1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Orange Bowl, L 6–40 vs. Nebraska
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 14
Record8–3
Head coach
Captains
  • John Dampeer
  • Greg Marx
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
Seasons
← 1971
1973 →
1972 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Penn State   –   10 – 2 – 0
No. 14 Notre Dame   –   8 – 3 – 0
Utah State   –   8 – 3 – 0
West Virginia   –   8 – 4 – 0
Florida State   –   7 – 4 – 0
Northern Illinois   –   7 – 4 – 0
Rutgers   –   7 – 4 – 0
No. 20 Georgia Tech   –   7 – 4 – 1
Air Force   –   6 – 4 – 0
Army   –   6 – 4 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   6 – 4 – 1
Houston   –   6 – 4 – 1
Tulane   –   6 – 5 – 0
Temple   –   5 – 4 – 0
Colgate   –   5 – 4 – 1
Holy Cross   –   5 – 4 – 1
Syracuse   –   5 – 6 – 0
Miami (FL)   –   5 – 6 – 0
Dayton   –   4 – 6 – 1
Boston College   –   4 – 7 – 0
Navy   –   4 – 7 – 0
South Carolina   –   4 – 7 – 0
Southern Miss   –   3 – 7 – 1
Xavier   –   3 – 8 – 0
Marshall   –   2 – 8 – 0
Cincinnati   –   2 – 9 – 0
Villanova   –   2 – 9 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   1 – 10 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 232:30 p.m.at NorthwesternNo. 13
W 37–055,155
September 302:30 p.m.PurdueNo. 10
W 35–1459,075
October 71:50 p.m.at Michigan StateNo. 7
ABCW 16–077,828
October 142:30 p.m.PittsburghNo. 7
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 42–1659,075
October 212:30 p.m.MissouriNo. 8
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
L 26–3059,075
October 282:30 p.m.TCUNo. 13
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
W 21–059,075
November 41:30 p.m.vs. NavyNo. 12
W 42–2343,089
November 113:05 p.m.at Air ForceNo. 12
W 21–748,671
November 181:30 p.m.Miami (FL)No. 10
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 20–1759,075
December 24:00 p.m.at No. 1 USCNo. 10
ABCL 23–4575,243
January 1, 19738:00 p.m.vs. No. 9 NebraskaNo. 12
NBCL 6–4080,010

[1]

Game summaries

Northwestern

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 14 1670 37
Northwestern 0 000 0

Purdue

1 234Total
Purdue 0 0014 14
• Notre Dame 14 7140 35
Scoring summary
1NDMike Creaney 39-yard pass from Tom Clements (Thomas kick)ND 7-0
1NDEric Penick 14-yard run (Thomas kick)ND 14-0
2NDWillie Townsend 62-yard pass from Tom Clements (Thomas kick)ND 21-0
3NDJohn Cieszowski 1-yard run (Thomas kick)ND 28-0
3NDAndy Huff 1-yard run (Thomas kick)ND 35-0
4PURJack Spellman 24-yard run (Bobrowski to Sayers pass)ND 35-8
4PURSkip Peterson 1-yard run (pass failed)ND 35-14

[2]

Michigan State

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 3 3010 16
Michigan St. 0 000 0


Pittsburgh

1 234Total
Pittsburgh 0 088 16
• Notre Dame 7 7721 42
Scoring summary
1NDHuff 1-yard run (Thomas kick)Notre Dame 7-0
2NDHuff 4-yard run (Thomas kick)Notre Dame 14-0
3PITTJanasek 3-yard pass from Hogan (Englert pass from Hogan)Notre Dame 14-8
3NDMahalic 54-yard interception return (Thomas kick)Notre Dame 21-8
4NDHuff 4-yard run (Thomas kick)Notre Dame 28-8
4NDPenick 2-yard run (Thomas kick)Notre Dame 35-8
4NDBest 56-yard run (Thomas kick)Notre Dame 42-8
4PITTDaniels 1-yard run (Daniels run)Notre Dame 42-16

[3]

Missouri

1 234Total
• Missouri 7 1463 30
Notre Dame 7 7012 26
  • Date: October 21
  • Location: Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Game weather: Rain, upper 40s
  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit


TCU

1 234Total
TCU 0 000 0
• Notre Dame 0 777 21
  • Date: October 28
  • Location: Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Game weather: Rain, mid-50s


Navy

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 14 2107 42
Navy 0 0716 23

Air Force

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 0 1407 21
Air Force 0 070 7

Miami (FL)

1 234Total
Miami 3 0014 17
• Notre Dame 13 070 20
  • Date: November 18
  • Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
  • Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Game weather: Mid-30s

USC

1 234Total
Notre Dame 3 7130 23
• USC 19 01313 45

Orange Bowl vs. Nebraska

1973 Orange Bowl
1 234Total
• Nebraska 7 13200 40
Notre Dame 0 006 6

Roster

1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 12 Frank Allocco So
FB 23 Art Best Fr
G 62 Tom Bolger Jr
QB 8 Cliff Brown Jr
FB 30 Wayne Bullock So
TE 86 Dave Casper Jr
QB 2 Tom Clements So
WR 85 Peter Demmerle So
G 72 Gerry DiNardo So
RB 28 Gary Diminick Jr
OT 69 Dennis Lozzi Jr
G 56 Frank Pomarico Jr
OT 71 Steve Sylvester So
WR 80 Willie Townsend Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 79 Jay Achterhoff Fr
CB 14 Reggie Barnett So
LB 50 Greg Collins So
DT 70 Steve Niehaus Fr
DT 60 Kevin Nosbusch So
DHB 7 Tim Rudnick Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 98 Bob Thomas Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Tom Pagna
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

References

  1. ^ 2011 Notre Dame football media guide
  2. ^ "Purdue smashed." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 1.
  3. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 15.


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