1985 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1985 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Gerry Faust in his fifth and final season as head coach, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 5–6. The team played home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

1985 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–6
Head coach	Gerry Faust (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	A. J. Christoff (2nd season)
Captains	Tony Furjanic Mike Larkin Allen Pinkett Tim Scannell
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ← 1984 1986 →

1985 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Miami (FL)		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 15 Florida State		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				7	–	3	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Navy		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Temple		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Boston College		–		–				4	–	8	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				2	–	7	–	2
Rutgers		–		–				2	–	8	–	1
East Carolina		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Louisville		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Tulane		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 14	2:30 p.m.	at Michigan	No. 13	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	CBS	L 12–20	105,523	[1]
September 21	7:30 p.m.	Michigan State		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ESPN	W 27–10	59,075	[2]
September 28	12:00 p.m.	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	TBS	L 17–35	69,338	[3]
October 5	3:30 p.m.	at No. 17 Air Force		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (rivalry)	ABC	L 15–21	52,123	[4]
October 19	12:00 p.m.	No. 19 Army		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	USA, WGN	W 24–10	59,075	[5]
October 26	2:00 p.m.	USC		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 37–3	59,075	[6]
November 2	3:30 p.m.	Navy		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	W 41–17	59,075	[7]
November 9	12:00 p.m.	Ole Miss		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	USA, WGN	W 37–14	59,075	[8]
November 16	3:30 p.m.	at No. 1 Penn State		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (rivalry)	ABC	L 6–36	84,000	[9]
November 23	12:00 p.m.	No. 17 LSU		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	USA, WGN	L 7–10	59,075	[10]
November 30	3:30 p.m.	at No. 4 Miami (FL)		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)	CBS	L 7–58	49,236	[11]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

at Michigan

Notre Dame at Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Fighting Irish	3	6	3	0	12
• Wolverines	0	3	14	3	20

• Date: September 14
• Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
• Game start: 3:30 pm
• Game attendance: 105,523
• TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger (play-by-play) and Ara Parseghian (analyst)

    

Scoring summary

1		ND	John Carney 34-yard field goal	ND 3–0
2		ND	John Carney 37-yard field goal	ND 6–0
		Mich	Mike Gillette 21-yard field goal	ND 6–3
		ND	John Carney 47-yard field goal	ND 9–3
3		Mich	Jim Harbaugh 10-yard run (Gillette kick)	Michigan 10–9
		ND	John Carney 25-yard field goal	ND 12–10
		Mich	Gerald White 3-yard run (Gillette kick)	Mich 17–12
4	5:12	Mich	Mike Gillette 22-yard field goal	Mich 20–12

See also: 1985 Michigan Wolverines football team and Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry

Michigan State

See also: 1985 Michigan State Spartans football team and Michigan State–Notre Dame football rivalry

At Purdue

See also: 1985 Purdue Boilermakers football team

at No. 17 Air Force

See also: 1985 Air Force Falcons football team

^[12]

Army

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cadets	0	7	3	0	10
• Notre Dame	14	0	7	3	24

• Date: Saturday, October 19
• Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
• Game attendance: 59,075

Scoring summary

1		ND	Pernell Taylor 1-yard run (John Carney kick)	ND 7-0
1		ND	Tim Brown 19-yard pass from Steve Beuerlein (John Carney kick)	ND 14-0
2		ARMY	Bill Lampley 4-yard run (Craig Stopa kick)	ND 14-7
3		ARMY	Craig Stopa 22-yard field goal	ND 14-10
3		ND	Allen Pinkett 1-yard run (John Carney kick)	ND 21-10
4	6:23	ND	John Carney 21-yard field goal	ND 24-10

See also: 1985 Army Cadets football team

^[13]

USC

Notre Dame played the first half in navy blue jerseys and changed into green jerseys for the second half.

USC at Notre Dame

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Trojans	0	0	3	0	3
• Fighting Irish	14	13	3	7	37

• Date: October 26
• Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN

• Source:

Scoring summary

1		ND	Pinkett 2-yard run (Carney kick)	ND 7-0
1		ND	Beuerlein 6-yard run (Carney kick)	ND 14-0
2		ND	Carney 26-yard field goal	ND 17-0
2		ND	Stams 5-yard run (Carney kick)	ND 24-0
2		ND	Carney 33-yard field goal	ND 27-0
3		USC	Shafer 39-yard field goal	ND 27-3
3		ND	Carney 43-yard field goal	ND 30-3
4		ND	Williams 8-yard pass from Andrysiak (Carney kick)	ND 37-3

See also: 1985 USC Trojans football team

Navy

See also: 1985 Navy Midshipmen football team

Ole Miss

Notre Dame finally had the opportunity to exact revenge on the Rebels for a 20-13 loss at Jackson eight years earlier.

Ole Miss at Notre Dame

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Rebels	0	0	0	14	14
• Fighting Irish	3	14	14	7	38

• Date: November 9
• Location: Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, Indiana

Scoring summary

1		ND	Carney 41-yard field goal	Notre Dame 3-0
2		ND	Pinkett 1-yard run (Carney kick)	Notre Dame 10-0
2		ND	Brown 14-yard pass from Beuerlein (Carney kick)	Notre Dame 17-0
3		ND	Pinkett 2-yard run (Carney kick)	Notre Dame 24-0
3		ND	Redher 22-yard pass from Beuerlein (Carney kick)	Notre Dame 31-0
4		MISS	Meyers 10-yard pass from Osgood (Owen kick)	Notre Dame 31-7
4		MISS	Cleveland 1-yard run (Owen kick)	Notre Dame 31-14
4		ND	Southall 7-yard run (Carney kick)	Notre Dame 38-14

See also: 1985 Ole Miss Rebels football team

^[14]

at No. 1 Penn State

Notre Dame at Penn State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Irish	0	0	0	6	6
• No. 1 Nittany Lions	7	13	10	6	36

• Date: November 16
• Location: Beaver Stadium, College Pennsylvania, PA
• Game attendance: 84,000
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson (play-by-play), Frank Broyles (analyst), and Tim Brant (sideline)

See also: 1985 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

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No. 17 LSU

Ironically, Gerry Faust's last game in Notre Dame Stadium was against the same school he faced in his first game as Irish coach four years earlier.

LSU at Notre Dame

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 17 Tigers	0	3	0	7	10
Fighting Irish	7	0	0	0	7

• Date: November 23
• Location:
  Notre Dame Stadium,
  South Bend, Indiana
• Game start: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 59,075
• Game weather: 33 degrees, cloudy with snow flurries
• Referee: Raymond Bower
• TV announcers (USA): Harry Kalas and Jack Ham

Scoring summary

1	9:26	ND	Tim Brown 18-yard run (John Carney kick)	ND 7–0
2	0:00	LSU	Matt DeFrank 27-yard field goal	ND 7–3
4	3:26		Garry James 2-yard run (Ron Lewis kick)	LSU 10–7

See also: 1985 LSU Tigers football team

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at No. 4 Miami (FL)

Notre Dame at Miami (FL)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Irish	0	7	0	0	7
• No. 4 Hurricanes	13	14	10	21	58

• Date: November 30
• Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami
• Game start: 3:30 p.m. EST
• TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger and Ara Parseghian

Scoring summary

1		MIA	Greg Cox 39-yard field goal	MIA 3-0
1		MIA	W. Williams 6-yard run (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 10-0
1		MIA	Greg Cox 47-yard field goal	MIA 13-0
2		MIA	Bennie Blades 61-yard interception return (Cox kick)	MIA 20-0
2		ND	Allen Pinkett 3-yard run (John Carney kick)	MIA 20-7
2		MIA	Melvin Bratton 7-yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Cox kick)	MIA 27-7
3		MIA	Greg Cox 48-yard field goal	MIA 30-7
3		MIA	Michael Irvin 15-yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 37-7
4		MIA	Vinny Testaverde 1-yard run (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 44-7
4		MIA	Andre Brown 17-yard pass from Geoff Torretta (Seelig kick)	MIA 51-7
4	4:44	MIA	Bill Hawkins recovered blocked punt in end zone (Greg Cox kick)	MIA 58-7

See also: 1985 Miami Hurricanes football team

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Roster

1985 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 2 Terry Andrysiak So QB 7 Steve Beuerlein Jr WR 81 Tim Brown So RB 20 Allen Pinkett Sr FB 30 Frank Stams Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class SS 40 Pat Ballage Sr LB 43 Rick DiBernardo Sr DE 71 Eric Dorsey Sr LB 48 Cedric Figaro So LB 58 Tony Furjanic Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 18 John Carney Jr	Head coach Gerry Faust Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Awards and honors

• Allen Pinkett finished 8th in voting for the Heisman Trophy.^[18]
• Former Fighting Irish players Paul Hornung and Jim Martin were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

Team players drafted into the NFL

Main article: 1986 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club

^[19]