# 1970 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1970 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Irish finished with 10 wins and 1 loss. Capping off their season was a 24–11 victory over the #1 ranked Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 19 | 2:30 p.m. | at Northwestern | No. 6 | Dyche StadiumEvanston, IL (rivalry) | | W 35–14 | 50,049 |
| September 26 | 1:30 p.m. | Purdue | No. 6 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | W 48–0 | 59,075 |
| October 3 | 2:30 p.m. | at Michigan State | No. 4 | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI (rivalry) | | W 29–0 | 76,103 |
| October 10 | 1:30 p.m. | Army | No. 3 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | W 51–10 | 59,075 |
| October 17 | 3:50 p.m. | at No. 18 Missouri | No. 3 | Memorial StadiumColumbia, MO | ABC | W 24–7 | 64,200 |
| October 31 | 1:30 p.m. | vs. Navy | No. 3 | John F. Kennedy StadiumPhiladelphia, PA (rivalry) | | W 56–7 | 45,226 |
| November 7 | 1:30 p.m. | Pittsburgh | No. 2 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | W 46–14 | 59,075 |
| November 14 | 1:30 p.m. | Georgia Tech | No. 1 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | W 10–7 | 59,075 |
| November 21 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 7 LSU | No. 2 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN | | W 3–0 | 59,075 |
| November 28 | 4:15 p.m. | at USC | No. 4 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA (rivalry) | ABC | L 28–38 | 64,694 |
| January 1, 1971 | 2:00 p.m. | vs. No. 1 Texas | No. 6 | Cotton BowlDallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic) | CBS | W 24–11 | 73,000 |
| Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern timeSource: |||||||||

## Game summaries
### Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Notre Dame | 14 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### Purdue

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Purdue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Notre Dame | 10 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 48 |
at Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, Indiana
* Date: September 26
* Game weather: Rainy
* Game attendance: 59,075
* Box Score
Game information :
Purdue
Notre Dame
Joe Theismann 16/24, 274 Yds, 3 TD
Tom Gatewood 12 Rec, 192 Yds, 3 TD :
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | PUR | ND |
| 1 | | | | | Notre Dame | 19-yard field goal by Hempel | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | | | 80 | | Notre Dame | Allan 4-yard touchdown run, Hempel kick good | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | | | | | Notre Dame | Gatewood 17-yard touchdown reception from Theismann, Hempel kick good | 0 | 17 |
| 2 | 6:09 | | | | Notre Dame | Gatewood 7-yard touchdown reception from Theismann, Hempel kick good | 0 | 24 |
| 3 | | | | | Notre Dame | Gatewood 20-yard touchdown reception from Theismann, Hempel kick good | 0 | 31 |
| 4 | | | | | Notre Dame | 37-yard field goal by Hempel | 0 | 34 |
| 4 | | | | | Notre Dame | Dewan 4-yard touchdown run, Hempel kick good | 0 | 41 |
| 4 | | | | | Notre Dame | Parker 63-yard touchdown run, Hempel kick good | 0 | 48 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 0 | 48 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 7 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 29 |
| Michigan St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Joe Theismann 12/17, 147 Yds, 13 Rush, 107 Yds
* First Notre Dame game on artificial turf
* First Notre Dame win in East Lansing since 1949

### Army

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Army | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Notre Dame | 21 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 51 |

### Missouri

Originally, Missouri was scheduled to host this game at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, but the St. Louis Cardinals forced the game to be moved to the University of Missouri campus because they anticipated hosting Game 6 of the World Series. As it turned out, the Cardinals finished a distant fourth place in the National League East, 13 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, and were below .500 from July 1 through the end of the season.
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 3 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 24 |
| Missouri | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 7 | 28 | 7 | 14 | 56 |
| Navy | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Pittsburgh

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Notre Dame | 7 | 18 | 6 | 15 | 46 |

### Georgia Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Georgia Tech | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |

### LSU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| LSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### USC

Notre Dame quarterback Joe Theismann completed 33 of 58 passes for a school-record 526 yards, and the Irish outgained the Trojans 557–359, but committed eight turnovers to zero for Southern Cal.
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Notre Dame | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| • So. Cal. | 21 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 38 |

### 1971 Cotton Bowl vs. Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 14 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Texas | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 11 |