1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season. The Irish, coached by Ara Parseghian, ended the season undefeated with nine wins and one tie, winning a national championship. The Fighting Irish earned a consensus title after beating No. 10 Oklahoma 38–0 in Norman, tying unbeaten and No. 2 Michigan State 10–10, and ending the season defeating No. 10 USC, 51–0, in the Coliseum^[1] The 1966 squad became the eighth Irish team to win the national title and the first under Parseghian. The Irish outscored their opponents 362–38.^[1] The 10–10 tie between The Spartans and the Irish remains one of the controversial games of college football, and is considered today to be one of the great "games of the century".^[2]

1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Consensus national champion
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	9–0–1
Head coach	Ara Parseghian (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Tom Pagna (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	T formation
Defensive coordinator	John Ray (3rd season)
Base defense	4–4
Captain	Jim Lynch
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)
Seasons ← 1965 1967 →

1966 NCAA University Division independents football records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–				9	–	0	–	1
Colgate		–		–				8	–	1	–	1
No. 8 Georgia Tech		–		–				9	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–				8	–	2	–	0
Dayton		–		–				8	–	2	–	0
Houston		–		–				8	–	2	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				7	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Miami (FL)		–		–				8	–	2	–	1
VPI		–		–				8	–	2	–	1
Syracuse		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Colorado State		–		–				7	–	3	–	0
New Mexico State		–		–				7	–	3	–	0
West Texas State		–		–				7	–	3	–	0
Villanova		–		–				6	–	3	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–				6	–	3	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	4	–	0
Texas Western		–		–				6	–	4	–	0
Tulane		–		–				5	–	4	–	1
Florida State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Buffalo		–		–				5	–	5	–	0
Penn State		–		–				5	–	5	–	0
Air Force		–		–				4	–	6	–	0
Boston College		–		–				4	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		–				4	–	6	–	0
Utah State		–		–				4	–	6	–	0
Xavier		–		–				4	–	6	–	0
Pacific		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
San Jose State		–		–				3	–	7	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				1	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 24	No. 7 Purdue	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)	W 26–14	59,075
October 1	at Northwestern	No. 4	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	W 35–7	55,356
October 8	Army	No. 3	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 35–0	59,075
October 15	North Carolina	No. 2	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	W 32–0	59,075
October 22	at No. 10 Oklahoma	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 38–0	63,439
October 29	vs. Navy	No. 1	JFK Stadium Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)	W 31–7	70,101
November 5	Pittsburgh	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 40–0	59,075
November 12	Duke	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	W 64–0	59,075
November 19	at No. 2 Michigan State	No. 1	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (Megaphone Trophy)	T 10–10	80,011
November 26	at No. 10 USC	No. 1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles (Jeweled Shillelagh)	W 51–0	88,520
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 28 Rocky Bleier Jr RB 32 Larry Conjar RB 21 Frank Criniti RB 38 Ron Dushney RB 47 Nick Eddy G 68 Roger Fox RB 20 Bob Gladieux So TE 80 Don Gmitter C 54 George Goeddeke G 57 Tim Gorman RB 22 Dave Haley WR 86 Curt Heneghan QB 5 Terry Hanratty So C 58 Gerald Kelly OT 73 Rudy Konieczny G 75 Bob Kuechenberg So TE 78 Mike Kuzmicz G 69 Joe Marsico RB 31 Paul May OT 79 Tom McKinley C 55 Tim Monty QB 3 Coley O’Brien G 62 Steve Quinn WR 89 Kevin Rassas G 76 Tom Regner OT 70 Fred Schnurr OT 71 Paul Seiler WR 85 Jim Seymour WR 49 Brian Stenger G 59 Dick Swatland TE 96 Jim Winegardner	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 77 Harry Alexander S 33 Mike Burgener DT 64 Pete Duranko DT 75 Kevin Hardy CB 34 Dan Harshman LB 51 John Horney LB 65 Ron Jeziorski DE 93 Chick Lauck LB 41 John Lavin CB 40 Tom O’Leary LB 61 Jim Lynch Sr LB 56 Dave Martin LB 60 Mike McGill DT 72 Eric Norri DE 81 Alan Page Sr LB 50 John Pergine Jr CB 19 Tom Quinn DE 87 Tom Rhoads DE 88 Allen Sack S 7 Tom Schoen Jr DE 94 Bill Skoglund CB 25 Jim Smithberger LB 89 Al VanHuffel LB 54 Ed Vuillemin	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 90 Joe Azzaro K 11 Jim Ryan	Head coach Ara Parseghian Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Rankings

Main article: 1966 NCAA University Division football rankings

Game summaries

Purdue

Purdue at Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total No. 8 Boilermakers 7 0 0 7 14 • No. 6 Fighting Irish 7 7 0 12 26 Date: September 24 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game start: 1:15 pm CDT Game attendance: 59,075 Game weather: Fair, 67 degrees TV announcers (ABC (national)): Chris Schenkel and Bud Wilkinson

Scoring summary 1 PUR Leroy Keyes 94-yard fumble return (kick good) PUR 7-0 1 ND Nick Eddy 96-yard kickoff return (kick good) Tied 7-7 2 ND Jim Seymour 84-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good) ND 14-7 4 ND Jim Seymour 39-yard pass from Terry Hanratty ND 20-7 4 PUR Perry Williams 1-yard run (kick good) ND 20-14 4 ND Jim Seymour 7-yard pass from Terry Hanratty ND 26-14

See also: 1966 Purdue Boilermakers football team

^[3]

Northwestern

Notre Dame at Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 4 Fighting Irish 7 6 8 14 35 Wildcats 0 0 0 7 7 Date: October 1 Location: Dyche Stadium, Evanston, IL Game start: 1:30 pm CDT Game attendance: 55,356 Game weather: Partly sunny, 60 degrees

Scoring summary 1 ND Nick Eddy 56-yard run (kick good) ND 7-0 2 ND Larry Conjar 1-yard run (kick failed) ND 13-0 3 ND Rocky Bleier 12-yard run (2-pt. good) ND 21-0 4 ND Frank Criniti 2-yard run (kick good) ND 28-0 4 ND Tom Schoen 37-yard interception return (kick good) ND 35-0 4 NU Roger Murphy 22-yard pass from Bill Melzer (kick good) ND 35-7

See also: 1966 Northwestern Wildcats football team

^[4]

Army

Army at Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total Cadets 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 3 Fighting Irish 21 14 0 0 35 Date: October 8 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game start: 1:30 pm CDT Game attendance: 59,075 Game weather: Fair, 76 degrees

Scoring summary 1 ND Rocky Bleier 2-yard run (kick good) ND 7-0 1 ND Jim Seymour 33-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good) ND 14-0 1 ND Terry Hanratty 7-yard run (kick good) ND 21-0 2 ND Nick Eddy 3-yard run (kick good) ND 28-0 2 ND Nick Eddy 3-yard run (kick good) ND 35-0

See also: 1966 Army Cadets football team

^[5]

North Carolina

North Carolina at Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total Tar Heels 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 2 Fighting Irish 7 13 6 6 32 Date: October 15 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game start: 1:30 pm CDT Game attendance: 59,075 Game weather: Cloudy, 50 degrees, wind 22-40 MPH

Scoring summary 1 ND Larry Conjar 1-yard run (kick good) ND 7-0 2 ND Larry Conjar 1-yard run (kick failed) ND 13-0 2 ND Jim Seymour 56-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good) ND 20-0 3 ND Nick Eddy 52-yard run (2-pt. failed) ND 26-0 4 ND Bob Gladieux 5-yard run (2-pt. failed) ND 32-0

See also: 1966 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

^[6]

Oklahoma

Notre Dame at Oklahoma

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Fighting Irish 0 17 21 0 38 No. 10 Sooners 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 22 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, OK Game start: 2:30 pm CDT Game attendance: 63,439 Game weather: Fair, 66 degrees

Scoring summary 2 ND Nick Eddy 3-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 7-0 2 ND Terry Hanratty 2-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 14-0 2 ND Joe Azzaro 32-yard field goal ND 17-0 3 ND Nick Eddy 1-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 24-0 3 3:30 ND Rocky Bleier 9-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 31-0 3 ND Coley O'Brien 5-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 38-0

See also: 1966 Oklahoma Sooners football team

^[7]

Navy

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Fighting Irish 3 7 14 7 31 Midshipmen 0 0 0 7 7 Date: October 29 Location: JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA Game start: 1:30 pm EDT Game attendance: 70,101 Game weather: Fair, 70 degrees

Scoring summary 1 ND Azzaro 42-yard field goal ND 3-0 2 ND Conjar 7-yard run (Azzaro kick) ND 10-0 3 ND Hanratty 1-yard run (Azzaro kick) ND 17-0 3 ND Gladieux 1-yard run (Azzaro kick) ND 24-0 4 NAVY Bergner recovered blocked punt in end zone (Church kick) ND 24-7 4 ND Hanratty 6-yard run (Azzaro kick) ND 31-7

See also: 1966 Navy Midshipmen football team

^[8]

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh at Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 1 Fighting Irish 0 7 14 19 40 Date: October 8 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game start: 1:30 pm CST Game attendance: 59,075 Game weather: Cloudy, 40 degrees

Scoring summary 2 ND Terry Hanratty 3-yard run (kick good) ND 7-0 3 ND Nick Eddy 85-yard kickoff return (kick failed) ND 13-0 3 ND Tom Schoen 63-yard punt return (2-pt. good) ND 21-0 4 ND Larry Conjar 1-yard run (2-pt. failed) ND 27-0 4 ND Bob Gladieux 19-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (2-pt. failed) ND 33-0 4 ND Bob Gladieux 5-yard run (kick good) ND 40-0

See also: 1966 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

^[9]

Duke

Duke at Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total Blue Devils 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 1 Fighting Irish 22 21 14 7 64 Date: October 15 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game start: 1:30 pm CST Game attendance: 59,075 Game weather: Cloudy, 42 degrees

Scoring summary 1 ND Nick Eddy 77-yard run (2-pt. good) ND 8-0 1 ND Tom O'Leary 30-yard return on lateral from John Horney after 25-yard interception return (kick good) ND 15-0 1 ND Rocky Bleier 4-yard run (kick good) ND 22-0 2 ND Rocky Bleier 45-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good) ND 29-0 2 ND Larry Conjar 2-yard run (kick good) ND 36-0 2 ND Jim Seymour 10-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good) ND 43-0 3 ND Dave Haley 9-yard run (kick good) ND 50-0 3 ND Coley O'Brien 3-yard run (kick good) ND 57-0 4 ND Frank Criniti 10-yard run (kick good) ND 64-0

See also: 1966 Duke Blue Devils football team

^[10]

Michigan State

Notre Dame at Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total No.1 Fighting Irish 0 7 0 3 10 No. 2 Spartans 0 10 0 0 10 Date: November 19 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan Game start: 1:30 pm EST Game attendance: 80,010 Game weather: Cloudy, 32 degrees Referee: Howard Wirtz TV announcers (ABC (regional)): Chris Schenkel and Bud Wilkinson

Scoring summary 2 MSU Cavender 4-yard run (Kenney kick) MSU 7-0 2 MSU Kenney 47-yard field goal MSU 10-0 2 ND Gladieux 34-yard pass from O'Brien (Azzaro kick) MSU 10-7 4 ND Azzaro 28-yard field goal Tied 10-10

Main article: 1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game

See also: 1966 Michigan State Spartans football team and Megaphone Trophy

^[11]

^[12]

Southern Cal

Notre Dame at Southern Cal

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Fighting Irish 14 17 13 7 51 No. 10 Trojans 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 26 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Game start: 1:30 pm PST Game attendance: 88,520 Game weather: Sunny, 70 degrees

Scoring summary 1 ND Larry Conjar 2-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 7-0 1 ND Tom Schoen 40-yard interception return (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 14-0 2 ND Joe Azzaro 38-yard field goal ND 17-0 2 ND Jim Seymour 13-yard pass from Coley O'Brien (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 24-0 2 ND Jim Seymour 39-yard pass from Coley O'Brien (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 31-0 3 ND Dan Harshman 23-yard pass from Coley O'Brien (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 38-0 3 ND Nick Eddy 9-yard run (kick failed) ND 44-0 4 ND Dave Martin 33-yard interception return (Joe Azzaro kick) ND 51-0

See also: 1966 USC Trojans football team and Notre Dame–USC football rivalry

^[13][14]

Post-season

Award winners

• Jim Lynch - Maxwell Award^[15]

Heisman Voting:

Nick Eddy, 3rd,^[16]

Terry Hanratty, 6th^[16]

All-Americans:

Name	AP	UPI	NEA	FC	SN	L	T	CP	FN
† Nick Eddy, HB	1	1	1	1	2	1		1	1
† Jim Lynch, LB	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
‡ Tom Regner, G	1	1	1	1	1	1		1	1
Alan Page, DE	2	2	1		1	1	1	1	1
Pete Duranko, DT	3	1		1	2
Kevin Hardy, DT	2	2	3		1		1		1
Jim Seymour, E	3	2	2		3				1
Paul Seiler, T		3			2
George Goeddeke, C	3	2	3		3
Tom Schoen, DB	3	2
Larry Conjar, FB	3	3			3				1
Terry Hanratty, QB	3		3
†denotes unanimous selection ‡denotes consensus selection      Source:^[1]

College Football Hall of Fame Inductees:

Name	Position	Year Inducted
Jim Lynch	Linebacker	1992
Alan Page	Defensive End	1993
Ara Parseghian	Coach	1980

Notre Dame leads all universities in players inducted.^[17]

1967 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Paul Seiler	Guard	1(12)	12	New York Jets
† Alan Page	Defensive End	1(15)	15	Minnesota Vikings
Thomas Regner	Guard	1(23)	23	Houston Oilers
Larry Conjar	Running Back	2(20)	46	Cleveland Browns
Jim Lynch	Linebacker	2(21)	47	Kansas City Chiefs
George Goeddeke	Center	3(6)	59	Denver Broncos
Tom Rhoads	Defensive End	3(17)	70	Buffalo Bills
Allen Sack	Linebacker	16(15)	408	Los Angeles Rams
† Pro Football Hall of Famer      Source:^[18]

References

1. . und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
2. Celzic, Mike (1992). The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State and the Fall of 1966. ISBN 0-671-75817-9.
3. "Irish Uncover Soph Aerial Attack, Smash Purdue." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Sep 25.
4. South Bend Tribune, Oct. 2, 1966, p. 1
5. South Bend Tribune, Oct. 9, 1966, p. 1
6. South Bend Tribune, Oct. 16, 1966, p. 1
7. "ND Stomps Sooners." Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 23.
8. South Bend Tribune, Oct. 30, 1966, p.
9. South Bend Tribune, Nov. 6, 1966, p. 1
10. South Bend Tribune, Nov. 13, 1966, p. 1
11. Jenkins, Dan (November 28, 1966). "An Upside-Down Game". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
12. "Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search".
13. "Irish Trouncing of U.S.C. Worst in Trojans' History". The New York Times. November 27, 1966. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
14. "Army Borrows 'Air Force'; Irish Rout Troy." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Nov 27.
15. . The Maxwell Football Club. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
16. . und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
17. "Hall of Fame: Select group by school". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
18. "Notre Dame NFL Draft History". uhnd.com. from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008.