1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Last updated

1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo.svg
Consensus national champion
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record9–0–1
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTom Pagna (3rd season)
Offensive scheme T formation
Defensive coordinator John Ray (3rd season)
Base defense 4–4
Captain Jim Lynch
Home stadium Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)
Seasons
  1965
1967  
1966 NCAA University Division independents football records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 1 Notre Dame    9 0 1
Colgate    8 1 1
No. 8 Georgia Tech    9 2 0
Army    8 2 0
Dayton    8 2 0
Houston    8 2 0
Memphis State    7 2 0
No. 9 Miami (FL)    8 2 1
VPI    8 2 1
Syracuse    8 3 0
Colorado State    7 3 0
New Mexico State    7 3 0
West Texas State    7 3 0
Villanova    6 3 0
Holy Cross    6 3 1
Southern Miss    6 4 0
Texas Western    6 4 0
Tulane    5 4 1
Florida State    6 5 0
Buffalo    5 5 0
Penn State    5 5 0
Air Force    4 6 0
Boston College    4 6 0
Navy    4 6 0
Utah State    4 6 0
Xavier    4 6 0
Pacific    4 7 0
San Jose State    3 7 0
Pittsburgh    1 9 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season. The Irish, coached by Ara Parseghian, ended the season undefeated with nine wins and one tie, winning a national championship. The Fighting Irish earned a consensus title after beating No. 10 Oklahoma 38–0 in Norman, tying unbeaten and No. 2 Michigan State 10–10, and ending the season defeating No. 10 USC, 51–0, in the Coliseum [1] The 1966 squad became the eighth Irish team to win the national title and the first under Parseghian. The Irish outscored their opponents 362–38. [1] The 10–10 tie between The Spartans and the Irish remains one of the controversial games of college football, and is considered today to be one of the great "games of the century". [2]

Contents

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 24No. 7 Purdue No. 8W 26–1459,075
October 1at Northwestern No. 4W 35–755,356
October 8 Army No. 3
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 35–059,075
October 15 North Carolina No. 2
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 32–059,075
October 22at No. 10 Oklahoma No. 1W 38–063,439
October 29vs. Navy No. 1W 31–770,101
November 5 Pittsburgh No. 1
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 40–059,075
November 12 Duke No. 1
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
W 64–059,075 [3]
November 19at No. 2 Michigan State No. 1T 10–10 80,011
November 26at No. 10 USC No. 1W 51–088,520
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
PlayersCoaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 28 Rocky Bleier Jr
RB 32 Larry Conjar
RB 21Frank Criniti
RB 38Ron Dushney
RB 47 Nick Eddy
G 68Roger Fox
RB 20 Bob Gladieux So
TE 80Don Gmitter
C 54 George Goeddeke
G 57Tim Gorman
RB 22Dave Haley
WR 86Curt Heneghan
QB 5 Terry Hanratty So
C 58Gerald Kelly
OT 73Rudy Konieczny
G 75 Bob Kuechenberg So
TE 78Mike Kuzmicz
G 69Joe Marsico
RB 31Paul May
OT 79Tom McKinley
C 55Tim Monty
QB 3Coley O’Brien
G 62 Steve Quinn
WR 89Kevin Rassas
G 76 Tom Regner
OT 70Fred Schnurr
OT 71 Paul Seiler
WR 85 Jim Seymour
WR 49Brian Stenger
G 59Dick Swatland
TE 96Jim Winegardner
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 77Harry Alexander
S 33Mike Burgener
DT 64 Pete Duranko
DT 75 Kevin Hardy
CB 34Dan Harshman
LB 51John Horney
LB 65Ron Jeziorski
DE 93Chick Lauck
LB 41John Lavin
CB 40Tom O’Leary
LB 61 Jim Lynch Sr
LB 56 Dave Martin
LB 60Mike McGill
DT 72Eric Norri
DE 81 Alan Page Sr
LB 50 John Pergine Jr
CB 19Tom Quinn
DE 87Tom Rhoads
DE 88Allen Sack
S 7 Tom Schoen Jr
DE 94Bill Skoglund
CB 25Jim Smithberger
LB 89Al VanHuffel
LB 54Ed Vuillemin
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 90Joe Azzaro
K 11Jim Ryan
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured
  • Redshirt.svg Redshirt

Rankings

Game summaries

Purdue

Purdue at Notre Dame
1234Total
No. 8 Boilermakers700714
No. 6 Fighting Irish7701226

[4]

Northwestern

Notre Dame at Northwestern
1234Total
No. 4 Fighting Irish7681435
Wildcats00077

[5]

Army

Army at Notre Dame
1234Total
Cadets00000
No. 3 Fighting Irish21140035
  • Date: October 8
  • Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
  • Game start: 1:30 pm CDT
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Game weather: Fair, 76 degrees

[6]

North Carolina

North Carolina at Notre Dame
1234Total
Tar Heels00000
No. 2 Fighting Irish7136632
  • Date: October 15
  • Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
  • Game start: 1:30 pm CDT
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 50 degrees, wind 22-40 MPH

[7]

Oklahoma

Notre Dame at Oklahoma
1234Total
No. 1 Fighting Irish01721038
No. 10 Sooners00000

[8]

1234Total
No. 1 Fighting Irish3714731
Midshipmen00077

[9]

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh at Notre Dame
1234Total
Panthers00000
No. 1 Fighting Irish07141940
  • Date: October 8
  • Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
  • Game start: 1:30 pm CST
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 40 degrees

[10]

Duke

Duke at Notre Dame
1234Total
Blue Devils00000
No. 1 Fighting Irish222114764
  • Date: October 15
  • Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
  • Game start: 1:30 pm CST
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 42 degrees

[11]

Michigan State

Notre Dame at Michigan State
1234Total
No.1 Fighting Irish070310
No. 2 Spartans0100010

[12]

[13]

Southern Cal

Notre Dame at Southern Cal
1234Total
No. 1 Fighting Irish141713751
No. 10 Trojans00000

[14] [15]

Post-season

Award winners

Heisman Voting:

Nick Eddy, 3rd, [17]
Terry Hanratty, 6th [17]

All-Americans:

Name AP UPI NEA FC SN L T CP FN
† Nick Eddy, HB11112111
† Jim Lynch, LB111111111
Tom Regner, G11111111
Alan Page, DE22111111
Pete Duranko, DT3112
Kevin Hardy, DT223111
Jim Seymour, E32231
Paul Seiler, T32
George Goeddeke, C3233
Tom Schoen, DB32
Larry Conjar, FB3331
Terry Hanratty, QB33
denotes unanimous selection
‡denotes consensus selection     Source: [1]

College Football Hall of Fame Inductees:

NamePositionYear Inducted
Jim Lynch Linebacker1992
Alan Page Defensive End1993
Ara Parseghian Coach1980

Notre Dame leads all universities in players inducted. [18]

1967 NFL Draft

PlayerPositionRoundPickFranchise
Paul SeilerGuard1(12)12 New York Jets
† Alan PageDefensive End1(15)15 Minnesota Vikings
Thomas RegnerGuard1(23)23 Houston Oilers
Larry ConjarRunning Back2(20)46 Cleveland Browns
Jim Lynch Linebacker2(21)47 Kansas City Chiefs
George Goeddeke Center3(6)59 Denver Broncos
Tom RhoadsDefensive End3(17)70 Buffalo Bills
Allen SackLinebacker16(15)408 Los Angeles Rams
Pro Football Hall of Famer       Source: [19]

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References

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