2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Last updated

2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo.svg
Gator Bowl, L 6–28 vs. NC State
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 17
Record10–3
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBill Diedrick (1st season)
Offensive scheme West Coast
Defensive coordinator Kent Baer (1st season)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons
  2001
2003  
2002 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
ConfOverall
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 represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tyrone Willingham and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

Contents

Season overview

The 2002 season became known as a "Return to Glory" for the Irish. [1] This phrase appeared on a student shirt that created a "Sea of Green" in the Irish stands. [2] It was picked up by many in the media and was used on the front cover of Sports Illustrated . [3] Despite not scoring an offensive touchdown in their first two games, [4] the Irish won both, and in the process made Willingham the 24th Notre Dame head coach to win his opener in his first season. [5] The team went on to win its next six games, including wins over Willingham's alma mater, Michigan State, and Stanford, his former team. [6] [7]

The team was initially led throughout the season by quarterback Carlyle Holiday, former quarterback and wide receiver Arnaz Battle, and on defense, Shane Walton. Running back Ryan Grant, who had to replace Julius Jones who was out for academic reasons, also played an important role. During the Michigan State game, however, Holiday was injured and replaced by backup Pat Dillingham. Dillingham led the Irish to a comeback win on a screen pass to Battle in that game, [6] and he continued the winning streak until 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]

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 Holliday 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 next two games, including their 39th straight victory over Navy and a 42–0 blowout victory over struggling Rutgers. [11] [12] This gave Notre Dame 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] 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]

After the season, some Irish were honored with post-season awards. Battle was named by one foundation as their sportsman of the year, [17] while Walton was named as a Consensus All-American. [18] Finally, Willingham was honored with two Coach of the Year awards, [19] [20] was named by Sporting News as "Sportsman of the Year", [21] and was the only coach listed by Sporting News as one of their "Most Powerful People in Sports". [22]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 318:00 p.m.vs. No. 21 Maryland ABC W 22–072,903
September 712:00 p.m. Purdue No. 23 NBC W 24–1780,795
September 141:30 p.m.No. 7 Michigan No. 20
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 25–2380,795
September 213:30 p.m.at Michigan State No. 12ABCW 21–1775,182
October 51:30 p.m. Stanford No. 9
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 31–780,795
October 121:30 p.m. Pittsburgh No. 8
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 14–680,795
October 1910:00 p.m.at No. 18 Air Force No. 7 ESPN W 21–1456,409
October 2612:00 p.m.at No. 11 Florida State No. 6ABCW 34–2484,106
November 22:30 p.m. Boston College No. 4
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (Holy War)
NBCL 7–1480,935
November 912:00 p.m.at Navy No. 9 CBS W 30–2370,260
November 231:00 p.m. Rutgers No. 8
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBCW 42–080,795
November 308:00 p.m.at No. 6 USC No. 7ABCL 13–4491,432
January 1, 200312:30 p.m.vs. No. 17 NC State No. 11NBCL 6–2873,491

Roster

2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
PlayersCoaches
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 14Gary GodseyJr
RB 4 Ryan Grant So
QB 7 Carlyle Holiday So
WR 80Omar JenkinsJr
WR 48Jonathan GentineSr
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 2Dan NovakovSr
RB 35Tim O'NeillSr
RB 23Chris YuraSr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 9Jason BeckstromSr
DE 90Brian BeidatschSo
S 27Lionel BolenSo
DE 92Kyle BudinscakSo
S 29Quentin BurrellSo
CB 6Carlos CampbellSo
DT 60 Darrell Campbell Jr
S 31Jake CarneyFr
DB 5 Glenn Earl Jr
LB 41 Mike Goolsby Jr
DE 95Ryan RobertsSr
LB 56Pat RyanSr
S 20 Gerome Sapp Sr
DE 99Jason SappSo
LB 57Justin ThomasJr
DE 44 Justin Tuck So
CB 42 Shane Walton Sr
LB 33 Courtney Watson Sr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 17Joey HildboldSr
K 13 Nick Setta Jr
LS 53John CrowtherSr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured
  • Redshirt.svg 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
BCS Not released337767109Not released

Game summaries

At Florida State

at No. 6 USC

1234Total
No. 7 Fighting Irish670013
No. 6 Trojans017131444
  • 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

Vs. NC State (Gator Bowl)

Gator Bowl
1234Total
Wolfpack0210728
Fighting Irish30306
  • Source:

Team players in the NFL

PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL club
Jeff Faine Center121 Cleveland Browns
Jordan Black Tackle5153 Kansas City Chiefs
Sean Mahan Center5168 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Shane Walton Safety5170 St. Louis Rams
Gerome Sapp Safety6182 Baltimore Ravens
Arnaz Battle Wide Receiver6197 San Francisco 49ers
Brennan Curtin Tackle6212 Green Bay Packers

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