November 8, 1975: Notre Dame beats Georgia Tech 24-3, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. By the Fighting Irish's standards, it was an unremarkable game in an unremarkable season, going 8-3 with no invitation to a bowl game, and with the 2 guys who would become their biggest stars, quarterback Joe Montana and linebacker Bob Golic, both being freshmen and backups.
But in this last home game for several seniors, head coach Dan Devine, who took over this season from the retiring Ara Parseghian, decided -- on his own, not persuaded to do so like the movie said -- to have defensive end Daniel Eugene "Rudy" Ruettiger, who hadn't played a down in 4 years and wouldn't get another chance, dress in his Number 45 uniform for the game.
Devine sends Ruettiger in for Notre Dame's final defensive series, and he is in for 3 plays: A kickoff, an incomplete pass by Tech quarterback Rudy Allen (whose name actually was Rudolph), and a sack of Allen by Ruettiger.
And thus did the story of the 1993 film Rudy, starring Sean Astin, end. At least they got that part right. It's not the most ridiculous movie ever made about Notre Dame football, but it is about the school's most ridiculous player.
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November 8, 1975 was a Saturday. The baseball season was over. The NFL played the next day. But, in addition to Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech, these notable college games were played:
* Number 1 Oklahoma were upset by Kansas, 23-3 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma. This ended a 28-game winning streak for the Sooners, and a 37-game unbeaten streak. They won the Big Eight Conference title anyway.
* Number 2 Ohio State beat Illinois, 40-3 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. The Buckeyes moved up to Number 1, and won the Big Ten title.
* Number 5 Alabama beat Louisiana State, 23-10 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Crimson Tide won the Southeastern Conference.
* Number 8 Penn State lost to North Carolina State, 15-14 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. N.C. State was then coached by Lou Holtz in his 1st big head coaching job. Penn State was still invited to the Sugar Bowl, where they were beaten by Alabama.
* UCLA, then unranked, beat Oregon, 50-17 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. They won the league then known as the Pac-8, and then, in the last game coached at that school with Dick Vermeil as head coach, beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. They ended the season ranked Number 5.
* Arkansas, then unranked, beat Rice, 20-16 at Rice Stadium in Houston. They went on to win the Southwest Conference and the Cotton Bowl, finishing ranked Number 6.
* Rutgers beat Lafayette, 48-6 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. The Scarlet Knights finished 9-2, but were not invited to a bowl game.
There were 6 games played in the NBA that day:
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Bullets, 99-95 in double overtime, at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Buffalo Braves beat the Phoenix Suns, 110-105 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Bob McAdoo scored 37 points.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 107-94 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 116-112. It is the 1st game ever played at their new arena, The Summit. It will be their home until the Toyota Center opens in 2003, including back-to-back NBA Championships in 1994 and 1995. The Summit was renovated, and became the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, run by televangelist Joel Osteen.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 118-104 at Cobo Hall in Detroit. (It's now named the TCF Center.)
* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 114-106 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
There were 2 games played in the American Basketball Association, which had recently begun its 9th and, as it turned out, last season:
* The Denver Nuggets beat the New York Nets, 128-121 at the new McNichols Arena in Denver. Julius "Dr. J" Erving scored 35 in a losing effort. This turned out to be a preview of the last ABA Finals, which the Nets won.
* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the San Diego Sails, 99-76 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.
There were 6 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* The New York Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-0 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-5 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 3-3 at the Checkerdome in St. Louis. (The St. Louis Arena had that name from 1973 to 1980, while St. Louis-based Ralston Purina, with its Checkerboard Square logo, owned the Blues.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
And there were 4 games played in the World Hockey Association:
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Indianapolis Racers, 3-2 in overtime at the Colisee de Quebec.
* The Phoenix Roadrunners beat the New England Whalers, 3-2 at the Hartford Civic Center. (It's now named the XL Center.)
* The Cincinnati Stingers beat the San Diego Mariners, 7-4 at the new Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. (It's now named the Heritage Bank Center.)
* And the Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Toronto Toros, 4-3 at the St. Paul Civic Center.