'88 Talking The Talk, Then Backing It Up

RECORD: 12-0 ALL-AMERICAS: FRANK STAMS, DE; ANDY HECK, OT; MICHAEL STONEBREAKER, LB. NOTRE DAME TROUNCED WEST VIRGINIA TO COMPLETE A PERFECT SEASON

IT'S AS IF THE Four Horsemen--this time accompanied by a nervous, lisping, sandy-haired groom--were at it again. Like a gang of highwaymen, Notre Dame trampled previously undefeated West Virginia 34-21 in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-0 and win its 11th national championship. Notre Dame came out running and smoking and talking more trash than the cast of that old Gipper movie. Behind junior quarterback Tony Rice's game-high 75 yards rushing and career-high 213 yards passing, the Irish rolled up 455 net yards while holding the erstwhile explosive Mountaineers to just 282 yards, their lowest total in 19 games.

The Irish defense prevented West Virginia's offense from making a first down during the opening 20 minutes, as Notre Dame moved out to a 23-6 halftime lead on a 45-yard Billy Hackett field goal, a one-yard Anthony Johnson run, a five-yard Rodney Culver run and a 29-yard Rice-to- Raghib (Rocket) Ismail pass. Irish defensive stars like end Frank Stams; nosetackle Chris Zorich; and backs Stan Smagala, George Streeter and Todd Lyght all seemed to be playing at double speed, while the Mountaineers were playing on, well, mountain time. "Sometimes it seemed like they had about 16 players on the field," said West Virginia center Kevin Koken.

All week long the Irish and the Mountaineers had been inspected for all manner of flaws by a huge national press mob. Notre Dame, 11-0 and ranked No. 1 at the close of the regular season for the first time since 1966, was once again depicted as the school of legend and inspiration, the shining beacon of hope for priests, college sports reformers, subway alumni and orphans. The questions coach Lou Holtz answered focused on how he had brought the Irish back to the pinnacle.

In the week before the game, Holtz claimed two things: "I am not a workaholic," and "I didn't come to Notre Dame to be compared to the great coaches, because I'll always come out second best--in looks, intelligence, speaking ability, patience, you name it."

You can buy both of those statements, and you can buy a sauna franchise in Death Valley if you want. Holtz is a driven man who seldom seems to eat or sleep. His career record is now 141-75-5, and 25-10 in three seasons at Notre Dame. As Irish athletic director Dick Rosenthal says, "If somebody had to mold a Rockne and a Leahy, they couldn't have come up with a better man than Lou Holtz."

The specter of the Miami Hurricanes hovered over this year's game. It seems clear now that the Irish's 31-30 win over Miami in October was actually their national championship victory. "You know, I wanted to play Miami again," Holtz said. "But I want to tell you something: We're better than the Hurricanes. If we played them 10 times, we'd beat them eight." Well, all right. Maybe it's about time that Holtz the worrier got cocky, just like his team.