The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State, and the Fall of '66

If you're a Michigan State or Notre Dame football fan, this book is a must-read. Celizic does a great job of describing the mounting anticipation and excitement in both South Bend and East Lansing throughout the fall of 1966. More than the game itself or the mood on the campuses, the book has some fantastic biographical information on the teams' stars, such as Terry Hanratty and Charlie "Mad Dog" Thornhill. Read this book in August and you'll get excited about the upcoming college football season or the MSU/ND match, which is usually a fantastic game.

This football game is still referred to in football lore and often by television commentators as the famous "10 - 10 tie". In the old days before BCS, who was "number 1" was determined in a variety of ways - usually polls by sports writers, and by coaches. And when #1 and #2 play each other at the end of the season - with legendary coaches (Ara Parsigan and Duffy Daugherty) - then play to a tie - and both send so many superb players on to the NFL,----- well it was a game to be seen and remembered. The book captures the era of football in the early 60-s -- I was at the game and in college (MSU) at the time - and it is a great book for the pre-baby boomers, as well as the earliest of the boomers. College football had been changing, and continued to change, and this is an excellent snapshot of football and the times before all the Vietnam unrest. My only problem with the book is that the author is, of course, pro Notre Dame, so some of his interpretations are subject to some questioning...... However, despite this flaw - it is a wonderful book for college football fans of this era. Remember - Duffy said, having a tie was like kissing your sister! And also remember that the qb was knocked out by Bubba Smith and the runner injured himself getting off the train!!!! This game is a major source of the rivalry between Southern Cal and ND, as ND had one more game - and ran the score up on SC. Interestingly, MSU and ND split the polls and each one received a first place. MSU and ND remain a fantastic rivalry.

As a kid I remember listening to the end of this game on the radio. I couldn't remember why I didn't see it on TV until I read in this book that, because Notre Dame had already played in the maximum allowable nationally televised games that year, it could only be broadcast regionally--meaning those of us in the Pacific Northwest were denied live TV coverage (it was shown tape delayed here and in the South). My recollection had always been that Ara Parseghian, the Notre Dame coach, went for a tie with a field goal late in the game rather than going for a touchdown--but this book corrected my recollection. Notre Dame tied the game with a field goal at the end of the third quarter and later narrowly missed what would have been a winning field goal with about 5 minutes left to play. It turns out Parseghian was blamed for running the ball up the middle when they got it back deep in their own territory with less than a minute-and-a-half to play rather than trying to throw for a touchdown or to get in field goal range. But surprisingly no one blamed Michigan State Coach Duffy Daugherty for punting the ball away on 4th-and-four on their own 36-yard line with just 1:24 left to play. I also didn't remember that Notre Dame's star quarterback, Terry Hanratty, left the game for good after their first possession with a dislocated shoulder, or that their star halfback Nick Eddy didn't play at all. All these years, like many fans, I unfairly blamed Parseghian for failing to win (and failing to play to win)this game. But like Dempsey and Tunney's "Long Count," this is one of those games that is remembered primarily because of that controversy and because a game intended to decide who was No. 1 left that question unanswered.

I found this book to be very interesting as I compared the times detailed here (mid-1960's) to today. Society has changed in many ways, but the intense competition on the field is nothing new!The author, as a Notre Dame alumnus, tends to bring the Irish point of view into his narrative, especially in regards to the fallout of Ara's decision at the end of the game, but this is a minor flaw and I enjoyed the book very much. If you are at all interested in the history of college football, and historic moments, this book is for you.