1967 vs PITT Frosh @ Forbes Field WON 21-18

The ND frosh travelled to old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers frosh team. With the Irish trailing 18-15 and only :40 seconds left in the game, ND frosh QB Joe Theismann threw a 15 yard td pass to SE Tom Eaton for the win.

The Irish scored 3 TDs on the day (all on Theismann passes-one to Ernie Jackson for 40 yds), but had all 3 of their XP attempts blocked. ND's other 3 points came off a 23 yd FG by Tony Capers (who was a defensive standout in the game). Interestingly, PITT also missed all 3 of its XP tries.

Notre Dame's freshmen, taking a page from the Hanratty-Seymour playbook, rallied to defeat Pittsburgh 21-18 at Forbes Field.... With 40 seconds remaining, QB Joe Theismann flipped a 15 yard strike to Tom Eaton to bring the Irish back from a 18-15 deficit. Bob Wack, a 6-1 185 lbs defensive back, insured the Notre Dame win with the team's only interception seconds later. The Irish victory drive started with 2 minutes left on the ND 41. Theismann sandwiched completions of 16 yards to Denny Allan and 19 yards to Craig Stark around a 12 yard run by fullback Ron Johnson before hitting Eaton with the winning tally.

The 6 foot signal caller from South River, NJ accounted for the other two ND tds via the air route to Ernie Jackson in the second quarter and Jim Sheahan in the third. He also handled the punting. ND, led by end Tony Capers, Jackson, and linebackers Mike Kondrla and Jim Wright on defense, settled down after the Panthers had chalked up the game's first two tds set up by shot gun passing. Though PITT blocked all 3 PAT kicks, Capers equalized the Panther efforts with a 23 yard FG two minutes before halftime.

• Theismann was 15 of 36 for 3tds 3 Ints
• Ron Johnson was the leading Irish rusher : 11 for 49 yds
• Sheahan caught 4 passes for 73 yds 1 td

Keywords: freshman football, pittsburgh, joe theismann, tom eaton, ernie jackson, tony capers, terry hanratty, jim seymour, bob wack, denny allan, craig stark, ron johnson, jim sheahan, mike kondrla, jim wright

Posted On: 2013-02-22 00:15:04 by Olson