It Was Almost 25 Years Ago, but He’s Still Wearing Same Tie

Twenty-five years removed, it remains one of the burning controversies of college football: No. 1-ranked Notre Dame’s 10-10 tie against No. 2 Michigan State that did nothing for national pollsters.

Coach Ara Parseghian has been haunted by critics (i.e. Notre Dame fans) who claimed he ordered the Irish to play for a tie. On the eve of the silver anniversary of that memorable game, Parseghian still is stewing.

“It’s misleading to say that I went for a tie,” he told New York Times columnist Dave Anderson.

“To me, going for a tie means kicking the extra point for a tie instead of going for a two-point conversion to win.”

Parseghian’s alleged crime is telling backup quarterback Coley O’Brien, who replaced the injured Terry Hanratty in the first quarter, to run out the clock on the last series.

“Some people think we should have thrown a bomb, but I’ve always been very comfortable with my decision,” Parseghian said.

Add Notre Dame: Parseghian’s defense for not throwing was this: “Coley O’Brien, who we learned only a few weeks earlier was a diabetic, hadn’t completed any of his last six passes.”

Anderson notes that the next week against USC, O’Brien threw three touchdown passes in a 51-0 rout.

Trivia time: How did Notre Dame and Michigan State finish their 1966 seasons?

You make the call: On the down on which Hanratty was hurt, Irish coaches sent in a play from the sidelines--a quarterback draw. The play had not been called in weeks but Hanratty followed orders. As he began heading up field he remembers a sea of green uniforms. Then the “weird” feeling. His left shoulder was separated.

“When I came back to the sideline the coach asked me why I called the quarterback draw,” Hanratty told Anderson. “I told him, ‘I didn’t call it, you called it.’ He said, ‘No, I sent in a halfback draw.’ ”

Add Hanratty: The former quarterback is engaged to Kelly Donohue, a Boston accountant.

They met after Hanratty, who is an institutional stock broker in Manhattan, found Donohue’s wallet near his Upper East Side apartment house. He found her driver’s license and $92 in cash inside the wallet and mailed it to her.

She invited him to a thank-you dinner if he were to ever come to Boston. Hanratty said: “My business takes me to Boston.”

Add two, Hanratty: A recovering alcoholic, Hanratty said: “If I’d still been drinking that night Kelly’s wallet was on the sidewalk, I probably would’ve fallen on it.”

Trivia answer: Notre Dame was 9-0-1, Michigan State 8-0-1.

Quotebook: Melissa Conboy, Notre Dame assistant athletic director who is responsible for the school’s compliance with NCAA rules:”(Coaches) all me all the time (for rules questions). They call me at home. They even called me on my honeymoon.”