40th Annual
Sugar Bowl
December 31, 1973
#3 Notre Dame 24 (Final: 11-0-0, #1)
#1 Alabama 23 (Final: 11-1-0, #4)
Tulane Stadium
Att: 85,161 (sell-out)
Official Game Stats – PDF
Late-Game Gamble Ensures Victory for Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl Thriller
Tom Clements' third-down pass from his own end zone to clinch a national championship is one of the top plays in Sugar Bowl history.
How Notre Dame and Alabama Met in the 1973 Sugar Bowl
Related:
Notre Dame, Alabama Played Classic Game in 1973 Sugar Bowl by Paul Newberry for Associated Press, 1/7/13
One of the most important plays in Sugar Bowl history didn’t go for a touchdown, stop a touchdown, or lead to a touchdown – or points of any sort. The game-winning play of the 40th annual Sugar Bowl was simply for a first down. But it was a first down which clinched a national championship.
No. 1 Alabama took a 23-21 lead with 9:39 to go in the game when head coach Bear Bryant called for a trick play and running back Mike Stock delivered a 25-yard pass to backup quarterback Richard Todd in the end zone. However, the PAT was missed, which proved integral to the game.
After a critical missed extra point attempt, No. 1 Alabama was clinging to a 23-21 advantage over No. 3 Notre Dame with 9:39 remaining in the game.
Five minutes later, Notre Dame faced fourth-and-goal from the Alabama two. Thanks to the earlier missed kick by ’Bama, the decision was easy for Fighting Irish coach Ara Parseghian. He called for kicker Bob Thomas, who booted the 19-yard field goal for a 24-23 advantage with 4:12 to go.
A series after Thomas’ field goal, Crimson Tide punter Greg Gantt boomed a 69-yard punt (despite being roughed on the play) that was downed at the Notre Dame 1-yard line with three minutes remaining.
Two running plays later and Notre Dame faced third-and-six from the five-yard line with 2:12 left. Parseghian told quarterback Tom Clements to go with a long count in hopes of drawing Alabama offsides. Instead, Irish tight end Dave Casper was the one who jumped, pushing Notre Dame back almost to the 2, and making the situation third-and-eight.
Parseghian gave Clements the next play, one which took the signal-caller aback. Parseghian called Power-I-right, tackle-trap-left. “There were two options on the play,” Parseghian said. “Clements could bootleg the ball around the left end to throw to Casper, the primary receiver, who would cross the middle of the field from right to left.”
“I do remember asking him, ‘Are you sure?’” Clements said. “He said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘OK, let’s go.’”
Parseghian said decades later a pass out of his end zone wasn’t that much of a gamble. “Circumstances prevail there,” he said. “I knew we could get beat by a field goal if we didn’t maintain possession. Being so close to the goal line, we would have to punt out of our end zone. We tried to lead them into thinking we were going to run the ball by coming out in a two-tight end formation and a stacked backfield. We made it look conservative.”
Alabama fell for it.
“I was the outside linebacker on the play, and we were completely fooled by it,” said Mike Dubose, who later became head coach at Alabama. “It caught us off guard. Third-and-nine in 1973 wasn’t exactly the way it is now, as easy to pick up. In that situation in 1973, you’re thinking ‘Run.’ It was a great call on their part.”
Trouble was, the player who was supposed to catch the pass, Casper, got hung up in the middle of the field by the Tide defense, forcing Clements to look for his second option, Robin Weber, who hadn’t practiced in two days because of a knee injury and who hadn’t caught a single pass all season.
An Alabama defensive back, expecting the run, froze. Weber blew past him and suddenly was all alone. Cutting diagonally, Weber saw Clements let loose with the pass and thought, ‘Oh (bleep), this is one I better not miss.”
He didn’t, and Notre Dame had a new set of downs at the 38, from where the Irish were able to run out the clock.
Bryant said he missed the crucial play because he was busy getting the punt return team ready for the anticipated fourth-down kick.
“We were going to rush and try to block it,” said the Bear. “Two points would have won the game, or three on a field goal. When we had them backed up like that, if I had been a betting man, I would have bet anything we were going to win. . . I think Notre Dame is a great team. But I wouldn’t mind playing them again. In fact, I’d like that.”
The game had been billed as “The Game of the Century” by many media outlets and it lived up to that billing.
In addition to the string of memorable fourth-quarter plays, Notre Dame’s Al Hunter recorded a Sugar Bowl record 93-yard kickoff return in the second quarter to put the Irish on top 14-7.
Two “national champions” came out of this Sugar Bowl, just as in the 1936 game between Texas Christian and Louisiana State. The UPI poll continued to vote for its No. 1 team at the end of the regular season. This year it was Alabama. The AP voted after the bowls, and Notre Dame, as expected, leap-frogged Alabama in that ballot.
The embarrassment caused UPI to amend its practice the next season, while Alabama continues to proclaim its No. 1 standing in that poll, ignoring the defeat.
More than three decades after it was played, Parseghian, whose team inflicted the only Sugar Bowl defeat of Bear Bryant’s career, assessed it by saying evenly: “There were no losers in that game.”
True enough. This was one for the ages.
Recap by Marty Mulé, who covered the game and the organization for decades for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Miller-Digby Award Winner Tom Clements
Sugar Bowl Game Program, December 31, 1973
1973
Tulane Stadium
Att: 85,161
| Notre Dame |
6 |
8 |
7 |
3 |
– |
24 |
| Alabama |
0 |
10 |
7 |
6 |
– |
23 |
SCORING SUMMARY
ND: Wayne Bullock 6-yard run (Kick failed), 5:51 (1st)
Ala: Randy Billingsley 6-yard run (Bill Davis kick), 10:10 (2nd)
ND: Al Hunter 93-yard kickoff return (Pete Demmarle pass from Clements), 7:17 (2nd)
Ala: Davis 39-yard field goal, 0:39 (2nd)
Ala: Wilbur Jackson 5-yard run (Davis kick), 11:02 (3rd)
ND: Eric Penick 12-yard run (Bob Thomas kick), 2:30 (3rd)
Ala: Richard Todd 25-yard pass from Mike Stock (Kick failed), 9:39 (4th)
ND: Thomas 19-yard field goal, 4:26 (4th)
| Notre Dame |
Team Stats |
Alabama |
| 20 |
First Downs |
23 |
| 59-252 |
Rushing |
52-190 |
| 7-12-0 |
Passing |
10-15-1 |
| 169 |
Passing Yards |
127 |
| 71-421 |
Total Offense |
67-317 |
| 7-35.8 |
Punting |
6-46.3 |
| 4-3 |
Fumbles-Lost |
5-2 |
| 5-45 |
Penalties-Yds |
3-32 |
Rushing Leaders
ND: Wayne Bullock 19-79 TD; Tom Clements 15-74; Art Best 12-45
Ala: Wilbur Jackson 11-62 TD; Randy Billingsley 7-54 TD; Paul Spivery 11-44
Passing Leaders
ND: Tom Clements 7-12-0, 169 yards
Ala: Gary Rutledge 7-12-1, 88 yards; Mike Stock, 1-1-0, 25 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Leaders
ND: Dave Casper 3-75; Pete Demmerle 3-59; Robin Weber 1-35
Ala: George Pugh 2-28; Wilbur Jackson 2-22; Richard Todd 1-25 TD
Miller-Digby Award recipient: Tom Clements, Notre Dame quarterback
