1975 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

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
1975 NCAA Division I independents football records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW 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
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 was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. In their first year under head coach Dan Devine, the Irish compiled an 8–3 record, outscored opponents by a total of 244 to 144, and were ranked No. 17 in the final UPI poll. In their only game against a ranked opponent, they lost to No. 3 USC.[1] The team's victory over Georgia Tech is featured in the 1993 film Rudy.

Defensive tackle Steve Niehaus was a unanimous first-team pick on the 1975 All-America college football team.[2] Tight end Ken McAfee also received first-team All-America honors from the United Press International. The team's statistical leaders included quarterbacks Rick Slager (686 passing yards) and Joe Montana (507 passing yards), running backs Jerome Heavens (756 rushing yards) and Al Hunter (558 rushing yards), McAfee (26 receptions for 333 yards), placekicker Dave Reeve (57 points on 24 of 26 PAT and 11 of 16 field goals), and Niehaus (113 tackles).[3][4]

The team played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 159:00 p.m.vs. Boston CollegeNo. 9
ABCW 17–361,501[5]
September 202:30 p.m.at PurdueNo. 9
W 17–069,795[6]
September 272:30 p.m.NorthwesternNo. 7
W 31–759,075[7]
October 42:30 p.m.Michigan StateNo. 8
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
L 3–1059,075[8]
October 111:30 p.m.at North CarolinaNo. 15
W 21–1449,500[9]
October 183:05 p.m.at Air ForceNo. 15
W 31–3043,204[10]
October 251:50 p.m.No. 3 USCNo. 14
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
ABCL 17–2459,075[11]
November 11:30 p.m.NavyNo. 15
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 31–1059,075[12]
November 81:30 p.m.Georgia TechNo. 12
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 24–359,075[13]
November 151:30 p.m.at PittsburghNo. 9
L 20–3456,480[14]
November 227:30 p.m.at Miami (FL)
W 32–924,676[15]

Game summaries

Boston College

Team 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

[16]

Purdue

Team 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

[17]

North Carolina

Team 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

[18]

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.

Team 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

[19]

Personnel

Coaching staff

  • Head coach: Dan Devine
  • Assistants: Greg Blache (JV), Brian Boulac (OL), Ed Chlebek (ST), Merv Johnson (OC), George Kelly (LB), Hank Kuhlmann (OB/ST), Johnny Roland (Receivers), Paul Shoults (DB), Ross Stephenson (Scouting/Volunteer Ast), Joe Yonto (DL)

[20]

Roster

1975 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
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.#NameClass
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.#NameClass
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

References

  1. ↑ "1975 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 10. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  3. ↑ "1975 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
  4. ↑ "1975 Notre Dame Football Statistics" (PDF). Notre Dame. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
  5. ↑ "17–3 for Devine, Assistants". Press (Binghamton, NY). September 16, 1975. p. 13A – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Irish blank Purdue". Springfield News-Sun. September 21, 1975. Retrieved September 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Notre Dame tramples Northwestern 31–7". The Journal Times. September 28, 1975. Retrieved September 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Notre Dame tumbles". St. Petersburg Times. October 5, 1975. Retrieved September 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "21 late points save Notre Dame". The Courier-Journal. October 12, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Irish down, 30–10, but rally again". Dayton Daily News. October 19, 1975. Retrieved September 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Bell helps USC rally to edge Notre Dame, 24–17". Albuquerque Journal. October 26, 1975. Retrieved September 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Irish rattle Navy, 31–10". The Huntsville Times. November 2, 1975. Retrieved September 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Notre Dame's Browner-led defense slams door on Georgia Tech by 24–3". The Courier-Journal. November 9, 1975. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Pitt upsets Irish". The Paducah Sun-Democrat. November 16, 1975. Retrieved September 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Only 24,676 see Irish down Hurricanes, 32–9". Fort Lauderdale News & Sun-Sentinel. November 23, 1975. Retrieved September 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Notre Dame Stops Boston College in Opener." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Sept 16.
  17. ↑ "Interception Return Lifts Irish." Palm Beach Post. 1975 Sept 21.
  18. ↑ "Irish Turn Back Tar Heels, 21-14." Eugene Register-Guard. 1975 Oct 12.
  19. ↑ "Notre Dame Subdues Ga. Tech". The New York Times. November 9, 1975.
  20. ↑ 2011 Notre Dame football media supplement.
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