Chicken Soup Game

The Chicken Soup Game was the name given to the 1979 Cotton Bowl. The college football bowl game featured the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the University of Houston Cougars. Notre Dame scored in the last moments of the game and defeated Houston by a score of 35-34. Held in Dallas, Texas on January 1, 1979, the game took place during an ice storm. It was the final college game for Joe Montana, the starting quarterback for Notre Dame (ND).

The game

In the first quarter, Notre Dame took a scored the first 12 points of the game. The quarter ended with Notre Dame ahead 12-0. In the second quarter, aided by the direction of the wind, Houston responded with 20 consecutive points. When the teams returned to the field to start the second half, Joe Montana remained in the locker room.

During the game, Montana's body temperature had dipped to 96 degrees and had to fight off hypothermia. Forced into the locker room, the ND medical staff warmed Montana by feeding him chicken bouillon and by covering him with warm blankets.

By the fourth quarter, Houston had built a 34-12 lead over Notre Dame. Montana returned to the field with 7:37 remaining on the game clock and was cheered actively by the Notre Dame fans. In the last seconds of the game, Notre Dame was behind, but had possession of the ball. With six seconds left, Montana threw the ball out of bounds, which stopped the game clock and just two seconds remained.

With six seconds left, the Irish were down by six points. "I told Joe to run a 91, a quick out," Devine says, "and if it wasn't there, to throw it away. Kris Haines, our wideout, slipped, and Joe threw it away. Now there were two seconds left. I turned my back on the field. That meant Joe could call his own play. He called the 91 again, the noseguard came through, Haines broke to the flag, and with the noseguard staring him in the face Joe threw a perfect pass, low and outside, a bullet -- under all that pressure, with terrible conditions. He was so calm. I swear to God he was no different than he would have been in practice." Final score, 35-34, and six months later Notre Dame was marketing a promotional film called Seven and a Half Minutes to Destiny, "which," Devine says, "was really a Joe Montana film."

Aftermath

The game is one of the most notable games in Montana's entire football career (both collegiate and professional). It was his final game for Notre Dame and helped to reinforce his image with football fans as "The Comeback Kid." Six-months after the game, Notre Dame put out a promotional film called Seven and a Half Minutes to Destiny. Dan Devine, Notre Dame's then head coach, called the movie a "Joe Montana film."

Years later, the game has been recognized as an important game bowl game history. As such, ESPN.com named the game the third greatest bowl game of all-time.

External links

• Irishlegends.com - Review of the game