1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 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.

1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Cotton Bowl champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 35–34 vs. Houston
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 7
Record	9–3
Head coach	Dan Devine (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Merv Johnson (4th season)
Captains	Bob Golic Jerome Heavens Joe Montana
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		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 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]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	1:30 p.m.	Missouri	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		L 0–3	59,075	[2]
September 23	11:50 a.m.	No. 5 Michigan	No. 14	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	L 14–28	59,075	[3]
September 30	1:30 p.m.	Purdue		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 10–6	59,075	[4]
October 7	1:30 p.m.	at Michigan State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)		W 29–25	77,087	[5]
October 14	12:40 p.m.	No. 9 Pittsburgh		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	W 26–17	59,075	[6]
October 21	2:30 p.m.	at Air Force	No. 20	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (rivalry)		W 38–15	35,425	[7]
October 28	1:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)	No. 19	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 20–0	59,075	[8]
November 4	1:50 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Navy	No. 15	Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland, OH (rivalry)		W 27–7	63,780	[9]
November 11	1:30 p.m.	Tennessee	No. 14	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		W 31–14	59,075	[10]
November 18	1:30 p.m.	at No. 20 Georgia Tech	No. 10	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)		W 38–21	54,526	[11]
November 25	4:10 p.m.	at No. 3 USC	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	ABC	L 25–27	84,256	[12]
January 1, 1979	2:00 p.m.	vs. No. 9 Houston	No. 10	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl)	CBS	W 35–34	32,500	[13]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[14]

Game summaries

Michigan

See also: 1978 Michigan Wolverines football team and Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry

Michigan Wolverines (1–0) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Michigan	0	7	7	14	28
Notre Dame	7	7	0	0	14

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

• Date: September 23
• Game time: 11:50 a.m. EST
• Game attendance: 59,075
• Referee: Gene Calhoun
• TV announcers (ABC): Chris Schenkel and Frank Broyles
• Recap

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 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

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Pittsburgh	0	10	0	7	17
• Notre Dame	7	0	0	19	26

• Date: October 14
• Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana
• Game start: 12:40 p.m. EDT
• Game attendance: 59,075
• Referee: Glenn Fortin (Big Ten)
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles

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.^[15] 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.^[16]

Cotton Bowl

The Cotton Bowl win over Houston on New Year's Day was Notre Dame's 600th victory.^[17]

Roster

1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class 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  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. # 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 Dan Devine Coordinators/assistant coaches Brian Boulac Jim Gruden Jim Johnson Merv Johnson Ross Stephenson Ron Toman Joe Yonto Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2015-12-20