NCAA football DVD of the original broadcast of the 1979 Cotton Bowl (Notre Dame vs. U. of Houston)
The Chicken Soup Game. The city of Dallas is encased in ice, as players prepare for the game. Notre Dame QB Joe Montana recalled how the glazed metropolis appeared as he awoke that day. "It was beautiful -- beautiful if you were spending the day looking out a window."
Joe Montana helped Notre Dame rally from 22 points down in the fourth quarter to win the 1979 Cotton Bowl.
But Joe Montana, despite suffering from the flu, could do nothing of the sort, and he boldly took the Irish to a 12-0 first-quarter lead. Houston uses its second-quarter wind advantage (in addition to the cold and ice, there is an 18-30 mph wind) to pile up 20 unanswered points. In the third quarter,
Houston adds another 14, as Joe Montana stays in the locker room, struggling to stay warm. With the score 34-12, there seems no reason for him to go back outside. "We knew for a fact people were clicking off their TVs all over the country," Notre Dame center Dave Huffman recalled. "You could hear the ratings drop every time Houston went up another point."
But Joe Montana did go back outside, and here the Joe Montana legend began. Not much happens until Notre Dame's Steve Cichy grabs a Cougar punt blocked by Tom Belden and scampers 33 yards for a TD. Joe Montana connects with Vagas Ferguson on a two-point conversion to bring the Irish within two TDs with 7:25 left. On their next possession, Notre Dame drives 61 yards with Joe Montana running the last three into the end zone, then throws for another successful two-point conversion with 4:15 remaining. 34-28. There it remains, until the Irish get the ball for a final chance. With the clock reading :00, Joe Montana connects with Kris Haines on an eight-yard TD pass, and walk-on kicker Joe Unis nails the PAT. Notre Dame 35, Houston 34.
What revived the sick and cold Notre Dame QB Chicken soup. It was a magical combo, wrote Steve Wulf in Time, "an Italian leading the Irish to triumph thanks to a traditional Jewish remedy."
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