Tony Rice (gridiron football)

In 1987, Tony Rice became the starting quarterback for Notre Dame following an injury to Terry Andrysiak. The Irish finished the season 8-4 and earned a berth to the Cotton Bowl Classic, where they lost 35-10 to 13th-ranked Texas A&M in a game where Rice played only sparingly. Despite the loss, the team showed dramatic improvement and finished the year ranked #17 — the team's first Top-25 finish since 1980.

Rice was a perfect fit for Holtz's ball control, run-oriented offense. Despite standing only 6'1" 200 lbs., he had great speed (4.48 40 yard dash time) for a quarterback, and tremendous strength, which made him an incredibly difficult player to contain. For the year he finished with over 1,000 yards of total offense and 8 total touchdowns (663 yards, 1 touchdown passing and 337 yards, 7 touchdowns rushing).

Rice's first encounter with USC was his second start of his career on October 24, 1987 as Notre Dame defeated the ranked USC Trojans (8-4) 26-15. Rice had a 26-yard touchdown run that gave the Irish a 10-7 lead with 2:55 left in the first half. He finished with 9 rushes for 56 yards and completed 3-of-7 passes for 47 yards.[1]

Notre Dame defeated No. 10 Alabama 37-6, on November 14, 1987, as Rice directed an option offense that gained 352 yards on the ground which offset the effort of the Crimson Tide's star running back Bobby Humphrey—who gained 94 yards on 14 rushes himself. With the score tied at 3-3 after the first quarter, Rice had a 12-yard touchdown run and a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Andy Heck in the second quarter. Notre Dame led 20-6 at the half. Irish running backs' Mark Green and Ricky Watters ended the game with 74 and 75-yard touchdown runs respectively to complete the rout. Rice wound up completing 5 of 8 passes for 117 yards while rushing 9 times for 30 yards.[2]

In 1988, Notre Dame claimed its first National Championship in 11 years. The team went a perfect 12-0 en route to an NCAA-record eighth AP National Championship since the poll began in 1936. The season featured wins over top-ranked opponents including Michigan, USC, and Miami in addition to featuring several future NFL players Raghib Ismail, Ricky Watters, Chris Zorich, Derek Brown, Todd Lyght, Pat Terrell, Tony Brooks, Anthony Johnson, Andy Heck, Tim Grunhard and Rodney Culver. In all, 15 players from the 1988 team played in the NFL.[3]

No. 4 Notre Dame met No. 1 Miami in South Bend, Indiana on October 15, 1988. The Irish held a 31-21 lead in the third quarter, but the Hurricanes rallied to within 31-30 on a touchdown with 45 seconds left in the game. The Canes attempted the two-point conversion and failed to convert as Notre Dame's safety Pat Terrell batted down the ball. The loss snapped a 36-game, regular season winning streak for the Miami Hurricanes.[4]

Rice, who opened up the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, completed 8 of 16 passes for 195 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown pass to running back Braxston Banks in the second quarter.[5]

No. 1 Notre Dame ran its record to a perfect 10-0 by defeating Penn State, 21-3, at home on November 19, 1988. Rice completed the longest pass play of his career—a 67 yarder to flanker Raghib Ismail for a touchdown. Rice went 10-of-18 passing for 181 yards while rushing 15 times for a game-high 84 yards and a touchdown.[6]

A week later, #1 Notre Dame visited #2 USC at the L.A. Coliseum. The USC team led by All-American and future Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner Rodney Peete was 10-0 and a formidable team. Entering the game Peete was leading the nation in passing and was a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. Notre Dame played without its leading pass catcher Ricky Watters, and leading rusher Tony Brooks, both of whom were suspended for arriving late to team meetings. Tony Rice had a spectacular day, including a 65-yard touchdown run on the Irish's first drive. The Irish won the game 27-10, and their win propelled them into the National Championship game.

Rice finished with 13 rushes for 86 yards and completing 5 of 9 passes for 91 yards against the Trojans.[7]

Coming into the 1989 Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz insisted that his team couldn't pass the ball against West Virginia. Rice outplayed Mountaineer quarterback Major Harris, who went down with an injury early in the game, by completing 7 of 11 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns.

Rice finished the year with 1,176 yards and 8 touchdowns passing and 700 yards and 9 touchdowns rushing.

Tony Rice entered his senior season with high expectations following the successes from a year ago. Notre Dame faced a schedule that included games against five ranked opponents.

On September 16, 1989, the Irish defeated the Wolverines in Ann Arbor 24-19, which included two Raghib Ismail kickoff returns for scores The next week, Notre Dame defeated Michigan State as Notre Dame's running backs Ricky Watters and Anthony Johnson scored touchdowns.[8]

Notre Dame then traveled to face #17 Air Force on October 14, 1989. In what became a shootout, Rice went 9-of-13 passing for 123 yards and rushed 14 times for 71 yards against the Falcons' defense. He also threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Johnson as the Irish defeated the Falcons 41–27 as Air Force's QB Dee Dowis passed for 306 yards.[9]

Coach Lou Holtz's Notre Dame Fighting Irish got to 6-0 and they were ranked #1 in the country. The Irish faced USC at home on October 21, 1989 in what turned into sloppy play by both sides. Notre Dame overcame five turnovers to win 28-24, thanks to a fine effort from the defense led by linebacker Chris Zorich. The Irish were down 17-7 at halftime. Rice scored on touchdown runs of 7 and 15 yards and finished with 99 yards on 18 carries. He also threw for 91 yards off 5 of 16 passing attempts.[10]

The season resumed as Rice directed Notre Dame's offense to 310 yards rushing in their October 28, 1989 45-7 over Pittsburgh. Rice had 12 carries for 69 yards and went 1-of-7 passing for 29 yards against the Panthers.[11]

On November 18, 1989, Notre Dame extended its record to 11-0 by defeating #17 Penn State, 34-23. Rice had a career-high 141 rushing yards and completed 5 of 10 passes for 47 yards as the Irish finished with 425 yards on the ground against the Nittany Lions. At this point, Notre Dame had a 23-game winning streak.[12]

On November 25, 1989, #1 Notre Dame traveled to face 7th-ranked Miami (10-1). Miami grabbed a 17-10 halftime lead and won 27-10, and, led by its defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy and help from his teammates, shut down Notre Dame's running attack as Rice was limited to 50 yards on 20 carries. Rice's passing was 7-of-15 for 106 yards. It was a tough day for the Irish as they lost the rematch, 27-10.[13]

4th-ranked Notre Dame faced #1 Colorado (11-0) in the Orange Bowl. After a 0-0 score at halftime, the 2nd half opened with Rice directing a 69-yard drive in seven plays as fullback Anthony Johnson scored from the 2-yard line to give Notre Dame a 7-0 lead. Raghib "Rocket" Ismail, filling in at tailback for an injured Ricky Watters, scored a 36-yard touchdown run to increase Notre Dame's lead to 14-0 with 7:19 left in the third quarter. The Irish won the game, 21-6.[14]

Rice completed 5 of 9 passes for 99 yards and rushed 14 times for 50 yards. Notre Dame completed a successful 12-1 season and was ranked #2 by the AP College Football Poll after the win over Colorado.[15]

Rice's record as a starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame was 31-4 that included a national championship. Rice won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award on December 1, 1989 and finished fourth in the 1989 Heisman Trophy the next day. He also made the 1989 College Football All-America Team as a quarterback. His regular season statistics had him completing 68-of-137 passes for 1,122 yards and two touchdowns and rushing 174 times for 884 yards and 7 touchdowns in 12 games. He had a longest run of 38 yards while his longest pass play of the season covered 52 yards.[16][17]

Notes - Statistics from the table include bowl game performances.