1977_Notre_Dame_Fighting_Irish_football_team

1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Consensus national champion; Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 38–10 vs. Texas
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	11–1
Head coach	Dan Devine (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Merv Johnson (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro set
Defensive coordinator	Joe Yonto
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Terry Eurick; Willie Fry; Steve Orsini;
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
	Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

The 1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The Irish, coached by Dan Devine, ended the season with 11 wins and one loss, winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title by defeating the previously unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl Classic by a score of a 38–10.^[2] The 1977 squad became the tenth Irish team to win the national title and were led by All-Americans Ken MacAfee, Ross Browner, Luther Bradley, and Bob Golic. Junior Joe Montana, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, was the team's starting quarterback.

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Dan Devine entered his third year as head coach, coming off of a 9–3 season in 1976 that culminated in a Gator Bowl win over Penn State.^[3] Devine returned a highly touted defense, featuring 1976 Outland Trophy winner Ross Browner, defensive end Willie Fry, and All-American linebacker Bob Golic.^[3] On offense, quarterback Joe Montana earned the starting job and led an offense that included running backs Jerome Heavens and Vagas Ferguson and All-American tight end Ken MacAfee.^[3] Montana, earned a reputation as "the comeback kid", had two come from behind victories in the fourth quarter, against Purdue and Clemson, down 17 and 10 respectively.^[3] After a surprising loss to unranked Ole Miss, patience among the fans was running thin, who considered Devine's previous 8–3 and 9–3 seasons as lackluster compared to the team success under Devine's predecessor, Ara Parseghian.^[4] The Irish rebounded to win their remaining games, including a 49–19 rout of USC in the now famous "Green Jersey Game."^[4] The Irish earned a berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic, where they defeated No. 1 and unbeaten Texas by a score of 38–10 to capture Notre Dame's tenth national title.^[3] The Irish leaped four spots in the polls after the Cotton Bowl Classic victory to claim the consensus title.^[3]

Game summaries

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[1] [1]
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1977-standings.doc

[2007_ND_Guide_History-2] [2]
"2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: History and Records (pages 131-175)". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2008.

[2007_ND_Guide_Supplement-3] [3]
"2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: 2007 Supplement (page 164)". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2008.

[Walters-4] [4]
Walters, John (July 21, 2004). Notre Dame Golden Moments. Rutledge Hill Press. ISBN 1-59186-042-3.

[5] [5]
"Mississippi Rebels, upsets Irish". The Indianapolis Star. September 18, 1977. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] [6]
"Irish break Clemson 'death' grip". The Indianapolis Star. November 13, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] [7]
"Clemson Football Media Guide - 1978". Clemson University. 1978. p. 1. Retrieved November 9, 2023.

[8] [8]
"Wolves Subdue Stubborn Navy; Notre Dame Overcomes Purdue." Ocala Star-Banner. September 25, 1977.

[9] [9]
"Irish looking to Heavens: He responds with record." Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Oct 16. Retrieved 2017-Sep-02.

[10] [10]
"Green Irish thump Trojans." Eugene Register-Guard. October 23, 1977.

[11] [11]
"Irish wear green and don't need it, 43-10." Eugene Register-Guard. October 30, 1977.

[12] [12]
Palm Beach Post. December 4, 1977. Retrieved May 10, 2015.

[13] [13]
2012 Notre Dame Football Supplement Retrieved 2017-Sep-03.

[LA-14] [14]
"Winners & Finalists". Rotary Club of Houston. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008.

[Maxwell-15] [15]
"The Maxwell Award Collegiate Player of the Year: Past Recipients". The Maxwell Football Club. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008.

[16] [16]
"Walter Camp Football Foundation Awards (Page 3)". The Walter Camp Foundation. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.

[Heisman_Vote-17] [17]
"Heisman Voting". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.

[CFOB-18] [18]
"Hall of Fame: Select group by school". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved December 30, 2008.

[19] [19]
"Notre Dame NFL Draft History". uhnd.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008.

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Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	3:50 p.m.	at No. 7 Pittsburgh	No. 3	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 19–9	56,500
September 17	2:30 p.m.	vs. Ole Miss	No. 3	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS		L 13–20	48,200	^[5]
September 24	2:30 p.m.	at Purdue	No. 11	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)		W 31–24	68,966
October 1	2:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 14	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 16–6	59,075
October 15	1:30 p.m.	vs. Army	No. 11	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (rivalry)		W 24–0	72,594
October 22	1:50 p.m.	No. 5 USC	No. 11	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	W 49–19	59,075
October 29	2:30 p.m.	Navy	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 43–10	59,075
November 5	1:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 69–14	59,075
November 12	1:30 p.m.	at No. 15 Clemson	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC		W 21–17	53,467–54,189	^[6]^[7]
November 19	1:30 p.m.	Air Force	No. 6	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 49–0	59,075
December 3	8:00 p.m.	at Miami (FL)	No. 5	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)		W 48–10	35,789
January 2, 1978	2:00 p.m.	vs. No. 1 Texas	No. 5	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 38–10	76,701
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	0	6	0	13	19
Pittsburgh	7	2	0	0	9

Name	AP	UPI	NEA	FC	SN	FW	FN	WCF	CW
† Ross Browner, DE	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
† Ken MacAfee, TE	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
‡ Luther Bradley, DB	2	1	2	1			1	1
Ernie Hughes, G	2	2
Bob Golic, MG (MLB)	2	2				2
Willie Fry, DE		2
Ted Bergmeier, DB						2
†denotes unanimous selection ‡denotes consensus selection Source:^[2]

Name	Position	Year Inducted
Ross Browner	Defensive end	1999
Dan Devine	Coach	1985
Ken MacAfee	Tight end	1997

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Ken MacAfee	Tight end	1(7)	7	San Francisco 49ers
Ross Browner	Defensive end	1(8)	8	Cincinnati Bengals
Luther Bradley	Defensive back	1(11)	11	Detroit Lions
Willie Fry	Defensive end	2(23)	49	Pittsburgh Steelers
Ernie Hughes	Guard	3(23)	79	San Francisco 49ers
Ted Burgmeier	Defensive back	5(1)	111	Miami Dolphins
Steve McDaniels	Tackle	9(27)	249	San Francisco 49ers
Doug Becker	Linebacker	10(18)	268	Pittsburgh Steelers
Source:^[19]

1977_Notre_Dame_Fighting_Irish_football_team

1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

Pittsburgh

Ole Miss

Purdue

Michigan State

Army

USC

Navy

Georgia Tech

Clemson

Air Force

Miami (FL)

Texas (Cotton Bowl)

Post-season

Award winners

1978 NFL Draft

References

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1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

Consensus national champion Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 38–10 vs. Texas
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	11–1
Head coach	Dan Devine (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Merv Johnson (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro set
Defensive coordinator	Joe Yonto
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Terry Eurick Willie Fry Steve Orsini
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
Colgate		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
North Texas State *		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
No. 16 San Diego State		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–		8	–	1	–	1
No. 14 Florida State		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Pittsburgh		–		–		9	–	2	–	1
East Carolina		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Army		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–		7	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		5	–	4	–	2
Georgia Tech		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Northwestern State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
William & Mary		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Hawaii		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		5	–	7	–	0
Utah State		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Villanova		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
Virginia Tech		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
Miami (FL)		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Tulane		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		–		2	–	8	–	1
Holy Cross		–		–		2	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		2	–	9	–	0

North Texas State (originally 9–2) awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player.^[1] Rankings from AP Poll