# 1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The Irish, coached by Dan Devine, ended the season with 11 wins and one loss, winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title by defeating the previously unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl Classic by a score of a 38–10. The 1977 squad became the tenth Irish team to win the national title and were led by All-Americans Ken MacAfee, Ross Browner, Luther Bradley, and Bob Golic. Junior Joe Montana, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, was the team's starting quarterback.
Dan Devine entered his third year as head coach, coming off of a 9–3 season in 1976 that culminated in a Gator Bowl win over Penn State. Devine returned a highly touted defense, featuring 1976 Outland Trophy winner Ross Browner, defensive end Willie Fry, and All-American linebacker Bob Golic. On offense, quarterback Joe Montana earned the starting job and led an offense that included running backs Jerome Heavens and Vagas Ferguson and All-American tight end Ken MacAfee. Montana, earned a reputation as "the comeback kid", had two come from behind victories in the fourth quarter, against Purdue and Clemson, down 17 and 10 respectively. After a surprising loss to unranked Ole Miss, patience among the fans was running thin, who considered Devine's previous 8–3 and 9–3 seasons as lackluster compared to the team success under Devine's predecessor, Ara Parseghian. The Irish rebounded to win their remaining games, including a 49–19 rout of USC in the now famous "Green Jersey Game." The Irish earned a berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic, where they defeated No. 1 and unbeaten Texas by a score of 38–10 to capture Notre Dame's tenth national title. The Irish leaped four spots in the polls after the Cotton Bowl Classic victory to claim the consensus title.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 10 | 3:50 p.m. | at No. 7 Pittsburgh | No. 3 | Pitt StadiumPittsburgh, PA (rivalry) | ABC | W 19–9 | 56,500 |
| September 17 | 2:30 p.m. | vs. Ole Miss | No. 3 | Mississippi Veterans Memorial StadiumJackson, MS | | L 13–20 | 48,200 |
| September 24 | 2:30 p.m. | at Purdue | No. 11 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN (rivalry) | | W 31–24 | 68,966 |
| October 1 | 2:30 p.m. | Michigan State | No. 14 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | W 16–6 | 59,075 |
| October 15 | 1:30 p.m. | vs. Army | No. 11 | Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ (rivalry) | | W 24–0 | 72,594 |
| October 22 | 1:50 p.m. | No. 5 USC | No. 11 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | ABC | W 49–19 | 59,075 |
| October 29 | 2:30 p.m. | Navy | No. 5 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | W 43–10 | 59,075 |
| November 5 | 1:30 p.m. | Georgia Tech | No. 5 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | W 69–14 | 59,075 |
| November 12 | 1:30 p.m. | at No. 15 Clemson | No. 5 | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC | | W 21–17 | 53,467–54,189 |
| November 19 | 1:30 p.m. | Air Force | No. 6 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | | W 49–0 | 59,075 |
| December 3 | 8:00 p.m. | at Miami (FL) | No. 5 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, FL (rivalry) | | W 48–10 | 35,789 |
| January 2, 1978 | 2:00 p.m. | vs. No. 1 Texas | No. 5 | Cotton BowlDallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic) | CBS | W 38–10 | 76,701 |
| Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### Pittsburgh

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Notre Dame | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 19 |
| Pittsburgh | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: September 10, 1977
* Game attendance: 56,500
* Referee: Paul Bertha
* TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Ara Parseghian
* Recap
Game information :
First quarter
PITT – Gordon Jones 12-yard pass from Matt Cavanaugh (Mark Schubert kick). Pitt 7–0. Drive:
Second quarter
PITT – Safety, Joe Restic tackled in end zone. Pitt 9–0.
ND – Ken MacAfee 5-yard pass from Rusty Lisch (kick blocked). Pitt 9–6. Drive:
Fourth quarter
ND – Dave Reeve 35-yard field goal. Tie 9–9. Drive:
ND – Dave Reeve 26-yard field goal. Notre Dame 12–9. Drive:
ND - Terry Eurick 4-yard run (Dave Reeve kick). Notre Dame 19–9. Drive:
Top rushers
ND – Jerome Heavens – 88 yards :

### Ole Miss

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Notre Dame | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Ole Miss | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, Jackson, Mississippi
* Date: September 17, 1977
* Game weather: Sunny, 90 °F (32 °C)
* Game attendance: 48,200
* Recap
Game information :
First quarter
MISS – Carl Langley 29-yard field goal. Ole Miss 3–0. Drive: 64 yards.
Second quarter
ND – Jerome Heavens 2-yard run (Dave Reeve kick). Notre Dame 7–3. Drive: 8 plays.
MISS – James Storey 10-yard pass from Bobby Garner (Carl Langley kick). Ole Miss 10–7. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards.
Fourth quarter
ND – Dave Reeve 44-yard field goal. Tie 10–10. Drive: 5 plays
ND – Dave Reeve 28-yard field goal, 4:53. Notre Dame 13–10. Drive:
MISS – James Storey 10-yard pass from Tim Ellis (Carl Langley kick), 3:13. Ole Miss 17–13. Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards.
MISS – Carl Langley 27-yard field goal, 1:44. Ole Miss 20–13. Drive:
Top passers
ND – Rusty Lisch – 11/25, 127 yards, 2 INT
Top rushers
ND – Jerome Heavens – 16 rushes, 70 yards, TD
Top receivers
ND – Ken MacAfee – 6 receptions, 69 yards :
Ole Miss gave the eventual national champion Notre Dame its only loss of the season.

### Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 0 | 14 | 0 | 17 | 31 |
| Purdue | 10 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 24 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Michigan St | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| • Notre Dame | 0 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 16 |

### Army

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Army | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Notre Dame | 0 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 24 |
* ND: Jerome Heavens 34 Rush, 200 Yds (single game school record - Sitko 1948 vs. Michigan St)

### USC

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| USC | 0 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 19 |
| • Notre Dame | 7 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 49 |
Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the first time since their 1963 game against Syracuse.

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Navy | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| • Notre Dame | 7 | 9 | 14 | 13 | 43 |
Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the second straight week.

### Georgia Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Georgia Tech | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Notre Dame | 0 | 21 | 21 | 27 | 69 |
Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the third straight week, and for every home game through the end of the 1980 season. The 69 points were the second most ever scored at Notre Dame Stadium.

### Clemson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| Clemson | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
This was the first-ever meeting between Notre Dame and Clemson.

### Air Force

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Air Force | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Notre Dame | 21 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 49 |
This was the final game for Air Force head coach Ben Martin after 20 seasons. It also remains the most lopsided game in the 30-game series between Notre Dame and Air Force (the Fighting Irish lead 24-6).

### Miami (FL)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 14 | 6 | 21 | 7 | 48 |
| Miami (FL) | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Texas (Cotton Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 3 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| Texas | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

## Post-season
### Award winners

* Ross Browner, Lombardi Award, Maxwell Award
* Ken MacAfee, Walter Camp Award
Heisman Trophy voting
    Ken MacAfee, 3rd
    Ross Browner, 5th
All-Americans
| Name | AP | UPI | NEA | FC | SN | FW | FN | WCF | CW |
| † Ross Browner, DE | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| † Ken MacAfee, TE | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| ‡ Luther Bradley, DB | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | |
| Ernie Hughes, G | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Bob Golic, MG (MLB) | 2 | 2 | | | | 2 | | | |
| Willie Fry, DE | | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Ted Burgmeier, DB | | | | | | 2 | | | |
| †denotes unanimous selection ‡denotes consensus selection Source: ||||||||||
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
| Name | Position | Year Inducted |
| Ross Browner | Defensive end | 1999 |
| Dan Devine | Coach | 1985 |
| Ken MacAfee | Tight end | 1997 |

### 1978 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | Franchise |
| Ken MacAfee | Tight end | 1(7) | 7 | San Francisco 49ers |
| Ross Browner | Defensive end | 1(8) | 8 | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Luther Bradley | Defensive back | 1(11) | 11 | Detroit Lions |
| Willie Fry | Defensive end | 2(23) | 49 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Ernie Hughes | Guard | 3(23) | 79 | San Francisco 49ers |
| Ted Burgmeier | Defensive back | 5(1) | 111 | Miami Dolphins |
| Steve McDaniels | Tackle | 9(27) | 249 | San Francisco 49ers |
| Doug Becker | Linebacker | 10(18) | 268 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Source: |||||