Any time the Notre Dame football team comes to an opponent's stadium, you can almost always except a sellout or record crowd.
While Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina got a then record crowd of 54, 189 to come see the #15 ranked Tigers take on #5 Notre Dame.
Notre Dame entered the game with a 7-1 record and were in the thick of the national championship race under third year head coach Dan Devine.
Devine's offense was primarily focused on the two-head running attack of Vagas Ferguson and Jerome Heavens, but had a steady hand at quarterback in the form of junior Joe Montana.
Experts seem to believed that the Irish, who were on a six-game winning streak, were to win out, would receive an invitation to the Cotton Bowl to take on undefeated Texas.
But to get to the Cotton Bowl, they had to go through "Death Valley" and knock off the Tigers, who entered the Notre Dame game with a 7-1-1 record under first-year head coach Charley Pell.
Pell had been the defensive coordinator for Clemson the year before and the 1977 team was built around his defense which was giving up only an average of nine pointe per game up to this point in the season.
So if the the Tigers were to pull off the upset, they would need their defense to stop the Irish's vaunted running attack which had led Notre Dame to three straight games of 40 points or more.
Clemson got the ball to start the game and were able to drive 43 yards to the Notre Dame 37-yard-line thanks to two big completions by Fuller, one to Jerry Butler for 15 yards and another to tight end Anthony King for 22 yards.
It was at the Notre Dame 37-yard-line where the drive stalled as Pell decided to sent his kicker, Obed Ariri, to attempt a 53-yard field goal.
The kick was long enough, but missed wide left to keep the scoreless.
After both teams traded punts, the Irish got the ball at the Clemson 44-yard-line where it took them seven plays to get into the end zone as Montana completed a 22-yard pass to Kris Haines while Heavens carried the ball six times for 22 yards, including the five-yard touchdown that put Notre Dame ahead 7-0.
Notre Dame would be given a golden opportunity to extend their lead when Clemson wide receiver Rick Weddington fumbled the football after a 19-yard reception, which was recovered by Notre Dame strong safety Jim Browner at the 49-yard-line.
The Irish drove to the Clemson 12-yard-line but the Tigers defense stiffened and pushed the Irish back three yards, forcing them to attempt a 32-yard field goal by Dave Reese.
Reese's kick was wide left giving the ball back to the Tigers at their 20-yard-line.
From there, Clemson was able to drive to down the field as running back Lester Brown had runs of 12 + 17 yards while Fuller connected with Butler for 16 yards and Weddington for 11 to lead the Tigers to the Notre Dame seven-yard-line where they had 1st & goal
It looked like the Tigers were going to have 2nd & goal at the one-yard-line as Brown ran for six yards but officials ruled that Fuller's pitch to Brown was a forward lateral, nullifying the run and knocking the Tigers back five yards to the 12-yard-line.
That is where the drive stalled and Ariri was called on to make a 30-field goal which he did to put Clemson on the scoreboard as they trailed 7-3 with 10:20 left in the second quarter.
The Clemson defense would force the Irish to punt on their next possession and would get the ball in Irish territory after Willie Jordan's 28-yard return to the Notre Dame 34-yard-line.
Six plays later, the Tigers were in the end zone as Fuller ran it in from 10 yards out to give Clemson a 10-7 lead with 5:37 left before halftime.
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| Clemson quarterback Steve Fuller would complete 13 of 20 passes for 185 yards and ran the ball 16 times for 51 yards. |
The Tigers kept the momentum going as they forced Notre Dame to punt again on its ensuing possession to get the ball back at its 40-yard-line.
Fuller lead the Tigers down to the Notre Dame 10-yard-line with 30 seconds left where they had 2nd & 6 when All-American defensive end Ross Browner made his presence felt.
First, Browner dropped Fuller for a two-yard-loss on 2nd down to push Clemson back to the Irish 12-yard-line where they would face 3rd & 8 when Browner pressured Fuller into making a bad pass that was intercepted by Notre Dame free safety Joe Restic at the two-yard-line, keeping the Tigers from increasing their lead as the first half came to a close with the Tigers up 10-7.
The Irish got the ball to start the second half but could do nothing with it and were forced to punt it back to Clemson who would take over at the Notre Dame 48-yard-line after Restic shanked the punt.
Fuller would connect with Warren Ratchford for a 36-yard pass play to give the Tigers a 1st & goal from the Irish 10-yard-line.
Three straight runs picked up nine yards leading to a 4th & goal from the one-yard-line.
Pell decided to go for the touchdown and would get it as Fuller took the snap and ran left before pitching it out to Brown, who got some help from referee Bill Cummings who got in the way of Notre Dame cornerback Ted Burgmeier's attempt at a tackle, which allowed Brown to go in untouched for the touchdown which increased Clemson's lead to 17-7 with 11:41 to go in the third quarter.
Down 10 points, Montana tried to get the Notre Dame offense moving on their next possession and it appeared that he did that as he drove the Irish into Clemson territory, only to have Haines cough up the football following a 13-yard catch that was recovered by Tigers linebacker Randy Scott at the Clemson 44-yard-line.
Clemson was able to move the ball to the Irish 33-yard-line until Notre Dame linebacker Steve Heimkreiter jarred the ball loose from Tigers fullback Ken Callicutt, leading to a fumble that was recovered by Irish linebacker Doug Becker to end the Tigers' drive.
The Tigers defense would force another Notre Dame punt and got the ball back at their 34-yard-line and proceeded to drive to the Irish 13-yard-line where it appeared the Tigers were on the doorstep of another score.
But once again Callicutt fumbled the ball as Notre Dame defensive tackle Mike Calhoun recovered the loose ball at the Irish 16-yard-line to give the Irish the ball back with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
After being held in check since Heavens' touchdown in the first quarter, the Notre Dame offense finally got moving as they had used a halfback pass to get the Irish going as Mike Courney connected with Haines for 24 yards that helped the Irish get to the Clemson 35-yard-line.
That is when all hell broke loose as two penalties called on the Irish sent Devine into a frenzy.
The first penalty, an offsides penalty on MacAfee nullified a 31-yard run by Ferguson to the Clemson four-yard-line.
Devine believed that MacAfee was onside and got onto the field to argue his case but quickly went back to the sidelines.
Three plays later on 2nd & 12 from the Clemson 37-yard-line, Fergurson had a 14-yard run get called back because of a clipping penalty on Haines, which was ironically called by Cummings, the same man who blocked a Notre Dame tackler on Clemson's second touchdown.
The clipping call was the one that really set off Devine as he argued with Cummings on the field and eventually drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, pushing the Irish back to their 44-yard-line where they had a 2nd & 32.
That is when "Montana Magic" happened as Montana would find MacAfee for 27 yards to set up a manageable 3rd & 5 where Ferguson ran for three yards leading to a 4th & 2 to which Devine decided to go for it.
Montana connected with MacAfee again, this time for 16 yards and a 1st down at the Clemson 11-yard-line.
The 15-play, 84-yard drive would finally come to an end on the first play of the fourth quarter when Montana ran it for a two-yard touchdown to cut it to 17-14 Clemson lead.
The Tigers looked to respond on their ensuing possession as Fuller had a 23-yard run only to fumble two plays later on a two-yard run, which was recovered by Calhoun at exactly the 50-yard-line.
Montana would hit Ferguson for a 36-yard screen pass which was followed five plays later by a Montana one-yard touchdown run to give Notre Dame a 21-17 lead with 7:11 left in the game.
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| Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana would run for two touchdowns in the 4th quarter in the Irish's comeback win. |
From then on, the Notre Dame defense took over as they would not allow another 1st down for the rest of the game, allowing the Irish to escape with the 21-17 win.
The Tigers would rebound the next week with a 31-27 win over rival South Carolina, thanks to Jerry Butler's 20-yard touchdown reception with less than a minute to go that would become known as "The Catch" to Clemson fans, allowing the Tigers to play in the Gator Bowl which they lost 34-3 to the Pittsburgh Panthers, to finish the season with a 8-3-1 record and a #19 ranking in the final AP poll.
Notre Dame would its final two games of the regular season by a combined score of 97-10 to earn an invitation to the Cotton Bowl where they would face #1 Texas.
Heavens would run for 101 yards on 22 carries while Ferguson would run for 100 yards and score three touchdowns as the Irish easily dismantled of the Longhorns 38-10.
That coupled with #2 Oklahoma losing to Arkansas in the Orange Bowl and #4 Michigan losing to Washington to the Rose Bowl, propelled the Irish to the #1 ranking and the 1977 national championship.
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