Sport: Another One for the Irish

Considering the 9-1 season that Notre Dame had in 1964, last year was practically a disaster. Quarterback John Huarte, the Heisman Trophy-winning passer, had graduated; so had All America End Jack Snow. The Fighting Irish had nothing left except a speedy halfback in Nick Eddy, a pile-driving fullback in Larry Conjar, and a rock’em, sock-’em offense that ground out the yardage but excited nobody. Notre Dame wound up with a 7-2-1 record, losing to Purdue and Michigan State, playing Miami to a 0-0 tie.

That sort of grim efficiency would never do for Notre Dame’s legion of fans across the U.S. After all, what subway alumnus ever dreams of off-tackle plunges while riding the BMT home to Brooklyn? Coach Ara Parseghian knew just what was needed. “Enthusiasm,” reads a sign on his office wall. “If we have it, we should thank God for it. If we don’t have it, we should get down on our knees and pray for it.” Fact is, Ara could barely contain his enthusiasm when the Irish opened their season against Purdue two weeks ago. “Can I say you’ll win all your games this year?” inquired a sportswriter, and Parseghian replied happily: “Say anything you want to.” Purdue Coach Jack Mollenkopf, by contrast, seemed outrageously morose. “If you beat Notre Dame the year before,” he warned, “the next year is hell.”

It sure was. To the astonishment of practically everybody except Mollenkopf (who is obviously used to this sort of thing), Notre Dame produced the passer it had been lacking all last year: Terry Hanratty, 18, a sophomore quarterback from Butler, Pa.—which happens to be near the home of the New York Jets’ Joe Namath, who happens to have been Hanratty’s boyhood hero. Ahead of every good passer, of course, there is a good receiver, and the Irish have one of those too: End Jim Seymour, 19, another sophomore, who stands 6 ft. 4 in., weighs 205 Ibs., runs like a deer and cuts like a cottontail.

Playing his first college football game (Notre Dame has no regular freshman team), Hanratty threw 24 passes and completed 16 for 304 yds. Seymour caught 13 of those tosses for 276 yds. and three touchdowns—breaking just about every single-game record for a Notre Dame pass receiver. The Fighting Irish won the game 26-14, and all poor Jack Mollenkopf could have said was “See, I told you so.” Well, if Jack thought he had it rough, imagine how Northwestern’s Alex Agase felt. Alex inherited his job from Parseghian, who moved to Notre Dame after his Wildcats had beaten the Irish four years in a row. Against Northwestern last week, Hanratty and Seymour connected nine times for 141 yds., and the Irish romped to a 35-7 victory.