American college football season
The 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season . The Irish, coached by Ara Parseghian , ended the season undefeated with a record of 9–0–1, and won a national championship . The Fighting Irish earned a consensus title after beating No. 10 Oklahoma , 38–0, in Norman , tying unbeaten and No. 2 Michigan State , 10–10, and ending the season defeating No. 10 USC , 51–0, in the Coliseum [ 1] The 1966 squad became the eighth Irish team to win the national title and the first under Parseghian. The Irish outscored their opponents 362–38.[ 1] The 10–10 tie between The Spartans and the Irish remains one of the controversial games of college football, and is considered today to be one of the great "games of the century ".[ 2]
Date Opponent Rank Site Result Attendance Source September 24 No. 7 Purdue No. 8 W 26–1459,075 October 1 at Northwestern No. 4 W 35–755,356 October 8 Army No. 3 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 35–059,075 October 15 North Carolina No. 2 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 32–059,075 October 22 at No. 10 Oklahoma No. 1 W 38–063,439 October 29 vs. Navy No. 1 W 31–770,101 November 5 Pittsburgh No. 1 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 40–059,075 November 12 Duke No. 1 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN W 64–059,075 [ 3] November 19 at No. 2 Michigan State No. 1 T 10–10 80,011 November 26 at No. 10 USC No. 1 W 51–088,520 Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 90 Joe Azzaro K 11 Jim Ryan
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt
Purdue at Notre Dame 1 2 3 4 Total No. 8 Boilermakers 7 0 0 7 14 • No. 6 Fighting Irish 7 7 0 12 26
Scoring summary 1 PUR Leroy Keyes 94-yard fumble return (kick good)PUR 7-0 1 ND Nick Eddy 96-yard kickoff return (kick good)Tied 7-7 2 ND Jim Seymour 84-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good)ND 14-7 4 ND Jim Seymour 39-yard pass from Terry Hanratty ND 20-7 4 PUR Perry Williams 1-yard run (kick good)ND 20-14 4 ND Jim Seymour 7-yard pass from Terry Hanratty ND 26-14
[ 4]
Notre Dame at Northwestern 1 2 3 4 Total • No. 4 Fighting Irish 7 6 8 14 35 Wildcats 0 0 0 7 7
Scoring summary 1 ND Nick Eddy 56-yard run (kick good) ND 7-0 2 ND Larry Conjar 1-yard run (kick failed)ND 13-0 3 ND Rocky Bleier 12-yard run (2-pt. good)ND 21-0 4 ND Frank Criniti 2-yard run (kick good) ND 28-0 4 ND Tom Schoen 37-yard interception return (kick good)ND 35-0 4 NU Roger Murphy 22-yard pass from Bill Melzer (kick good) ND 35-7
[ 5]
Army at Notre Dame 1 2 3 4 Total Cadets 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 3 Fighting Irish 21 14 0 0 35
Date: October 8Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, INGame start: 1:30 pm CDT Game attendance: 59,075Game weather: Fair, 76 degrees Scoring summary 1 ND Rocky Bleier 2-yard run (kick good) ND 7-0 1 ND Jim Seymour 33-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good) ND 14-0 1 ND Terry Hanratty 7-yard run (kick good) ND 21-0 2 ND Nick Eddy 3-yard run (kick good) ND 28-0 2 ND Nick Eddy 3-yard run (kick good) ND 35-0
[ 6]
North Carolina at Notre Dame 1 2 3 4 Total Tar Heels 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 2 Fighting Irish 7 13 6 6 32
Date: October 15Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, INGame start: 1:30 pm CDT Game attendance: 59,075Game weather: Cloudy, 50 degrees, wind 22-40 MPH Scoring summary 1 ND Larry Conjar 1-yard run (kick good) ND 7-0 2 ND Larry Conjar 1-yard run (kick failed) ND 13-0 2 ND Jim Seymour 56-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good) ND 20-0 3 ND Nick Eddy 52-yard run (2-pt. failed) ND 26-0 4 ND Bob Gladieux 5-yard run (2-pt. failed)ND 32-0
[ 7]
Notre Dame at Oklahoma 1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Fighting Irish 0 17 21 0 38 No. 10 Sooners 0 0 0 0 0
Scoring summary 2 ND Nick Eddy 3-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)ND 7-0 2 ND Terry Hanratty 2-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)ND 14-0 2 ND Joe Azzaro 32-yard field goal ND 17-0 3 ND Nick Eddy 1-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 24-0 3 3:30 ND Rocky Bleier 9-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)ND 31-0 3 ND Coley O'Brien 5-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)ND 38-0
[ 8]
1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Fighting Irish 3 7 14 7 31 Midshipmen 0 0 0 7 7
Scoring summary 1 ND Azzaro 42-yard field goal ND 3-0 2 ND Conjar 7-yard run (Azzaro kick) ND 10-0 3 ND Hanratty 1-yard run (Azzaro kick) ND 17-0 3 ND Gladieux 1-yard run (Azzaro kick) ND 24-0 4 NAVY Bergner recovered blocked punt in end zone (Church kick) ND 24-7 4 ND Hanratty 6-yard run (Azzaro kick) ND 31-7
[ 9]
Pittsburgh at Notre Dame 1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 1 Fighting Irish 0 7 14 19 40
Date: October 8Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, INGame start: 1:30 pm CST Game attendance: 59,075Game weather: Cloudy, 40 degrees Scoring summary 2 ND Terry Hanratty 3-yard run (kick good) ND 7-0 3 ND Nick Eddy 85-yard kickoff return (kick failed) ND 13-0 3 ND Tom Schoen 63-yard punt return (2-pt. good) ND 21-0 4 ND Larry Conjar 1-yard run (2-pt. failed) ND 27-0 4 ND Bob Gladieux 19-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (2-pt. failed) ND 33-0 4 ND Bob Gladieux 5-yard run (kick good) ND 40-0
[ 10]
Duke at Notre Dame 1 2 3 4 Total Blue Devils 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 1 Fighting Irish 22 21 14 7 64
Date: October 15Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, INGame start: 1:30 pm CST Game attendance: 59,075Game weather: Cloudy, 42 degrees Scoring summary 1 ND Nick Eddy 77-yard run (2-pt. good) ND 8-0 1 ND Tom O'Leary 30-yard return on lateral from John Horney after 25-yard interception return (kick good) ND 15-0 1 ND Rocky Bleier 4-yard run (kick good) ND 22-0 2 ND Rocky Bleier 45-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good) ND 29-0 2 ND Larry Conjar 2-yard run (kick good) ND 36-0 2 ND Jim Seymour 10-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good) ND 43-0 3 ND Dave Haley 9-yard run (kick good) ND 50-0 3 ND Coley O'Brien 3-yard run (kick good) ND 57-0 4 ND Frank Criniti 10-yard run (kick good) ND 64-0
[ 11]
Notre Dame at Michigan State 1 2 3 4 Total No.1 Fighting Irish 0 7 0 3 10 No. 2 Spartans 0 10 0 0 10
Scoring summary 2 MSU Cavender 4-yard run (Kenney kick) MSU 7-0 2 MSU Kenney 47-yard field goal MSU 10-0 2 ND Gladieux 34-yard pass from O'Brien (Azzaro kick) MSU 10-7 4 ND Azzaro 28-yard field goal Tied 10-10
[ 12]
[ 13]
Notre Dame at USC 1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Fighting Irish 14 17 13 7 51 No. 10 Trojans 0 0 0 0 0
Scoring summary 1 ND Larry Conjar 2-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 7-0 1 ND Tom Schoen 40-yard interception return (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 14-0 2 ND Joe Azzaro 38-yard field goal ND 17-0 2 ND Jim Seymour 13-yard pass from Coley O'Brien (Joe Azzaro kick)ND 24-0 2 ND Jim Seymour 39-yard pass from Coley O'Brien (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 31-0 3 ND Dan Harshman 23-yard pass from Coley O'Brien (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 38-0 3 ND Nick Eddy 9-yard run (kick failed)ND 44-0 4 ND Dave Martin 33-yard interception return (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 51-0
[ 14] [ 15]
Heisman Voting :
Nick Eddy , 3rd,[ 17] Terry Hanratty , 6th[ 17] All-Americans :
Name AP UPI NEA FC SN L T CP FN † Nick Eddy, HB 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 † Jim Lynch, LB 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ‡ Tom Regner , G 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Alan Page , DE 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 Pete Duranko , DT 3 1 1 2 Kevin Hardy , DT 2 2 3 1 1 1 Jim Seymour , E 3 2 2 3 1 Paul Seiler , T 3 2 George Goeddeke , C 3 2 3 3 Tom Schoen , DB 3 2 Larry Conjar , FB 3 3 3 1 Terry Hanratty , QB 3 3 †denotes unanimous selection ‡denotes consensus selection Source: [ 1]
College Football Hall of Fame Inductees :
Notre Dame leads all universities in players inducted.[ 18]
^ a b c "2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: History and Records (pages 131-175)" . und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2008 . ^ Celzic, Mike (1992). The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State and the Fall of 1966 . ISBN 0-671-75817-9 . ^ "Duke tops Navy 9–7" . Tallahassee Democrat . November 6, 1966. Retrieved January 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "Irish Uncover Soph Aerial Attack, Smash Purdue." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Sep 25. ^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 2, 1966, p. 1 ^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 9, 1966, p. 1 ^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 16, 1966, p. 1 ^ "ND Stomps Sooners." Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 23. ^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 30, 1966, p. ^ South Bend Tribune, Nov. 6, 1966, p. 1 ^ South Bend Tribune, Nov. 13, 1966, p. 1 ^ Jenkins, Dan (November 28, 1966). "An Upside-Down Game" . Sports Illustrated . Retrieved August 17, 2019 . ^ "Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search" . ^ "Irish Trouncing of U.S.C. Worst in Trojans' History" . The New York Times . November 27, 1966. Retrieved August 17, 2019 . ^ "Army Borrows 'Air Force'; Irish Rout Troy." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Nov 27. ^ "The Maxwell Award Collegiate Player of the Year: Past Recipients" . The Maxwell Football Club. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008 . ^ a b "Heisman Voting" . und.cstv.com . Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008 . ^ "Hall of Fame: Select group by school" . College Football Hall of Fame . Football Foundation. Retrieved December 30, 2008 . ^ "Notre Dame NFL Draft History" . uhnd.com . Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008 .
Venues Bowls and rivalries Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
1936–1949 1950s 1960s 1960 : Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF ) / Ole Miss (FWAA) 1961 : Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA) 1962 : USC 1963 : Texas 1964 : Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF) 1965 : Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF) 1966 : Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF) 1967 : USC 1968 : Ohio State 1969 : Texas 1970s 1980–1991