Looking Back on the Block That Saved the Notre Dame Season in 2000

For nearly three quarters, Notre Dame looked to be cruising toward another comfortable victory.

The Irish built a commanding 28-10 lead over Air Force on October 28, 2000, and appeared to have the game well in hand. Then everything changed. The Falcons mounted an improbable comeback, erased the 18-point deficit, and lined up for a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Instead, Glenn Earl burst through to block the kick, giving Notre Dame one more chance. In overtime, Joey Getherall delivered the decisive touchdown, preserving the Irish’s Bowl Championship Series hopes and securing a dramatic 34-31 victory.

The following excerpt is from the October 30, 2000, edition of Irish Insider in The Observer and was written by Assistant Sports Editor Tim Casey. It captures the tension, drama, and relief of one of the wildest finishes of the Bob Davie era.

As a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dave Adams spent many Saturday afternoons rooting for the University of Miami football team. So when “Air Force 20, Notre Dame 17” scrolled across the bottom of the television screen in the early evening hours of Oct. 19, 1996, the 17-year-old high school senior was elated.

“I despised Notre Dame,” Adams said. “Growing up a Hurricanes fan, you always wanted Notre Dame to lose.”

On Saturday, Adams, now Air Force’s place kicker, had a chance to shatter the Irish’s Bowl Championship Series chances and provide the Falcons with another South Bend afternoon to cherish. With three seconds remaining in regulation and the game tied at 28, the senior lined up for a 28-yard field goal in the south end zone. Four years earlier, Dallas Thompson (Air Force’s current punter) nailed a 27-yarder in overtime for the win.

“The kick was from the same exact spot and from the same exact end zone,” Adams said.

The result was the exact opposite.

Glenn Earl, who was supposed to watch for a fake, instead leapt high into the air and blocked Adams’ attempt. And after Joey Getherall’s 9-yard touchdown run in overtime, an unanticipated thriller ended in a 34-31 Irish victory. Notre Dame stands at 6-2 on the season with three games remaining and moved up to No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 16 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll.

Excitement? Relief? Disbelief?

All three emotions (and several more) came to the minds of Irish players and coaches following the 25th meeting between the two teams. Ahead 28-10 with less than 12 minutes left, Notre Dame allowed two touchdowns, a field goal, and the legion of Irish fans to again question coach Bob Davie.

“Did the defense collapse, Coach?”

“I don’t know if that’s a collapse,” Davie said. “I think that’s a pretty good offensive football team.”

It was the same unit that gained 213 yards in the first three quarters, including just 37 during the third. Air Force’s option running game, ranked fourth in the nation entering Saturday, managed 206 yards, 70 yards below its average.

But three days before Halloween, the unlikely combination of quarterback Mike Thiessen and 6-foot-5 receiver Ryan Fleming tricked the Irish defense and spooked the 80,232 in attendance with a memorable fourth-quarter performance.

Forget the B-52 bombers flying over the Stadium on Saturday. The Air Force tandem may have put on the best aerial show seen this season.

A trio of plays in the final 15 minutes sparked the Falcons. On the first drive of the quarter, Fleming’s 10-yard reception on third-and-11 allowed his team to avoid having to punt on fourth down.

Two plays later, Air Force narrowed the lead to 28-17. After scoring another touchdown on the next possession, Air Force got the ball back at its own 5-yard line. With 5-foot-9 Irish cornerback Shane Walton covering him, Fleming made a one-handed grab along the left sideline for a 42-yard reception.

Adams’ 34-yard field goal just over two minutes later tied the game.

Then on the final possession of regulation, Thiessen and Fleming hooked up once again for a first down on a 46-yard gain.

For the game, Thiessen completed 17-of-29 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns. Fleming gained 163 yards on eight catches.

“The kid was unreal,” Adams said of Fleming. “He played like an All-American.”

Said Fleming: “To be honest, I really wasn’t all out there. I was just going through the motions. I guess I just got in a zone.”

Notre Dame’s offense did not help a defense that allowed 258 fourth-quarter yards. In the fourth quarter, the Irish failed to gain a first down and had 15 total yards, including an illegal procedure penalty.

Although Julius Jones gained 118 yards and Matt LoVecchio threw for 171 yards, the offensive hero for the Irish was Getherall.

When his team needed a score, the 5-foot-8, 170-pound senior delivered. During a timeout, receivers coach Urban Meyer told Getherall, who already had two touchdowns, that they would run a “Z-reverse.”

“Coach Meyer looked at me and said, ‘You’re getting the ball,'” said Getherall, who had four catches for 116 yards and carried twice for 22 yards. “[Meyer said], ‘You better be ready.'”

He was. And thanks to the speedy Getherall, Notre Dame’s BCS hopes are still alive.

As a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dave Adams spent many Saturday afternoons rooting for the University of Miami football team. So when “Air Force 20, Notre Dame 17” scrolled across the bottom of the television screen in the early evening hours of Oct. 19, 1996, the 17-year-old high school senior was elated.

“I despised Notre Dame,” Adams said. “Growing up a Hurricanes fan, you always wanted Notre Dame to lose.”

On Saturday, Adams, now Air Force’s place kicker, had a chance to shatter the Irish’s Bowl Championship Series chances and provide the Falcons with another South Bend afternoon to cherish. With three seconds remaining in regulation and the game tied at 28, the senior lined up for a 28-yard field goal in the south end zone. Four years earlier, Dallas Thompson (Air Force’s current punter) nailed a 27-yarder in overtime for the win.

“The kick was from the same exact spot and from the same exact end zone,” Adams said.

Glenn Earl, who was supposed to watch for a fake, instead leapt high into the air and blocked Adams’ attempt. And after Joey Getherall’s 9-yard touchdown run in overtime, an unanticipated thriller ended in a 34-31 Irish victory. Notre Dame stands at 6-2 on the season with three games remaining and moved up to No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 16 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll.

All three emotions (and several more) came to the minds of Irish players and coaches following the 25th meeting between the two teams. Ahead 28-10 with less than 12 minutes left, Notre Dame allowed two touchdowns, a field goal, and the legion of Irish fans to again question coach Bob Davie.

“I don’t know if that’s a collapse,” Davie said. “I think that’s a pretty good offensive football team.”

It was the same unit that gained 213 yards in the first three quarters, including just 37 during the third. Air Force’s option running game, ranked fourth in the nation entering Saturday, managed 206 yards, 70 yards below its average.

But three days before Halloween, the unlikely combination of quarterback Mike Thiessen and 6-foot-5 receiver Ryan Fleming tricked the Irish defense and spooked the 80,232 in attendance with a memorable fourth-quarter performance.

Forget the B-52 bombers flying over the Stadium on Saturday. The Air Force tandem may have put on the best aerial show seen this season.

A trio of plays in the final 15 minutes sparked the Falcons. On the first drive of the quarter, Fleming’s 10-yard reception on third-and-11 allowed his team to avoid having to punt on fourth down.

Two plays later, Air Force narrowed the lead to 28-17. After scoring another touchdown on the next possession, Air Force got the ball back at its own 5-yard line. With 5-foot-9 Irish cornerback Shane Walton covering him, Fleming made a one-handed grab along the left sideline for a 42-yard reception.

Adams’ 34-yard field goal just over two minutes later tied the game.

Then on the final possession of regulation, Thiessen and Fleming hooked up once again for a first down on a 46-yard gain.

For the game, Thiessen completed 17-of-29 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns. Fleming gained 163 yards on eight catches.

“The kid was unreal,” Adams said of Fleming. “He played like an All-American.”

Said Fleming: “To be honest, I really wasn’t all out there. I was just going through the motions. I guess I just got in a zone.”

Notre Dame’s offense did not help a defense that allowed 258 fourth-quarter yards. In the fourth quarter, the Irish failed to gain a first down and had 15 total yards, including an illegal procedure penalty.

Although Julius Jones gained 118 yards and Matt LoVecchio threw for 171 yards, the offensive hero for the Irish was Getherall.

When his team needed a score, the 5-foot-8, 170-pound senior delivered. During a timeout, receivers coach Urban Meyer told Getherall, who already had two touchdowns, that they would run a “Z-reverse.”

“Coach Meyer looked at me and said, ‘You’re getting the ball,'” said Getherall, who had four catches for 116 yards and carried twice for 22 yards. “[Meyer said], ‘You better be ready.'”

He was. And thanks to the speedy Getherall, Notre Dame’s BCS hopes are still alive.

Looking back more than two decades later, this game serves as a reminder that not every memorable victory is a masterpiece. Sometimes the games that linger longest are the ones that nearly slipped away.

For much of the afternoon, Notre Dame appeared to have everything under control before Air Force delivered one of the most dramatic fourth-quarter rallies ever seen in Notre Dame Stadium. Fortunately for the Irish, Glenn Earl’s blocked field goal and Joey Getherall’s overtime touchdown ensured that the comeback would become little more than a frightening chapter rather than a devastating upset.

The victory kept Notre Dame’s season—and its BCS aspirations—alive, while adding another unforgettable finish to the long history of Irish football. It’s the kind of game that may not receive the same attention as Notre Dame’s biggest wins, but for those who watched it unfold, it’s a reminder that sometimes surviving is every bit as memorable as dominating.