …, revenge is so sweet!
Ah! Sweet Revenge!
By Daniel Taylor
www.danieltaylor.us
Copyright © 2009
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