....the first two times he touched the ball for the Irish. They were also extremely well blocked, and Best blew us away with his incredible speed.

Art Best's two td runs (as a Frosh) were on his 1st & 4th carries of his career

56 yds vs Pitt
57 yds vs TCU

the two runs in between his td runs were both for 0 (no gain) yds

56, 0, 0, 57

somewhat like Art's overall up (way up) and down career:

after a great yr as a soph in '73 = 700 yds rushing on National Champs

Art broke his jaw in the opener vs GT as a junior in '74 & missed part of the season = 241 yds rushing

(a major disappointment after running for 117 yds in the Blue Gold spring game- a big season was expected...especially after Eric Penick had broken his leg/ankle that spring & also missed most of the '74 season)


Art was moved to fullback in the spring of '75 (to replace graduated FB Wayne Bullock) by new Coach Dan Devine..he ran for 112 yds in 18 carries in the Blue Gold game...but was booted out of school soon afterwards

Best transferred to Kent St & ran for 1,000 yds (as a Fullback) before a brief NFL career...IIRC (and I may be wrong) Best was the 1st Kent St back to ever gain a 1,000 yds in a season

a PS

Art's first game in an ND uniform was rushing for 83 yds in a ND JV win over the Michigan JV (17-7) as a Frosh in '72...with Art receiving a promotion to the varsity after that 1 JV game.

Jumping out of a window in Le Mans Hall to avoid a significant parietals violation the week of the '73 SC game , if my fuzzy memory serves me correctly.

I remember it well. The talent level was incredible and I had no doubt we would win another national championship that fall. Things sure went to shit quickly that summer though. The team that finally took the field in September was a shadow of the one that wowed us in April.

upper floor in McCandless at SMC. He was supposedly a party guy and broke the rules a lot. If you brought too much attention to the fact that you broke the rules you would get in trouble. If you had injuries on top of that, they you were sunk.

"The #NDTop10 looks back at the longest - and most well-blocked - touchdown runs in Notre Dame football history."

blocked. There were some long ones that were mediocre runs that were well-blocked but not exceptionally well-blocked (Adams and Dexter). And there were some unremarkably blocked runs that were great runs (Gray). And there was a big run on a draw play (Brooks).

Meanwhile, the longest run in school history, which was well-blocked, of Adams in 2015 against Wake wasn't on this list.

Bettis's first run was better blocked than any of those above. As was Ricky Watters' long TD run against Tenn, or Julius Jones's long TD against Pitt--both of which were also impressively athletic and/or strong runs. That's just off the top of my head. Cierre Wood's long TD run against OU in '12 was better blocked than the Kelly-era runs on this list. There was actually a linebacker in position that was blocked to break the run.

The lists generally have a formula. A couple of fan favorites to give the list credibility. One old ass play to make it look like the list was comprehensive. And then sprinkling in random Kelly-era plays that probably don't belong there.

I would guess they have made a deliberate decision not to use Cierre Wood's highlights. Given the whole child murdering thing.

But what's the issue with the Brooks run? A draw can be well blocked.

But the draw took two edge rushers entirely off of the play, one of which was unblocked. That left four interior guys to block 3 men at the LOS and two of them were still heading up field expecting pass (one of them after an OL whiff). It was a big play because the draw action opened up huge space.

Then, yes, the O line still needed to open it up. They got two pancakes (critically, on the LB). But I'd put the Bettis and Rocket plays on there ahead of this if the gauge is great line blocking that springs a long TD run. Those lines blew up the middle of the defenses.

And I'd say the draw was better blocking than the Adams or Dexter runs, both of which were perfectly fine blocking jobs. Just not particularly remarkable.

Dexter's TD over Penick's?

A new level of stupid coming from ND.

That run was my favorite moment watching ND football

...That TD is still vividly imprinted as a little brain video, Penick running almost right towards us in the left end of the soph section.

than Dexter's, if you're judging the run. Yet, Gray's run wasn't on the toughest run list that came earlier, despite breaking several tackles and then bolting by people--meanwhile, there were runs that didn't have a broken tackle on that previous list. And here, it really wasn't remarkable blocking. People weren't getting smushed. The play was poorly defended at the line of scrimmage, Gray broke several tackles, and then he got a nice downfield block and ran by everyone


Josh Adams's 2015 Wake Forest run, wasn't on this list, even though it's the longest TD in school history. And it was an impressive run. So the blocking seems to be the purported focus of this list.

in that one.

I was at the game at Heinz, sitting upper deck in the endzone he was running towards. Even from that distance, it was clear to see the play developing into a flaccid stretch run that would get squeezed to the line for a minimal gain. And then Jonas cut and slammed the damn NOS button like he was Vin Diesel. Watching him rip down the line towards us was incredible.

What a waste that 2011 campaign was.

think he ever showed again. Unreal.

Holy shit

A four-yard carry for first down on 3rd and 3.

as a long reliever.