1992 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1992 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Lou Holtz, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 10–1–1 with a win over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl Classic. The team played home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.

1992 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 28–3 vs. Texas A&M
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	10–1–1
Head coach	Lou Holtz (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Skip Holtz (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Rick Minter (1st season)
Captains	Demetrius DuBose Rick Mirer
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ← 1991 1993 →

1992 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Notre Dame			–					10	–	1	–	1
Southern Miss			–					7	–	4	–	0
Penn State			–					7	–	5	–	0
Memphis State			–					6	–	5	–	0
Army			–					5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina			–					5	–	6	–	0
Louisiana Tech			–					5	–	6	–	0
Louisville			–					5	–	6	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					5	–	6	–	0
Tulsa			–					4	–	7	–	0
Cincinnati			–					3	–	8	–	0
Arkansas State			–					2	–	9	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana			–					2	–	9	–	0
Tulane			–					2	–	9	–	0
Navy			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	3:30 p.m.	vs. Northwestern	No. 3	Soldier Field Chicago, IL (rivalry)	ABC	W 42–7	64,877
September 12	1:30 p.m.	No. 6 Michigan	No. 3	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	T 17–17	59,075
September 19	3:30 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 7	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 52–31	76,188
September 26	1:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 6	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 48–0	59,075
October 3	1:30 p.m.	No. 18 Stanford	No. 6	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 16–33	59,075
October 10	7:45 p.m.	at Pittsburgh	No. 13	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 52–21	52,155
October 24	1:30 p.m.	BYU	No. 10	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN	NBC	W 42–16	59,075
October 31	1:00 p.m.	vs. Navy	No. 10	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (rivalry)		W 38–7	58,769
November 7	1:30 p.m.	No. 9 Boston College	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (Holy War)	NBC	W 54–7	59,075
November 14	1:30 p.m.	No. 22 Penn State	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 17–16	59,075
November 28	8:00 p.m.	at No. 19 USC	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	ABC	W 31–23	90,063
January 1, 1993	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 4 Texas A&M	No. 5	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	NBC	W 28–3	71,615
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At Northwestern

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Fighting Irish	7	7	14	14	42
Wildcats	7	0	0	0	7

• Date: October 31
• Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL

Scoring summary

Q1	6:12	ND	McBride 5 yard pass from Mirer (PAT)	ND 7–0
Q1	0:47	NW	Gissendaner 14 yard run (PAT)	NW 7–7
Q2	1:54	ND	Becton 2 yard run (PAT)	ND 14–7
Q3	5:47	ND	Miller 70 yard pass from Mirer (PAT)	ND 21—7
Q3	1:48	ND	Bettis 24 yard run (PAT)	ND 28–7
Q4	6:47	ND	Brooks 72 yard run (PAT)	ND 35–7
Q4	3:27	ND	McBride 5 yard pass from McDougal (PAT)	ND 42–7

See also: 1992 Northwestern Wildcats football team and Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry

^[1]

Michigan

See also: 1992 Michigan Wolverines football team and Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry

At Michigan State

See also: 1992 Michigan State Spartans football team and Michigan State–Notre Dame football rivalry

Purdue

Stanford

At Pittsburgh

BYU

Navy

Notre Dame vs. Navy

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Fighting Irish	7	24	0	7	38
Midshipmen	0	0	0	7	7

• Date: October 31
• Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
• Game attendance: 58,769

Scoring summary

Q1		ND	Burns 5 yard run (Hentrich kick)	ND 7–0
Q2		ND	Hentrich 32 yard field goal	ND 10–0
Q2		ND	Brooks 24 yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick)	ND 17–0
Q2		ND	Brooks 4 yard run (Hentrich kick)	ND 24—0
Q2		ND	Smith 3 yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick)	ND 31–0
Q4		NAVY	Pritchard 22 yard pass from Van Matre (Rogers kick)	ND 31–7
Q4		ND	Becton 9 yard run (Pendergast kick)	ND 38–7

See also: 1992 Navy Midshipmen football team

^[2]

Boston College

Game footage from the final scene of the 1993 film Rudy was shot at halftime.

Penn State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Penn State	6	0	0	10	16
• Notre Dame	3	3	3	8	17

• Date: November 14
• Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
• Game attendance: 59,075
• Television network: NBC

• Source:

Scoring summary

1		ND	Hentrich 26 yard field goal	ND 3-0
1		PSU	Anderson 1 yard run (kick failed)	PSU 6-3
2		ND	Hentrich 31 yard field goal	Tied 6-6
3		ND	Hentrich 37 yard field goal	ND 9-6
4		PSU	Muscillo 22 yard field goal	Tied 9-9
4		PSU	O'Neal 13 yard run (Muscillo kick)	PSU 16-9
4		ND	Bettis 3 yard pass from Mirer (Mirer to Brooks pass)	ND 17-16

See also: 1992 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

With snowfall starting early in the game, heavy during the first half, this game has been nicknamed the "Snow Bowl".^[3][4][5]

At USC

See also: 1992 USC Trojans football team and Notre Dame–USC football rivalry

Cotton Bowl

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Fighting Irish	0	7	14	7	28
Aggies	0	0	0	3	3

• Date: January 1
• Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX
• Game attendance: 71,615
• TV announcers (NBC): Tom Hammond and Paul Maguire

Main article: 1993 Cotton Bowl Classic

See also: 1992 Texas A&M Aggies football team

Roster

1992 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB 6 Jerome Bettis Jr RB 40 Reggie Brooks Sr RB 37 Travis Davis So WR 87 Lake Dawson Jr OT 65 Lindsay Knapp Sr TE 80 Oscar McBride Jr QB 15 Kevin McDougal Jr QB 3 Rick Mirer Sr C 61 Tim Ruddy Jr TE 84 Irv Smith Sr. Sr OT 75 Aaron Taylor Jr RB 34 Ray Zellars So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 47 Pete Bercich Jr S 9 Jeff Burris Jr CB 13 Tom Carter Jr CB 32 Willie Clark Jr CB 29 John Covington Jr LB 31 Demetrius DuBose Sr DT 44 Jim Flanigan Jr DT 55 Oliver Gibson Jr FS 25 Mike Lalli Sr LB 89 Karmeeleyah McGill Sr CB 21 Bobby Taylor Fr DE 48 Renaldo Wynn So DE 97 Bryant Young Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 28 Craig Hentrich Sr	Head coach Lou Holtz Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Awards and honors

• Reggie Brooks finished fifth in voting for the Heisman Trophy.
• Former Fighting Irish player Jim Lynch was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

Team players drafted into the NFL

See also: 1993 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Rick Mirer	Quarterback	1	2	Seattle Seahawks
Jerome Bettis	Running back	1	10	Los Angeles Rams
Tom Carter	Cornerback	1	17	Washington Redskins
Irv Smith	Tight end	1	20	New Orleans Saints
Demetrius DuBose	Linebacker	2	34	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Reggie Brooks	Running Back	2	45	Washington Redskins
Devon McDonald	Linebacker	4	107	Indianapolis Colts
Lindsay Knapp	Guard	5	130	Kansas City Chiefs
Craig Hentrich	Kicker	8	200	New York Jets