Jump to content
Search

1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Cotton Bowl champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 35–34 vs. Houston
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 6
APNo. 7
Record9–3
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMerv Johnson (4th season)
Offensive schemePro set
Base defense4-3
MVPJoe Montana
Captains
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
Seasons
← 1977
1979 →
1978 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 4 Penn State – – 11–1–0
North Texas State – – 9–2–0
East Carolina – – 9–3–0
Navy – – 9–3–0
No. 7 Notre Dame – – 9–3–0
Rutgers – – 9–3–0
Florida State – – 8–3–0
Tennessee State – – 8–3–0
Temple – – 7–3–1
Pittsburgh – – 8–4–0
Holy Cross – – 7–4–0
Louisville – – 7–4–0
UNLV – – 7–4–0
Southern Miss – – 7–4–0
Northeast Louisiana – – 6–4–1
Georgia Tech – – 7–5–0
Hawaii – – 6–5–0
Miami (FL) – – 6–5–0
South Carolina – – 5–5–1
William & Mary – – 5–5–1
Cincinnati – – 5–6–0
Villanova – – 5–6–0
Army – – 4–6–1
Memphis State – – 4–7–0
Tulane – – 4–7–0
Virginia Tech – – 4–7–0
Air Force – – 3–8–0
Colgate – – 3–8–0
Richmond – – 3–8–0
Syracuse – – 3–8–0
Illinois State – – 2–9–0
West Virginia – – 2–9–0
Boston College – – 0–11–0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth year under head coach Dan Devine, the Irish compiled a 9–3 record, outscored opponents by a total of 258 to 163, and were ranked No. 7 in the final AP poll and No. 6 in the final UPI poll. Returning multiple starters from the 1977 national championship team, the Irish were ranked No. 5 in the preseason AP poll, but dropped out of the poll after losing the first two games to unranked Missouri and No. 5 Michigan. The Irish then won eight straight games and closed the season with a two-point loss to No. 3 USC and a victory over No. 9 Houston in the Cotton Bowl.[1] In the Cotton Bowl, quarterback Joe Montana rallied the team from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Center Dave Huffman and linebacker Bob Golic were consensus first-team picks on the 1978 All-America college football team.[2] The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Joe Montana (2,010 passing yards), running backs Vagas Ferguson (1,192 rushing yards, 48 points scored) and Jerome Heavens (728 rushing yards), and wide receiver Kris Haines (32 receptions for 699 yards).[3]

The team played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 91:30 p.m.MissouriNo. 5
L 0–359,075[4]
September 2311:50 a.m.No. 5 MichiganNo. 14
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
ABCL 14–2859,075[5]
September 301:30 p.m.Purdue
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 10–659,075[6]
October 71:30 p.m.at Michigan State
W 29–2577,087[7]
October 1412:40 p.m.No. 9 Pittsburgh
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
ABCW 26–1759,075[8]
October 212:30 p.m.at Air ForceNo. 20
W 38–1535,425[9]
October 281:30 p.m.Miami (FL)No. 19
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 20–059,075[10]
November 41:50 p.m.vs. No. 11 NavyNo. 15
W 27–763,780[11]
November 111:30 p.m.TennesseeNo. 14
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
W 31–1459,075[12]
November 181:30 p.m.at No. 20 Georgia TechNo. 10
W 38–2154,526[13]
November 254:10 p.m.at No. 3 USCNo. 8
ABCL 25–2784,256[14]
January 1, 19792:00 p.m.vs. No. 9 HoustonNo. 10
CBSW 35–3432,500[15]

[16]

Game summaries

[edit]

Michigan

[edit]
Michigan Wolverines (1–0) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
#5 Michigan 0 7 71428
Notre Dame 7 7 0014

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

Game information

First quarter

  • ND – Dennis Grindinger 6-yard pass from Joe 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 by Curtis Greer in end zone. Michigan 28–14.
Top passers
Top rushers
Top receivers
  • MICH
  • ND

  • The Reunion Game - first meeting between the two schools in 35 years
  • Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the game

Pittsburgh

[edit]
Team 1 234Total
#9 Pittsburgh 0 1007 17
• Notre Dame 7 0019 26
Scoring summary
1NDHeavens 1-yard run (Unis kick)ND 7-0
2PITTTrocano 3-yard run (Schubert kick)Tied 7-7
2PITTSchubert 33-yard field goalPITT 10-7
4PITTTrocano 3-yard run (Schubert kick)PITT 17-7
4NDHaines 8-yard pass from Montana (pass failed)PITT 17-13
4NDMontana 1-yard run (kick failed)ND 19-17
4NDFerguson 3-yard pass from Montana (Unis kick)ND 26-17

Notre Dame handed #9 Pittsburgh its first loss of the season.[17] Jerome Heavens, who had never seen Knute Rockne, All American, surpassed 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.[18]

Cotton Bowl

[edit]

The Cotton Bowl win over Houston on New Year's Day was Notre Dame's 600th victory.[19]

Roster

[edit]
1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
HB 2 Tyrone Barber Fr
FB Tony Belden
FL Mike Boushka
FB 35 Pete Buchanan
C Bob Burger
SE 80 Dave Condeni Fr
FL 2 Mike Courey So
C 53 Jeff Crippin Jr
TE Marty Detmer
RB Steve Dover
HB 32 Vagas Ferguson Jr
OT 73 Tim Foley Jr
TE Dennis Grindinger
SE 83 Kris Haines
TE Kevin Hart
G Jim Hautman
FB Jerome Heavens (C)
FL 31 Pete Holohan So
G Ted Horansky Injured
G Larry Hufford
C 56 Dave Huffman Sr
G 78 Tim Huffman So
QB 13 Greg Knaflec So
QB Tim Koegel
G John Leon
OT Rob Martinovich Jr
TE 86 Dean Masztak Fr
OT Keith McCormick
G Howard Meyer
G Ron Mishler
FB Dave Mitchell
QB 3 Joe Montana (C) Sr
E Lou Pagley
FB Pete Pallas
OT 71 Phil Pozderac Jr
OT 57 John Scully So
HB 42 Jim Stone So
E Tim Tripp
TE 95 Nick Vehr So
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 94 Tom Bock Fr
CB Dick Boushka
S 33 Jim Browner Sr
CB Rick Buehner
DT 77 Mike Calhoun Sr
DE Jay Case
S 40 Steve Cichy Fr
LB 43 Bob Crable Fr
DB 20 Angelo Fasano So
CB 25 Tom Flynn Sr
CB 27 Tom Gibbons So
LB 55 Bob Golic (C) Sr
DE 92 Joe Gramke Fr
DE John Hankred
S 10 Randy Harrison
LB Steve Hartwig
LB 58 Steve Heimkreiter Sr
LB Pete Johnson
S Phil Johnson
CB 19 John Krimm Fr
LB 61 Bobby Leopold Jr
DE 98 Pat Kramer Fr
LB Brendan Moynihan
DE Hardy Rayam
S, P Joe Restic
DT John Thomas
CB 34 Dave Waymer Jr
DT 74 Jeff Weston
OLB 54 Mike Whittington Jr
DT Tom Wroblewski
DE 70 Scott Zettek So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
PK Chuck Male
PK Joe Unis
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2015-12-20

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 10. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  3. ↑ "1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Tigers too hot for Notre Dame". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 10, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ 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. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Irish need rally to stop Purdue". Quad-City Times. October 1, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Irish hold off Spartans, 29–25". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. October 8, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Irish overcome Pittsburgh". The Montana Standard. October 15, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Notre Dame stops Air Force, 38–15". Dayton Daily News. October 22, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Notre Dame, and magic, eat up Miami". St. Petersburg Times. October 29, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Notre Dame sinks Navy, 27–7". The Plain Dealer. November 5, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Irish display Sole". The Indianapolis Star. November 12, 1978. Retrieved October 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "'Terrific' Irish sock Tech". Quad-City Times. November 19, 1978. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Jordan provides punch for Irish wake". Ventura County Star & Free Press. November 26, 1978. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Joe says it's so, so, it's Joe, 35–34". The Indianapolis Star. January 2, 1979. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  17. ↑ Axelrod, Phil (October 16, 1978). "Hot Montana outduels Tracano". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 16.
  18. ↑ "Irish stir the echoes with 26-7 win over Pitt." Eugene Register-Guard. p. 18. 1978 Oct 15.
  19. ↑ "2010 Notre Dame football media guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1978_Notre_Dame_Fighting_Irish_football_team&oldid=1367513825"
1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team
Add topic
Morty Proxy This is a proxified and sanitized view of the page, visit original site.