1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Orange Bowl, L 6–40 vs. Nebraska
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 14
Record	8–3
Head coach	Ara Parseghian (9th season);
Captains	John Dampeer; Greg Marx;
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
	Seasons ← 1971 1973 →

Last updated June 17, 2025

1972 NCAA University Division independents football records
v t e	Conf.			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 10 Penn State		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 14 Notre Dame		–		8	–	3	–	0
Utah State		–		8	–	3	–	0
West Virginia		–		8	–	4	–	0
Florida State		–		7	–	4	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		7	–	4	–	0
Rutgers		–		7	–	4	–	0
No. 20 Georgia Tech		–		7	–	4	–	1
Air Force		–		6	–	4	–	0
Army		–		6	–	4	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		6	–	4	–	1
Houston		–		6	–	4	–	1
Tulane		–		6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		5	–	4	–	0
Colgate		–		5	–	4	–	1
Holy Cross		–		5	–	4	–	1
Syracuse		–		5	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		5	–	6	–	0
Dayton		–		4	–	6	–	1
Boston College		–		4	–	7	–	0
Navy		–		4	–	7	–	0
South Carolina		–		4	–	7	–	0
Southern Miss		–		3	–	7	–	1
Xavier		–		3	–	8	–	0
Marshall		–		2	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati		–		2	–	9	–	0
Villanova		–		2	–	9	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 23	2:30 p.m.	at Northwestern	No. 13	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)		W 37–0	55,155
September 30	2:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 10	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 35–14	59,075
October 7	1:50 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 7	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 16–0	77,828
October 14	2:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh	No. 7	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 42–16	59,075
October 21	2:30 p.m.	Missouri	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		L 26–30	59,075
October 28	2:30 p.m.	TCU	No. 13	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		W 21–0	59,075	^[1]
November 4	1:30 p.m.	vs. Navy	No. 12	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)		W 42–23	43,089
November 11	3:00 p.m.	at Air Force	No. 12	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (rivalry)		W 21–7	48,671
November 18	1:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)	No. 10	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 20–17	59,075
December 2	4:00 p.m.	at No. 1 USC	No. 10	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	ABC	L 23–45	75,243
January 1, 1973	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 9 Nebraska	No. 12	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl, rivalry)	NBC	L 6–40	80,010
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

Game summaries

Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
•Notre Dame	14	16	7	0	37
Northwestern	0	0	0	0	0

Date: September 23
Location: Dyche Stadium, Evanston, IL
Game start: 1:30 pm CDT

Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Purdue	0	0	0	14	14
•Notre Dame	14	7	14	0	35

Date: September 30
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
Game start: 1:30 pm EST
Game attendance: 59,075
Referee: Jerry Markbreit

^[3]

Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
•Notre Dame	3	3	0	10	16
Michigan St.	0	0	0	0	0

Date: October 7
Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
Game start: 12:50 pm EST
Television network: ABC

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pittsburgh	0	0	8	8	16
•Notre Dame	7	7	7	21	42

Date: October 14
Location: Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, Indiana
Game start: 1:30 pm EST
Game attendance: 59,075

^[4]

Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
•Missouri	7	14	6	3	30
Notre Dame	7	7	0	12	26

Date: October 21
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN
Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST
Game attendance: 59,075
Game weather: Rain, upper 40s
Referee: Jerry Markbreit

TCU

	1	2	3	4	Total
TCU	0	0	0	0	0
•Notre Dame	0	7	7	7	21

Date: October 28
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN
Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST
Game attendance: 59,075
Game weather: Rain, mid-50s

Navy

	1	2	3	4	Total
•Notre Dame	14	21	0	7	42
Navy	0	0	7	16	23

Date: November 4
Location: Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, PA
Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST

Air Force

	1	2	3	4	Total
•Notre Dame	0	14	0	7	21
Air Force	0	0	7	0	7

Date: November 11
Location: Falcon Stadium, Colorado Springs, CO
Game start: 1:00 pm MST
Referee: Doug Reeves

Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami	3	0	0	14	17
•Notre Dame	13	0	7	0	20

Date: November 18
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST
Game attendance: 59,075
Game weather: Mid-30s

USC

	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	3	7	13	0	23
•USC	19	0	13	13	45

Date: December 2
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Game start: 1:00 p.m. PST
Game weather: 80 degrees, sunny
TV announcers (ABC): Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson

Orange Bowl vs. Nebraska

1973 Orange Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
•Nebraska	7	13	20	0	40
Notre Dame	0	0	0	6	6

Date: January 1
Location: Miami Orange Bowl
Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST
Game attendance: 80,010
TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson, Kyle Rote

Roster

1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`12`	Frank Allocco	So
FB	`23`	Art Best	Fr
G	`62`	Tom Bolger	Jr
QB	`8`	Cliff Brown	Jr
FB	`30`	Wayne Bullock	So
TE	`86`	Dave Casper	Jr
QB	`2`	Tom Clements	So
WR	`85`	Peter Demmerle	So
G	`72`	Gerry DiNardo	So
RB	`28`	Gary Diminick	Jr
OT	`69`	Dennis Lozzi	Jr
G	`56`	Frank Pomarico	Jr
OT	`71`	Steve Sylvester	So
WR	`80`	Willie Townsend	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`79`	Jay Achterhoff	Fr
CB	`14`	Reggie Barnett	So
LB	`50`	Greg Collins	So
DB		Mike Kemp	So
DT	`70`	Steve Niehaus	Fr
DT	`60`	Kevin Nosbusch	So
DHB	`7`	Tim Rudnick	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`98`	Bob Thomas	Jr

Head coach

Ara Parseghian

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Tom Pagna

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

References

↑ "Irish rope Frogs, 21–0". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 29, 1972. Retrieved March 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
↑ 2011 Notre Dame football media guide
↑ "Purdue smashed." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 1.
↑ Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 15.

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[1] "Irish rope Frogs, 21–0". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 29, 1972. Retrieved March 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.

[2] 2011 Notre Dame football media guide

[3] "Purdue smashed." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 1.

[4] Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 15.

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v t e Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
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Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Emerald Isle Classic Army Boston College Michigan Michigan State Navy Northwestern Pittsburgh Purdue Stanford USC
Culture and lore	History Band of the Fighting Irish Irish Guard Notre Dame Box Notre Dame Leprechaun "Notre Dame, Our Mother" "Notre Dame Victory March" Play Like a Champion Today Subway Alumni T formation Tall Grass Game 1946 "Game of the Century" 1966 "Game of the Century" Catholics vs. Convicts 30 for 30 film 1993 "Game of the Century" Bush Push Navy ends the drought Death of Lizzy Seeberg 2020 ACC Championship Game The Spirit of Notre Dame Knute Rockne, All American Notre Dame Football on NBC Rudy
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks Four Horsemen NFL draftees Statistical leaders Team captains
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National championship seasons in bold

1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Contents

Schedule

Game summaries

Northwestern

Purdue

Michigan State

Pittsburgh

Missouri

TCU

Navy

Air Force

Miami (FL)

USC

Orange Bowl vs. Nebraska

Roster

References