1980 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Sugar Bowl, L 10–17 vs. Georgia
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 10
APNo. 9
Record9–2–1
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorJoe Yonto
Captains
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
Seasons
← 1979
1981 →
1980 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Pittsburgh   –   –   11 – 1 – 0
Tennessee State   –   –   9 – 1 – 0
No. 5 Florida State   –   –   10 – 2 – 0
No. 8 Penn State   –   –   10 – 2 – 0
No. 9 Notre Dame   –   –   9 – 2 – 1
No. 18 Miami (FL)   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
Southern Miss   –   –   9 – 3 – 0
Navy   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
South Carolina   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
Boston College   –   –   7 – 4 – 0
Northeast Louisiana   –   –   7 – 4 – 0
Rutgers   –   –   7 – 4 – 0
UNLV   –   –   7 – 4 – 0
Tulane   –   –   7 – 5 – 0
Colgate   –   –   5 – 4 – 1
North Texas State   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
Villanova   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
West Virginia   –   –   6 – 6 – 0
Louisville   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
Richmond   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
Syracuse   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
East Carolina   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Illinois State   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Temple   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Army   –   –   3 – 7 – 1
Holy Cross   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Cincinnati   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Memphis State   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
William & Mary   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Georgia Tech   –   –   1 – 9 – 1
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team was coached by Dan Devine and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

The 1980 season would be Dan Devine's final year as Notre Dame head coach. In August, he had announced that the upcoming season would be his last. The offense had 248 points for, while the defense gave up 128 points.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 63:20 p.m.No. 9 PurdueNo. 11
ABCW 31–1059,075
September 202:30 p.m.No. 14 MichiganNo. 8
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 29–2759,075
October 41:00 p.m.at Michigan StateNo. 7
W 26–2176,821
October 112:30 p.m.No. 13 Miami (FL)No. 7
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 32–1459,075
October 182:30 p.m.ArmyNo. 5
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 30–359,075
October 2510:35 p.m.at ArizonaNo. 4
W 20–356,211
November 11:30 p.m.vs. NavyNo. 3
W 33–076,891
November 81:30 p.m.at Georgia TechNo. 1
T 3–341,266
November 153:50 p.m.at No. 5 AlabamaNo. 6
ABCW 7–078,873[2]
November 221:30 p.m.Air ForceNo. 2
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 24–1059,075
December 63:50 p.m.at No. 17 USCNo. 2
ABCL 3–2082,663
January 1, 19812:00 p.m.vs. No. 1 GeorgiaNo. 7
ABCL 10–1777,895[3]

Personnel

1980 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB Bernie Adell
RB Ty Barber
RB 28 Greg Bell Fr
RB Mike Boushka
FB 35 Pete Buchanan So
G 65 Bob Burger Sr
RB 22 Phil Carter So
WR 80 Dave Condeni Jr
QB 2 Mike Courey Sr
TE 81 Marty Detmer Sr
WR 1 Ty Dickerson Sr
OL Randy Ellis
OL Robb Gagnon
QB Scott Grooms Fr
WR 31 Pete Holohan Sr
G 78 Tim Huffman Sr
WR Tony Hunter So
QB, P 5 Blair Kiel Fr
QB 13 Greg Knafelc Sr
QB Tim Koegel Sr
TE 86 Dean Masztak Jr
FB Rob McGarry So
RB Larry Moriarty So
RB Rodney Morris
RB John Mosley Fr
OT 71 Phil Pozderac Jr
C 57 John Scully (C) Sr
OT 74 Mike Shiner So
RB Jim Stone Sr
RB John Sweeney
OL 64 Tom Thayer So
WR Tim Tripp
TE 95 Nick Vehr Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 94 Tom Bock Jr
CB 9 Chris Brown Fr
DB Steve Cichy
ILB 43 Bob Crable (C) Jr
S 22 Dave Duerson So
S 20 Angelo Fasano Sr
S 27 Tom Gibbons (C) Sr
DE 92 Joe Gramke Jr
DE John Hankred Sr
DL Don Kidd
DL Pat Kramer
CB 19 John Krimm Jr
DL Tim Marshall Fr
LB Brendan Moynihan
DT 72 Ken Muncy So
LB 45 John Rice Jr
LB 51 Joe Rudzinski
DB Stacey Toran
LB 46 Mark Zavagnin So
DE 70 Scott Zettek Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K Mike Johnston
K 3 Harry Oliver Jr
LS Bill Siewe
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Brian Boulac
  • Bill Meyers
  • Ron Toman (QB)
  • Joe Yonto (DL)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt


Game summaries

Purdue

#9 Purdue Boilermakers (0–0) at #11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Purdue 0 10 0010
Notre Dame 10 7 7731

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

Game information

ABC Player of Game - Mike Courey (151 yards passing, TD, 59 yards rushing, TD)

[4]

Michigan

#14 Michigan Wolverines (1–0) at #8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Michigan 0 14 7627
Notre Dame 0 14 6929

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

  • Date: September 20
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Recap/Box
Game information

Harry Oliver kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired. [5]

At Michigan State

#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2–0) at Michigan State Spartans (1–2)
Period 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 0 6 71326
Michigan State 9 0 01221

at Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan

  • Date: October 4
  • Game attendance: 76,821
  • Recap/Box
Game information

Blair Kiel started the second half at quarterback

Miami (FL)

#13 Miami (FL) Hurricanes (4–0) at #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Miami (FL) 0 0 01414
Notre Dame 0 10 61632

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

  • Date: October 11
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Recap/Box
Game information

Army

Army Cadets (2–2–1) at #5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Army 0 0 303
Notre Dame 0 17 6730

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

  • Date: October 18
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Recap/Box
Game information

[6]

At Arizona

#4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5–0) at Arizona Wildcats (2–3)
Period 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 7 10 0320
Arizona 0 3 003

at Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona

  • Date: October 25
  • Game attendance: 56,211
  • Recap/Box
Game information

Dan Devine's 50th win at Notre Dame

Vs. Navy

Navy Midshipmen (5–2) vs. #3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 12 14 0733
Navy 0 0 000

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: November 1
  • Game weather: Overcast
  • Game attendance: 76,891
  • Recap/Box
Game information

At Georgia Tech

#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7–0) at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1–7)
Period 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 0 0 033
Georgia Tech 0 3 003

at Grant Field, Atlanta, Georgia

  • Date: November 8
  • Game time: 1:30 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 41,266
  • Recap/Box
Game information

At Alabama

#6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7–0–1) at #5 Alabama Crimson Tide (8–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 0 7 007
Alabama 0 0 000

at Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama

Game information

Air Force

Air Force Falcons (2–7–1) at #2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–0–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Air Force 3 0 0710
Notre Dame 0 3 14724

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

  • Date: November 22
  • Game attendance: 59,075
  • Recap/Box
Game information

[7]

At USC

#2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9–0–1) at #17 USC Trojans (7–2–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 0 0 303
USC 0 10 01020

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

Game information

Sugar Bowl (vs. Georgia)

#17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9–1–1) vs. #1 Georgia Bulldogs (11–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Notre Dame 3 0 7010
Georgia 10 7 0017

at Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Date: January 1, 1981
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Game attendance: 77,895
  • TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles
  • Recap/Box
Game information

Team players drafted into the NFL

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ "Notre Dame Yearly Results (1985-1989)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "Hot Irish defense stops Alabama cold". Chicago Tribune. November 16, 1980. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Opportunistic Georgia fulfills national-title dream". Chicago Tribune. January 2, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Palm Beach Post. 1980 Sept 7.
  5. ^ "Last-Play, 51-Yard Kick Gets Irish Past Michigan." Palm Beach Post. 1980 Sept 21.
  6. ^ Gadsden Times. 1980 Oct 19. Retrieved 2018-Oct-19.
  7. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1980 Nov 23.
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