Lentorama 2009: Great(?) Moments in Catholics on Television

January 1, 1979: Notre Dame rallies to beat the University of Houston in the Cotton Bowl

On an unusually cold day in Dallas, Notre Dame rolled out to a 12-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Houston, getting the wind at their backs for the second quarter, put up 20 unanswered points. When the teams came out of the locker rooms for the second half, Notre Dame's star QB Joe Montana was nowhere to be found.

Montana was back in the locker room, where he had both the flu and a touch of hypothermia. The ND training staff, desperate to get him back on the field, turned to chicken soup for help in a fit of panic-induced ecumenicism.

This worked, as Montana was able to return to the game but faced a 34-12 defecit. With just over seven minutes left in the game, Notre Dame blocked a Houston punt, returning it for a touchdown. Montana hit Vagas Ferguson for the conversion, making the game 34-20. Houston punted on their next possession, and Montana led the Irish down the field again, running in a touchdown and throwing another two point conversion to get the score to 34-28.

Notre Dame got the ball back again, and were driving until Montana was stripped and Houston recovered. The ensuing Cougars drive stalled, and with a fourth-and-one on their own 29, coach Bill Yeomans decided to go for it. To quote the knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, "he chose... poorly." The Houston runner was stuffed, and the Irish got the ball back with 28 seconds on the clock.

But that was just enough time for Montana to finish the job. He scrambled for 11 and then threw for another 10, giving the Irish a first down on the Houston 8 with six seconds to play. Montana threw away a pass, taking the clock to four seconds. On the game's final timed play, he found Kris Haines along the sideline in the end zone. Tie ballgame. Kicker Joe Unis gave the Irish the win (on his second kick, as ND was offsides on his first).

This wasn't Montana's first comeback win, and it certainly wasn't the last, but it's the one that put him on the map, I think. It's also the first college football game I really remember watching, for what it's worth.