Tony Rice

These incoming freshmen were also the first to be bound by the NCAA rules of Proposition 48, which stated that in order to participate during their freshman year, athletes must be a high school graduate; have a high school grade point average of 2.0 in an 11-course core curriculum; and have scored 700 (out of a possible 1600) on the SAT or 17 (out of a possible 36) on the ACT.

If they failed to meet those standards, the athlete would not be allowed to play or practice with a college team their freshman year.

The Irish finished the season 8-4 and earned a berth to the Cotton Bowl Classic, where they lost 35-10 to 13th-ranked Texas A&M in a game where Rice played only sparingly.

The team went a perfect 12-0 en route to an NCAA-record eighth AP National Championship since the poll began in 1936.

The season featured wins over top-ranked opponents including Michigan, USC, and Miami in addition to featuring several future NFL players Raghib Ismail, Ricky Watters, Chris Zorich, Derek Brown, Todd Lyght, Pat Terrell, Tony Brooks, Anthony Johnson, Andy Heck, Tim Grunhard and Rodney Culver.

Tony Rice (born September 5, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and World League of American Football (WLAF).

Despite the loss, the team showed dramatic improvement and finished the year ranked #17 — the team's first Top-25 finish since 1980.

Rice was a perfect fit for Holtz's ball control, run-oriented offense.

Despite standing only 6'1" 200 lbs., he had great speed (4.48 40 yard dash time) for a quarterback, and tremendous strength, which made him an incredibly difficult player to contain. For the year he finished with over 1,000 yards of total offense and 8 total touchdowns (663 yards, 1 touchdown passing and 337 yards, 7 touchdowns rushing).

Rice entered the University of Notre Dame in 1986 and was the crown jewel in Holtz's first recruiting class.

Because Rice failed to meet the required 700 on his SAT (he scored a 690), he was forced to sit out the entire 1986 season.

Even with future NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein leading the offense, the team struggled to a 5-6 record.

In 1987, Tony Rice became the starting quarterback for Notre Dame following an injury to Terry Andrysiak.

Rice's first encounter with USC was his second start of his career on October 24, 1987 as Notre Dame defeated the ranked USC Trojans (8-4) 26-15.

Rice had a 26-yard touchdown run that gave the Irish a 10-7 lead with 2:55 left in the first half.

He finished with 9 rushes for 56 yards and completed 3-of-7 passes for 47 yards.

Notre Dame defeated No. 10 Alabama 37-6, on November 14, 1987, as Rice directed an option offense that gained 352 yards on the ground which offset the effort of the Crimson Tide's star running back Bobby Humphrey—who gained 94 yards on 14 rushes himself.

With the score tied at 3-3 after the first quarter, Rice had a 12-yard touchdown run and a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Andy Heck in the second quarter.

Notre Dame led 20-6 at the half.

Irish running backs' Mark Green and Ricky Watters ended the game with 74 and 75-yard touchdown runs respectively to complete the rout.

Rice wound up completing 5 of 8 passes for 117 yards while rushing 9 times for 30 yards.

Rice is perhaps best remembered as the dynamic option quarterback of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish's 1988 national championship team under coach Lou Holtz.

In 1988, Notre Dame claimed its first National Championship in 11 years.

In all, 15 players from the 1988 team played in the NFL.

No. 4 Notre Dame met No. 1 Miami in South Bend, Indiana on October 15, 1988.

The Irish held a 31-21 lead in the third quarter, but the Hurricanes rallied to within 31-30 on a touchdown with 45 seconds left in the game.

The Canes attempted the two-point conversion and failed to convert as Notre Dame's safety Pat Terrell batted down the ball.

The loss snapped a 36-game, regular season winning streak for the Miami Hurricanes.

Rice, who opened up the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, completed 8 of 16 passes for 195 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown pass to running back Braxston Banks in the second quarter.

No. 1 Notre Dame ran its record to a perfect 10-0 by defeating Penn State, 21-3, at home on November 19, 1988.

Rice completed the longest pass play of his career—a 67 yarder to flanker Raghib Ismail for a touchdown.

Rice went 10-of-18 passing for 181 yards while rushing 15 times for a game-high 84 yards and a touchdown.

A week later, #1 Notre Dame visited #2 USC at the L.A. Coliseum.

The USC team led by All-American and future Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner Rodney Peete was 10-0 and a formidable team.

Entering the game Peete was leading the nation in passing and was a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy.

Notre Dame played without its leading pass catcher Ricky Watters, and leading rusher Tony Brooks, both of whom were suspended for arriving late to team meetings.

Tony Rice had a spectacular day, including a 65-yard touchdown run on the Irish's first drive.

Rice played professional football for three seasons for the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Barcelona Dragons of the World League from 1990 to 1992.

He also played for Munich Thunder in the Football League of Europe in 1994.

While growing up in Woodruff, South Carolina, Rice played football at Woodruff High School under Coach Willie Varner.