1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Consensus national champion
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	9–0–1
Head coach	Ara Parseghian (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	T formation
Base defense	4–4
Captain	Jim Lynch
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ← 1965 1967 →

1966 NCAA University Division independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–		9	–	0	–	1
Colgate		–		–		8	–	1	–	1
No. 8 Georgia Tech		–		–		9	–	2	–	0
Army		–		–		8	–	2	–	0
Dayton		–		–		8	–	2	–	0
Houston		–		–		8	–	2	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		7	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Miami (FL)		–		–		8	–	2	–	1
VPI		–		–		8	–	2	–	1
Syracuse		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Colorado State		–		–		7	–	3	–	0
New Mexico State		–		–		7	–	3	–	0
West Texas State		–		–		7	–	3	–	0
Villanova		–		–		6	–	3	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–		6	–	3	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–		6	–	4	–	0
Texas Western		–		–		6	–	4	–	0
Tulane		–		–		5	–	4	–	1
Florida State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Buffalo		–		–		5	–	5	–	0
Penn State		–		–		5	–	5	–	0
Air Force		–		–		4	–	6	–	0
Boston College		–		–		4	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		–		4	–	6	–	0
Utah State		–		–		4	–	6	–	0
Xavier		–		–		4	–	6	–	0
Pacific		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
San Jose State		–		–		3	–	7	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–		1	–	9	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

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^[1] 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.^[1] 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".^[2]

Schedule

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

Roster

1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`28`	Rocky Bleier	Jr
RB	`32`	Larry Conjar
RB	`21`	Frank Criniti
RB	`38`	Ron Dushney
RB	`47`	Nick Eddy
G	`68`	Roger Fox
RB	`20`	Bob Gladieux	So
TE	`80`	Don Gmitter
C	`54`	George Goeddeke
G	`57`	Tim Gorman
RB	`22`	Dave Haley
WR	`86`	Curt Heneghan
QB	`5`	Terry Hanratty	So
C	`58`	Gerald Kelly
OT	`73`	Rudy Konieczny
G	`75`	Bob Kuechenberg	So
TE	`78`	Mike Kuzmicz
G	`69`	Joe Marsico
RB	`31`	Paul May
OT	`79`	Tom McKinley
C	`55`	Tim Monty
QB	`3`	Coley O’Brien
G	`62`	Steve Quinn
WR	`89`	Kevin Rassas
G	`76`	Tom Regner
OT	`70`	Fred Schnurr
OT	`71`	Paul Seiler
WR	`85`	Jim Seymour
WR	`49`	Brian Stenger
G	`59`	Dick Swatland
TE	`96`	Jim Winegardner

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`77`	Harry Alexander
S	`33`	Mike Burgener
DT	`64`	Pete Duranko
DT	`75`	Kevin Hardy
CB	`34`	Dan Harshman
LB	`51`	John Horney
LB	`65`	Ron Jeziorski
DE	`93`	Chick Lauck
LB	`41`	John Lavin
CB	`40`	Tom O’Leary
LB	`61`	Jim Lynch	Sr
LB	`56`	Dave Martin
LB	`60`	Mike McGill
DT	`72`	Eric Norri
DE	`81`	Alan Page	Sr
LB	`50`	John Pergine	Jr
CB	`19`	Tom Quinn
DE	`87`	Tom Rhoads
DE	`88`	Allen Sack
S	`7`	Tom Schoen	Jr
DE	`94`	Bill Skoglund
CB	`25`	Jim Smithberger
LB	`89`	Al VanHuffel
LB	`54`	Ed Vuillemin

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`90`	Joe Azzaro
K	`11`	Jim Ryan

Head coach

Ara Parseghian

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Rankings

Game summaries

Purdue

Purdue at Notre Dame

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

Date: September 24
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
Game start: 1:15 pm CDT
Game attendance: 59,075
Game weather: Fair, 67 degrees
TV announcers (ABC (national)): Chris Schenkel and Bud Wilkinson

Scoring summary

1	PUR	Leroy Keyes 94-yard fumble return (kick good)	PUR 7-0

1	ND	Nick Eddy 96-yard kickoff return (kick good)	Tied 7-7

2	ND	Jim Seymour 84-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good)	ND 14-7

4	ND	Jim Seymour 39-yard pass from Terry Hanratty	ND 20-7

4	PUR	Perry Williams 1-yard run (kick good)	ND 20-14

4	ND	Jim Seymour 7-yard pass from Terry Hanratty	ND 26-14

^[4]

Northwestern

Notre Dame at Northwestern

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

Date: October 1
Location: Dyche Stadium, Evanston, IL
Game start: 1:30 pm CDT
Game attendance: 55,356
Game weather: Partly sunny, 60 degrees

Scoring summary

1	ND	Nick Eddy 56-yard run (kick good)	ND 7-0

2	ND	Larry Conjar 1-yard run (kick failed)	ND 13-0

3	ND	Rocky Bleier 12-yard run (2-pt. good)	ND 21-0

4	ND	Frank Criniti 2-yard run (kick good)	ND 28-0

4	ND	Tom Schoen 37-yard interception return (kick good)	ND 35-0

4	NU	Roger Murphy 22-yard pass from Bill Melzer (kick good)	ND 35-7

^[5]

Army

Army at Notre Dame

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

Date: October 8
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
Game start: 1:30 pm CDT
Game attendance: 59,075
Game weather: Fair, 76 degrees

Scoring summary

1	ND	Rocky Bleier 2-yard run (kick good)	ND 7-0

1	ND	Jim Seymour 33-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good)	ND 14-0

1	ND	Terry Hanratty 7-yard run (kick good)	ND 21-0

2	ND	Nick Eddy 3-yard run (kick good)	ND 28-0

2	ND	Nick Eddy 3-yard run (kick good)	ND 35-0

^[6]

North Carolina

North Carolina at Notre Dame

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

Date: October 15
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
Game start: 1:30 pm CDT
Game attendance: 59,075
Game weather: Cloudy, 50 degrees, wind 22-40 MPH

Scoring summary

1	ND	Larry Conjar 1-yard run (kick good)	ND 7-0

2	ND	Larry Conjar 1-yard run (kick failed)	ND 13-0

2	ND	Jim Seymour 56-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good)	ND 20-0

3	ND	Nick Eddy 52-yard run (2-pt. failed)	ND 26-0

4	ND	Bob Gladieux 5-yard run (2-pt. failed)	ND 32-0

^[7]

Oklahoma

Notre Dame at Oklahoma

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

Date: October 22
Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, OK
Game start: 2:30 pm CDT
Game attendance: 63,439
Game weather: Fair, 66 degrees

Scoring summary

2		ND	Nick Eddy 3-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 7-0

2		ND	Terry Hanratty 2-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 14-0

2		ND	Joe Azzaro 32-yard field goal	ND 17-0

3		ND	Nick Eddy 1-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 24-0

3	3:30	ND	Rocky Bleier 9-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 31-0

3		ND	Coley O'Brien 5-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 38-0

^[8]

Navy

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

Date: October 29
Location: JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA
Game start: 1:30 pm EDT
Game attendance: 70,101
Game weather: Fair, 70 degrees

Scoring summary

1	ND	Azzaro 42-yard field goal	ND 3-0

2	ND	Conjar 7-yard run (Azzaro kick)	ND 10-0

3	ND	Hanratty 1-yard run (Azzaro kick)	ND 17-0

3	ND	Gladieux 1-yard run (Azzaro kick)	ND 24-0

4	NAVY	Bergner recovered blocked punt in end zone (Church kick)	ND 24-7

4	ND	Hanratty 6-yard run (Azzaro kick)	ND 31-7

^[9]

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh at Notre Dame

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

Date: October 8
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
Game start: 1:30 pm CST
Game attendance: 59,075
Game weather: Cloudy, 40 degrees

Scoring summary

2	ND	Terry Hanratty 3-yard run (kick good)	ND 7-0

3	ND	Nick Eddy 85-yard kickoff return (kick failed)	ND 13-0

3	ND	Tom Schoen 63-yard punt return (2-pt. good)	ND 21-0

4	ND	Larry Conjar 1-yard run (2-pt. failed)	ND 27-0

4	ND	Bob Gladieux 19-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (2-pt. failed)	ND 33-0

4	ND	Bob Gladieux 5-yard run (kick good)	ND 40-0

^[10]

Duke

Duke at Notre Dame

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

Date: October 15
Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
Game start: 1:30 pm CST
Game attendance: 59,075
Game weather: Cloudy, 42 degrees

Scoring summary

1	ND	Nick Eddy 77-yard run (2-pt. good)	ND 8-0

1	ND	Tom O'Leary 30-yard return on lateral from John Horney after 25-yard interception return (kick good)	ND 15-0

1	ND	Rocky Bleier 4-yard run (kick good)	ND 22-0

2	ND	Rocky Bleier 45-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good)	ND 29-0

2	ND	Larry Conjar 2-yard run (kick good)	ND 36-0

2	ND	Jim Seymour 10-yard pass from Terry Hanratty (kick good)	ND 43-0

3	ND	Dave Haley 9-yard run (kick good)	ND 50-0

3	ND	Coley O'Brien 3-yard run (kick good)	ND 57-0

4	ND	Frank Criniti 10-yard run (kick good)	ND 64-0

^[11]

Michigan State

Notre Dame at Michigan State

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

Date: November 19
Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Michigan
Game start: 1:30 pm EST
Game attendance: 80,010
Game weather: Cloudy, 32 degrees
Referee: Howard Wirtz
TV announcers (ABC (regional)): Chris Schenkel and Bud Wilkinson

Scoring summary

2	MSU	Cavender 4-yard run (Kenney kick)	MSU 7-0

2	MSU	Kenney 47-yard field goal	MSU 10-0

2	ND	Gladieux 34-yard pass from O'Brien (Azzaro kick)	MSU 10-7

4	ND	Azzaro 28-yard field goal	Tied 10-10

^[12]

^[13]

USC

Notre Dame at USC

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

Date: November 26
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Game start: 1:30 pm PST
Game attendance: 88,520
Game weather: Sunny, 70 degrees

Scoring summary

1	ND	Larry Conjar 2-yard run (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 7-0

1	ND	Tom Schoen 40-yard interception return (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 14-0

2	ND	Joe Azzaro 38-yard field goal	ND 17-0

2	ND	Jim Seymour 13-yard pass from Coley O'Brien (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 24-0

2	ND	Jim Seymour 39-yard pass from Coley O'Brien (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 31-0

3	ND	Dan Harshman 23-yard pass from Coley O'Brien (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 38-0

3	ND	Nick Eddy 9-yard run (kick failed)	ND 44-0

4	ND	Dave Martin 33-yard interception return (Joe Azzaro kick)	ND 51-0

^[14]^[15]

Post-season

Award winners

Jim Lynch - Maxwell Award^[16]

Heisman Voting:

Nick Eddy, 3rd,^[17]

Terry Hanratty, 6th^[17]

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:^[1]

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.^[18]

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:^[19]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: History and Records (pages 131-175)". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
^ Celzic, Mike (1992). The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State and the Fall of 1966. ISBN 0-671-75817-9.
^ "Duke tops Navy 9–7". Tallahassee Democrat. November 6, 1966. Retrieved January 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Irish Uncover Soph Aerial Attack, Smash Purdue." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Sep 25.
^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 2, 1966, p. 1
^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 9, 1966, p. 1
^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 16, 1966, p. 1
^ "ND Stomps Sooners." Palm Beach Post. 1966 Oct 23.
^ South Bend Tribune, Oct. 30, 1966, p.
^ South Bend Tribune, Nov. 6, 1966, p. 1
^ South Bend Tribune, Nov. 13, 1966, p. 1
^ Jenkins, Dan (November 28, 1966). "An Upside-Down Game". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
^ "Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search".
^ "Irish Trouncing of U.S.C. Worst in Trojans' History". The New York Times. November 27, 1966. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
^ "Army Borrows 'Air Force'; Irish Rout Troy." Eugene Register-Guard. 1966 Nov 27.
^ "The Maxwell Award Collegiate Player of the Year: Past Recipients". The Maxwell Football Club. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Heisman Voting". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
^ "Hall of Fame: Select group by school". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
^ "Notre Dame NFL Draft History". uhnd.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008.

v t e 1966 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football—consensus national champions
Rocky Bleier Larry Conjar Pete Duranko Nick Eddy Bob Gladieux George Goeddeke Terry Hanratty Kevin Hardy Bob Kuechenberg George Kunz Jim Lynch Dave Martin Mike McGill Alan Page John Pergine Steve Quinn Tom Regner Tom Schoen Paul Seiler Jim Seymour Brian Stenger Dick Swatland Head coach: Ara Parseghian Assistant coaches: John Ray Jerry Wampfler Joe Yonto

v t e Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Venues	Brownson Hall field (1892?–1899) Cartier Field (1899–1928) Soldier Field (1929) Notre Dame Stadium (1930–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Emerald Isle Classic Army Boston College Michigan Michigan State Navy Northwestern Pittsburgh Purdue Stanford USC
Culture and lore	History Band of the Fighting Irish Irish Guard Notre Dame Box Notre Dame Leprechaun "Notre Dame, Our Mother" "Notre Dame Victory March" Play Like a Champion Today Subway Alumni T formation Tall Grass Game 1946 "Game of the Century" 1966 "Game of the Century" Catholics vs. Convicts 30 for 30 film 1993 "Game of the Century" Bush Push Navy ends the drought 2020 ACC Championship Game The Spirit of Notre Dame Knute Rockne, All American Notre Dame Football on NBC Rudy
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks Four Horsemen NFL draftees Statistical leaders Team captains
Seasons	1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e College football national champions (poll era)
1936–1949	1936: Minnesota (AP) 1937: Pittsburgh 1938: TCU 1939: Texas A&M 1940: Minnesota 1941: Minnesota 1942: Ohio State 1943: Notre Dame 1944: Army 1945: Army (AP) / Oklahoma A&M (Coaches) 1946: Notre Dame 1947: Notre Dame 1948: Michigan 1949: Notre Dame
1950s	1950: Oklahoma (AP, Coaches) 1951: Tennessee 1952: Michigan State 1953: Maryland 1954: Ohio State (AP) / UCLA (FWAA, Coaches) 1955: Oklahoma 1956: Oklahoma 1957: Auburn (AP) / Ohio State (Coaches, FWAA) 1958: LSU (AP, Coaches) / Iowa (FWAA) 1959: Syracuse (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
1960s	1960: Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ole Miss (FWAA) 1961: Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA) 1962: USC 1963: Texas 1964: Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF) 1965: Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF) 1966: Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF) 1967: USC 1968: Ohio State 1969: Texas
1970s	1970: Nebraska (AP, FWAA) / Texas (NFF, Coaches) / Ohio State (NFF) 1971: Nebraska 1972: USC 1973: Notre Dame (AP, FWAA, NFF) / Alabama (Coaches) 1974: Oklahoma (AP) / USC (FWAA, NFF, Coaches) 1975: Oklahoma 1976: Pittsburgh 1977: Notre Dame 1978: Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) / USC (Coaches) 1979: Alabama
1980–1991	1980: Georgia 1981: Clemson 1982: Penn State 1983: Miami (FL) 1984: BYU 1985: Oklahoma 1986: Penn State 1987: Miami (FL) 1988: Notre Dame 1989: Miami (FL) 1990: Colorado (AP, FWAA, NFF, USAT/CNN) / Georgia Tech (Coaches) 1991: Miami (FL) (AP) / Washington (Coaches, FWAA, UPI/NFF)