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1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

American college football season

FieldValue
year1977
teamNotre Dame Fighting Irish
sportfootball
conferenceIndependent
CoachRank1
APRank1
record11–1
head_coachDan Devine
hc_year3rd
off_coachMerv Johnson
oc_year3rd
off_schemePro set
def_coachJoe Yonto
def_scheme[4–3](4-3-defense)
captainTerry Eurick
captain2Willie Fry
captain3Steve Orsini
stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
championConsensus national champion
Cotton Bowl Classic champion
bowl[Cotton Bowl Classic](1978-cotton-bowl-classic)
bowl_resultW 38–10 vs. [Texas](1977-texas-longhorns-football-team)

Cotton Bowl Classic champion The 1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The Irish, coached by Dan Devine, ended the season with 11 wins and one loss, winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title by defeating the previously unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl Classic by a score of a 38–10. The 1977 squad became the tenth Irish team to win the national title and were led by All-Americans Ken MacAfee, Ross Browner, Luther Bradley, and Bob Golic. Junior Joe Montana, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, was the team's starting quarterback.

Dan Devine entered his third year as head coach, coming off of a 9–3 season in 1976 that culminated in a Gator Bowl win over Penn State. Devine returned a highly touted defense, featuring 1976 Outland Trophy winner Ross Browner, defensive end Willie Fry, and All-American linebacker Bob Golic. On offense, quarterback Joe Montana earned the starting job and led an offense that included running backs Jerome Heavens and Vagas Ferguson and All-American tight end Ken MacAfee. Montana, earned a reputation as "the comeback kid", had two come from behind victories in the fourth quarter, against Purdue and Clemson, down 17 and 10 respectively. After a surprising loss to unranked Ole Miss, patience among the fans was running thin, who considered Devine's previous 8–3 and 9–3 seasons as lackluster compared to the team success under Devine's predecessor, Ara Parseghian. The Irish rebounded to win their remaining games, including a 49–19 rout of USC in the now famous "Green Jersey Game." The Irish earned a berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic, where they defeated No. 1 and unbeaten Texas by a score of 38–10 to capture Notre Dame's tenth national title. The Irish leaped four spots in the polls after the Cotton Bowl Classic victory to claim the consensus title.

Schedule

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Game summaries

Pittsburgh

First quarter

  • PITT – Gordon Jones 12-yard pass from Matt Cavanaugh (Mark Schubert kick). ''Pitt 7–0. '''Drive:''''' Second quarter
  • PITT – Safety, Joe Restic tackled in end zone. Pitt 9–0.
  • ND – Ken MacAfee 5-yard pass from Rusty Lisch (kick blocked). ''Pitt 9–6. '''Drive:''''' Fourth quarter
  • ND – Dave Reeve 35-yard field goal. ''Tie 9–9. '''Drive:'''''
  • ND – Dave Reeve 26-yard field goal. ''Notre Dame 12–9. '''Drive:'''''
  • ND - Terry Eurick 4-yard run (Dave Reeve kick). ''Notre Dame 19–9. '''Drive:''''' ;Top rushers
  • ND – Jerome Heavens – 88 yards

Ole Miss

First quarter

  • MISS – Carl Langley 29-yard field goal. ''Ole Miss 3–0. '''Drive: 64 yards.''''' Second quarter
  • ND – Jerome Heavens 2-yard run (Dave Reeve kick). ''Notre Dame 7–3. '''Drive: 8 plays.'''''
  • MISS – James Storey 10-yard pass from Bobby Garner (Carl Langley kick). ''Ole Miss 10–7. '''Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards.''''' Fourth quarter
  • ND – Dave Reeve 44-yard field goal. ''Tie 10–10. '''Drive: 5 plays'''''
  • ND – Dave Reeve 28-yard field goal, 4:53. ''Notre Dame 13–10. '''Drive:'''''
  • MISS – James Storey 10-yard pass from Tim Ellis (Carl Langley kick), 3:13. ''Ole Miss 17–13. '''Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards.'''''
  • MISS – Carl Langley 27-yard field goal, 1:44. ''Ole Miss 20–13. '''Drive:''''' ;Top passers
  • ND – Rusty Lisch – 11/25, 127 yards, 2 INT ;Top rushers
  • ND – Jerome Heavens – 16 rushes, 70 yards, TD ;Top receivers
  • ND – Ken MacAfee – 6 receptions, 69 yards

Ole Miss gave the eventual national champion Notre Dame its only loss of the season.

Purdue

Michigan State

Army

  • ND: Jerome Heavens 34 Rush, 200 Yds (single game school record - Sitko 1948 vs. Michigan St)

USC

Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the first time since their 1963 game against Syracuse.

Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the second straight week.

Georgia Tech

Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the third straight week, and for every home game through the end of the 1980 season. The 69 points were the second most ever scored at Notre Dame Stadium.

Clemson

This was the first-ever meeting between Notre Dame and Clemson.

Air Force

This was the final game for Air Force head coach Ben Martin after 20 seasons. It also remains the most lopsided game in the 30-game series between Notre Dame and Air Force (the Fighting Irish lead 24-6).

Miami (FL)

Texas (Cotton Bowl)

Main article: 1978 Cotton Bowl Classic

Roster

Award winners

  • Ross Browner, Lombardi Award, Maxwell Award
  • Ken MacAfee, Walter Camp Award

Heisman Trophy voting : Ken MacAfee, 3rd : Ross Browner, 5th

Notre Dame Fighting Irishborder=0color=white}}; font-size:88%"†denotes unanimous selection
‡denotes consensus selection
NamePositionYear Inducted
Ross BrownerDefensive end1999
Dan DevineCoach1985
Ken MacAfeeTight end1997

1978 NFL draft

Main article: 1978 NFL draft

References

References

  1. "2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: History and Records (pages 131-175)". und.cstv.com.
  2. "2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: 2007 Supplement (page 164)". und.cstv.com.
  3. Walters, John. (July 21, 2004). "Notre Dame Golden Moments". Rutledge Hill Press.
  4. (September 11, 1977). "Notre Dame stops Pitt". The Victoria Advocate.
  5. (September 18, 1977). "Mississippi Rebels, upsets Irish". The Indianapolis Star.
  6. (September 25, 1977). "Sub Montana rallies Irish". The Times-Mail.
  7. (October 2, 1977). "Notre Dame outlasts MSU in game of turnovers". The Post-Crescent.
  8. (October 16, 1977). "Notre Dame routs Army as heavens shows speed". Asbury Park Press.
  9. (October 23, 1977). "Holder's 2 plays spur Irish romp over No. 5 USC". The Lima News.
  10. (October 30, 1977). "Montana single-handedly rooks Navy in Irish win". Journal and Courier.
  11. (November 6, 1977). "Irish shell Georgia Tech". Abilene Reporter-News.
  12. (November 13, 1977). "Irish break Clemson 'death' grip". The Indianapolis Star.
  13. . (1978). ["Clemson Football Media Guide - 1978"](https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/fball_media/57/). *[[Clemson University]]*.
  14. (November 20, 1977). "Irish blank Air Force, 49–0". The Victoria Advocate.
  15. (December 4, 1977). "Montana fires Irish". Alexandria Daily Town Talk.
  16. (January 3, 1978). "Notre Dame claims grid title". The Indianapolis Star.
  17. "Wolves Subdue Stubborn Navy; Notre Dame Overcomes Purdue." Ocala Star-Banner. September 25, 1977.
  18. "Irish looking to Heavens: He responds with record." Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Oct 16. Retrieved 2017-Sep-02.
  19. "Green Irish thump Trojans." Eugene Register-Guard. October 23, 1977.
  20. "Irish wear green and don't need it, 43-10." Eugene Register-Guard. October 30, 1977.
  21. Palm Beach Post. December 4, 1977. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  22. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130626222303/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nd/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/1977--22/box_score/stats_20121210aaa.pdf 2012 Notre Dame Football Supplement] Retrieved 2017-Sep-03.
  23. "Winners & Finalists". Rotary Club of Houston.
  24. "The Maxwell Award Collegiate Player of the Year: Past Recipients". The Maxwell Football Club.
  25. "Walter Camp Football Foundation Awards (Page 3)". The Walter Camp Foundation.
  26. "Heisman Voting".
  27. "Hall of Fame: Select group by school". Football Foundation.
  28. "Notre Dame NFL Draft History".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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