American college football season
The 1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season . Led by fourth-year head coach Dan Devine , the Fighting Irish compiled an overall record of 9–3. Notre Dame was invited to the Cotton Bowl Classic , where the Irish beat Houston , 35–34, after quarterback Joe Montana rallied the team from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The team played home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre 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 September 23 11:50 a.m. No. 5 Michigan No. 14 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) ABC L 14–2859,075 September 30 1:30 p.m. Purdue Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 10–659,075 October 7 1:30 p.m. at Michigan State W 29–2577,087 October 14 12:40 p.m. No. 9 Pittsburgh Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) ABC W 26–1759,075 October 21 2:30 p.m. at Air Force No. 20 W 38–1535,425 October 28 1:30 p.m. Miami (FL) No. 19 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 20–059,075 November 4 1:50 p.m. vs. No. 11 Navy No. 15 W 27–763,780 November 11 1:30 p.m. Tennessee No. 14 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN W 31–1459,075 November 18 1:30 p.m. at No. 20 Georgia Tech No. 10 W 38–2154,526 [ 2] November 25 4:10 p.m. at No. 3 USC No. 8 ABC L 25–2784,256 January 1, 1979 2:00 p.m. vs. No. 9 Houston No. 10 CBS W 35–3432,500
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
The Reunion Game - first meeting between the two schools in 35 years Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the game 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.[ 3] 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.[ 4]
The Cotton Bowl win over Houston on New Year's Day was Notre Dame's 600th victory.[ 5]
1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Pos. # Name Class 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 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. # Name Class PK Chuck Male PK Joe Unis
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2015-12-20
^ Michigan, Notre Dame Test Crucial , web: The Sacramento Bee, 1978, retrieved March 13, 2023 ^ " 'Terrific' Irish sock Tech" . Quad-City Times . November 19, 1978. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com . ^ 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 from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2012 .
Venues Bowls and rivalries Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold