1979 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1979 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Conference	Independent
1979 record	7–4
Head coach	Dan Devine (5th season)
Captain	Vagas Ferguson
Captain	Tim Foley
Captain	Dave Waymer
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons

1979 Division I-A independents football records
	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

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

Roster

1979 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G 65 Burger, BobBob Burger 5.0 !Jr SE 80 Condeni, DaveDave Condeni 3.0 !So QB 2 Courey, MikeMike Courey 5.0 !Jr C 53 Crippin, JeffJeff Crippin 7.0 !Sr WR 1 Dickerson, TyTy Dickerson 5.0 !Jr RB 32 Ferguson, VagasVagas Ferguson 7.0 !Sr T 73 Foley, TimTim Foley 7.0 !Sr WR 31 Holohan, PetePete Holohan 5.0 !Jr G 78 Huffman, TimTim Huffman 5.0 !Jr QB 13 Knaflec, GregGreg Knaflec 5.0 !Jr QB 6 Lisch, RustyRusty Lisch 7.0 !Sr T 75 Martinovich, RobRob Martinovich 7.0 !Sr TE 86 Masztak, DeanDean Masztak 3.0 !So T 71 Pozderac, PhilPhil Pozderac 3.0 !So C 57 Scully, JohnJohn Scully 5.0 !Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 94 Bock, TomTom Bock 3.0 !So LB 43 Crable, BobBob Crable 3.0 !So S 22 Duerson, DaveDave Duerson 1.0 !Fr CB 27 Gibbons, TomTom Gibbons 5.0 !Jr CB 19 Krimm, JoshJosh Krimm 3.0 !So LB 61 Leopold, BobbyBobby Leopold 7.0 !Sr DB 34 Waymer, DaveDave Waymer 7.0 !Sr LB 54 Whittington, MikeMike Whittington 7.0 !Sr DE 70 Zettek, ScottScott Zettek 5.0 !Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Dan Devine Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Michigan

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 3 3 6 0 12 Michigan 3 7 0 0 10 Date: September 15 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI Scoring summary 1 MICH Virgil 30-yard field goal MICH 3-0 1 ND Male 40-yard field goal Tied 3-3 2 MICH Edwards 1-yard run (Virgil kick) MICH 10-3 2 ND Male 40-yard field goal MICH 10-6 3 ND Male 22-yard field goal MICH 10-9 3 ND Male 39-yard field goal ND 12-10

Air Force

by Quarter 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

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

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)

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