The 1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The Irish, coached by

Dan Devine Daniel John Devine (December 23, 1924 – May 9, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the Univers ...

, ended the season with 11 wins and one loss, winning the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. The Fighting Irish won the title by defeating the previously unbeaten and No. 1 ranked

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

in the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

by a score of a 38–10. The 1977 squad became the tenth Irish team to win the national title and were led by All-Americans

Ken MacAfee Kenneth Adams MacAfee II (born January 9, 1956) is a former professional American football player. He played collegiately at the University of Notre Dame and professionally for the San Francisco 49ers. High school MacAfee grew up in Brockton, M ...

Ross Browner Ross Dean Browner (March 22, 1954 – January 4, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL), mainly for the Cincinnati Bengals. Browner was named to the Bengal ...

Luther Bradley Luther Alexander Bradley (born May 7, 1955) is a former professional American football player who played four seasons for the Detroit Lions. He later played with the Chicago Blitz, Arizona Wranglers and Houston Gamblers of the USFL. He is the U ...

, and

Bob Golic Robert Perry Golic (born October 26, 1957) is an American former college and professional American football, football player, television actor, radio personality and sports commentator. Golic played defensive tackle in the National Football L ...

. Junior

Joe Montana Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid", ...

, a future

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

r, was the team's starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Season

entered his third year as head coach, coming off of a 9–3 season in 1976 that culminated in a

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

win over

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. Devine returned a highly touted defense, featuring 1976

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Am ...

winner

, defensive end Willie Fry, and All-American linebacker

. On offense, quarterback Joe Montana earned the starting job and led an offense that included running backs Jerome Heavens and

Vagas Ferguson Vasquero Diaz "Vagas" Ferguson (born March 6, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1980s. Ferguson played college football ...

and All-American tight end

. Montana, earned a reputation as "the comeback kid", had two come from behind victories in the fourth quarter, against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

and Clemson, down 17 and 10 respectively. After a surprising loss to unranked Ole Miss, patience among the fans was running thin, who considered Devine's previous 8–3 and 9–3 seasons as lackluster compared to the team success under Devine's predecessor,

Ara Parseghian Ara Raoul Parseghian (; hy, Արա Ռաուլ Պարսեղյան; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for br ...

. The Irish rebounded to win their remaining games, including a 49–19 rout of

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

in the now famous "Green Jersey Game." The Irish earned a berth in the

, where they defeated No. 1 and unbeaten

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

by a score of 38–10 to capture Notre Dame's tenth national title. The Irish leaped four spots in the polls after the Cotton Bowl Classic victory to claim the consensus title.

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

Pittsburgh

Ole Miss

Ole Miss gave the eventual national champion Notre Dame its only loss of the season.

Purdue

Michigan State

*Source:''

Army

*ND: Jerome Heavens 34 Rush, 200 Yds (single game school record - Sitko 1948 vs. Michigan St)

USC

Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the first time since their 1963 game against 1963 Syracuse Orangemen football team, Syracuse.

Navy

Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the second straight week.

Georgia Tech

Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the third straight week, and for every home game through the end of the 1980 season. The 69 points were the second most ever scored at Notre Dame Stadium.

Clemson

This was the first-ever meeting between Notre Dame and Clemson.

Air Force

This was the final game for Air Force head coach Ben Martin after 20 seasons. It also remains the most lopsided game in the 30-game series between Notre Dame and Air Force (the Fighting Irish lead 24-6).

Miami (FL)

Texas (Cotton Bowl)

Post-season

Award winners

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lomba ...

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...

Walter Camp Award The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player of the year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS head coaches and sports information directo ...

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

voting :

, 3rd :

, 5th All-Americans

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

inductees

1978 NFL Draft

References

{{College Football National Champion navbox Notre Dame Notre Dame Fighting Irish football seasons College football national champions Cotton Bowl Classic champion seasons

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...