Cal's Football History vs. Notre Dame Dates Back to 1959 and Is Not Pretty
With its visit to South Bend, Indiana on Saturday, Cal will face Notre Dame for the first time in 55 seasons.
The first Super Bowl had just been played in 1967 — although it didn’t yet have that title. LBJ was U.S. president and the median price of a home in the U.S. was $22,700. No kidding.
Aretha Franklin released “Respect,” and 10,000 marched in San Francisco against the Vietnam War. Elvis married Priscilla, Ali refused military induction and Carl Yastrzemski won the American League triple crown.
It was a long time ago.
Coach Justin Wilcox’s team doesn’t carry the weight of Cal’s 0-4 all-time record against Notre Dame. And it’s a good thing because the Irish have dominated, outscoring the Bears by a combined margin of 138 to 27. It didn’t help that Cal coughed up 18 turnovers in the four games.
This feels different, and not simply because the Bears are 2-0 after playing two opponents they were expected to beat.
It’s the Irish who have given this matchup an unexpected flavor after losing 26-21 at home to 20.5-point underdog Marshall last Saturday, dropping them to 0-2 and out of the AP Top-25 for the first time in five years.
The Bears will try to write a new chapter in the series on Saturday. Here’s a look back at the first four meetings:
1959
GAME 1: NOTRE DAME 28, CAL 6
Date: Oct. 10, 1959
Location: Berkeley
Coaches: Pete Elliott, Cal; Joe Kuharich, Notre Dame
Top Cal players: Wayne Crow replaced Joe Kapp as the Bears’ quarterback the season after Cal most recently played in the Rose Bowl and Frank Sally was named a first-team all-conference tackle.
Game highlights: In front of 68,500 at Memorial Stadium, the Irish jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead and never were threatened. Cal sabotaged its chances with six turnovers — three interceptions and three lost fumbles — and Notre Dame won easily despite being penalized 15 times for 158 yards. Cal’s only touchdown came on a 5-yard pass from Wayne Crow to Dave George in the fourth quarter. Steve Bates rushed for a game-high 90 yards for the Bears.
Final records: Notre Dame 5-5, Cal 2-8
Fighting Irish ties to the Bay Area: Receiver Monty Stickles, who finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting, was the No. 11 pick in the 1960 NFL draft and played eight of his nine professional seasons with the 49ers.
1959 National champion: Syracuse
News of the day: James Earl Ray was arrested for robbing a supermarket in St. Louis, ultimately convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He escaped in 1967 and a year later assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King.
1960
GAME 2: NOTRE DAME 21, CAL 7
Date: Sept. 24, 1960
Location: South Bend, Ind.
Coaches: Marv Levy, Cal; Joe Kuharich, Notre Dame
Top Cal players: George Pierovich was voted a first-team all-conference fullback. Randy Gold was the Bears’ quarterback and Steve Bates was the top running back.
Game highlights: The Bears battled a poor Irish squad to a 7-7 standoff after the first half in front of 49,286 fans at South Bend. Pierovich scored on a 3-yard run in the second quarter for Cal but Notre Dame went back in front with two touchdowns in the third quarter, including one on a blocked punt. Gold completed 13 of 18 passes for 154 yards, but the Bears lost three fumbles and Gold was harassed by the Irish pass rush, netting minus-36 rushing yards. The Irish didn’t win another game until beating USC 17-0 in their season finale, their offense held to one touchdown or fewer five times.
Final records: Cal 2-7-1, Notre Dame 2-8
Fighting Irish ties to the Bay Area: Sophomore quarterback Daryle Lamonica, a part-time starter in 1960, went on to become the “Mad Bomber” in the Oakland Raiders’ offense, leading the franchise into Super Bowl II.
1960 National co-champions: Minnesota and Mississippi
News of the day: USS Enterprise, the first atomic-powered aircraft carrier, was launched . . . the Dallas Cowboys played their first NFL game, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers . . . the Howdy Doody Show, which first appeared on TV in 1947, aired its 2,343rd and final TV episode.
1965
GAME 3: NOTRE DAME 48, CAL 6
Date: Sept. 18, 1965
Location: Berkeley
Coaches: Ray Willsey, Cal; Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame
Top Cal players: First-team all-conference guard John Garimendi serves as a U.S. congressman representing California’s 3rd District.
Game highlights: The third-ranked Irish steamrolled the Bears, running the ball 68 times for 381 yards and forging a sturdy 22-0 lead midway through the second quarter before a crowd of 53,000 at Memorial Stadium. Cal’s only touchdown came on a 7-yard pass from Dan Berry to Jerry Bradley. Each team had four turnovers, so the game was hardly an artistic success. Notre Dame climbed to No. 1 in the nation after beating the Bears in their season opener, then lost 25-21 to a Purdue team led by quarterback Bob Griese.
Final records: Cal 5-5, Notre Dame 7-2-1
Fighting Irish ties to the Bay Area: Running back Nick Eddy, who grew up in Tracy, had 99 yards rushing and caught a touchdown against the Bears. He totaled 815 yards rushing and receiving on the season and went on to play in the NFL.
1965 National co-champions: Michigan State and Alabama
News of the day: NBC debuted two TV comedies, I Dream of Jeannie and Get Smart.
1967
GAME 4: NOTRE DAME 41, CAL 8
Date: Sept. 23, 1967
Location: South Bend, Ind.
Coaches: Ray Willsey, Cal; Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame
Top Cal players: The Bears featured first-team all-conference defensive end Mike McCaffrey, defensive back Ken Wiedemann (who had six interceptions), quarterback Barry Bronk and wide receiver Wayne Stewart.
Game highlights: The defending national champion Irish returned without nine players chosen in the first three rounds of the pro football draft, including future Hall of Famer Alan Page. But plenty of talent remained, including quarterback Terry Hanratty, who passed for 208 yards against the Bears, with TD passes to Jim Seymour and Rocky Bleier before a crowd of 59,075. The Bears once again put themselves in a hole with five turnovers, including a pair of interceptions by quarterback Barry Bronk, who suffered through a nightmare of a game, completing just 2 of 20 pass attempts. In his nine other games that season, Bronk completed 50 percent of his passes. Troy Cox scored the Bears’ only TD on a 1-yard plunge with 2:49 to play, then caught the two-point conversion.
Final records: Cal 5-5, Notre Dame 8-2
Fighting Irish ties to the Bay Area: Defensive tackle Kevin Hardy, a graduate of St. Elizabeth High School in Oakland, was a 6-5, 280-pounder who played football, basketball and baseball for Notre Dame, winning seven varsity letters. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of high school, he was picked No. 7 in the 1968 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints.
1967 National champion: USC
News of the day: Fourteen teen-agers in two cars driving by a nursing home at 2 a.m. in Tucson, Arizona, stopped and ran into the burning structure to rescue patients. Fifty-three of the 57 inside were saved.
Cover photo of former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian by Malcolm Emmons, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
