1988 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team The 1988 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1988 college football season . The Irish , coached by Lou Holtz , ended the season with 12 wins and no losses , winning the national championship . The Fighting Irish won the title by defeating the previously unbeaten and No . 3 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers in the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl in Tempe , Arizona by a score of a 34 - 21 . The 1988 squad , one of 11 national title squads for the Irish , is considered to be one of the best undefeated teams in the history of college football . The Irish beat the Nos . 1 , 2 and 3 teams in the country at the time they played them . They also won 10 of 12 games by double digits . The 1988 squad is best remembered for its 31 - 30 upset of No . 1 ranked Miami , ending their 36 - game regular season winning streak . The game is remembered to this day as one of the most memorable games in all of college football . Game notes . Michigan . 13th ranked Notre Dame debuted its season against No . 9 Michigan in Notre Dame Stadium . In a 19 - 17 thriller , walk - on kicker Reggie Ho kicked a 48 - yard field goal winner with 1 : 13 remaining . Lou Holtz ' s concerns about his youthful offense and green receivers were realized as the Irish offense did not score a single offensive touchdown . In addition to Reggie Ho ' s game winner , the Irish kicker scored 3 other field goals . The lone touchdown from Notre Dame came from a Ricky Watters punt return , an 81 - yard runback . Michigan ' s Mike Gillette , who had given the Wolverines the lead with 5 : 34 left by kicking a 49 - yard field goal , had one final chance give Michigan the win , narrowly missing from 48 yards as the final gun sounded . Michigan State . MSU threatened Notre Dame early with a 1st quarter field goal , but that would be the only points of the day the Notre Dame defense would allow as the Irish downed MSU 20 - 3 . Notre Dame struggled early in the contest , accumulating only 50 yards running on 21 carries . Reggie Ho tied the game with 31 - yarder in the second quarter and put the Irish ahead 6 - 3 at the half with a 22 - yard field goal . The second half was a different story for the Irish offense , as quarterback Tony Rice and company amassed 195 yards on 33 carries in the second half . 156 yards came on 19 carries in the third quarter alone . Tony Rice ran for a 8 - yard touchdown and Michael Stonebreaker added a 39 - yard interception return for a touchdown in the final quarter to end any hopes of a Spartan upset . The star of the game was Notre Dame ' s defense , which held the Spartans to 89 yards rushing for the game . Running back Mark Green led the Irish rushing attack with 125 yards on the ground . Purdue . Tony Rice passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as Notre Dame shredded Purdue 52 - 7 . It was one of the worst losses by Purdue in the history of the series , and its worst loss since a 48 - 0 drubbing in 1970 . Notre Dame scored early and often , starting with a 38 yard Rice option run for a touchdown . Tony Rice ' s first passing touchdown on the year was an 8 - yarder to freshman tight end Derek Brown . The Irish exploded for 28 points in the second quarter , highlighted by a 54 - yard Rice touchdown pass to Rocket Ismail . Tailback Mark Green added a 7 - yard touchdown run and Ricky Watters returned a punt 66 yards for a score . Coach Lou Holtz used three separate quarterbacks in the second quarter and four total in the game . Back - up quarterback Steve Belles hit running back Tony Brooks for a 34 - yard score to put the Irish up 42 - 0 at half - time . The second half saw the Irish score ten points with back - ups , a 44 - yard field goal by Billy Hackett and a 36 - yard run from freshman tailback Rodney Culver . Purdue ' s lone touchdown was a fourth quarter 7 - yard pass from Brian Fox to Williamson . The Irish improved to 3 - 0 while the Boilermakers dropped to 1 - 2 on the year . Stanford . Tony Rice rushed for two touchdowns and passed for a third to lead the Fighting Irish to a 42 - 14 blowout of Stanford . Rice completed 11 of 14 passes for 129 yards and rushed for 107 yards . Rice scored runs of 30 yards and 6 yards while the Irish tailbacks added 3 other scores with touchdowns from Mark Green , Tony Brooks , and Anthony Johnson . Despite the lopsided score , Stanford did mount two of the longest scoring drives against the Irish to date , with a 68 - yard drive by quarterback Brian Johnson and a 73 - yard drive by back - up quarterback Jason Palumbis . Freshman standout tight end Derek Brown added the Irish ' s sole passing touchdown in the 3rd quarter . The Irish defense stymied the Cardinal , holding them to just 111 yards in the first half . Pittsburgh . Notre Dame , a loser to Pittsburgh three years in a row , narrowly avoided another such upset as the Irish improved to 5 - 0 on the season . The 30 - 20 victory in the rain did little to inspire confidence that Notre Dame could beat No . 1 Miami the following week . The Panthers made a number of critical mistakes that led the Panthers to believe they did more to lose the game more than Notre Dame did to win it . " We could have won the game , " said Panther coach Mike Gottfried , " but we made just enough mistakes to lose it . " Notre Dame struggled to contain Panther quarterback Darnell Dickerson , who at times had 10 seconds or more per play . The Panthers came out strong early , starting the game with an impressive drive , but before the Panthers could score , Irish cornerback Todd Lyght forced a fumble , which Chris Zorich recovered . After a stalled Irish drive , the Panthers got the ball back and took a 7 - 0 lead on a Dickerson touchdown . Notre Dame answered back with a 52 - yard Tony Brooks run to the 2 - yard line . The large run was the result of a failed Panther blitz attempt . Tony Rice scored on a 2 - yard keeper to tie the game 7 - 7 . After an Anthony Johnson touchdown gave the Irish a 14 - 7 lead , Dickerson scored his second touchdown to tie the game again at 14 - 14 . Reggie Ho scored a 37 - yard field goal to give the Irish a 17 - 14 half time lead . The critical moment of the game came in the second half , when late into the fourth quarter the Irish were clinging to a 23 - 20 lead when the Panthers forced the Irish into a 4th and long from their own 23 - yard line . But a late 12 men on the field penalty against the Panthers gave the Irish new life . The 15 - yard penalty gave Notre Dame the ball on its 48 - yard line , and 11 plays later Mark Green ran for an 8 - yard touchdown with 4 : 30 left in the game to put victory out of reach for the Panthers . Tony Rice went 8 - 14 passing for the game and a third quarter Braxston Banks touchdown gave the Irish the lead for good . Miami . The October 15 , 1988 game between Notre Dame and the University of Miami Hurricanes is colloquially referred to as the Catholics vs . Convicts game . The University of Notre Dame was dubbed the " Catholics " and the University of Miami was dubbed as " the Convicts " . Air Force . A potential letdown after defeating No . 1 Miami the previous week never materialized for the now 2nd ranked Irish , who used a second half onslaught of power running to down the Falcons 41 - 13 . Coach Holtz admitted he was scared all week of a potential upset of his young Notre Dame squad . Of main concern was Air Force ' s wishbone ground attack , which came into Notre Dame Stadium averaging 46 points and 432 rushing yards a game . Falcons coach Fisher DeBerry ' s squad had the best ground gaining offense in the nation . Holtz ' s fears seemed to be valid during the rain in the first half as Notre Dame only held a 7 point lead at the half . Air Force opened the game with an impressive ground attack . Air Force quarterback Dee Dowis took his team inside the Irish 20 on the game ' s first offensive drive . But Pat Terrell , the defensive hero of last week ' s victory over Miami , stepped into the spotlight again , this time with Stan Smagala . Albert Booker , an Air Force halfback , was carrying the ball on second down when Smagala hit him hard . The ball popped free and Terrell recovered the fumble at the Notre Dame 16 . After the turnover , Air Force answered with its first field goal by Steve Yarborough from 22 yards out . But Notre Dame matched that by going 71 yards to score on Mark Green ' s 7 - yard touchdown run . In the second quarter , The Irish continued to run the ball , with quarterback Tony Rice and running back Anthony Johnson both running for touchdowns . Air Force answered before the end of the half with a touchdown to cut Notre Dame ' s lead to just seven points . The third quarter was all Irish , as five Irish running backs combined for 283 yards , all running for 23 yards or more . One of the highlights was a 50 - yard halfback pass late in the third quarter thrown by 4th - string quarterback Steve Belles . In at running back , Belles took a pitch from Tony Rice , stepped back to his right and threw to a wide open Ricky Watters . The flanker took the ball inside the Air Force 10 and battled his way just over the goal line late in the third quarter . Other scores included a Tony Brooks 42 - yard touchdown in the third quarter and another Ricky Watters touchdown catch ; this time a 28 - yarder from Rice . In the end , the Irish defense held the explosive Falcons to 54 yards rushing in the second half and 195 for the game , 237 yards below its season average . Navy . Although unbeaten and No . 2 Notre Dame posted its 25th consecutive victory of the Naval Academy , coach Lou Holtz was not happy . " We couldn ' t control the line of scrimmage , " Holtz said after the victory . " We couldn ' t throw consistently , we weren ' t mentally alert and that ' s my fault . Our offensive line got beat up , we couldn ' t run inside . We weren ' t good enough to beat them inside . We ' re not a very good team right now . We feel fortunate to win . " Favored to beat Navy by five touchdowns , the Irish dropped five passes , lost two fumbles , shanked a punt for a mere 10 yds . , and got whistled for having twelve men on the field - all before winning the game 22 - 7 . The Midshipmen fumbled on their second play from scrimmage and six plays later Notre Dame led 7 - 0 on a 10 - yard touchdown pass from Rice to Derek Brown , before a crowd of 54 , 926 at Memorial Stadium . Rodney Culver and Ryan Mihalko ran for touchdowns as Notre Dame opened up a 22 - 0 lead early in the third quarter en route to reaching an 8 - 0 record for the first time since 1973 . One positive Lou Holtz saw was the play of the defense . " Our defense played really well , but was on the field too long . " Notre Dame amassed 396 total yards and held Navy to 192 yards , the lowest for an Irish opponent this year . Rice . The Irish scored early and often as Notre Dame dazzled their home crowd of 59 , 075 with a 54 - 11 victory . After Rice scored an early field goal in the first quarter , Rocket Ismail returned his first of two kickoffs , a 78 - yard return for a score . The Irish offense quickly followed with three touchdowns on their first three offensive possessions . Junior fullback Anthony Johnson rushed for two of Notre Dame ' s seven TDs , while Tony Brooks and Rodney Culver also added touchdowns . Late in the game , Rocket Ismail returned an 83 - yard kick off return for a touchdown . Ismail became the first Notre Dame player to return two kick - offs for touchdowns in a game since Paul Castner in 1922 against Kalamazoo . Rice LB Billy Stone returned a blocked extra - point all the way for two points . This was the first time a team scored by returning a failed conversion in NCAA Div I history ( the rule allowing for the defense to score this way instituted at the start of the 1988 - 89 season ) . Penn State . The Irish came into the game at 9 - 0 while Penn State was 5 - 5 , on the verge of their first losing season in 50 years . Notre Dame got started early , scoring on their first possession , an 87 yard on 12 play drive . On second - and - 5 from Penn State ' s 48 - yard line , Tony Rice threw a 17 yard pass to Ricky Watters , who was wide open 15 yards downfield . Five plays later , Notre Dame scored from Penn State ' s two . Rice optioned left , froze the Penn State linebacker Eddie Johnson with a pump - fake , then ran into the end zone . Reggie Ho ' s extra point made it 7 - 0 . In the second quarter , Notre Dame drove 60 yards in five plays to go ahead , 14 - 0 . Rice set up the score with another pass to Watters - a 27 - yard play that moved the ball to Penn State ' s 33 - yard line . Two plays later , running back Mark Green took a handoff up the middle , then found daylight to his right and ran 22 yards for a touchdown . Penn State ' s only score came on the last play of the first half , when Eric Etze kicked a 52 - yard field goal . After leading by 14 - 3 at halftime , Notre Dame struck quickly for its final score in the third quarter . On first down after a Penn State punt , Tony Rice threw a 67 - yard touchdown pass to Raghib Ismail . It was the first time the Fighting Irish had thrown deep all game , and the long pass caught Penn State defensive backs off guard . Ismail was so wide open , he scored even though he had to wait for Rice ' s underthrown pass . After making the catch at Penn State ' s 20 - yard line , Ismail broke Eddie Johnson ' s attempted tackle and jogged into the end zone . The win set the stage for the next week ' s showdown vs . USC , the final hurdle to the national championship game . USC . Notre Dame and USC entered the game undefeated and ranked number one and two respectively for the first time ever in their storied series . It was also the 24th time No . 1 faced No . 2 in college football history . In a controversial move , coach Lou Holtz took his 10 - 0 Irish squad to L . A . without stars Ricky Watters and Tony Brooks , who he suspended for disciplinary reasons . The USC Trojans were having a great season under head coach Larry Smith and standout quarterback Rodney Peete . The Irish came into the game as underdogs , but spectacular play of defensive end Frank Stams and cornerback Stan Smagala aided the Irish offense , led by Tony Rice , to an Irish victory . Notre Dame started out fast with Tony Rice surprising the crowd by throwing deep to Raghib Ismail on the first play of scrimmage . On the very next play , Tony Rice optioned left for a 65 - yard touchdown play . The Trojans were listless , committing four turnovers , including a back - breaking Rodney Peete interception to Stan Smagala for another Notre Dame touchdown . In the second half , running back Mark Green added the final touchdown of the day ( aided by a key 22 - yard gain on a 3rd down screen play by Anthony Johnson ) to help defeat the Trojans . The sellout crowd of 93 , 829 was the largest in this rivalry since 1955 . Aftermath . The 1988 Irish squad won their 11th consensus national title in Lou Holtz ' s third year as an Irish head coach , equaling the trend of Irish coaches winning the title in their third year . Irish head coaches Frank Leahy , Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine also won titles in their third years as head coach . Holtz was named national coach of the year for taking the Irish squad from a 8 - 4 record the previous year to national title winners the following year . His 1989 and 1993 squads narrowly missed repeating the feat . As of 2012 , the 1988 Irish squad is also the most recent to win the national title . This title drought looms large as Notre Dame is currently in its 24th year going without winning a title , the longest such streak since they won their first in 1924 . Awards and honors . All - Americans Source :