1979 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football team season

1979 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Conference	Independent
Record	7–4
Head coach	Dan Devine (5th season)
Captains	Vagas Ferguson Tim Foley Dave Waymer
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Florida State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 7 Pittsburgh		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
UNLV		–		–		9	–	1	–	2
No. 17 Temple		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
Tulane		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		7	–	3	–	1
No. 20 Penn State		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		8	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		6	–	4	–	1
Syracuse		–		–		7	–	5	–	0
Colgate		–		–		5	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
North Texas State		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Villanova		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
Louisville		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
William & Mary		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Army		–		–		2	–	8	–	1
Air Force		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Richmond		–		–		0	–	11	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Irish finished unranked in both major polls for the first time since 1963.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	3:20 p.m.	at No. 6 Michigan	No. 9	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 12–10	105,111	^[1]^[2]
September 22	2:30 p.m.	at No. 17 Purdue	No. 5	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)		L 22–28	70,567
September 29	2:30 p.m.	No. 7 Michigan State	No. 15	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 27–3	59,075
October 6	2:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech	No. 10	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 21–13	59,075
October 13	3:30 p.m.	at Air Force	No. 10	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (rivalry)		W 38–13	34,881
October 20	12:50 p.m.	No. 4 USC	No. 9	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	L 23–42	59,075
October 27	2:30 p.m.	South Carolina	No. 14	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		W 18–17	59,075	^[3]
November 3	1:30 p.m.	Navy	No. 13	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 14–0	59,075
November 10	1:30 p.m.	at Tennessee	No. 13	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN		L 18–40	86,489	^[4]
November 17	1:30 p.m.	No. 14 Clemson		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		L 10–16	59,075
November 24	11:00 p.m.	vs. Miami (FL)		Korakuen Stadium Tokyo, Japan (Mirage Bowl) (rivalry)		W 40–15	62,574	^[5]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[6]

Roster

1979 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
G	`65`	Bob Burger	Jr
WR	`80`	Dave Condeni	So
QB	`2`	Mike Courey	Jr
C	`53`	Jeff Crippin	Sr
WR	`1`	Ty Dickerson	Jr
RB	`32`	Vagas Ferguson	Sr
OT	`73`	Tim Foley	Sr
WR	`31`	Pete Holohan	Jr
G	`78`	Tim Huffman	Jr
QB	`13`	Greg Knafelc	Jr
QB	`6`	Rusty Lisch	Sr
OT	`75`	Rob Martinovich	Sr
TE	`86`	Dean Masztak	So
OT	`71`	Phil Pozderac	So
C	`57`	John Scully	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`94`	Tom Bock	So
LB	`43`	Bob Crable	So
DL		Mark Czaja
S	`22`	Dave Duerson	Fr
CB	`27`	Tom Gibbons	Jr
DE		Joe Gramke
DT		Kevin Griffith
DE		John Hankerd
DT		Don Kidd
DT		Pat Kramer
CB	`19`	John Krimm	So
LB	`61`	Bobby Leopold	Sr
DB	`34`	Dave Waymer	Sr
LB	`54`	Mike Whittington	Sr
DE	`70`	Scott Zettek	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P		Dick Boushka
K		Chuck Male	Sr

Head coach

Dan Devine

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

At Michigan

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

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	3	3	6	0	12
Michigan	3	7	0	0	10

at Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Date: September 15
Game weather: 65 °F (18 °C)
Game attendance: 105,111
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles
Recap

Game information

First quarter

MICH – Bryan Virgil 30-yard field goal, 7:31. Michigan 3–0. Drive: 10 plays, 84 yards.
ND – Chuck Male 40-yard field goal. Tie 3–3. Drive:

Second quarter

MICH – Stan Edwards 1-yard run (Bryan Virgil kick), 10:48. Michigan 10–3. Drive: 13 plays, 80 yards, 6:39.
ND – Chuck Male 40-yard field goal, 4:48. Michigan 10–6. Drive:

Third quarter

ND – Chuck Male 22–yard field goal. Michigan 10–9. Drive:
ND – Chuck Male 39-yard field goal. Notre Dame 12–10. Drive:

Top passers

ND – Rusty Lisch – 5/10, 65 yards
MICH – B. J. Dickey – 9/18, 106 yards

Top rushers

ND – Vagas Ferguson – 35 rushes, 118 yards
MICH

Top receivers

ND
MICH

Bob Crable (10 tackles) leaped to block the potential-game winning field in the final seconds.

^[7]

At Purdue

Michigan State

Georgia Tech

At Air Force

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Notre Dame	10	21	0	7	38
Air Force	0	7	6	0	13

Date: October 13
Location: Falcon Stadium, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Game attendance: 34,881

Scoring summary

Q1	ND	Ferguson 5 yard run (Male kick)	ND 7–0

Q1	ND	Male 43 yard field goal	ND 10–0

Q2	ND	Lisch 1 yard run (Male kick)	ND 17–0

Q2	AFA	James 1 yard run (Sturch kick)	ND 17–7

Q2	ND	Vehr 2 yard pass from Lisch (Male kick)	ND 24–7

Q2	ND	Ferguson 23 yard run (Male kick)	ND 31–7

Q3	AFA	Schafer 2 yard pass from Ziebart (run failed)	ND 31–13

Q4	ND	Hunter 75 yard pass from Lisch (Male kick)	ND 38–13

^[8]

USC

South Carolina

Navy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Navy	0	0	0	0	0
• Notre Dame	7	0	0	7	14

Date: November 3
Location: Notre Dame Stadium
Game attendance: 59,075

Scoring summary

Q1	ND	Lisch 1 yard run (Male kick)	ND 7–0

Q4	ND	Ferguson 3 yard run (Male kick)	ND 14–0

ND: Ferguson 34 Rush, 155 Yds (first player in school history with 3,000 career rushing yards)

^[9]

At Tennessee

Clemson

Vs. Miami (FL)

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Vagas Ferguson	Running back	1	25	New England Patriots
Dave Waymer	Conerback	2	41	New Orleans Saints
Tim Foley	Tackle	2	51	Baltimore Colts
Rusty Lisch	Quarterback	4	89	St. Louis Cardinals
Bobby Leopold	Linebacker	8	210	San Francisco 49ers
Rob Martinovich	Tackle	10	261	Kansas City Chiefs

References

^ Mick McCabe (September 17, 1979). "Irish upend punchless U-M, 12-10". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1F, 5F – via Newspapers.com.
^ Billy Neff (September 16, 1979). "Irish upend Wolverines, 12-10". The Michigan Daily. pp. 1, 12 – via Bentley Historical Library.
^ "Irish escape Gamecocks". The Indianapolis Star. October 21, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Irish humbles by Vols, 40–18". The Indianapolis Star. November 11, 1979. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Irish run to victory over Miami". The Kokomo Tribune. November 26, 1979. Retrieved January 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ 2011 Notre Dame football media guide.
^ "Irish Topple Michigan On Walk-on's Field Goals." Palm Beach Post. 1979 September 16.
^ Palm Beach Post. 1979 October 14.
^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 November 4. Retrieved 2018-December-22.

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