1991 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 39–28 vs. Florida
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 13
Record10–3
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorGary Darnell (2nd season)
CaptainRodney Culver
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
(c. 59,075, grass)
Seasons
← 1990
1992 →
1991 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 9 East Carolina   –   11 – 1 – 0
No. 4 Florida State   –   11 – 2 – 0
No. 3 Penn State   –   11 – 2 – 0
No. 21 Tulsa   –   10 – 2 – 0
Louisiana Tech   –   8 – 1 – 2
No. 13 Notre Dame   –   10 – 3 – 0
Akron   –   5 – 6 – 0
Memphis State   –   5 – 6 – 0
Army   –   4 – 7 – 0
Cincinnati   –   4 – 7 – 0
Southern Miss   –   4 – 7 – 0
South Carolina   –   3 – 6 – 2
Southwestern Louisiana   –   2 – 8 – 1
Louisville   –   2 – 9 – 0
Northern Illinois   –   2 – 9 – 0
Tulane   –   1 – 10 – 0
Navy   –   1 – 10 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1991 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team was led by sixth-year head coach Lou Holtz and played its home games on campus at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

On September 7, 1991, NBC started televising Notre Dame's home games;[2] it became the first Division I-A football program to have all of its home games televised exclusively by one television network.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 71:30 p.m.IndianaNo. 7
NBCW 49–2759,075
September 143:30 p.m.at No. 3 MichiganNo. 7
ABCL 14–24106,138
September 211:30 p.m.Michigan StateNo. 11
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 49–1059,075
September 2812:00 p.m.at PurdueNo. 8
ABCW 45–2067,861
October 511:00 p.m.at StanfordNo. 8
ESPNW 42–2670,798
October 121:30 p.m.No. 12 PittsburghNo. 7
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 42–759,075
October 198:30 p.m.at Air ForceNo. 5
ESPNW 28–1552,024
October 261:30 p.m.USCNo. 5
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 24–2059,075
November 24:00 p.m.NavyNo. 5
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 38–059,075
November 91:30 p.m.No. 13 TennesseeNo. 5
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBCL 34–3559,075[3]
November 163:30 p.m.at No. 8 Penn StateNo. 12
ABCL 13–3596,672
November 3011:00 p.m.at HawaiiNo. 18
ESPNW 48–4250,000
January 1, 19928:00 p.m.vs. No. 3 FloridaNo. 18
ABCW 39–2876,447[4]

Roster

1991 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
FB 6 Jerome Bettis So
RB 40 Tony Brooks Jr
TE 86 Derek Brown Sr
RB 5 Rodney Culver Sr
WR 87 Lake Dawson So
WR 10 Adrian Jarrell Jr
OT 65 Lindsay Knapp Jr
TE 80 Oscar McBride So
C 76 Gene McGuire Sr
QB 3 Rick Mirer Jr
FB 15 Mike O'Neill Sr
G 61 Tim Ruddy So
TE 84 Irv Smith Sr. Jr
G 75 Aaron Taylor So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 47 Pete Bercich So
S 9 Jeff Burris So
CB 13 Tom Carter So
FS 32 Willie Clark So
CB 29 John Covington So
LB 31 Demetrius DuBose Jr
LB 44 Jim Flanigan So
DT 55 Oliver Gibson So
FS 25 Mike Lalli Jr
LB 89 Karmeeleyah McGill Jr
LB 46 Brian Ratigan Jr
CB 21 Rod Smith Sr
DT 97 Bryant Young So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 28 Craig Hentrich Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries

Indiana

1 234Total
Hoosiers 3 1437 27
• Fighting Irish 7 21147 49
Scoring summary
1INDBonnell 48 yard field goalIND 3–0
1NDDuBose 49 yard interception return (Hentrich kick)ND 7–3
2INDGreen 5 yard run (Bonnell kick)IND 10–7
2NDCulver 19 yard run (Hentrich kick)ND 14–10
2INDGreen 1 yard run (Bonnell kick)IND 17–14
2NDMirer 46 yard run (Hentrich kick)ND 21–17
2NDT. Brooks 13 yard run (Hentrich kick)ND 28–17
3INDBonnell 29 yard field goalND 28–20
3NDMirer 6 yard run (Hentrich kick)ND 35–20
3NDI. Smith 58 yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick)ND 42–20
4INDWalker 5 yard pass from Green (Bonnell kick)ND 42–27
4NDMirer 1 yard run (Hentrich kick)ND 49–27

See also: 1991 Indiana Hoosiers football team

[5]

At Michigan

1 234Total
Fighting Irish 0 770 14
• Wolverines 3 1407 24
Scoring summary
1MICHCarlson 23 yard field goalMICH 3–0
2MICHHoward 29 yard run (Carlson kick)MICH 10–0
2MICHPowers 16 yard run (Carlson kick)MICH 17–0
2NDBettis 3 yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick)MICH 17–7
3NDT. Smith 35 yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick)MICH 17–14
4MICHHoward 25 yard pass from Grbac (Carlson kick)MICH 24–14

See also: 1991 Michigan Wolverines football team and Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry

Michigan State

See also: 1991 Michigan State Spartans football team, Michigan State–Notre Dame football rivalry, and Megaphone Trophy

At Purdue

See also: 1991 Purdue Boilermakers football team and Notre Dame–Purdue football rivalry

At Stanford

See also: 1991 Stanford Cardinal football team and Notre Dame–Stanford football rivalry

Pittsburgh

See also: 1991 Pittsburgh Panthers football team and Notre Dame–Pittsburgh football rivalry

At Air Force

See also: 1991 Air Force Falcons football team

USC

See also: 1991 USC Trojans football team and Notre Dame–USC football rivalry

Navy

See also: 1991 Navy Midshipmen football team and Navy–Notre Dame football rivalry

Tennessee

At Penn State

See also: 1991 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

At Hawaii

See also: 1991 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team

Vs. Florida (Sugar Bowl)

1 234Total
• Fighting Irish 0 71022 39
Gators 10 6012 28

Main article: 1992 Sugar Bowl

See also: 1991 Florida Gators football team

[6]

References

  1. ^ "Notre Dame Yearly Results (1990-1994)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Sandomir, Richard (August 25, 1991). "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Notre Dame Scored a $38 Million Touchdown on Its TV Deal". New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2008.
  3. ^ "Vols dance an Irisg jig 35–34". Bristol Herald Courier. November 10, 1991. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Irish thwart Florida". Wisconsin State Journal. January 2, 1992. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1991 Sep 9. Retrieved 2018-Nov-03.
  6. ^ "Notre Dame Beats Florida, 39-28, Proves It Belongs". Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1992. Retrieved November 10, 2019.


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