1975 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
Record8–3
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMerv Johnson (1st season)
Captains
  • Ed Bauer
  • Jim Stock
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
Seasons
← 1974
1976 →
1975 NCAA Division I independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Rutgers   –   9 – 2 – 0
No. 10 Penn State   –   9 – 3 – 0
No. 20 West Virginia   –   9 – 3 – 0
Notre Dame   –   8 – 3 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   8 – 3 – 0
No. 15 Pittsburgh   –   8 – 4 – 0
Boston College   –   7 – 4 – 0
Georgia Tech   –   7 – 4 – 0
Memphis State   –   7 – 4 – 0
Navy   –   7 – 4 – 0
North Texas State   –   7 – 4 – 0
Southern Miss   –   7 – 4 – 0
South Carolina   –   7 – 5 – 0
Colgate   –   6 – 4 – 0
Cincinnati   –   6 – 5 – 0
Hawaii   –   6 – 5 – 0
Syracuse   –   6 – 5 – 0
Temple   –   6 – 5 – 0
Utah State   –   6 – 5 – 0
Indiana State   –   5 – 5 – 0
Dayton   –   5 – 6 – 0
Northeast Louisiana   –   4 – 6 – 1
Tulane   –   4 – 7 – 0
Villanova   –   4 – 7 – 0
Florida State   –   3 – 8 – 0
Air Force   –   2 – 8 – 1
Houston   –   2 – 8 – 0
Miami (FL)   –   2 – 8 – 0
Army   –   2 – 9 – 0
Marshall   –   2 – 9 – 0
Southern Illinois   –   1 – 9 – 1
Holy Cross   –   1 – 10 – 0
Louisville   –   1 – 10 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1975 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. It was Dan Devine's first year as head coach, taking over for the retired Ara Parseghian.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 159:00 p.m.vs. Boston CollegeNo. 9
ABCW 17–361,501[1]
September 202:30 p.m.at PurdueNo. 9
W 17–069,795
September 272:30 p.m.NorthwesternNo. 7
W 31–759,075
October 42:30 p.m.Michigan StateNo. 8
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
L 3–1059,075
October 111:30 p.m.at North CarolinaNo. 15
W 21–1449,500[2]
October 183:05 p.m.at Air ForceNo. 15
W 31–3043,204
October 251:50 p.m.No. 3 USCNo. 14
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
ABCL 17–2459,075
November 11:30 p.m.NavyNo. 15
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 31–1059,075
November 81:30 p.m.Georgia TechNo. 12
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 24–359,075
November 151:30 p.m.at PittsburghNo. 9
L 20–3456,480
November 227:30 p.m.at Miami (FL)
W 32–924,944

Personnel

Roster

1975 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 12 Frank Allocco Sr
OT 68 Ed Bauer Sr
TE 83 Doug Buth Jr
TE 87 John Driscoll So
RB 40 Terry Eurick So
WR 82 Kris Haines Fr
RB 30 Jerome Heavens Fr
RB 25 Al Hunter So
OT 62 Dave Huffman Fr
G 65 Ernie Hughes So
WR 80 Dan Kelleher Jr
RB 21 Dan Knott So
TE 81 Ken MacAfee So
OT 71 Steve McDaniels So
G 60 Howard Meyer Fr
QB 3 Joe Montana Fr
G 57 Elton Moore Jr
RB 14 Steve Orsini So
FB 36 Tom Parise Sr
C 77 Steve Quehl Sr
OT 50 Bob Tull So
G 66 Al Wujciak Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 79 Jay Achterhoff Sr
SS 20 Luther Bradley So
SS 33 Jim Browner Fr
DE 89 Ross Browner So
SS 28 Ross Christensen So
LB 24 Nick DeCicco So
DT 72 Ken Dike So
FS 41 John Dubenetzky Jr
LB 42 Tom Eastman Jr
DE 94 Willie Fry So
LB 55 Bob Golic Fr
FS 10 Randy Harrison So
LB 58 Steve Heimkreiter Fr
LB 51 Pete Johnson So
CB 26 Tom Lopienski Sr
DT 70 Steve Niehaus Sr
LB 38 Tony Novakov Sr
LB 54 Marv Russell Jr
DE 45 Rudy Ruettiger Sr
CB 29 Pat Sarb Sr
LB 48 Jim Stock Sr
DT 74 Jeff Weston So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 4 Tony Brantley Sr
K 99 Pat McLaughlin Sr
P/QB 7 Joe Restic Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Coaching staff

[3]

Game summaries

Boston College

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 0 377 17
Boston College 0 300 3
Scoring summary
26:52NDDave Reeve 30-yard field goalND 3-0
20:11BCFred Steinfort 45-yard field goalTied 3-3
31:48NDJim Browner 10-yard run (kick good)ND 10-3
4NDTouchdownND 17-3

[4]

Purdue

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 3 0014 17
Purdue 0 000 0
Scoring summary
1NDReeve 29-yard field goalNotre Dame 3-0
4NDBradley 99-yard interception return (Reeve kick)Notre Dame 10-0
4NDHunter 1-yard run (Reeve kick)Notre Dame 17-0

[5]

North Carolina

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 0 0021 21
North Carolina 0 0140 14
Scoring summary
3UNCVoight 12-yard run (Biddle kick)UNC 7-0
3UNCCollins 38-yard pass from Paschall (Biddle kick)UNC 14-0
4NDHunter 2-yard run (pass failed)UNC 14-6
4NDHunter 2-yard run (Montana to Bush pass)Tied 14-14
41:03NDBurgmeier 80-yard pass from Montana (McLaughlin kick)ND 21-14

[6]

Georgia Tech

This was the famous game in which Rudy Ruettiger, a 5'6", 165-lb, walk-on, was inserted late in the game and recorded a quarterback sack. His story was the inspiration for the movie Rudy.

1 234Total
Georgia Tech 0 003 3
• Notre Dame 7 737 24
Scoring summary
1NDHeavens 16-yard run (Reeve kick)ND 7-0
2NDFG Reeve 29ND 10-0
3NDHeavens 73-yard run (Reeve kick)ND 17-0
4GTFG Mealier 4017-3
4NDKnotter 3-yard run (Reeve kick)ND 24-3

[7]

References

  1. ^ "17–3 for Devine, Assistants". Press (Binghamton, NY). September 16, 1975. p. 13A – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "21 late points save Notre Dame". The Courier-Journal. October 12, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ 2011 Notre Dame football media supplement.
  4. ^ "Notre Dame Stops Boston College in Opener." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Sept 16.
  5. ^ "Interception Return Lifts Irish." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Sept 21.
  6. ^ "Irish Turn Back Tar Heels, 21-14." Eugene Register-Guard. 1975 Oct 12.
  7. ^ "Notre Dame Subdues Ga. Tech". The New York Times. November 9, 1975.


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