Holtz Loses Final Game With the Irish

At evening’s end, Lou Holtz walked from the field with only John Dohle to keep him company.

Dohle is a Los Angeles cop, and he was more than willing to relinquish the chore of escorting the Notre Dame coach to the Coliseum locker room for the final time, but there was no one in uniform to give the job.

“They can take care of him better than I can,” Dohle said of the Irish players. “A couple of 6-foot-5, 285-pound guys? They can do it.”

None would. Winning coaches ride on linemen’s shoulders, but there is no lift after a loss, even if that 27-20 overtime defeat by USC comes in the last game Holtz will ever coach for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame Athletic Director Mike Wadsworth has ruled out the Independence Bowl, and Notre Dame players said they were told by Holtz that this would be their last game.

Holtz won 100, more than anyone in South Bend who isn’t named Rockne. He lost 30 games, more than any coach in South Bend, period.

The last came Saturday and it was the worst.

“I feel like somebody reached into my stomach and pulled out my guts,” Holtz said. “I never felt this low.”

He and the Irish had gone onto the field needing a victory to give Holtz one more game--a January 1 bowl--and they passed through a door over which was the sign: “Play Like Champions Today.”

They came off the field after playing like anything but champions, with:

--Four turnovers, one of them a fumbled pass at the USC one-yard line, another a fumbled punt at the Irish 13, another fumble returned 37 yards to the Notre Dame eight by Sammy Knight, still another on the Irish 44.

--A missed extra-point attempt by freshman Jim Sanson, in the final accounting crucial.

--A rock pulled by Autry Denson, though he ran for 160 yards in 33 carries to more than atone for fielding a punt on his own three and being downed there.

--Substitution problems that sent people on the field late and led to strange timeouts.

“We just made far too many mistakes,” Holtz said after coaching his first loss to USC in 11 tries. “Every time we tried to put the nail in the coffin, we couldn’t do it.”

He searched for answers, finally coming up with cold weather in South Bend that sent Notre Dame inside to practice last week, making catching punts and passes difficult.

And Sanson will like to kick again, “and he’ll probably make a lot of field goals in his life,” Holtz said.

But none for Holtz. Not anymore.

In the end, he had to work overtime for disappointment. Postponing the inevitable was all too familiar. Time does not mitigate misery in football. It only embellishes it.

Notre Dame had blown a lead against Air Force, losing, 20-17, in a game that preceded Holtz’ resignation by a matter of hours.

The Irish blew a 20-12 lead against USC, then faced yet another overtime with the team’s future on the line.

Luck of the Irish. They won the toss, then gave the Trojans the ball.

“If we stop them and score, it’s over,” Holtz said.

Notre Dame didn’t stop USC and certainly didn’t score.

After the Irish had given up Rodney Sermons’ touchdown catch, they went on offense for four plays, the last a Ron Powlus pass that was batted down by USC’s Mark Cusano.

“I had [Malcolm] Johnson open for a first down, and he just batted it away,” said Powlus, who also took the blame for Sanson’s missed extra-point try as the holder because he hadn’t turned the laces to face the goal posts.

“This is an awful way to end this season. This is an awful way to end my career if we don’t go to a bowl game.

“We wanted to send Coach Holtz out right, but we didn’t.”

Instead, the send-off was apt, with Powlus struggling all night, then misfiring in the end, four seasons after he came to South Bend with Heisman Trophy projections that rose quickly in his freshman season, then fell for all time because of injuries and an oil-and-water combination of his talents and Holtz’s coaching.

Powlus finished with eight completions of 19 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown, but mostly he finished at Notre Dame. “with a mixture of sadness and happiness,” he said.

Holtz finished philosophically.

“Life goes on,” he said. “This was a great win for Southern Cal. Any time it’s a disappointing loss for you, it’s a great victory for someone else.”

As he walked out with Dohle, Holtz passed Bob Davie, who started the day as the Irish’s defensive coordinator, then finished it as the coach.