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1979 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
ConferenceIndependent
1979 record7–4
Head coachDan Devine (5th season)
CaptainVagas Ferguson
CaptainTim Foley
CaptainDave Waymer
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
Seasons
← 1978
1980 →
1979 Division I-A independents football records
v · d · 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
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           5 6 0
Miami           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
Connecticut           3 6 2
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[]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 153:20 p.m.at No. 6 MichiganNo. 9ABCW 12–10105,111
September 222:30 p.m.at No. 17 PurdueNo. 5L 22–2870,567
September 292:30 p.m.No. 7 Michigan StateNo. 15W 27–359,075
October 62:30 p.m.Georgia TechNo. 10
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • South Bend, IN
W 21–1359,075
October 133:30 p.m.at Air ForceNo. 10
W 38–1334,881
October 2012:50 p.m.No. 4 USCNo. 9
ABCL 23–4259,075
October 272:30 p.m.South CarolinaNo. 14
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • South Bend, IN
W 18–1759,075
November 31:30 p.m.NavyNo. 13
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • South Bend, IN (rivalry)
W 14–059,075
November 101:30 p.m.at TennesseeNo. 13L 18–4086,489
November 171:30 p.m.No. 14 Clemson
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • South Bend, IN
L 10–1659,075
November 2411:00 p.m.vs. Miami (FL)
W 40–1562,574

[1]

Roster[]

1979 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
G 65 Burger, BobBob Burger Jr
SE 80 Condeni, DaveDave Condeni So
QB 2 Courey, MikeMike Courey Jr
C 53 Crippin, JeffJeff Crippin Sr
WR 1 Dickerson, TyTy Dickerson Jr
RB 32 Ferguson, VagasVagas Ferguson Sr
T 73 Foley, TimTim Foley Sr
WR 31 Holohan, PetePete Holohan Jr
G 78 Huffman, TimTim Huffman Jr
QB 13 Knaflec, GregGreg Knaflec Jr
QB 6 Lisch, RustyRusty Lisch Sr
T 75 Martinovich, RobRob Martinovich Sr
TE 86 Masztak, DeanDean Masztak So
T 71 Pozderac, PhilPhil Pozderac So
C 57 Scully, JohnJohn Scully Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 94 Bock, TomTom Bock So
LB 43 Crable, BobBob Crable So
S 22 Duerson, DaveDave Duerson Fr
CB 27 Gibbons, TomTom Gibbons Jr
CB 19 Krimm, JoshJosh Krimm So
LB 61 Leopold, BobbyBobby Leopold Sr
DB 34 Waymer, DaveDave Waymer Sr
LB 54 Whittington, MikeMike Whittington Sr
DE 70 Zettek, ScottScott Zettek Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries[]

Michigan[]

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

[2]


Air Force[]

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

[3]

South Carolina[]

File:Notre Dame Football (1983.384).jpg

A football gifted by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team to President Gerald Ford, commemorating their 18-17 victory over South Carolina on October 27.

Navy[]

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

[4]



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[]

  1. 2011 Notre Dame football media guide.
  2. "Irish Topple Michigan On Walk-on's Field Goals." Palm Beach Post. 1979 Sept 16.
  3. Palm Beach Post. 1979 Oct 14.
  4. Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Nov 4. Retrieved 2018-Dec-22.
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