1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

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  →

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	[1]
September 30	2:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 10	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 35–14	59,075	[2]
October 7	1:50 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 7	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 16–0	77,828	[3]
October 14	2:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh	No. 7	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 42–16	59,075	[4]
October 21	2:30 p.m.	Missouri	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		L 26–30	59,075	[5]
October 28	2:30 p.m.	TCU	No. 13	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		W 21–0	59,075	[6]
November 4	1:30 p.m.	vs. Navy	No. 12	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)		W 42–23	43,089	[7]
November 11	3:00 p.m.	at Air Force	No. 12	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (rivalry)		W 21–7	48,671	[8]
November 18	1:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)	No. 10	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 20–17	59,075	[9]
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	[10]
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	[11]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

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Game summaries

Northwestern

Team	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

Team	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

Scoring summary

1		ND	Mike Creaney 39-yard pass from Tom Clements (Thomas kick)	ND 7-0
1		ND	Eric Penick 14-yard run (Thomas kick)	ND 14-0
2		ND	Willie Townsend 62-yard pass from Tom Clements (Thomas kick)	ND 21-0
3		ND	John Cieszowski 1-yard run (Thomas kick)	ND 28-0
3		ND	Andy Huff 1-yard run (Thomas kick)	ND 35-0
4		PUR	Jack Spellman 24-yard run (Bobrowski to Sayers pass)	ND 35-8
4		PUR	Skip Peterson 1-yard run (pass failed)	ND 35-14

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Michigan State

Team	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

Team	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

Scoring summary

1		ND	Huff 1-yard run (Thomas kick)	Notre Dame 7-0
2		ND	Huff 4-yard run (Thomas kick)	Notre Dame 14-0
3		PITT	Janasek 3-yard pass from Hogan (Englert pass from Hogan)	Notre Dame 14-8
3		ND	Mahalic 54-yard interception return (Thomas kick)	Notre Dame 21-8
4		ND	Huff 4-yard run (Thomas kick)	Notre Dame 28-8
4		ND	Penick 2-yard run (Thomas kick)	Notre Dame 35-8
4		ND	Best 56-yard run (Thomas kick)	Notre Dame 42-8
4		PITT	Daniels 1-yard run (Daniels run)	Notre Dame 42-16

^[14]

Missouri

Team	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

Team	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

Team	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

Team	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)

Team	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

Team	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

Team	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

1. "Northwestern humbled by Notre Dame, 37–0". The Blade. September 24, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Notre Dame whips Purdue, 35–14". The Muncie Star. October 1, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Irish subdue tough MSU". The Bay City Times. October 8, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Irish explode late to down game Pitt". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 15, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Irish comeback just not enough". The Ann Arbor News. October 22, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Irish rope Frogs, 21–0". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 29, 1972. Retrieved March 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Parseghian unhappy at Irish defense; Diminick starts rout". The Courier-Journal. November 5, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Townsends lead Irish past Air Force". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. November 12, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Notre Dame tips Miami". The Terre Haute Tribune. November 19, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Top-ranked Trojans whip Notre Dame". Santa Cruz Sentinel. December 3, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Johnny Rodgers dazzles Notre Dame". The Journal Times. January 2, 1973. Retrieved September 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Schedule/Results (1972 Notre Dame)". NCAA Statistics. National Collegiate Athletic Association . Retrieved September 27, 2025.
13. "Purdue smashed." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 1.
14. Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 15.