# 1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Lou Holtz and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. This would be the final season home games would air on ESPN, ABC, or CBS, as NBC took over beginning the following year. However, a home playoff game aired on ESPN and ABC in 2024.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 15 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 4 Michigan | No. 1 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | CBS | W 28–24 | 59,075 |
| September 22 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 24 Michigan State | No. 1 | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI (rivalry) | ABC | W 20–19 | 80,401 |
| September 29 | 12:00 p.m. | Purdue | No. 1 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | SportsChannel | W 37–11 | 59,075 |
| October 6 | 12:00 p.m. | Stanford | No. 1 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | L 31–36 | 59,075 |
| October 13 | 12:00 p.m. | Air Force | No. 8 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | W 57–27 | 59,075 |
| October 20 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 2 Miami (FL) | No. 6 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | CBS | W 29–20 | 59,075 |
| October 27 | 6:45 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | No. 3 | Pitt StadiumPittsburgh, PA (rivalry) | ESPN | W 31–22 | 56,500 |
| November 3 | 12:00 p.m. | vs. Navy | No. 2 | Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ (rivalry) | | W 52–31 | 70,382 |
| November 10 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 9 Tennessee | No. 1 | Neyland StadiumKnoxville, TN | CBS | W 34–29 | 97,123 |
| November 17 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 18 Penn State | No. 1 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | ESPN | L 21–24 | 59,075 |
| November 24 | 8:00 p.m. | at No. 18 USC | No. 7 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA (rivalry) | ABC | W 10–6 | 91,639 |
| January 1, 1991 | 8:00 p.m. | vs. No. 1 Colorado | No. 5 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (Orange Bowl) | NBC | L 9–10 | 77,062 |
| Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Michigan

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Michigan | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| Notre Dame | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana
* Date: September 15
* Game time: 8:05 p.m. EST
* Game attendance: 59,075
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
ND – Rick Mirer 2-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 11:28. Notre Dame 7–0.
MICH – J.D. Carlson 38-yard field goal, 7:01. Notre Dame 7–3.
ND – Reggie Brooks 2-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 1:59. Notre Dame 14–3.
Second quarter
MICH – Desmond Howard 25-yard pass from Elvis Grbac (J.D. Carlson kick), 3:56. Notre Dame 14–10.
Third quarter
MICH – Allen Jefferson 1-yard run (J.D. Carlson), 7:49. Michigan 17–14.
MICH – Desmond Howard 25-yard pass from Elvis Grbac (J.D. Carlson kick), 7:33. Michigan 24–14.
Fourth quarter
ND – Rodney Culver 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 12:59. Michigan 24–21.
ND – Adrian Jarrell 18-yard pass from Rick Mirer (Craig Hentrich kick), 1:40. Notre Dame 28–24.
Top passers
MICH – Elvis Grbac – 17/30, 190 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
ND – Rick Mirer – 14/23, 165 yards, TD
Top rushers
MICH – Jon Vaughn – 22 rushes, 201 yards
ND – Rodney Culver – 19 rushes, 95 yards, TD
Top receivers
MICH – Desmond Howard – 6 receptions, 133 yards, 2 TD
ND – Raghib Ismail – 4 receptions, 42 yards :

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Fighting Irish | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| Spartans | 0 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 19 |
The Immaculate Deflection - Rick Mirer's 24-yard completion to Adrian Jarrell, which bounced off hands of MSU LB Todd Murray up and into Jarrell's arms at MSU 2. Three plays later, Culver scored. "There's definitely somebody looking out for us. There's somebody on our side," said Mirer.
* Notre Dame's 60th victory as No. 1 ranked team & 5-0-1 vs. MSU when ranked #1

### Stanford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Cardinal | 7 | 8 | 14 | 7 | 36 |
| Fighting Irish | 7 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 31 |

### Miami (FL)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hurricanes | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| • Fighting Irish | 10 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 29 |

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Fighting Irish | 7 | 3 | 21 | 21 | 52 |
| Midshipmen | 0 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 31 |

### Tennessee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Fighting Irish | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 34 |
| Volunteers | 6 | 0 | 14 | 9 | 29 |
The Irish traveled to Knoxville and pulled off a thrilling 34–29 victory over the 9th-ranked Tennessee Vols. The Irish built a 4th quarter lead and held off a furious late comeback by Tennessee.

### Colorado (Orange Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Irish | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| • Buffaloes | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
Notre Dame lost a heartbreaker to top-ranked Colorado in the Orange Bowl, 10–9. The Irish were undone by three third-quarter turnovers and a controversial penalty flag that negated a late punt return touchdown by Ismail. Colorado would go on to win a share of the national championship.

## Team players drafted into the NFL

* Despite being drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders, the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League signed Raghib Ismail to a four-year contract worth 18 million dollars in April 1991. The Ismail signing included four million dollars upfront.

## Awards and honors

* Raghib Ismail finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy.
* Raghib Ismail, Walter Camp Award
* Chris Zorich: Lombardi Award