Kevin McDougal - All The Did Was Win
I never really bought into the whole Ron Powlus hype. Yeah, I wanted it to be true (much like the Jimmy Clausen hype), but a pessimist is an optimist with experience. It didn't take long to figure out it wasn't happening with Powlus. What was worse was looking at four years of him. You knew once he was in there that he was one of those players, good but not great, that freezes you into inaction. You just can't seem to get him out of there because he's good; it's just that you KNOW you need more. Argh!!! That knot of frustration, that was Ron Powlus at Notre Dame.
This sounds strange, but we were lucky Powlus got hurt in 1993. His injury paved the way for one of the best single season performances I've ever seen. Kevin McDougal was obviously not a stud athlete but the guy had "IT." All he did was win. It was beautiful to watch.
As I sat in the endzone seats, 1993, ND vs Boston College, 4th down, ND down by 6, I saw McDougal come into the huddle and call the play. I remember saying to myself, "I wonder if he can do it." Thirty seconds later, under a heavy rush, he did it. He threw a laser right to a very well covered Lake Dawson. Only a perfect throw could get there. It was there. It was very typical of him. The resulting heartbreak a few minutes later came on the shoulders of the defense (Remember Pete Bercich dropping a sure interception?), not his arm.
You usually don't win without a QB and while McDougal may have never seen the field had not another player been injured, he sure as hell made the most of his moment in the sun. For that alone, not even counting all the victories he engineered on the field, he will forever be a success in my eyes.
So what's he doing now? I saw this -
Kevin McDougal, Notre Dame quarterback
Name: Kevin McDougal
Age: 33
Residence: Pompano Beach, Fla.
Claim to fame: Quarterbacked the 1993 Notre Dame team that finished the year second to Florida State in both major polls. Earned the starting job only after a broken collarbone knocked the more-heralded Ron Powlus out for the season. Engineered a memorable 31-24 victory over top-ranked Florida State. Led Notre Dame back from a 21-point, fourth-quarter deficit against Boston College the following week before David Gordon's 41-yard field goal as time expired gave the Eagles a 41-39 triumph. Owns school records for career passing efficiency (154.4) and career completion percentage (.622).
How often he's reminded of the 1993 season: "I still hear about it, maybe because I'm actually from here. Probably if I was living in another state, I wouldn't get it as much. When you come back to where you grew up, you get people who remember the hard times I had at Notre Dame, that I wasn't supposed to start and that Ron Powlus was supposed to be the big guy, and then to finally get that chance. People remember it a lot because of the success we had that year. To think that year, I almost didn't play, I wasn't supposed to play. That's what's intriguing to everyone."
Memories of the 1993 season: "Obviously I felt I had talent and could have been playing a lot earlier, but Rick Mirer was there. Of all the games I went in after Rick Mirer, we didn't score maybe twice in three years, so I'd had a lot of success. It was shocking to me (when Powlus won the job) and just a situation where I thought I was going to start and didn't get the chance. I still felt I should have been starting regardless of what happened. Coach (Lou) Holtz had his reasons why he thought Powlus should have started. I don't know what he saw, but he made that choice. I would have to live with it.
"It's a whole different story now because everyone got to see what I can do in an entire season. The whole story's intriguing because we had so much success and we beat supposedly the No. 1 team of all time – that Florida State team. When I left the field, we were in the lead against Boston College. We set all these records for points and stuff at Notre Dame. It's just amazing that I wasn't going to play that year.
"(Holtz) really didn't say anything (after Powlus got injured). I think he was kind of hurt that Ron Powlus had gotten hurt. Obviously I knew he was upset and hurt because he'd already chosen (Powlus) to be the starter. He really didn't say anything. Everything happened so fast. It was like the last scrimmage or next-to-last scrimmage. It was time to play. It happened so close to the season.
"I don't know about everybody else, but I realized (Notre Dame could contend for a national title) my freshman year. People don't realize we had the No. 1 recruiting class my freshman year. When I came in and saw all the talent with Jeff Burris, Tommy Carter, Bryant Young, Jerome Bettis (who turned pro after the 1992 season and wasn't a part of the 1993 team), those were all guys who made that recruiting class. When we were playing (as reserves before the 1993 season), our second team would go in and still score on teams. Coach Holtz would have to take the second team out in order to stop the scoring. I always thought a national championship was definitely in our reach. Once (Powlus) got hurt and I got my chance to start, I thought in my eyes there was no doubt we'd win the national title. I think we should have. Even with the loss, we should have shared it.
"The atmosphere on campus was exciting (before the Florida State game). Everybody was excited because everyone felt we could win. … Coach Holtz was a coach who really didn't like to blow people out. We were one team that never ran up the score to like 80 points, which we could have done on a couple of teams. We'd always put our second- and third-stringers in and not blow teams out. In that (Florida State) game … I think we pretty much dominated the game. I think we could have played even better. We were the ones that laid off to let them back in the game. We stopped throwing the ball and doing some of the things they couldn't stop us on.
"There was a lot of excitement. I was especially proud of our team because no one really gave us a shot early because Ron Powlus got hurt and stuff like that. For our team not to give up and keep believing in me, for me it was the best feeling in the world. Obviously that translated to winning. We were on the brink of another national championship. It was a feeling that we felt we should have won maybe (three) years before in the Orange Bowl, but it didn't happen. We were back to almost winning one. Everyone was very excited.
"(The Boston College game) was a situation where we had some key players hurt who still tried to play. (Star cornerback) Bobby Taylor was hurt and could barely run and still played, so the receivers got some catches they normally wouldn't catch. Give credit to Boston College. They played a great game. They might have played the best game of their lives. I remember their tight end (Pete Mitchell) caught (13) passes, and about 10 of them were for first downs. (Boston College quarterback) Glenn Foley was having a tremendous game. He made some throws where our defensive backs were all over the receiver, and he put it in a place where only the receiver could have gotten it. It's tough when a team like that is on its game. All of that had an effect on why it was a tough game and why it turned into a loss.
"The one thing about Coach Holtz is he never, ever, ever lets you believe you're going to lose. He doesn't care how much you're down. It's something I can't even explain to you. I don't know the feeling around there now, but when (Holtz) was there, all the top recruits came because he was such a motivator. We kept great athletes who stayed around and were in third-string roles. You have to be a good motivator to get people to see your vision in order to do that. We never felt we would lose a game.
"(The loss to Boston College) didn't hurt as bad as you would have thought because still in the back of our mind, we thought we'd play Florida State. We'd knocked them back down to No. 2. We felt (the pollsters) would knock us back to No. 2 simply because we'd beaten Florida State. They had to have known we were the top two teams in the country. We still felt we'd play them (in a bowl), but it didn't happen. To tell you the truth, even after the Cotton Bowl (a 24-21 victory over Texas A&M), we went to bed knowing we'd share the national title with them. We really felt that. The shock came the next morning when we were all flying back home and heard on the radio that we'd finished second. It hurt. You just wanted to play Boston College again, play Florida State again to show people.
"After working that hard throughout the year and losing that game, it was hard. We felt if we played (Boston College) 10 more times, we would have won. The stars were aligned for them. They played a great game to beat us.''
Pro career: McDougal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams in 1994, but he didn't make the team. He played for the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football in 1995, then spent two seasons with the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played Arena Football with the Milwaukee Mustangs from 1998-2000 and joined the XFL's Chicago Enforcers in 2001.
What he's doing now: "I'm doing real estate in the South Florida area – investing. I've been doing that for about 10 years now. My degree is in business. I (majored) in business management, so naturally I just came back and saved my money and started buying up property. Over the years, I started seeing how much money you were making in it, and I got heavily into it then. Florida was a hot spot.
"I'm a big golfer, so Florida's the perfect place for me. I play a lot of golf, so I'm in the perfect area. I played (golf) in high school. Right now I'm about a 3-handicap.''
This sounds strange, but we were lucky Powlus got hurt in 1993. His injury paved the way for one of the best single season performances I've ever seen. Kevin McDougal was obviously not a stud athlete but the guy had "IT." All he did was win. It was beautiful to watch.
As I sat in the endzone seats, 1993, ND vs Boston College, 4th down, ND down by 6, I saw McDougal come into the huddle and call the play. I remember saying to myself, "I wonder if he can do it." Thirty seconds later, under a heavy rush, he did it. He threw a laser right to a very well covered Lake Dawson. Only a perfect throw could get there. It was there. It was very typical of him. The resulting heartbreak a few minutes later came on the shoulders of the defense (Remember Pete Bercich dropping a sure interception?), not his arm.
You usually don't win without a QB and while McDougal may have never seen the field had not another player been injured, he sure as hell made the most of his moment in the sun. For that alone, not even counting all the victories he engineered on the field, he will forever be a success in my eyes.
So what's he doing now? I saw this -
Kevin McDougal, Notre Dame quarterback
Name: Kevin McDougal
Age: 33
Residence: Pompano Beach, Fla.
Claim to fame: Quarterbacked the 1993 Notre Dame team that finished the year second to Florida State in both major polls. Earned the starting job only after a broken collarbone knocked the more-heralded Ron Powlus out for the season. Engineered a memorable 31-24 victory over top-ranked Florida State. Led Notre Dame back from a 21-point, fourth-quarter deficit against Boston College the following week before David Gordon's 41-yard field goal as time expired gave the Eagles a 41-39 triumph. Owns school records for career passing efficiency (154.4) and career completion percentage (.622).
How often he's reminded of the 1993 season: "I still hear about it, maybe because I'm actually from here. Probably if I was living in another state, I wouldn't get it as much. When you come back to where you grew up, you get people who remember the hard times I had at Notre Dame, that I wasn't supposed to start and that Ron Powlus was supposed to be the big guy, and then to finally get that chance. People remember it a lot because of the success we had that year. To think that year, I almost didn't play, I wasn't supposed to play. That's what's intriguing to everyone."
Memories of the 1993 season: "Obviously I felt I had talent and could have been playing a lot earlier, but Rick Mirer was there. Of all the games I went in after Rick Mirer, we didn't score maybe twice in three years, so I'd had a lot of success. It was shocking to me (when Powlus won the job) and just a situation where I thought I was going to start and didn't get the chance. I still felt I should have been starting regardless of what happened. Coach (Lou) Holtz had his reasons why he thought Powlus should have started. I don't know what he saw, but he made that choice. I would have to live with it.
"It's a whole different story now because everyone got to see what I can do in an entire season. The whole story's intriguing because we had so much success and we beat supposedly the No. 1 team of all time – that Florida State team. When I left the field, we were in the lead against Boston College. We set all these records for points and stuff at Notre Dame. It's just amazing that I wasn't going to play that year.
"(Holtz) really didn't say anything (after Powlus got injured). I think he was kind of hurt that Ron Powlus had gotten hurt. Obviously I knew he was upset and hurt because he'd already chosen (Powlus) to be the starter. He really didn't say anything. Everything happened so fast. It was like the last scrimmage or next-to-last scrimmage. It was time to play. It happened so close to the season.
"I don't know about everybody else, but I realized (Notre Dame could contend for a national title) my freshman year. People don't realize we had the No. 1 recruiting class my freshman year. When I came in and saw all the talent with Jeff Burris, Tommy Carter, Bryant Young, Jerome Bettis (who turned pro after the 1992 season and wasn't a part of the 1993 team), those were all guys who made that recruiting class. When we were playing (as reserves before the 1993 season), our second team would go in and still score on teams. Coach Holtz would have to take the second team out in order to stop the scoring. I always thought a national championship was definitely in our reach. Once (Powlus) got hurt and I got my chance to start, I thought in my eyes there was no doubt we'd win the national title. I think we should have. Even with the loss, we should have shared it.
"The atmosphere on campus was exciting (before the Florida State game). Everybody was excited because everyone felt we could win. … Coach Holtz was a coach who really didn't like to blow people out. We were one team that never ran up the score to like 80 points, which we could have done on a couple of teams. We'd always put our second- and third-stringers in and not blow teams out. In that (Florida State) game … I think we pretty much dominated the game. I think we could have played even better. We were the ones that laid off to let them back in the game. We stopped throwing the ball and doing some of the things they couldn't stop us on.
"There was a lot of excitement. I was especially proud of our team because no one really gave us a shot early because Ron Powlus got hurt and stuff like that. For our team not to give up and keep believing in me, for me it was the best feeling in the world. Obviously that translated to winning. We were on the brink of another national championship. It was a feeling that we felt we should have won maybe (three) years before in the Orange Bowl, but it didn't happen. We were back to almost winning one. Everyone was very excited.
"(The Boston College game) was a situation where we had some key players hurt who still tried to play. (Star cornerback) Bobby Taylor was hurt and could barely run and still played, so the receivers got some catches they normally wouldn't catch. Give credit to Boston College. They played a great game. They might have played the best game of their lives. I remember their tight end (Pete Mitchell) caught (13) passes, and about 10 of them were for first downs. (Boston College quarterback) Glenn Foley was having a tremendous game. He made some throws where our defensive backs were all over the receiver, and he put it in a place where only the receiver could have gotten it. It's tough when a team like that is on its game. All of that had an effect on why it was a tough game and why it turned into a loss.
"The one thing about Coach Holtz is he never, ever, ever lets you believe you're going to lose. He doesn't care how much you're down. It's something I can't even explain to you. I don't know the feeling around there now, but when (Holtz) was there, all the top recruits came because he was such a motivator. We kept great athletes who stayed around and were in third-string roles. You have to be a good motivator to get people to see your vision in order to do that. We never felt we would lose a game.
"(The loss to Boston College) didn't hurt as bad as you would have thought because still in the back of our mind, we thought we'd play Florida State. We'd knocked them back down to No. 2. We felt (the pollsters) would knock us back to No. 2 simply because we'd beaten Florida State. They had to have known we were the top two teams in the country. We still felt we'd play them (in a bowl), but it didn't happen. To tell you the truth, even after the Cotton Bowl (a 24-21 victory over Texas A&M), we went to bed knowing we'd share the national title with them. We really felt that. The shock came the next morning when we were all flying back home and heard on the radio that we'd finished second. It hurt. You just wanted to play Boston College again, play Florida State again to show people.
"After working that hard throughout the year and losing that game, it was hard. We felt if we played (Boston College) 10 more times, we would have won. The stars were aligned for them. They played a great game to beat us.''
Pro career: McDougal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams in 1994, but he didn't make the team. He played for the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football in 1995, then spent two seasons with the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played Arena Football with the Milwaukee Mustangs from 1998-2000 and joined the XFL's Chicago Enforcers in 2001.
What he's doing now: "I'm doing real estate in the South Florida area – investing. I've been doing that for about 10 years now. My degree is in business. I (majored) in business management, so naturally I just came back and saved my money and started buying up property. Over the years, I started seeing how much money you were making in it, and I got heavily into it then. Florida was a hot spot.
"I'm a big golfer, so Florida's the perfect place for me. I play a lot of golf, so I'm in the perfect area. I played (golf) in high school. Right now I'm about a 3-handicap.''
posted by Rocket at 3:27 PM
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