2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Gator Bowl, L 6–28 vs. NC State
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 17
Record10–3
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBill Diedrick (1st season)
Offensive schemeWest Coast
Defensive coordinatorKent Baer (1st season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
2002 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
South Florida –  9–2 
No. 17 Notre Dame –  10–3 
Connecticut –  6–6 
Utah State –  4–7 
Troy State –  4–8 
Navy –  2–10 
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach Tyrone Willingham, the Irish compiled a 10–3 record, outscored opponents by a total of 290 to 217, and were ranked No. 17 in the final AP and Coaches Polls. They won the first eight games of the season and were at that point ranked No. 4 in the AP poll.[1] The winning streak led to claims to a "Return to Glory",[2] with the phrase appearing on t-shirts that created a "Sea of Green" in the stands,[3] and on the September 30 cover of Sports Illustrated.[4] However, the Irish lost three of their last five games, including a 44–13 loss to USC and a 28–6 loss to NC State in the Gator Bowl.[1][5]

The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Carlyle Holiday (1,788 passing yards), running back Ryan Grant (1,085 rushing yards), wide receiver Arnaz Battle (58 receptions for 786 yards), and kicker Nicholas Setta (74 points, 32 of 32 PAT, 14 of 25 field goals).[6] Defensive back Shane Walton tallied seven interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) and seven pass breakups,[7] and was a unanimous first-team pick on the 2002 All-America college football team. Center Jeff Faine and linebacker Courtney Watson also received first-team All-America honors from at least one selector.

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

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 318:00 p.m.vs. No. 21 Maryland
ABCW 22–072,903
September 712:00 p.m.PurdueNo. 23
NBCW 24–1780,795
September 141:30 p.m.No. 7 MichiganNo. 20
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 25–2380,795
September 213:30 p.m.at Michigan StateNo. 12
ABCW 21–1775,182
October 51:30 p.m.StanfordNo. 9
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 31–780,795
October 121:30 p.m.PittsburghNo. 8
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 14–680,795
October 1910:00 p.m.at No. 18 Air ForceNo. 7
ESPNW 21–1456,409
October 2612:00 p.m.at No. 11 Florida StateNo. 6
ABCW 34–2484,106
November 22:30 p.m.Boston CollegeNo. 4
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (Holy War)
NBCL 7–1480,935
November 912:00 p.m.at NavyNo. 9
CBSW 30–2370,260
November 231:00 p.m.RutgersNo. 8
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBCW 42–080,795
November 308:00 p.m.at No. 6 USCNo. 7
ABCL 13–4491,432
January 1, 200312:30 p.m.vs. No. 17 NC StateNo. 11
NBCL 6–2873,491

Roster

2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 3 Arnaz Battle Sr
OT 78 Jordan Black Sr
TE 48 Jerome Collins So
OT 63 Brennan Curtin Sr
QB 9 Pat Dillingham So
C 52 Jeff Faine Sr
TE 88 Anthony Fasano Fr
TE 14 Gary Godsey Jr
RB 4 Ryan Grant So
QB 7 Carlyle Holiday So
WR 80 Omar Jenkins Jr
WR 48 Jonathan Gentine Sr
RB 22 Julius Jones (S) Jr
G 73 Mark LeVoir So
FB 39 Tom Lopienski Sr
G 79 Sean Mahan Sr
OT 70 Jim Molinaro Jr
QB 2 Dan Novakov Sr
RB 35 Tim O'Neill Sr
RB 23 Chris Yura Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 9 Jason Beckstrom Sr
DE 90 Brian Beidatsch So
S 27 Lionel Bolen So
DE 92 Kyle Budinscak So
S 29 Quentin Burrell So
CB 6 Carlos Campbell So
DT 60 Darrell Campbell Jr
S 31 Jake Carney Fr
DB 5 Glenn Earl Jr
LB 41 Mike Goolsby Jr
DE 95 Ryan Roberts Sr
LB 56 Pat Ryan Sr
S 20 Gerome Sapp Sr
DE 99 Jason Sapp So
LB 57 Justin Thomas Jr
DE 44 Justin Tuck So
CB 42 Shane Walton Sr
LB 33 Courtney Watson Sr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 17 Joey Hildbold Sr
K 13 Nick Setta Jr
LS 53 John Crowther Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2002-08-02

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP——2320121098764 (1)9987111117
Coaches——2421121098766 (1)10987131217
BCSNot released337767109Not released

Game summaries

Michigan State

During the Michigan State game, quarterback Carlyle Holiday was injured and replaced by backup Pat Dillingham. Dillingham led the Irish to a comeback win on a screen pass to Arnaz Battle.

Florida State

Holiday returned for the Florida State game. In that game, Holiday threw a 65-yard touchdown on his first play to Battle that helped the Irish win the game.[8]

Boston College

The first Irish loss of the season came against the Boston College Eagles, mirroring the 1993 season when Notre Dame narrowly lost a chance to participate in the national championship game due to a loss to Boston College. Willingham, wanting the team to be a part of the "Sea of Green" in the stands,[9] decided that the team should wear green for the game. In 1985, the last time the Irish wore green at home, they came out after halftime against USC and won the game 37–3. The ploy, however, did not work this time, as the Irish committed 5 turnovers and Holiday was injured again and replaced by Dillingham, who threw 2 interception, one of which the Eagles returned for a touchdown that sealed the loss for the Irish.[10]

The Fighting Irish won their 39th straight victory over Navy.[11]

Rutgers

Notre Dame won a 42–0 blowout victory over struggling Rutgers.[12]

at No. 6 USC

Team 1 234Total
No. 7 Fighting Irish 6 700 13
• No. 6 Trojans 0 171314 44
  • Date: November 30
  • Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
  • Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 3:26
  • Game attendance: 91,432
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 60 °F (16 °C); wind variable
  • Referee: Chuck McFerrin
  • Television network: ABC
Scoring summary
Q14:10NDSetta 34-yard field goalND 3–0
Q13:46NDSetta 32-yard field goalND 6–0
Q210:49USCWilliams 6-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 7–6
Q23:34USCKilleen 22-yard field goalUSC 10–6
Q21:07NDPierre-Antoine recovered blocked punt in end zone (Setta kick)ND 13–10
Q2:05USCWilliams 19-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 17–13
Q312:01USCMacKenzie 15-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 24–13
Q36:36USCKilleen 27-yard field goalUSC 27–13
Q32:15USCKilleen 29-yard field goalUSC 30–13
Q411:58USCMcCullough 11-yard run (Killeen kick)USC 37–13
Q47:23USCMacKenzie 10-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 44–13

Notre Dame had a legitimate shot at a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl game if they could win against perennial rival USC. The Irish were ranked higher than the Trojans, but USC quarterback Carson Palmer, who cited the game as the reason he went on to win the Heisman Trophy,[13] threw for 425 yards in the Trojans' 31 point win.[14]

Vs. NC State (Gator Bowl)

Gator Bowl
Team 1 234Total
• Wolfpack 0 2107 28
Fighting Irish 3 030 6
  • Source:
Scoring summary
15:09NDNick Setta 23-yard field goalND 3-0
214:30NCSTT.A. McLendon 2-yard run (Adam Kiker kick)NCST 7-3
25:30NCSTT.A. McLendon 3-yard run (Adam Kiker kick)NCST 14-3
21:37NCSTJerricho Cotchery 9-yard pass from Philip Rivers (Adam Kiker kick)NCST 21-3
32:50NDNick Setta 41-yard field goalNCST 21-6
410:50NCSTSean Berton 7-yard pass from Philip Rivers (Adam Kiker kick)NCST 28-6

The Irish won 10 games but were not invited to a BCS bowl game, and they accepted a bid to play North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl instead. With both an offense and defense that outmatched the Irish, the Wolfpack won the game 28–6, giving the Irish their sixth consecutive bowl loss.[15] Despite the loss, the Irish ended the season ranked in both the Associated Press (AP) and Coaches Polls.[16]

Statistical leaders

Passing

  1. Carlyle Holiday - 129 of 257 (50.2%) for 1,788 yards, 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, 117.58 efficiency
  2. Pat Dillingham - 41 of 81 (50.6%) for 434 yards, 1 touchdown, 7 interceptions, 82.41 efficiency

[6][17]

Rushing

  1. Ryan Grant - 1,085 yards on 261 attempts, 4.2 yards per carry, 9 touchdowns
  2. Rashon Powers-Neal - 333 yards on 77 carries, 4.3 yards per carry, 2 touchdowns
  3. Carlyle Holiday - 200 yards on 92 carries, 2.2 yards per carry, 3 touchdowns
  4. Marcus Wilson - 110 yards on 39 carries, 2.8 yards per carry, 0 touchdowns

[6][17]

Receiving

  1. Arnaz Battle - 58 receptions for 786 yards, 13.6 yards per reception, 5 touchdowns
  2. Omar Jenkins - 37 receptions for 633 yards, 17.1 yards per reception, 3 touchdowns
  3. Maurice Stovall - 18 receptions for 312 yards, 17.3 yards per reception, 3 touchdowns
  4. Gary Godsey - 16 receptions for 155 yards, 9.7 yards per reception, 0 touchdowns
  5. Jared Clark - 7 receptions for 104 yards, 14.9 yards per reception, 0 touchdowns

[6][17]

Tackles

  1. Courtney Watson - 90 total, 51 solo
  2. Glenn Earl - 81 total, 52 solo
  3. Mike Goolsby - 75 total, 51 solo
  4. Gerome Sapp - 71 total, 42 solo
  5. Shane Walton - 68 total, 46 solo
  6. Brandon Hoyt - 57 total, 42 solo

[17]

Punt returns

  1. Vontez Duff - 40 returns for 385 yards, 9.6-yard average, 1 touchdown
  2. Shane Walton - 9 returns for 85 yards, 9.4-yard average, 0 touchdowns

[17]

Kick returns

  1. Vontez Duff - 19 returns for 526 yards, 27.7-yard average, 1 touchdown
  2. Arnaz Battle - 16 returns for 335 yards, 20.9-yard average, 0 touchdowns

Interceptions

  1. Shane Walton - 7 interceptions for 84 yards, 2 touchdowns
  2. Courtney Watson - 4 interceptions for 123 yards, 1 touchdown
  3. Gerome Sapp - 4 interceptions for 17 yards, 0 touchdowns

Awards and honors

Head coach Tyrone Willingham received The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award and the George Munger Award.[18][19] He was also named by Sporting News as "Sportsman of the Year",[20] and was the only coach listed by Sporting News as one of their "Most Powerful People in Sports".[21]

Cornerback Shane Watson was a unanimous first-team selection on the 2002 All-America college football team.[22]

Offensive lineman Jeff Faine received first-team All-America honors from The Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly, and ESPN.

Linebacker Courtney Watson received first-team All-America honors from ESPN.

Wide receiver Arnaz Battle was named by the Independence Bowl Foundation as their sportsman of the year.[23]

2003 NFL draft

The following Notre Dame players were selected in the 2003 NFL draft.

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Jeff FaineCenter121Cleveland Browns
Jordan BlackTackle5153Kansas City Chiefs
Sean MahanCenter5168Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Shane WaltonSafety5170St. Louis Rams
Gerome SappSafety6182Baltimore Ravens
Arnaz BattleWide Receiver6197San Francisco 49ers
Brennan CurtinTackle6212Green Bay Packers

References

  1. 1 2 "2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 5, 2026.
  2. ↑ Barra, Allen (September 27, 2002). "Notre Dame's return to glory! (Part 23)". Salon. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  3. ↑ Krivickas, Justin (October 2, 2002). ""The Shirt" makes a return to glory". The Observer. UK. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  4. ↑ "SI Covers". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on June 12, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Football Review 2002" (PDF). The Notre Dame Scholastic. January 2003.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Notre Dame Athletics | the Fighting Irish".
  8. ↑ "No. 6 Notre Dame Rolls Past No. 11 FSU, 34–24". UND.cstv.com. October 26, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  9. ↑ "Post Game Notes". UND.cstv.com. November 2, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  10. ↑ "No. 4 Irish Fall To Boston College, 14–7". UND.cstv.com. November 2, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  11. ↑ "No. 9 Irish Come From Behind To Beat Navy". UND.cstv.com. November 9, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  12. ↑ "No. 8 Irish Rough Up Rutgers, 42–0". UND.cstv.com. November 23, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Palmer wins every region except Midwest". ESPN. December 16, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  14. ↑ "No. 7 Irish Fall To Trojans". UND.cstv.com. November 30, 2002. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  15. ↑ "No. 11 Irish Fall To No. 17 NC State In Gator Bowl, 28–6". UND.cstv.com. January 1, 2003. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  16. ↑ "2002 NCAA Football Rankings – Postseason Week 3 (Jan. 5)". ESPN. January 5, 2003. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Football Review 2002, p. 49.
  18. ↑ "Tyrone Willingham Named Home Depot National Coach Of The Year". UND.cstv.com. December 9, 2002. Archived from the original on July 21, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  19. ↑ "Tyrone Willingham Wins George Munger Award for College Coach of the Year". UND.cstv.com. December 13, 2002. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  20. ↑ Bock, Hal (December 11, 2002). "Willingham named Sporting News Sportsman of the Year". Centralohio.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  21. ↑ "Willingham Listed As One Of The Most Powerful People In Sports". UND.cstv.com. January 13, 2003. Archived from the original on February 17, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  22. ↑ "Shane Walton Named Consensus All-American". UND.cstv.com. January 3, 2003. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  23. ↑ "Arnaz Battle Named Independence Bowl Foundation Sportsman of the Year". UND.cstv.com. December 18, 2002. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
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