American college football season
The 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season . The Irish, coached by Ara Parseghian , ended the season undefeated with a record of 9–0–1, and won a national championship . The Fighting Irish earned a consensus title after beating No. 10 Oklahoma , 38–0, in Norman , tying unbeaten and No. 2 Michigan State , 10–10, and ending the season defeating No. 10 USC , 51–0, in the Coliseum [ 1] The 1966 squad became the eighth Irish team to win the national title and the first under Parseghian. The Irish outscored their opponents 362–38.[ 1] The 10–10 tie between The Spartans and the Irish remains one of the controversial games of college football, and is considered today to be one of the great "games of the century ".[ 2]
Schedule
Date Opponent Rank Site Result Attendance Source September 24 No. 7 Purdue No. 8 W 26–1459,075
October 1 at Northwestern No. 4 W 35–755,356
October 8 Army No. 3 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 35–059,075
October 15 North Carolina No. 2 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 32–059,075
October 22 at No. 10 Oklahoma No. 1 W 38–063,439
October 29 vs. Navy No. 1 W 31–770,101
November 5 Pittsburgh No. 1 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) W 40–059,075
November 12 Duke No. 1 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN W 64–059,075 [ 3]
November 19 at No. 2 Michigan State No. 1 T 10–10 80,011
November 26 at No. 10 USC No. 1 W 51–088,520
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Roster
1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Pos.
#
Name
Class
P
90
Joe Azzaro
K
11
Jim Ryan
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Rankings
Game summaries
Purdue
Purdue at Notre Dame
1
2 3 4 Total
No. 8 Boilermakers
7
0 0 7
14
• No. 6 Fighting Irish
7
7 0 12
26
[ 4]
Northwestern
Notre Dame at Northwestern
1
2 3 4 Total
• No. 4 Fighting Irish
7
6 8 14
35
Wildcats
0
0 0 7
7
[ 5]
Army
Army at Notre Dame
1
2 3 4 Total
Cadets
0
0 0 0
0
• No. 3 Fighting Irish
21
14 0 0
35
Date: October 8Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, INGame start: 1:30 pm CDT Game attendance: 59,075Game weather: Fair, 76 degrees
[ 6]
North Carolina
North Carolina at Notre Dame
1
2 3 4 Total
Tar Heels
0
0 0 0
0
• No. 2 Fighting Irish
7
13 6 6
32
Date: October 15Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, INGame start: 1:30 pm CDT Game attendance: 59,075Game weather: Cloudy, 50 degrees, wind 22-40 MPH
[ 7]
Oklahoma
Notre Dame at Oklahoma
1
2 3 4 Total
• No. 1 Fighting Irish
0
17 21 0
38
No. 10 Sooners
0
0 0 0
0
[ 8]
Navy
1
2 3 4 Total
• No. 1 Fighting Irish
3
7 14 7
31
Midshipmen
0
0 0 7
7
[ 9]
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh at Notre Dame
1
2 3 4 Total
Panthers
0
0 0 0
0
• No. 1 Fighting Irish
0
7 14 19
40
Date: October 8Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, INGame start: 1:30 pm CST Game attendance: 59,075Game weather: Cloudy, 40 degrees
[ 10]
Duke
Duke at Notre Dame
1
2 3 4 Total
Blue Devils
0
0 0 0
0
• No. 1 Fighting Irish
22
21 14 7
64
Date: October 15Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, INGame start: 1:30 pm CST Game attendance: 59,075Game weather: Cloudy, 42 degrees
[ 11]
Michigan State
Notre Dame at Michigan State
1
2 3 4 Total
No.1 Fighting Irish
0
7 0 3
10
No. 2 Spartans
0
10 0 0
10
[ 12]
[ 13]
USC
Notre Dame at USC
1
2 3 4 Total
• No. 1 Fighting Irish
14
17 13 7
51
No. 10 Trojans
0
0 0 0
0
[ 14] [ 15]
Post-season
Award winners
Heisman Voting :
Nick Eddy , 3rd,[ 17]
Terry Hanratty , 6th[ 17]
All-Americans :
Name
AP
UPI
NEA
FC
SN
L
T
CP
FN
† Nick Eddy, HB
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
† Jim Lynch, LB
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
‡ Tom Regner , G
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Alan Page , DE
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
Pete Duranko , DT
3
1
1
2
Kevin Hardy , DT
2
2
3
1
1
1
Jim Seymour , E
3
2
2
3
1
Paul Seiler , T
3
2
George Goeddeke , C
3
2
3
3
Tom Schoen , DB
3
2
Larry Conjar , FB
3
3
3
1
Terry Hanratty , QB
3
3
†denotes unanimous selection ‡denotes consensus selection Source: [ 1]
College Football Hall of Fame Inductees :
Notre Dame leads all universities in players inducted.[ 18]
1967 NFL Draft
References
^ a b c "2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: History and Records (pages 131-175)" . und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2008 .
^ Celzic, Mike (1992). The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State and the Fall of 1966 . ISBN 0-671-75817-9 .
^ "Duke tops Navy 9–7" . Tallahassee Democrat . November 6, 1966. Retrieved January 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Irish Uncover Soph Aerial Attack, Smash Purdue." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Sep 25.
^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 2, 1966, p. 1
^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 9, 1966, p. 1
^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 16, 1966, p. 1
^ "ND Stomps Sooners." Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 23.
^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 30, 1966, p.
^ South Bend Tribune, Nov. 6, 1966, p. 1
^ South Bend Tribune, Nov. 13, 1966, p. 1
^ Jenkins, Dan (November 28, 1966). "An Upside-Down Game" . Sports Illustrated . Retrieved August 17, 2019 .
^ "Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search" .
^ "Irish Trouncing of U.S.C. Worst in Trojans' History" . The New York Times . November 27, 1966. Retrieved August 17, 2019 .
^ "Army Borrows 'Air Force'; Irish Rout Troy." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Nov 27.
^ "The Maxwell Award Collegiate Player of the Year: Past Recipients" . The Maxwell Football Club. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008 .
^ a b "Heisman Voting" . und.cstv.com . Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008 .
^ "Hall of Fame: Select group by school" . College Football Hall of Fame . Football Foundation. Retrieved December 30, 2008 .
^ "Notre Dame NFL Draft History" . uhnd.com . Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008 .
Venues Bowls and rivalries Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
1936–1949 1950s 1960s
1960 : Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF ) / Ole Miss (FWAA)
1961 : Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA)
1962 : USC
1963 : Texas
1964 : Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF)
1965 : Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
1966 : Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF)
1967 : USC
1968 : Ohio State
1969 : Texas
1970s 1980–1991
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