1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Consensus National Champions
Conference Independent
Ranking
Coaches #1
AP #1
1966 record 9–0–1
Head coach Ara Parseghian (3rd year)
Base defense 4–4
Captain Jim Lynch
Home stadium Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)

The 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1966 college 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 its 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]

Season

Schedule

Date Opponent# Rank# Site Result Attendance
September 24 #8 Purdue #6 Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (Shillelagh Trophy) W 26-14   59,075
October 1 at Northwestern #4 Dyche StadiumEvanston, IL (Rivalry) W 35-7   55,356
October 8 Army #3 Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Rivalry) W 35-0   59,075
October 15 North Carolina #2 Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN W 32-0   59,075
October 22 at #10 Oklahoma #1 Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK W 38-0   63,439
October 29 vs. Navy #1 JFK StadiumPhiladelphia, PA (Rivalry) W 31-7   70,101
November 5 Pittsburgh #1 Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN W 40-0   59,075
November 12 Duke #1 Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN W 64-0   59,075
11/19/1966 at #2 Michigan State #1 Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI (Megaphone Trophy) T 10-10   80,011
November 26 at #10 USC #1 Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh) W 51-0   88,520
#Rankings from AP. All times are in Eastern Time.

Roster

Coaching staff

Name Position Year at
Notre Dame
Ara Parseghian Head Coach 3rd
Tom Pagna Offensive Backs 3rd
George Sefcik Receivers 3rd
Jerry Wampfler Offensive Line 1st
John Ray Defensive Line
Linebackers
3rd
Paul Shoults Defensive Backs 3rd
Joe Yonto Asst. Defensive Line 3rd
Wally Moore Freshmen 3rd
John Murphy Asst. Freshmen 5th

Game notes

Purdue

Purdue at Notre Dame
1 234Total
Purdue 7 007 14
Notre Dame 7 7012 26

[3]

Oklahoma

1 234Total
Notre Dame 0 17210 38
Oklahoma 0 000 0

[4]

Navy

1 234Total
Notre Dame 3 7147 31
Navy 0 007 7

[5]

Michigan State

Notre Dame at Michigan State
1 234Total
Notre Dame 0 703 10
Michigan St 0 1000 10

[6]

USC

1 234Total
Notre Dame 14 17137 51
USC 0 000 0

[7]

Post-season

Award winners

Heisman Voting:

Nick Eddy, 3rd,[9]
Terry Hanratty, 6th[9]

All-Americans:

Name AP UPI NEA FC SN L T CP FN
† Nick Eddy, HB 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
† Jim Lynch, LB 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Tom Regner, G 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Alan Page, DE 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Pete Duranko, DT 3 1 1 2
Kevin Hardy, DT 2 2 3 1 1 1
Jim Seymour, E 3 2 2 3 1
Paul Seiler, T 3 2
George Goeddeke, C 3 2 3 3
Tom Schoen, DB 3 2
Larry Conjar, FB 3 3 3 1
Terry Hanratty, QB 3 3
denotes unanimous selection
‡denotes consensus selection      Source:[1]

College Football Hall of Fame Inductees:

Name Position Year Inducted
Jim Lynch Linebacker 1992
Alan Page Defensive End 1993
Ara Parseghian Coach 1980

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

1967 NFL Draft

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Paul Seiler Guard 1(12) 12 New York Jets
† Alan Page Defensive End 1(15) 15 Minnesota Vikings
Thomas Regner Guard 1(23) 23 Houston Oilers
Larry Conjar Running Back 2(20) 46 Cleveland Browns
Jim Lynch Linebacker 2(21) 47 Kansas City Chiefs
George Goeddeke Center 3(6) 59 Denver Broncos
Tom Rhoads Defensive End 3(17) 70 Buffalo Bills
Allen Sack Linebacker 16(15) 408 Los Angeles Rams
Pro Football Hall of Famer      Source:[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: History and Records (pages 131-175)". und.cstv.com. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  2. Mike Celzic. The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State and the Fall of 1966. ISBN 0-671-75817-9.
  3. "Irish Uncover Soph Aerial Attack, Smash Purdue." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Sep 25.
  4. "ND Stomps Sooners." Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 23.
  5. Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 30.
  6. "Army Borrows 'Air Force'; Irish Rout Troy." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Nov 27.
  7. "The Maxwell Award Collegiate Player of the Year: Past Recipients". The Maxwell Football Club. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  8. 1 2 "Heisman Voting". und.cstv.com. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  9. "College Football Hall of Famers.". collegefootball.org. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  10. "Notre Dame NFL Draft History". uhnd.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
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