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1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1978
team	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
sport	football
conference	Independent
CoachRank	6
APRank	7
record	9–3
head_coach	Dan Devine
hc_year	4th
off_coach	Merv Johnson
oc_year	4th
off_scheme	Pro set
def_scheme	[4-3](4-3-defense)
captain	Bob Golic
captain2	Jerome Heavens
captain3	Joe Montana
stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
champion	Cotton Bowl champion
bowl	[Cotton Bowl Classic](1979-cotton-bowl-classic)
bowl_result	W 35–34 vs. [Houston](1978-houston-cougars-football-team)

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.

Schedule

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Game summaries

Michigan

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
MICH – Rick Leach – 8/20, 110 yards, 3 TD
ND – Joe Montana – 16/29, 192 yards, TD, 2 INT ;Top rushers
MICH – Harlan Huckleby – 96 yards
ND ;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

Notre Dame handed #9 Pittsburgh its first loss of the season. 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.

Cotton Bowl

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

Roster

Dan Devine
Brian Boulac
Jim Gruden
Jim Johnson
Merv Johnson
Ross Stephenson
Ron Toman
Joe Yonto

References

(1978). "Michigan, Notre Dame Test Crucial". The Sacramento Bee.
(September 10, 1978). "Tigers too hot for Notre Dame". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Tom Henderson. (September 24, 1978). "Leach tosses 3 TDs in second half as U-M hammers Notre Dame, 28–14". Detroit Free Press.
(October 1, 1978). "Irish need rally to stop Purdue". Quad-City Times.
(October 8, 1978). "Irish hold off Spartans, 29–25". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
(October 15, 1978). "Irish overcome Pittsburgh". The Montana Standard.
(October 22, 1978). "Notre Dame stops Air Force, 38–15". Dayton Daily News.
(October 29, 1978). "Notre Dame, and magic, eat up Miami". St. Petersburg Times.
(November 5, 1978). "Notre Dame sinks Navy, 27–7". The Plain Dealer.
(November 12, 1978). "Irish display Sole". The Indianapolis Star.
(November 19, 1978). "'Terrific' Irish sock Tech". Quad-City Times.
(November 26, 1978). "Jordan provides punch for Irish wake". Ventura County Star & Free Press.
(January 2, 1979). "Joe says it's so, so, it's Joe, 35–34". The Indianapolis Star.
"1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
Axelrod, Phil. (October 16, 1978). "Hot Montana outduels Tracano". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=4pF9x-cDGsoC&dat=19781015&printsec=frontpage&hl=en "Irish stir the echoes with 26-7 win over Pitt." Eugene Register-Guard. p. 18. 1978 Oct 15.]
"2010 Notre Dame football media guide.".

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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