# 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season. The Irish, coached by Ara Parseghian, ended the season undefeated with a record of 9–0–1, and won 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 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. 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".

## Schedule

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

## Game summaries
### Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Boilermakers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • No. 6 Fighting Irish | 7 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 26 |

### Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 4 Fighting Irish | 7 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 35 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

### Army

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cadets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • No. 3 Fighting Irish | 21 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 35 |

### North Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tar Heels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • No. 2 Fighting Irish | 7 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 32 |

### Oklahoma

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 1 Fighting Irish | 0 | 17 | 21 | 0 | 38 |
| No. 10 Sooners | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 1 Fighting Irish | 3 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 31 |
| Midshipmen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

### Pittsburgh

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • No. 1 Fighting Irish | 0 | 7 | 14 | 19 | 40 |

### Duke

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Devils | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • No. 1 Fighting Irish | 22 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 64 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No.1 Fighting Irish | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| No. 2 Spartans | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### USC

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 1 Fighting Irish | 14 | 17 | 13 | 7 | 51 |
| No. 10 Trojans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Post-season
### Award winners

* Jim Lynch - Maxwell Award
Heisman Voting:
    Nick Eddy, 3rd,
    Terry Hanratty, 6th
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: ||||||||||
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.

### 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: |||||