1992 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

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 as OC, 3rd overall season)
Defensive coordinator	Rick Minter (1st season)
Captains	Demetrius DuBose Rick Mirer
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)
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

The 1992 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season.^[1] The team was coached by Lou Holtz and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

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

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

Game summaries

At Northwestern

	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

^[2]

Michigan

At Michigan State

Purdue

Stanford

At Pittsburgh

BYU

Navy

Notre Dame vs. Navy

	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

^[3]

Boston College

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

Penn State

	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: [1]

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

With snowfall starting early in the game, heavy during the first half, this game has been nicknamed the "Snow Bowl".^[4]^[5]^[6]

At USC

Cotton Bowl

	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

Team players drafted into the NFL

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

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

References

^ "Notre Dame Yearly Results (1990-1994)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
^ "1992 Football Review" (PDF). Notre Dame University. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1992 Nov 1. Retrieved 2018-Dec-15.
^ "This Day in History: The Snow Bowl". ND.edu. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
^ Lowe, Steve (September 3, 2006). "'A really weird game' — Memories swirl of '92 'Snow Bowl'". South Bend Tribune. South Bend, Indiana. p. SS18. Retrieved October 24, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
^ "The Snow Bowl: Penn State vs. Notre Dame - 1992". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2020 – via YouTube.

v t e Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Venues	Brownson Hall field (1892?–1899) Cartier Field (1899–1928) Soldier Field (1929) Notre Dame Stadium (1930–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Emerald Isle Classic Army Boston College Michigan Michigan State Navy Northwestern Pittsburgh Purdue Stanford USC
Culture and lore	History Band of the Fighting Irish Irish Guard Notre Dame Box Notre Dame Leprechaun "Notre Dame, Our Mother" "Notre Dame Victory March" Play Like a Champion Today Subway Alumni T formation Tall Grass Game 1946 "Game of the Century" 1966 "Game of the Century" Catholics vs. Convicts 30 for 30 film 1993 "Game of the Century" Bush Push Navy ends the drought 2020 ACC Championship Game The Spirit of Notre Dame Knute Rockne, All American Notre Dame Football on NBC Rudy
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks Four Horsemen NFL draftees Statistical leaders Team captains
Seasons	1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold