American college football season
The1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented theUniversity of Notre Dame as anindependent during the1978 NCAA Division I-A football season . Led by fourth-year head coachDan Devine , the Fighting Irish compiled an overall record of 9–3. Notre Dame was invited to theCotton Bowl Classic , where the Irish beatHouston , 35–34, after quarterbackJoe Montana rallied the team from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The team played home games atNotre Dame Stadium inNotre Dame, Indiana .
The team was expected to be one of the top teams of the season. It was said that the team could be "awesome on offense" due to having eight returning starters including,Joe Montana , however, there were concerns about the team losing players due to graduations and injuries. The September 23 game against Michigan was cited as a possible pathway for Notre Dame to earn the #1 ranking.[ 1]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 9 1:30 p.m. Missouri No. 5 L 0–359,075 [ 2] September 23 11:50 a.m. No. 5Michigan No. 14 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) ABC L 14–2859,075 [ 3] September 30 1:30 p.m. Purdue Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 10–659,075 [ 4] October 7 1:30 p.m. atMichigan State W 29–2577,087 [ 5] October 14 12:40 p.m. No. 9Pittsburgh Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) ABC W 26–1759,075 [ 6] October 21 2:30 p.m. atAir Force No. 20 W 38–1535,425 [ 7] October 28 1:30 p.m. Miami (FL) No. 19 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 20–059,075 [ 8] November 4 1:50 p.m. vs. No. 11Navy No. 15 W 27–763,780 [ 9] November 11 1:30 p.m. Tennessee No. 14 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN W 31–1459,075 [ 10] November 18 1:30 p.m. at No. 20Georgia Tech No. 10 W 38–2154,526 [ 11] November 25 4:10 p.m. at No. 3USC No. 8 ABC L 25–2784,256 [ 12] January 1, 1979 2:00 p.m. vs. No. 9Houston No. 10 CBS W 35–3432,500 [ 13]
[ 14]
Game information First quarter
ND – Dennis Grindinger 6-yard pass fromJoe Montana (Joe Unis kick), 14:07.Notre Dame 7–0.Drive: Second quarter
MICH –Rick Leach 4-yard run (Gregg Willner kick).Tie 7–7.Drive: 59 yards. ND –Vagas Ferguson 4-yard run (Joe Unis kick).Notre Dame 14–7.Drive: Third quarter
MICH –Doug Marsh 5-yard pass from Leach (Willner kick).Tie 14–14.Drive: Fourth quarter
MICH – Marsh 17-yard pass from Leach (kick failed).Michigan 20–14.Drive: MICH –Ralph Clayton 40-yard pass from Leach (run failed).Michigan 26–14.Drive: MICH – Safety, Montana tackled byCurtis Greer in end zone.Michigan 28–14. Top passers Top rushers Top receivers
The Reunion Game - first meeting between the two schoolsin 35 years Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the game Team 1 2 3 4 Total #9 Pittsburgh 0 10 0 7 17 •Notre Dame 7 0 0 19 26
Scoring summary 1 ND Heavens 1-yard run (Unis kick) ND 7-0 2 PITT Trocano 3-yard run (Schubert kick) Tied 7-7 2 PITT Schubert 33-yard field goal PITT 10-7 4 PITT Trocano 3-yard run (Schubert kick) PITT 17-7 4 ND Haines 8-yard pass from Montana (pass failed) PITT 17-13 4 ND Montana 1-yard run (kick failed) ND 19-17 4 ND Ferguson 3-yard pass from Montana (Unis kick) ND 26-17
Notre Dame handed #9 Pittsburgh its first loss of the season.[ 15] Knute Rockne, All American George Gipp on the school's all-time rushing list. Heavens passed Gipp on his 24th carry but lost yardage on his 25th before moving past him for good on his 26th attempt. "I think the Gipper tackled me on that," Heavens said.[ 16]
TheCotton Bowl win overHouston on New Year's Day was Notre Dame's 600th victory.[ 17]
1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK Chuck Male PK Joe Unis
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) IneligibleRoster
^ Michigan, Notre Dame Test Crucial , retrievedMarch 13, 2023 ^ "Tigers too hot for Notre Dame" .Fort Worth Star-Telegram . September 10, 1978. RetrievedOctober 22, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ Tom Henderson (September 24, 1978)."Leach tosses 3 TDs in second half as U-M hammers Notre Dame, 28–14" .Detroit Free Press . pp. 1E, 4E. RetrievedOctober 22, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ "Irish need rally to stop Purdue" .Quad-City Times . October 1, 1978. RetrievedOctober 22, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Irish hold off Spartans, 29–25" .St. Louis Post-Dispatch . October 8, 1978. RetrievedOctober 22, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Irish overcome Pittsburgh" .The Montana Standard . October 15, 1978. RetrievedOctober 22, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Notre Dame stops Air Force, 38–15" .Dayton Daily News . October 22, 1978. RetrievedOctober 22, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Notre Dame, and magic, eat up Miami" .St. Petersburg Times . October 29, 1978. RetrievedOctober 22, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Notre Dame sinks Navy, 27–7" .The Plain Dealer . November 5, 1978. RetrievedOctober 22, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Irish display Sole" .The Indianapolis Star . November 12, 1978. RetrievedOctober 22, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ " .Quad-City Times . November 19, 1978. RetrievedJuly 25, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Jordan provides punch for Irish wake" .Ventura County Star & Free Press . November 26, 1978. RetrievedJuly 25, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Joe says it's so, so, it's Joe, 35–34" .The Indianapolis Star . January 2, 1979. RetrievedOctober 20, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedOctober 21, 2024 .^ Axelrod, Phil (October 16, 1978)."Hot Montana outduels Tracano" .Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . p. 16. ^ "Irish stir the echoes with 26-7 win over Pitt." Eugene Register-Guard. p. 18. 1978 Oct 15. ^ "2010 Notre Dame football media guide" (PDF) . Archived fromthe original (PDF) on December 22, 2015. RetrievedApril 18, 2012 .
Venues Bowls andrivalries Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
