The controversial Syracuse football game vs. Notre Dame that caused a rule change

Needless to say Saturday's Syracuse game at Notre Dame (3:30 p.m. ET / NBC) will certainly not be regarded as one of the more storied meetings among the 11 overall between the schools.

SU (3-7, 1-6) is limping to the finish line of a down season with a a six game losing streak, while the 9th ranked Irish (8-2) are humming along after early losses to Miami and Texas A&M by a total of four points. ND needs to beat the Orange and Stanford on the road next week to finish 10-2, and seemingly in line for a College Football Playoff berth.

Syracuse's utterly shocking 24-23 upset over the Irish in Greg Robinson's penultimate game as head coach in 2008, may, as it turned out, have been just the antidote to what happened the first time SU played at Notre Dame Stadium in 1961.

It was a game with a rather strange ending, a contest that was not officially declared until weeks after it ended, and spurred a change in college football rules as it applied to defensive penalties at the end of games.

The atmosphere was electric the first time Syracuse played at Notre Dame Stadium

Two seasons after winning the 1959 national championship, the Syracuse football program was as big a brand name as any in the country, making the excitement that much more palatable as the 10th ranked Orangemen traveled to South Bend for their second to last regular season game of the '61 season, and first-ever contest in South Bend.

According to Syracuse newspaper reports. some 5,000 Syracuse fans made the trip to the game, and over 7,000 others bought tickets to watch a closed-circuit broadcast at the downtown War Memorial, because it was not one of the three games ABC telecast that afternoon.

Led by Ernie Davis, who 10 days after the meeting would be awarded the Heisman Trophy, the 'Cuse entered the game 10th ranked with only a loss at Maryland by one point, and a victory over the 4-3 Irish would secure an Orange Bowl bid as the top team in the East.

A Syracuse rally fell to mistakes and a rules interpretation

Not playing as sharp as it had most of the season, Syracuse trailed 14-0 late in the third quarter and coach Ben Schwartzwalder sensed a need to shake things up. On a 4th and 1 play, a fake handoff to Davis resulted in a long TD pass followed by a two-point conversion, and on its next possession SU scored again on a short TD pass to go up 15-14 with 10 minutes to play.

But the Orangemen could not put the game away, not only failing to get a crucial late fourth down conversion, but stopping the clock on the three plays prior, and giving the Irish the ball back with 17 seconds left. Two plays later ND was on the SU 39-yard line with three seconds left to try a 56-yard game winning field goal.

Irish kicker Joe Perkowski's kick fell far short and wide of the goal posts, but on his follow-through, SU defensive lineman Walt Sweeney ran hard into Perkowski who subsequently fell onto his holder. While Syracuse celebrated the victory, a late penalty flag was thrown by the referee for a roughing penalty by Syracuse on the holder.

The ball was moved 15 yards forward and the controversary centered around the fact that with no time on the clock, the Irish were given one more play. This time, Perkowski's kick from 41 yards out was good, and SU went from the thrill of victory to the agony of a 17-15 defeat in mere moments, and from the Orange Bowl to the Liberty Bowl a few days after the game, along with the controversy that accompanied the ending.

Both the Big Ten and ECAC had supplied the game officials for the intersectional matchup, and they concluded the wrong interpretation of the rules were applied to the sequence of which team was on offense and which on defense, once the initial missed field goal was kicked.

In other words, the conference officials ruled a personal foul should not have been called on Syracuse, because the Irish were not in possession of the ball when the foul occurred, and there was no time on the game clock.

The score could not be reversed, however, even with an extra, illegal play ruling. Notre Dame was the victor sparking a few heated exchanges between the school presidents in the weeks to follow and recanted talk of an Irish forfeit. The series continued in 1963 then took a 40 year break, with Saturday's game the 12th all-time.

In February 1962, the NCAA changed its rules to clarify that a game could not end with an accepted defensive penalty.

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