Unbeatable: Notre Dame's 1988 Championship and the Last Great College Football Season

by Jerry Barca

Overview

Perhaps the best undefeated team in the history of college football—Unbeatable presents the dramatic true story of the 1988 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and their incredible unbeaten season.

Unbeatable is the first book to tell the complete story of the incredible 1988 season that brought the fledgling Fighting Irish back to the top of college sports in what many consider to be the greatest unbeaten season of college football ever played. With a completely unlikely but forever memorable cast of characters—including the slight, lisping coach Lou Holtz; the star quarterback, Tony Rice; five foot nothing Asian kicker, Reggie Ho; NFL-bound Ricky Watters; and a crazed and ferocious defensive line, among others—Notre Dame whipped millions of fans into a frenzy. This roller coaster season of football includes the infamous Catholics vs. Convicts game (Notre Dame vs. Jimmy Johnson's #1 ranked Miami Hurricanes). The two teams were undefeated when they met at Notre Dame Stadium, with the Irish winning in the final seconds by a final score of 31-30.

With original reporting and interviews with everyone from the players to the coaches, detailed research, and access to the Notre Dame archives, Jerry Barca tells a gripping story of an unbelievable season and the players who would become legends. More than a Notre Dame book, Unbeatable is a compelling narrative of one of the most incredible sports stories of the last century—the unlikely tale of an underdog team coming together and making history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250048653
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/05/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	506,805
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

JERRY BARCA graduated from Notre Dame in 1999. While on campus he worked in the athletic department. He's currently a journalist whose writing has appeared on SI.com and in the Star-Ledger, Asbury Park Press, Home News Tribune, Syracuse Post-Standard, Herald News, and numerous Notre Dame game programs. He is the author of Unbeatable: Notre Dame’s 1988 Championship and the Last Great College Football Season and he produced the documentary film Plimpton!, which was a New York Times critic’s pick. He lives in New Jersey

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Unflinching

 

There is an appointed time for everything,

and a time for every affair under the heavens …

A time to love, and a time to hate;

A time of war, and a time of peace.

—Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8

Shrieks and frenzied screams ricocheted off the locker room walls in a cacophony of rage and excitement. Tears rolled down some of the young men’s faces, an uncontrolled emotional response after launching into battle.

The days of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish playing the role of the nice weakling had ended.

Leaving the field after pregame warm-ups, the Miami Hurricanes chose to go through a line of Notre Dame players, rather than go around them. Miami met an unflinching Irish squad.

The Hurricanes, the No. 1 team in the country and the best program of the era, had been the chief tormentor of the Irish in recent years. In the schools’ previous two meetings Miami humbled Notre Dame by a total score of 82–7. Flashy on-field celebrations deepened the embarrassment doled out by the ’Canes.

Now Miami had traveled to Notre Dame Stadium, and the showy, bullying antics would not be tolerated. When the ’Canes breached the Notre Dame warm-up line, a fight exploded on the ground separating the end zone and the stadium’s lone tunnel.

“It was a melee. It wasn’t like guys fighting in a bar where they want someone to break it up. We did not care if someone broke it up. We wanted to take them there,” Notre Dame starting strong safety George Streeter said years later. “Quite frankly, for me, I wasn’t paying attention to the score. I wanted to win the fight.”

Stadium security and law enforcement officers stepped in to end it.

Both teams withdrew to their locker rooms.

Fifth-year senior Wes Pritchett, the middle linebacker who called the plays in the Irish defensive huddle, threw his helmet across the room.

Spit flew from Frank Stams’s mouth as the outside linebacker pumped up the defense that had gathered around him.

Blood rushed to the hands of quarterback Tony Rice, who had just been throwing punches in the clash.

Joe Moore, Notre Dame’s grizzled offensive line coach, who had graduated summa cum laude from football’s old school, cracked a green slate chalkboard with a kick.

“The whole thing put me in a fighting mood,” said Andy Heck, a quiet team captain and the starting offensive tackle.

The room grew quiet when head coach Lou Holtz addressed the team. The words that came out of his mouth were unexpected, a character departure, and they recharged the enraged atmosphere that had been subdued by his presence.

The skirmish with Miami made the statement that Notre Dame would no longer be pushed around. At the time, the Fighting Irish had not even reached the midpoint of the season.

By the end of the 1988 campaign, this Notre Dame squad would leave a path of battered All-American quarterbacks in its wake, give birth to legends, restore the school’s stature in the game, win a national title, and accomplish something no other team in the history of college football has done.

 

Copyright © 2013 by Jerry Barca

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Unflinching
Chapter 2: The Ashes
Chapter 3: In Lou We Trust
Chapter 4: Waking Up the Roster
Chapter 5: The Quarterback
Chapter 6: Readying for the Rise
Chapter 7: Demanding Perfection
Chapter 8: New School Athlete, Old School Football and the Asian Kicker
Chapter 9: Freaks
Chapter 10: Throwing Darts
Chapter 11: The Triple Fumble
Chapter 12: Prelude to a Brawl
Chapter 13: Catholic vs. Convicts
Chapter 14: Weekday Wars & Visualization
Chapter 15: Backers & Zorro
Chapter 16: TV Revolution & The Renegade Bowl
Chapter 17: Suspensions & Hollywood Underdogs
Chapter 18: Carrying Them Off
Epilogue
Author's Note
Acknowledgments

Editorial Reviews

The year was 1988. George H.W. Bush won the presidential election. PanAm flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland. And Notre Dame was the king of college football. That Notre Dame family is brought to life beautifully in Unbeatable.” —New York Post

“College football fans will enjoy the breadth and pace of this fully told tale.” —Library Journal
“Vibrant look into Notre Dame's 1988 season . . . Everything came together—a process that veteran sports journalist Barca covers with gusto.” —Publishers Weekly

“[Barca] captures the unusual drive and holistic approach of Holtz; the intense recruitment of players; and the on-the-field performances of such players as star quarterback Tony Rice, running back Ricky Watters, and "Three Amigos" linebackers Wes Pritchett, Michael Stonebreaker and Frank Stams.” —Kirkus

“I spent time with Jerry Barca, talking in-depth about that terrific 1988 season and my time as a coach at Notre Dame. He captures all the hard work and excitement of that thrilling championship season in Unbeatable. This book also does a terrific job detailing the characters and the occasions that made our run to a national championship possible.” —Coach Lou Holtz

“In 1988, Notre Dame had one of the greatest seasons in college football history and Unbeatable captures all of it. Jerry Barca has crafted a story that takes you from a downtrodden Fighting Irish program to its rebirth and crowning achievement. You can't help but come away inspired by the masterful coaching and motivational style of Lou Holtz and entertained by the insider details of how a disparate group of characters came together to win a championship.” —Verne Lundquist, CBS Sports

“An enduring team deserves a timeless story, and that's what's delivered in UNBEATABLE. Jerry Barca takes you inside the locker room, the dorm room, and the mind of Lou Holtz for a rich portrayal of one of college football's most memorable champions.” —Peter Thamel, Sports Illustrated

“For all of us on the team that season, 1988 was a special year. Jerry Barca does a terrific job recreating the excitement and emotions that were a part of that experience. The run to the national championship—and all the work we put into it—is truly brought to life in this book.” —Tony Rice, Notre Dame quarterback

“This book will appeal to any Notre Dame fan, not just the die-hards because it provides so much detail into how such a tradition-rich program was rebuilt.” —Bruce Feldman, bestselling author, CBS Sports

“Lush, loving detail . . . An old-fashioned underdog story.” —Montclair Times

From the Publisher

Barca begins his vibrant look into Notre Dame’s 1988 season with Lou Holtz, who took over after the Fighting Irish after suffering four inglorious years under Gerry Faust. Everyone was hungering for a return to glory, including Holtz, a winner who preached repetition and toughness: “I’m here to win football games for the University of Notre Dame,” Holtz told his players at one point. “Not some of our games and not most of our games; I’m here to win all of our games.” In season three, everything came together—a process that veteran sports journalist Barca (a 1999 Notre Dame graduate) covers with gusto. In talking to the key figures of that championship team—including Holtz, defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez, and many players—Barca reveals the players’ emotional mind-set and the lure of Notre Dame (the latter sometimes gets lost in the football program’s powerhouse trappings). In short, Barca celebrates the fun of college, while stripping Notre Dame football of its rah-rah mysticism. 16-page color photograph insert. Agent: Scott Gould, RLR Literary. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

The inside account of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish's 1988 championship team, which would "give birth to legends [and] restore the school's stature in the game." Freelance journalist (and Notre Dame graduate) Barca tells the story of one of the best undefeated teams in the history of college football. Led by 5-foot-8-inch taskmaster coach Lou Holtz ("Have you challenged yourself today?...Are you the person you want to be?"), who demanded discipline, intensive workouts and teamwork--he had the names removed from the backs of the players' jerseys to downplay individuals--the team restored the glory days of Notre Dame football in the tradition of Knute Rockne, the Four Horsemen and others who garnered multiple national championships in the preceding decades. Holtz so captivated quarterback Rice's grandmother during a recruiting visit to her apartment in a public housing project that she later remarked, "You're going to follow that little man." He "taught us how to win football games," said one player, who felt renewed confidence under the coach. Drawing on interviews and research, the author serviceably captures the unusual drive and holistic approach of Holtz; the intense recruitment of players; and the on-the-field performances of such players as star quarterback Tony Rice, running back Ricky Watters, and "Three Amigos" linebackers Wes Pritchett, Michael Stonebreaker and Frank Stams. He recounts several well-remembered games, notably the landmark 31-30 upset of top-ranked rival Miami, ending their 36-game winning streak. Barca attributes the team's successes to Holtz, who preached his faith in the university's spirit, and to the outstanding play of the quarterback and defensive line. A mostly pedestrian sports book that will appeal to Notre Dame's legions of fans.

Kirkus Reviews