ND's Covington Stops Two-Point Attempt, Army Rallies As Irish Nip Cadets, 28-27

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.--Autry Denson and Marc Edwards each had two touchdowns as No. 17 Notre Dame survived a late Army rally in a 28-27 victory.

Trailing 28-21, Army recovered a fumble on a sneak by quarterback Ron Powlus on a fourth-and-one play at the Notre Dame 42 with 2:33 remaining in the game. They proceded to score on a seven-yard pass from Ronnie McAda to Leon Gantt with 39 seconds left.

On the two-point conversion attempt to win the game, McAda rolled out right and hit tight end Ron Leshinski on the 1-yard line, but he was hit immediately and stopped by cornerback Ivory Covington.

"We were in a cover-two and I saw the wing and then the tight end come into the flat," said Covington. "The quarterback released the ball and I broke in on it. I just stayed low. The coach always tells us that the low man wins."

"I didn't want to give Army the ball back," said Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz on the Powlus fumble. "I'm screaming, 'let the clock run.' The problem was I had a headset on that was on the wrong switch. Somehow the switch was on defense, not offense. I wanted to call timeout, run the clock down and think about it. I was shocked when the ball was snapped."

Denson and Edwards each had two-yard touchdown runs in the first quarter to build a 14-7 Irish lead. Denson added another two-yard scamper with 1:45 left in the second quarter for a 21-7 halftime advantage. Denson gained a career-high 111 yards on 23 carries.

Edwards scored his second touchdown two minutes into the third period when he was on the receiving end of a screen pass from Powlus that turned into a 46-yard score. John Conroy answered with a five-yard scoring run 5:20 later to cut into the lead.

"Great game, both teams played real hard," Army head coach Bob Sutton said. "In the second half we executed real well. Notre Dame never really stopped us in the first half, we stopped ourselves. Notre Dame is a very good offensive team. We didn't tackle well in the first half. In the second half we executed well. The defense came up with a great game."

Conroy scored again on a three-yard dive with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter to narrow the deficit to 28-21. The touchdown was set up by an interception of Powlus at the Irish 33-yard line. Conroy carried the ball 36 times on the day for 104 yards.

"We knew this was not going to be an easy game," Covington said. "They're a great team and they never quit."

"They did some things we were not ready for on defense," Holtz said. "We didn't gain control of the line of scrimmage. We normally do that. Army deserved a better fate. I can't remember the last time a team dominated us like that. The big play killed us just like it's done all year."

Notre Dame (5-2) has won the last 11 meetings over Army (1-3-1). It was the first game between the schools in 10 years and the most points scored by the Cadets since its last win in the series in 1958.

McAda and Leshinski hooked up for Army's first touchdown in the first quarter, a 1-yard toss.

At Giants Stadium
October 14, 1995
Attendance: 74,218
Notre Dame (17)       14  7  7  0 - 28
Army                   7  0  7 13 - 27
ND--A. Denson 2 run (Kopka kick)
ARMY--Leshinski 1 pass from McAda 
(Parker kick)
ND--Edwards 2 run (Kopka kick)
ND--A. Denson 2 run (Kopka kick)
ND--Edwards 46 pass from Powlus 
(Kopka kick)
ARMY--Conroy 5 run (Parker kick)
ARMY--Conroy 3 run (Parker kick)
ARMY--Gantt 7 pass from McAda 
(two-point conversion failed)

                        ND        ARMY
First downs             17          26
Rushes-yards        38-166      73-365
Passing yards          189          42
Sacked-yards lost      0-0         1-2
Return yards           145          84
Comp.-Att.-Int.     8-19-1      6-11-0
Punts               3-38.0      4-52.0
Fumbles-lost           2-2         1-1
Penalties-yards       3-39        4-30
Time of possession   23:10       36:50

RUSHING:
Notre Dame-A. Denson 23-111, Edwards 10-44, 
Powlus 4-10, Spencer 1-1.
Army-Thomas 15-157, Conroy 31-104, 
McAda 17-77, Perry 2-9, Short 1-7, 
Young 2-6, Hodge 1-4, Brizik 1-3, 
Carpenter 3-minus 2.
PASSING:
Notre Dame-Powlus 8-19-1-189.
Army-McAda 5-9-0-42, A. Thompson 1-2-0-0.
RECEIVING:
Notre Dame-Chryplewicz 3-40, Mayes 2-78,
Edwards 1-46, Mosley 1-13, A. Denson 1-12.
Army-Thomas 2-10, Leshinski 2-1, 
Short 1-24, Gantt 1-7.