Flashback: Joe Montana Rallies Notre Dame over UNC in 1975
Saturday will be 23 years to the day since Notre Dame’s last trip to Chapel Hill to face the Tar Heels. In that game a sophomore quarterback came off the bench to jum start a struggling offense as the Irish trailed 14-7 in the fourth quarter. That sophomore quarterback rallied the Irish to a 21-14 victory with a touchdown pass in the final minute of the game. The following week, that same sophomore quarterback came off the bench in the fourth quarter again to rally the Irish to a 31-30 victory after trailing 30-10.
That sophomore quarterback was Joe Montana. Here’s a video of Montana rallying the Irish to victory over North Carolina on that Saturday afternoon in October of 1975.
That was 33 yrs ago and my recollection is that the Irish were down by 13 in the 4th qtr. Rich Slager was the starting quarterback. He started again the next week at Air Force when Joe came in again and rallied the Irish from 30-10. He didn’t play again until the third game in 77, against Purdue, another comeback, as 3rd string in that game. Went on to win the NC.
Maybe if we have a large lead in the fourth quarter, Maybe Charlie will let Nate Montana finish off the game.