Notre Dame Fighting Irish ©	Penn State Nittany Lions
Played November 21, 1987 at Beaver Stadium University City, Pennsylvania

  

 

Teams' Belt Records

 

Team	Belt Reigns	Overall Record				Home Record				Away Record				Neutral Record
		W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT
Notre Dame ©	2	9	6	0	.600	3	3	0	.500	5	3	0	.625	1	0	0	1.000
Penn State	1	7	1	0	.875	3	1	0	.750	3	0	0	1.000	1	0	0	1.000

 

 

The 7^th ranked, 8-1 Fighting Irish traveled to Happy Valley to meet the 7-3 Penn State Nittany Lions of Joe Paterno.  The Nittany Lions had held The Belt as the season started then dropped it to Alabama.  Penn State had won last season’s Belt match with the Fighting Irish on their way to a National Championship & Notre Dame hoped to duplicate that feat.  Penn State's DT Pete Curkendall sacked Notre Dame QB Tony Rice at the 5-yard line to stop a 2-point conversion attempt with 0:31 left as the Nittany Lions upset Notre Dame 21-20 & claimed The Belt they had lost earlier in the season.  The game was a nail-biter throughout as the teams traded scores until the final seconds.  Penn State got a break in the 1^st quarter when they chose to quick-kick instead of risking a long return by Heisman Trophy winning, All-American WR Tim Brown.  The plan worked better than expected when Penn State's S Brian Chizmar recovered a fumble by Notre Dame's S Brandy Wells who had tried to return the quick-kick.  The 19-yard drive that followed took only 2 plays with RB John Greene scoring for the Nittany Lions on a 10-yard touchdown run.  Notre Dame tied the game at 7-7 when QB Tony Rice scored on a 32-yard touchdown run.  Penn State got the lead back in the 2^nd quarter as RB Blair Thomas scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.  Just before the half ended, Notre Dame drove to the Penn State 3-yard line with 0:30 left in the half.  Holtz substituted for Rice with QB Kent Graham who had completed 10 of 15 pass attempts during the season but had also thrown 3 interceptions.  Expecting the pass, Chizmar intercepted Graham in the end zone & Penn State held a 14-7 halftime lead.  Rice tied the game at 14-14 for Notre Dame in the 3^rd quarter when he scored on an 11-yard touchdown run.  The Nittany Lions put together a 15-play, 76-yard drive the took over seven minutes before Greene scored on a 3-yard touchdown run putting Penn State ahead 21-14 with 7:34 left to play.  After exchanging punts, Notre Dame took their last chance from their own 30-yard line with just over four minutes left.  The Fighting Irish drove inside the Penn State 1-yard line before RB Anthony Johnson scored the touchdown with 0:31 left when Holtz decided to go for the win.  Notre Dame flooded the right side with receivers & planned to have Rice roll to his right with an option to pass or run but Curkendall grabbed Rice around the ankle & sacked the Fighting Irish quarterback to end the rally.  Thomas finished with 214 yards rushing with his touchdown while Penn State QB Matt Knizner threw for just 40 yards with an interception.  Rice threw for 92 yards while rushing for 67 yards with his 2 touchdowns & Brown was held to just 4 catches for 80 yards in the loss.  The Fighting Irish finished the season 8-4; ranked 17^th nationally while the Nittany Lions finished 8-4.  Notre Dame would play for The Belt again in 1990.