Notre Dame Fighting Irish football under Bob Davie The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were led by Bob Davie and represented the University of Notre Dame in NCAA Division I college football from 1997 to 2001 . The team was an independent and played their home games in Notre Dame Stadium . Throughout the five seasons , the Irish were 35 – 25 and invited to three bowl games , including the school ' s first ever Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) bowl . After the 1996 season , 11th - year head coach , Lou Holtz , who had led the Irish to 100 wins and a national championship , retired . The Notre Dame administration quickly named defensive coordinator , Bob Davie , as his replacement . Davie inherited a team with high expectations , and won his first game . He went onto , however , lose his next four games . Though his team rebounded and were invited to a bowl game , he lost in his first post - season attempt and ended with a 7 – 6 record . His second year team returned many players and began the season ranked in the Associated Press ( AP ) poll . After an upset of highly ranked Michigan , the team stayed in the rankings throughout the season . With a loss in the final regular season game , though , the team lost their first chance of being invited to the BCS in its first year . The team once again lost in their bowl game and ended the season with a 9 – 3 record . Davie ' s third season started with a win , but three early losses dropped the team from the rankings . Although the team went on a four game winning streak , they finished the season on a four game losing streak to end with a 5 – 7 record and the first losing season for the Irish since 1986 . Davie ' s fourth season looked to be as bad as his third , as the team played four ranked teams early in the season and had to replace many graduating players . However , with two wins , and an overtime loss to the top - ranked team , Nebraska , the Irish moved into the rankings again . The team ended the season on a seven game winning streak and were invited to their first BCS bowl game . Though they lost Davie ' s third bowl game , he signed a contract extension after the season . Davie ' s fifth season began with high expectations once again . The team began ranked , but three losses to begin the season dropped the Irish from the rankings . Though the team came back and won five games , the 5 – 6 record was called the wrong direction by the administration , and Davie was fired . After some controversy during the hiring process , Tyrone Willingham was hired , ending Davie ' s era at Notre Dame . Before Davie . For the 11 years before Davie , the Irish were coached by Lou Holtz . Holtz , who , it was reported , had returned the program to excellence , led the team to a national championship in 1988 and had been given , what was reported to be , a lifetime contract by Notre Dame . By his final season , 1996 , Holtz had tallied 92 wins to put him third on the all - time Notre Dame wins list ( only behind Ara Parseghian with 95 wins and Knute Rockne with 105 wins ) . Throughout the season there was speculation that Holtz , who passed Parseghian ' s mark , would retire rather than break Rockne ' s record , and on November 19 , a week before his final home game at Notre Dame , it was revealed that he turned in his letter of resignation to the Notre Dame administration . In his final game at Notre Dame Stadium , where the team shut - out Rutgers 62 – 0 , Holtz got his 100th and final win for the Irish . The Notre Dame administration didn ' t look far for Holtz ' s replacement , as their defensive coordinator , Bob Davie , who was hired by Holtz three years previous , was named as his replacement . 1997 season . Season overview . Despite having a new coach , the Irish had high expectations before the 1997 season , and were ranked eleventh in the pre - season polls . Led by fifth – year senior quarterback Ron Powlus , a running back crew of Autry Denson , Tony Driver , and Joey Goodspeed , a wide receiving corps of Joey Getherall , Bobby Brown , and Malcolm Johnson , and on defense by cornerback Allen Rossum , the Irish looked to have a good enough team to challenge to be in the top - 10 . The Irish began the Davie era at home , playing Georgia Tech in the newly renovated Notre Dame Stadium . The Irish christened the stadium with a close win over the Yellow Jackets that was sparked by a renewed running game and key defensive stops late in the game . With the close win , the Irish showed their weakness and dropped a spot in the national ranking . The next week , at Purdue , though the Irish had 457 total yards , they only managed 17 points . With key mistakes on offense and a confused defense , the Irish lost 28 – 17 and dropped out of the rankings . With losses against Michigan State , at Michigan , and at Stanford , the Irish were suddenly 1 – 4 and struggling to find an offense . Offensive coordinator , Jim Colletto , took most of the flak for the struggles . The Irish looked to be getting back on track with a trip to face Pittsburgh . With a renewed running game , the Irish beat the struggling Panthers by 24 , however , with the offense struggling once again in their next game , a loss to rival University of Southern California ( USC ) , the Irish hit , what was called , " rock bottom . " With a slight quarterback controversy , the Irish next faced Boston College . Though backup quarterback Jarious Jackson played 21 downs , Powlus led the Irish with 267 passing yards to rout the Eagles and put the Irish offense back on track . With a last minute win over Navy the next week , the Irish moved to 4 – 5 and would need to win their final three games to become bowl eligible . The Irish next went to Louisiana State University ( LSU ) to face the 11th ranked Tigers . Looked to be outmatched , the Irish didn ' t commit a penalty all game , had no turnovers , and didn ' t give up any plays longer than one 28 yard pass , to upset the Tigers and move back to 5 – 5 on the season . The Irish then faced 22nd ranked West Virginia for their final home game . With the game tied late in the fourth quarter , Powlus led the Irish on a drive that was capped by his final touchdown pass at Notre Dame Stadium for the game - winning touchdown . With the win the Irish beat ranked opponents on consecutive Saturdays for the first time since 1992 , and with the last minute win at Hawaii the next week , the Irish moved to 7 – 5 and were bowl eligible . Once again facing LSU in Louisiana ( in the Independence Bowl ) , this time with the Tigers ranked 15th , LSU dominated on offense and beat the Irish 27 – 9 . Though the Irish finished with a loss , the 7 – 6 record was the biggest Irish turn around in team history . By the end of the season , Powlus set a single season Irish record for pass attempts and completions . He would leave Notre Dame with 20 individual records , including career passing yards , attempts , completions and touchdowns , all marks that would finally be eclipsed almost ten years later by future Irish quarterback Brady Quinn . Cornerback Allen Rossum , who also served as the Irish kick returner , set an NCAA single season record with nine returns ( three each of interceptions , punts , and kickoffs ) for touchdowns . He would also leave Notre Dame with the Irish all - time leading kick return average ( 23 . 5 yards per return ) . Autry Denson ' s 1268 rushing yards were fourth in the Irish single season record and moved him to third on the Irish all - time list in career rushing yards . 1998 season . Season overview . With wins in their final five regular season games of 1997 , the Irish started Davie ' s second season with confidence . Despite losing record - setting quarterback Ron Powlus , the Irish returned 14 starters , including tailback Autry Denson and three senior linebacker s that were placed on the preliminary list for the Dick Butkus Award . Powlus was replaced by Jarious Jackson who had played sparingly in 1997 but had amassed almost 200 passing yards in the time . In Jackson ' s first start , against Michigan , he threw two touchdowns to lead the Irish , ranked 22nd , over the 5th ranked Wolverines . Denson added 162 yards and two touchdowns to give the Irish a 36 – 20 win . The Irish moved to tenth in the rankings , however didn ' t stay long , as Michigan State , who led by 39 points at halftime , beat the Irish for the second year in a row . Dropping back to 23rd in the nation , the Irish returned home to face Purdue . The Boilermakers handed the Irish their first loss in 1997 which dropped the Irish from the rankings , and the Irish looked for retribution in this game . With the Irish down two with less than two minutes remaining , Tony Driver , who was switched to cornerback in the offseason , intercepted a Drew Brees pass to set up the go - ahead field goal for the Irish . With the Boilermakers once again moving the ball , Driver had his second interception with less than a minute remaining to preserve the win for the Irish . The Irish won all four of their October games , including a win over Stanford , a dominating win at Arizona State , a last minute win over , and a win over led by Denson ' s career high of 189 yards , to move back into the top - 15 in the rankings . In the next game , the Boston College Eagles were poised for the upset of the Irish . Down 30 – 26 , the Eagles had the ball on the Irish four - yard line with less than a minute remaining . The Irish defense , however , held the Eagles for four downs to preserve the win . The next week , led by Denson , who became the all - time leader in rushing yards at Notre Dame , the Irish shut - out to increase their NCAA record winning streak over the Midshipmen to 35 games . Once again ranked tenth , the Irish faced LSU in their final home game . Avenging their loss in the , the Irish beat the Tigers on a late touchdown run . With a potential BCS berth on the line , and without Jackson , who was injured in the final play against LSU , the Irish traveled to face rivals USC in their final regular season game . Playing two backups at quarterback , including true freshman Arnaz Battle , the Irish were dominated by the tough Trojan defense that caused five turnovers . Though the Trojans , led by freshman quarterback Carson Palmer , couldn ' t produce much offense themselves , they only needed two scores to upset the Irish 10 – 0 . Missing out on a BCS bowl game , the Irish , who signed a deal early in the year that gave them a tie - in with the Big East Conference bowl games , accepted a bid to play Georgia Tech in the . Wearing their alternate green jerseys for the first time since the 1995 Fiesta Bowl , the Irish got behind early to the Yellow Jackets with two long touchdowns . Though closing the gap to a touchdown in the fourth quarter , the Irish couldn ' t move the ball on their last two drives and lost their fourth straight bowl game . They finished the season with a 9 – 3 record and dropped to 22nd in the national rankings . After the season , seven players were taken in the 1999 National Football League ( NFL ) Draft . Among them were Denson , who left with multiple Notre Dame rushing records , Malcolm Johnson , who left with a Notre Dame record of six consecutive games with a touchdown catch , and most of the offensive line starters . Also , offensive coordinator , Jim Colletto , was lured away to the NFL by Baltimore . Game notes . Michigan . 1999 season . Season overview . The 1999 season began on a positive note for Davie , who , after signing 21 recruits , was given a contract extension to coach until 2003 . Though there were high hopes that the Irish could finally get another national championship , there were also many questions facing the team , top among those would be whether Jackson could lead a young Irish team . With some controversy surrounding a verbal agreement between Notre Dame and Michigan to not schedule a game before their September 4 matchup , the Irish instead opened the season in the Eddie Robinson Classic against Kansas . Though Jackson didn ' t answer all the questions in the game ( throwing three interceptions ) , the Irish still dominated the Jayhawks in the 48 – 13 win . With the Irish ranked 16th they went next to face the seventh - ranked Wolverines . Watched by a , then NCAA record , crowd of 111 , 523 , the Wolverines took the lead late in the game on an Anthony Thomas touchdown run . With under two minutes remaining , Jackson led the Irish down the field with three quick passes , however , the time ran out as he completed his fourth of the drive . Though the Irish lost , 26 – 22 , they would remain at 16th in the national polls until stumbling against Purdue the next week . With Davie blaming poor communication on the loss , the Irish dropped from the rankings for the first time in two years . With a 10 game home winning streak , the Irish hoped to get back on track with a win against Michigan State . With the game tied 7 – 7 starting the fourth quarter , it looked to be headed for another last minute decision , however , with five minutes left in the game , with the scored tied again 13 – 13 , Spartan quarterback Bill Burke threw a quick pass to Gari Scott who ran for an 80 yard touchdown . Though the Irish had a chance and drove to the 50 yard line , Davie elected to punt the ball on fourth down with three minutes left in the game . The Spartans added a field goal to put them up 23 – 13 and win the game . After a week off , the Irish faced the 23rd ranked Oklahoma Sooners . Down 30 – 14 mid - way through the third quarter , Jackson led the Irish on two scoring drives to bring them within two points . With the ball at their own 2 yard line , Jackson led a 98 yard drive that gave the Irish the winning touchdown . The Irish continued at home , blowing out Arizona State , coming from behind by 21 points to defeat USC , and scoring a last minute touchdown to beat Navy , to move back into the rankings . For the first time since September the Irish would go on the road . Facing the fourth - ranked Tennessee Volunteers , the Irish knew they were in for a tough test as Tennessee , the reigning winners of the inaugural BCS National Championship , had not lost a non - conference home game since the 1990 Irish team won there . Against the tough Volunteer defense , the Irish were only able to score 14 in the 24 point loss , and once again dropped from the rankings . With a loss to Pittsburgh in the final game at Pitt Stadium , and a last second loss on a failed two - point conversion against Boston College , the Irish lost all chances to go to a bowl game with a 5 – 6 record . Hoping to avoid their first losing season since 1986 , they traveled to Stanford to face the Cardinal . With Jackson splitting time with Arnaz Battle , the Irish come from behind bid failed on a last second field goal by Stanford . Though the season was a disappointment , Jackson , a fifth - year senior ended his career with the Irish on a high note . Named the team Most Valuable Player , he set the single season records in passing yards , total yards , pass attempts , and completions . He also left with the fourth most passing yards in Irish history . Jackson was drafted in the seventh round of the 2000 NFL Draft , and , although he was the only player from the team drafted , nine others signed free agent contracts with NFL teams . The year ended on a bad note for the Irish program , as the NCAA placed the program on probation for two years after a number of major secondary violations by the university and others involved in athletics . Then - university president Rev . Edward Malloy disbanded all varsity booster club s , the first time any university took such actions , and put into place other safeguards against violations , pledging his administration would give a greater effort to stop any future violations . Game notes . Oklahoma . 2000 season . Season overview . After losing ten players to the NFL , the Irish began the 2000 season signing 17 recruits Having to replace two - year starter , Jarious Jackson , Davie chose Arnaz Battle , who looked to have a rough road ahead with the Irish playing four ranked teams in a row to begin the season , including a game against the favorite to win the national championship , Nebraska . Battle , however , did have some help with three veterans named to pre - season award watchlists . The Irish started the season playing the 25th ranked Texas A & M Aggies . With Battle throwing two touchdowns and the defense holding the Aggies to only a field goal in the second half , the Irish won by two touchdowns . Moving into the rankings for the first time since early November 1999 , the Irish would next face the top - ranked Cornhuskers . After coming back from being down by two touchdowns , the Irish eventually fell in overtime after they settled for a field goal and Nebraska quarterback , Eric Crouch , ran for the winning touchdown . Despite the loss , and losing Battle indefinitely to a wrist injury that he suffered on the first play of the game , the Irish felt they proved something to the country , and moved up in the rankings to 21st . The Irish next faced the 13th ranked Purdue Boilermakers , led by Heisman Trophy - hopeful quarterback Drew Brees . The Irish defense held Brees to only 13 completed passes , while Irish backup quarterback Gary Godsey completed 14 , and led the team to a last minute win with a Nick Setta field goal . Moving into the top - 20 the Irish next went to Michigan State to face the 23rd ranked Spartans . Though the Spartans were led by freshman quarterback Jeff Smoker , he led the team to a win with a 68 yard touchdown pass on a fourth down attempt with a minute remaining in the game . Losing the game , the Irish hadn ' t won an away game in eight attempts and hadn ' t beaten the Spartans since 1994 . Dropping almost out of the rankings again , the Irish started playing freshman quarterback Matt LoVecchio and began to roll with wins over Stanford and Navy . Going to Morgantown to face the West Virginia Mountaineers , LoVecchio led the Irish with two touchdown passes to Tony Fisher to give the Irish their first road win in two years . With a win over Air Force the next week , their first ever in overtime , the Irish were once again bowl eligible . Ranked 11th , the Irish continued with wins over Boston College , Rutgers , and their first win at USC since 1992 . With a 9 – 2 record , the Irish got a BCS Bowl bid for the first time ever , with an invitation to the Fiesta Bowl to play the Oregon State Beavers . Getting blown out by the Beavers , the Irish ended the season ranked 15th with a 9 – 3 record . With the end of the season , Davie was named finalist in two coach of the year awards . In addition , four Irish players were named to All - America Teams , seven players were selected to play in post - season All - Star games , and six players were selected in the 2001 NFL Draft , while another three signed free agent contracts with NFL teams . The season ended on a positive note for Davie who signed a five - year contract extension . 2001 season . Season overview . With 19 recruits signed to help replace the nine players leaving for the NFL , there were high expectations for the Irish for the 2001 season . Three players were named to pre - season All - America teams while the team was ranked as highly as 12th in the nation . With former starting quarterback , Arnaz Battle , moving in the off - season to wide receiver , Davie faced the decision of having to play his replacement from 2000 , Matt LoVecchio , or to replace LoVecchio with fellow sophomore Carlyle Holiday . Prior to their first game , Davie hinted that he might have a surprise at quarterback , however , LoVecchio started at the fourth - ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers . Notre Dame ' s first play from scrimmage proved to be a wikt : harbringer when the Irish fumbled and Nebraska recovered . With LoVecchio ineffective throughout the first quarter , Holiday took over and led the Irish to a field goal . Holiday , however , was ineffective throughout the rest of the game and the only other Irish score came after Shane Walton blocked a punt and gave the Irish the ball on the 4 yard line . Unable to capitalize on Nebraska ' s mistakes , and having four turnovers themselves , the Irish lost the game 27 – 10 . With a small quarterback controversy , the season was interrupted by the September 11 , 2001 attacks . With all Division I - A football games canceled after the attacks , the September 15 game against Purdue was moved to the end of the season . With promises of heightened security , prayers , and a stadium - wide fundraiser to help the victims of the attacks , the Irish returned to the field the next week to face the Michigan State Spartans . With LoVecchio getting the start , he had a better game than his first , but the Irish fell short of the Spartans for the fifth straight year . After the loss , Davie named Holiday the starting quarterback for the Texas A & M game . Though LoVecchio would play in later games , he would never start again for the Irish and eventually transferred from the school . Playing in front of , at the time , the largest crowd ever to watch a football game in Texas , Holiday was knocked out of the game with a neck injury before halftime . The Irish were unable move the ball and lost 24 – 3 , moving to 0 – 3 for the first time ever . With Holiday back the next week , he led the Irish to their first victory of the season against the Pittsburgh Panthers , and continued to roll with wins over West Virginia and USC to put the Irish back to a 3 – 3 record . With a loss the next week to Boston College , however , the Irish hopes for a bowl game were dwindling and all but gone with a loss the next week to the seventh - ranked Tennessee Volunteers . With a 3 – 5 record , the Irish would need to win all of their remaining games to avoid Davie ' s second losing season for the team . The Irish looked to turn it around with a dominating win over Navy that increased their record winning streak over them to 38 games , however , fell to Stanford the next week after both Holiday and LoVecchio completed only one pass each the entire game . Assured of Notre Dame ' s eighth losing season ever , the Irish traveled to face the Purdue Boilermakers for the game missed after the September 11 attacks . Though the Irish defense helped secure the win and the 5 – 6 record , it wasn ' t enough for the Notre Dame administration who fired Davie the next day . After Davie . When Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White announced to the media that Davie would not be retained as head coach of Notre Dame , he cited a disappointing season with the Irish heading in the wrong direction on the field . A week after the firing of Davie , George O ' Leary , seven – year head coach of Georgia Tech , was hired by Notre Dame for the head coaching position . Five days after being hired , however , O ' Leary resigned from the position , because of discrepancies on his résumé about receiving a varsity letter and a Master ' s degree while in school . While O ' Leary was criticized for lying , some said it gave Notre Dame a chance to make a better decision . Finally , two weeks after O ' Leary resigned , Notre Dame signed Tyrone Willingham , the seventh – year coach of Stanford , to a six - year contract , ending the Bob Davie era at Notre Dame .