Gordon dashes ND's title chances in '93
By TIM CASEY
Sports Writer
David Gordon currently makes his living as a general contractor, building houses in Connecticut.
The destroyer of a perfect Notre Dame season is now a successful builder.
How appropriate.
Exactly six years ago on Saturday, Gordon, then a Boston College junior place kicker, ruined Notre Dame's chances for their 12th national title when he connected on a 41-yard field goal with five seconds left. It was the longest kick of his career.
Gordon still vividly recalls that November afternoon when he went from a little known kicker to a national figure.
"The gold from Touchdown Jesus was the only thing I could really see," Gordon said earlier this week on the phone. "It was getting really dark and the sun was setting."
"I always pick a spot to aim at," Gordon added. "And Touchdown Jesus was my spot."
Is it a coincidence that ever since that day, when Touchdown Jesus guided Boston College to victory that Notre Dame has never reached the expectations associated with 11 national titles and seven Heisman winners?
No one knows.
But what is clear about the last six seasons is that this is not your father's Notre Dame football. Unless of course, your father grew up in the Gerry Faust years.
In the six years from 1994 to the present, the Irish have posted a 44-25-1 record and have never won a bowl game. Their highest ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 poll was 11th in 1995.
Including this year, the Irish will end the season unranked for the third time in six years.
Since the 1993 season, only one player (cornerback Bobby Taylor in 1994) has been named a consensus first-team All-American. They've had two first round NFL draft picks, Renaldo Wynn in 1997 and Luke Petitgout last year. No Irish player has been in serious consideration for the Heisman since 1993.
It all started with the Boston College game.
A week earlier, the 9-0 and second-ranked Irish had won the "Game of the Century" 31-24 over top ranked Florida State. With a win over the Eagles, the Irish would play for the national championship. The Eagles had other plans.
Boston College's motivation the week prior to the Nov. 20 game came a year earlier, when the Irish beat the Eagles 54-7. With his team ahead 37-0 in the third quarter, Irish head coach Lou Holtz called for a fake punt. Punter Craig Hentrich ran for the first down.
Holtz claimed that the reason he faked the punt was because he wanted to make sure every team that the Irish would play later on in the season would have to prepare for the fake.
The Eagles coaching staff and players had a different spin on the fake punt.
"They really rubbed it in our face the year before," Gordon said referring to the fake. "It was a motivator. Even in the off season we were really preparing to play them again."
Boston College raced out to a 24-14 halftime lead behind quarterback Glenn Foley's three touchdowns.
With 11 minutes left in the game, the Eagles led 38-17. But the Irish reeled off 22 straight points for a one-point lead.
The Eagles had the ball on their 25-yard line with 1:09 left in the game.
Foley misconnected on his first two pass attempts, including a near interception by linebacker Pete Bercich. Playing the game of his life, Foley completed his next four passes to set up Gordon's attempt.
"Every week in practice we did a two-minute drill," Gordon said. "We were especially ready that week because we had been doing it in practice."
The Irish called a timeout to put the pressure on Gordon. What Gordon realized was that this wasn't a regular timeout.
"That one timeout at Notre Dame took about 10 minutes because it's on TV," Gordon said. "They really tried to ice me. That's the one thing you can't practice."
While the Notre Dame and Boston College players were on their knees, praying for their team's victory, Gordon had other plans.
"After watching it on television, I'm glad that I didn't look over at the sidelines," Gordon said. "Everyone was on their knees, holding hands and praying."
"I was just out there getting ready to kick," Gordon said. "The only guy I talked to was my holder (Foley). No one else wanted to talk to me."
Foley gave him some good advice.
"He was really playing it off like it was no big deal," Gordon said of Foley. "He said it was just like practice. He loosened me up a little bit which was good."
While getting ready to kick, Gordon recalled watching tapes of Notre Dame's field goal block team during the week.
His main concern was with Taylor and his ability to jump over the line to block the attempt.
"They had a lot of grubber kicks where a guy [Taylor] jumps up in the middle," Gordon said. "I wanted to get the ball up before he [Taylor] jumped so I went a little quicker than I normally do."
He did. Barely.
The snap from center was a little high but Foley handled the mishap.
"I kicked it a little funny because he didn't really get it down the way I like it," Gordon said. "The trajectory wasn't the height that I usually got. I had a feeling it was good but I wasn't 100 percent sure."
Immediately after the ball went through the uprights, Gordon knew he was part of something special.
But first he had to get off the field.
As Notre Dame Stadium fell silent, Boston College celebrated on the field, with Gordon on the bottom of a sweaty pile of players.
"I had no idea the whole team would jump on top of me," Gordon said. "I couldn't breath. It was chaos."
An ex-soccer player, who played in high school against ex-Notre Dame kicker Kevin Pendergast, Gordon never kicked in a football game before coming to Boston College.
But his left foot will always be a part of college football lore.
His kick trails only Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass against Miami in 1984 as the greatest moment in Boston College's history.
And among the most devastating defeats in Notre Dame's storied tradition.
The Irish have never been the same since.
All Sports Stories for Friday, November 19, 1999
