Ohio State Ducking Irish, Says Krause

NEW ORLEANS -- Notre Dame, a 24-23 winner over No. 1 Alabama, has hurled a challenge to all comers. The gauntlet was tossed Wednesday at the feet of Woody Hayes and his powerhouse at Ohio State, a 42-21 winner over USC in the Rose Bowl. "We would like to play Woody," said Edward (Moose) Krause, Notre Dame athletic director. "We have begged to get Ohio State back on the schedule. They keep ducking us." Notre Date upset Ohio State, 18-13, in 1935, and won, 7-2, in 1936 and hasn't faced the Buckeyes since.

"I get disturbed when people criticize our schedule," Krause said. "We would prefer it if every team on our schedule was unbeaten and untied when we played them." Krause repeated a point every athletic director knows -- that football schedules are made in advance and that there is no way of knowing how they will turn out. "For example," he said, "when we made our 1973 schedule eight years ago Michigan State had beaten us four times, we were 3-8 against Navy and 2-8 in our last series of games against Purdue. USC, whom we had beaten in six of our last eight games, looked like the weakest of the lot."

[source: ap]