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1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

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1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 19–18 vs. Boston College
ConferenceIndependent
Record7–5
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorJim Johnson
Captains
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
Seasons
← 1982
1984 →
1983 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 1 Miami (FL) – – 11–1–0
Virginia Tech – – 9–2–0
No. 19 Boston College – – 9–3–0
No. 16 West Virginia – – 9–3–0
No. 20 East Carolina – – 8–3–0
No. 18 Pittsburgh – – 8–3–1
Florida State – – 8–4–0
Penn State – – 8–4–1
Southern Miss – – 7–4–0
Memphis State – – 6–4–1
Notre Dame – – 7–5–0
Syracuse – – 6–5–0
South Carolina – – 5–6–0
Cincinnati – 4–6–1
Southwestern Louisiana – – 4–6–0
Temple – – 4–7–0
Tulane – – 4–7–0
Louisville – – 3–8–0
Navy – – 3–8–0
Rutgers – – 3–8–0
Army – – 2–9–0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach Gerry Faust, the Irish compiled a 7–5 record, outscored opponents by a total of 297 to 159, and were unranked for the third consecutive year in both the final AP and UPI polls. Despite losing the last three games of the regular season, the Irish were invited to play in the Liberty Bowl where they defeated No. 13 Boston College, 19–18.[1][2]

Running back Allen Pinkett led the team with 1,394 rushing yards, 28 pass receptions, and 108 points scored and received first-team honors from Football News and The Sporting News on the 1983 All-America college football team. The team's other statistical leaders included quarterback Steve Beuerlein (1,061 passing yards), wide receiver Joe Howard (464 receiving yards), and linebacker Tony Furjanic (142 tackles).[3][4]

The team played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 102:30 p.m.at PurdueNo. 5
W 52–669,782[5]
September 172:30 p.m.Michigan StateNo. 4
L 23–2859,075[6]
September 249:00 p.m.at Miami (FL)No. 13
CBSL 0–2052,480[7]
October 13:30 p.m.at Colorado
KWGNW 27–352,692[8]
October 87:00 p.m.at South Carolina
W 30–674,500[9]
October 151:00 p.m.vs. Army
W 42–075,131[10]
October 222:30 p.m.USC
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 27–659,075[11]
October 2912:00 p.m.NavyNo. 19
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 28–1259,075[12]
November 53:45 p.m.PittsburghNo. 18
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
CBSL 16–2159,075[13]
November 121:00 p.m.at Penn State
L 30–3485,899[14]
November 1912:35 p.m.Air Force
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
ABCL 22–2359,075[15]
December 298:00 p.m.vs. No. 13 Boston College
KatzW 19–1847,071[16]

Roster

[edit]
1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 82 Mark Bavaro Jr
RB 28 Greg Bell Sr
QB 5 Blair Kiel Sr
RB 20 Allen Pinkett So
G 75 Larry Williams Jr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 9 Chris Brown Sr
DT 71 Eric Dorsey So
LB 43 Rick DiBernardo So
LB 58 Tony Furjanic So
DE 78 Mike Gann Jr
DE 55 Mike Golic Jr
CB 30 Stacey Toran Sr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries

[edit]

Purdue

[edit]
Team 1 234Total
• Notre Dame 17 14147 52
Purdue 0 006 6
Scoring summary
Q1NDBell 9 yard pass from Kiel (Johnston kick)ND 7–0
Q1NDBell 1 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 14–0
Q1NDJohnston 31 yard field goalND 17–0
Q2NDBell 2 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 24–0
Q2NDBavaro 17 yard pass from Kiel (Johnston kick)ND 31–0
Q3NDPinkett 1 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 38–0
Q3NDBell 5 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 45–0
Q4NDAbraham 3 yard run (Johnston kick)ND 52–0
Q4PURBrunner 18 yard pass from Everett (kick failed)ND 52–6

[17]

Colorado

[edit]
Team 1 234Total
• Notre Dame 10 773 27
Colorado 3 000 3
  • Source:
Scoring summary
1NDPinkett 10-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 7-0
1COLField 43-yard field goalND 7-3
1NDJohnston 21-yard field goalND 10-3
2NDBrooks 31-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 17-3
3NDSmith 29-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 24-3
4NDJohnston 39-yard field goalND 27-3

USC

[edit]
Team 1 234Total
USC 0 060 6
• Notre Dame 7 10100 27
  • Source:
Scoring summary
1NDPinkett 11-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 7-0
2NDPinkett 9-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 14-0
20:29NDJohnston 30-yard field goalND 17-0
3NDPinkett 11-yard run (Johnston kick)ND 24-0
3USCHarper 1-yard run (run failed)ND 24-6
30:02NDJohnston 39-yard field goalND 27-6

The game came to be known as the "Green Jerseys II" game. Notre Dame snapped a five-game losing streak to USC as Allen Pinkett rushed 21 times for 122 yards, his fourth straight 100-yard game and the first Irish player to do so since Jim Stone in 1980. "We felt could have beat USC in blue. We felt we could have beat them in T-shirts," said Pinkett. The game took place six years to the day from the original "Green Jersey" game in 1977 but head coach Gerry Faust had already made the decision to wear the jerseys over the summer.

Liberty Bowl

[edit]

Notre Dame was invited to the Liberty Bowl where they faced Boston College and their prized quarterback Doug Flutie. Boston College scored first on a 13-yard touchdown pass but missed the extra point. Notre Dame came back as Allen Pinkett and Chris Smith each rushed for 100-plus yards, while Pinkett scored two touchdowns as Notre Dame beat Boston College, 19–18, to win their first bowl game since the 1979 Cotton Bowl.

Statistics

[edit]

Team statistics Notre Dame gained 4,713 yards of total offense, an average of 5.9 yards per play and 428.5 yards per game. Of that total, 2,727 yards were gained by rushing, an average of 4.9 yards per carry and 238.8 yards per game. The Irish also tallied 2,086 passing yards, an average of 189.6 yard per game.[18]

On defense, they gave up 3,154 yards of total offense (286.7 per game) by opponents, consisting of 1,473 rushing yards (133.9 per game) and 1,681 passing yards (152.8 per game).[18]

Passing

  1. Steve Beuerlein - 75-of-145 (.517) for 1,061 yards, 6 interceptions, 4 touchdowns
  2. Blair Kiel - 64-of-115 (.557) for 910 yards, 7 interceptions, 7 touchdowns

[18]

Rushing

  1. Allen Pinkett - 1,394 yards, 5.5-yard average, 16 touchdowns
  2. Chris Smith - 421 yards, 5.5-yard average, 1 touchdown
  3. Hiawatha Francisco - 194 yards, 5.1-yard average, 0 touchdowns
  4. Mark Brooks - 180 yards, 5.1-yard average, 2 touchdowns
  5. Greg Bell - 169 yards, 4.6-yard average, 4 touchdowns

[18]

Receiving

  1. Allen Pinkett - 28 receptions for 288 yards, 10.3-yard average, 2 touchdowns
  2. Joe Howard - 27 receptions, 464 yards, 17.2-yard average, 2 touchdowns
  3. Milt Jackson - 23 receptions, 438 yards, 19.0-yard average, 3 touchdowns
  4. Mark Bavaro - 23 receptions, 376 yards, 16.3-yard average, 3 touchdowns
  5. Chris Smith - 13 receptions, 142 yards, 10.9-yard average, 1 touchdown
  6. Mark Favorite - 8 receptions, 123 yards, 15.4-yard average, 0 touchdowns

[18]

Scoring

  1. Allen Pinkett - 110 points on 18 touchdowns and a two-point conversion
  2. Mike Johnston - 69 points, 33 of 34 PAT and 12 of 21 field goals
  3. Greg Bell - 30 points, 5 touchdowns

[18]

Tackles

  1. Tony Furjanic - 142 tackles
  2. Rick Naylor - 71 tackles
  3. Mike Kovaleski - 62 tackles
  4. Mike Golic - 59 tackles (team-high 10 tackles for loss)
  5. Pat Ballage - 55 tackles
  6. Mike Gann - 52 tackles
  7. Joe Johnson - 50 tackles

[18]

Awards and honors

[edit]

Allen Pinkett received first-team honors from Football News[19] and The Sporting News[20] on the 1983 All-America college football team. He also received second-team All-America honors from the Associated Press[21] and United Press International.[22] He finished 16th in voting for the Heisman Trophy.[23]

Offensive tackle Larry Williams received second-team All-America honors from Football News.[19]

Former Fighting Irish players Bill Fischer and Bill Shakespeare were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Irish Eye, vol. 4, No. 1" (PDF). University of Notre Dame Sports Information Department. March 1, 1984 – via Notre Dame Archives.
  3. ↑ "1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  4. ↑ Irish Eye, p. 60.
  5. ↑ "Notre Dame rolls over Purdue 52–6". News-Press. September 11, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Parker-led Michigan State startles Notre Dame". Asbury Park Press. September 18, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Miami of Florida shocks Irish". Evansville Courier & Press. September 25, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Frosh QB, Pinkett pace Irish". The Grand Rapids Press. October 2, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Frosh Beuerlein leads Irish past Gamecocks". Journal and Courier. October 9, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "75,131 see Beuerlein lift ND by Army, 42–0". The Star-Ledger. October 16, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Irish in green for 27–6 rout of old rivals". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 23, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Notre Dame sinks Navy". The Post-Crescent. October 30, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "McCall helps Pitt throttle Irish 21–16". Star Tribune. November 6, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Strang runs Lions past Fighting Irish, 34–30". Centre Daily Times. November 13, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Air Force blocks field goal to beat Notre Dame". The Kalamazoo Gazette. November 20, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Irish stew Eagles in B-r-r-r Bowl". The Commercial Appeal. December 30, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Gainesville Sun. 1983 Sept 11. Retrieved 2015-Sep-20.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Irish Eye, p. 60.
  19. 1 2 "All-America". The Sioux City Journal. November 30, 1983. p. C2. Retrieved February 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "The 1983 Sporting News All-America College Football team". Times-Advocate (Escondido, CA). December 14, 1983. p. C6 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  21. ↑ "Associated Press All-American Team". Herald and Review (Decatur, IL). December 6, 1983. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  22. ↑ Dave Raffo (December 8, 1983). "Offensive Titans Nebraska, BYU Dominate UPI All-America". Tyrone Daily Herald. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  23. ↑ "NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH - Football". Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
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