1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Liberty Bowl champion
ConferenceIndependent
Record7–5
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorJim Johnson
Captains
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)
Seasons
← 1982
1984 →
1983 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Miami (FL)   –   –   11 – 1 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 19 Boston College   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 16 West Virginia   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 20 East Carolina   –   –   8 – 3 – 0
No. 18 Pittsburgh   –   –   8 – 3 – 1
Florida State   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
Penn State   –   –   8 – 4 – 1
Southern Miss   –   –   7 – 4 – 0
Memphis State   –   –   6 – 4 – 1
Notre Dame   –   –   7 – 5 – 0
Syracuse   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
South Carolina   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
Cincinnati   –   4 – 6 – 1
Southwestern Louisiana   –   –   4 – 6 – 0
Temple   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Tulane   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Louisville   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Navy   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Rutgers   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Army   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team was coached by Gerry Faust and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

Notre Dame made it to the Liberty Bowl where they faced Boston College and their prized quarterback Doug Flutie. Boston College scored first on a 13-yard touchdown pass but missed the extra point. Notre Dame came back as Allen Pinkett and Chris Smith each rushed for 100-plus yards, while Pinkett scored two touchdowns as Notre Dame beat Boston College, 19–18, to win their first bowl game since the 1979 Cotton Bowl.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 102:30 p.m.at PurdueNo. 5
W 52–669,782
September 172:30 p.m.Michigan StateNo. 4
L 23–2859,075
September 249:00 p.m.at Miami (FL)No. 13
CBSL 0–2052,480
October 13:30 p.m.at Colorado
KWGNW 27–352,692
October 87:00 p.m.at South Carolina
W 30–674,500
October 151:00 p.m.vs. Army
W 42–075,131
October 222:30 p.m.USC
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 27–659,075
October 2912:00 p.m.NavyNo. 19
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 28–1259,075
November 53:45 p.m.PittsburghNo. 18
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
CBSL 16–2159,075
November 121:00 p.m.at Penn State
L 30–3485,899
November 1912:35 p.m.Air Force
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
ABCL 22–2359,075
December 298:00 p.m.vs. No. 13 Boston College
KatzW 19–1847,071

Roster

1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 82 Mark Bavaro Jr
RB 28 Greg Bell Sr
QB 5 Blair Kiel Sr
RB 20 Allen Pinkett So
G 75 Larry Williams Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
CB 9 Chris Brown Sr
DT 71 Eric Dorsey So
LB 43 Rick DiBernardo So
LB 58 Tony Furjanic So
DE 78 Mike Gann Jr
DE 55 Mike Golic Jr
CB 30 Stacey Toran Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries

Purdue

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 17 14147 52
Purdue 0 006 6
Scoring summary
Q1NDBell 9 yard pass from Kiel (Johnston kick)ND 7–0
Q1NDBell 1 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 14–0
Q1NDJohnston 31 yard field goalND 17–0
Q2NDBell 2 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 24–0
Q2NDBavaro 17 yard pass from Kiel (Johnston kick)ND 31–0
Q3NDPinkett 1 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 38–0
Q3NDBell 5 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 45–0
Q4NDAbraham 3 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 52–0
Q4PURBrunner 18 yard pass from Everett (kick failed)ND 52–6

[2]

Colorado

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 10 773 27
Colorado 3 000 3
Scoring summary
1NDPinkett 10-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 7-0
1COLField 43-yard field goalND 7-3
1NDJohnston 21-yard field goalND 10-3
2NDBrooks 31-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 17-3
3NDSmith 29-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 24-3
4NDJohnston 39-yard field goalND 27-3

USC

1 234Total
USC 0 060 6
• Notre Dame 7 10100 27
Scoring summary
1NDPinkett 11-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 7-0
2NDPinkett 9-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 14-0
20:29NDJohnston 30-yard field goalND 17-0
3NDPinkett 11-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 24-0
3USCHarper 1-yard run (run failed)ND 24-6
30:02NDJohnston 39-yard field goalND 27-6

The game came to be known as the "Green Jerseys II" game. Notre Dame snapped a five-game losing streak to USC as Allen Pinkett rushed 21 times for 122 yards, his fourth straight 100-yard game and the first Irish player to do so since Jim Stone in 1980. "We felt could have beat USC in blue. We felt we could have beat them in T-shirts," said Pinkett. The game took place six years to the day from the original "Green Jersey" game in 1977 but head coach Gerry Faust had already made the decision to wear the jerseys over the summer.

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ "Notre Dame Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1983 Sept 11. Retrieved 2015-Sep-20.
  3. ^ "NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH - Football". Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.