1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team was coached by Gerry Faust and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 19–18 vs. Boston College
Conference	Independent
1983 record	7–5
Head coach	Gerry Faust (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Johnson
Captains	Blair Kiel Stacey Toran
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)

1983 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami		–		–				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
Penn State		–		–				8	–	4	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				6	–	4	–	1
Florida State		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
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

Notre Dame made it 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.

Rivalries

• In the Shillelagh Trophy, Notre Dame beat Purdue.
• In the Holy War match against Boston College, Notre Dame beat BC to claim the Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl.
• Notre Dame beat USC to claim the Jeweled Shillelagh.
• Michigan State beat Notre Dame to claim the Megaphone Trophy.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	2:30 p.m.	at Purdue	No. 5	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)		W 52–6	69,782
September 17	2:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 4	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Megaphone Trophy)		L 23–28	59,075
September 24	9:00 p.m.	at Miami	No. 13	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	CBS	L 0–20	52,480
October 1	3:30 p.m.	at Colorado		Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 27–3	52,692
October 8	7:00 p.m.	at South Carolina		Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 30–6	74,500
October 15	1:00 p.m.	vs. Army		Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (rivalry)		W 42–0	75,131
October 22	2:30 p.m.	USC		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Jeweled Shillelagh)		W 27–6	59,075
October 29	12:00 p.m.	Navy	No. 19	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 28–12	59,075
November 5	3:45 p.m.	Pittsburgh	No. 18	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	CBS	L 16–21	59,075
November 12	1:00 p.m.	at Penn State		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 30–34	85,899
November 19	12:35 p.m.	Air Force		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	ABC	L 22–23	59,075
December 29	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 13 Boston College		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	Katz	W 19–18	47,071
Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class 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. # Name Class 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. # Name Class	Head coach Gerry Faust Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 17 14 14 7 52 Purdue 0 0 0 6 6 Date: September 10 Location: Ross–Ade Stadium Game attendance: 69,782

Scoring summary Q1 ND Bell 9 yard pass from Kiel (Johnston kick) ND 7–0 Q1 ND Bell 1 yard run (Johnston kick) ND 14–0 Q1 ND Johnston 31 yard field goal ND 17–0 Q2 ND Bell 2 yard run (Johnston kick) ND 24–0 Q2 ND Bavaro 17 yard pass from Kiel (Johnston kick) ND 31–0 Q3 ND Pinkett 1 yard run (Johnston kick) ND 38–0 Q3 ND Bell 5 yard run (Johnston kick) ND 45–0 Q4 ND Abraham 3 yard run (Johnston kick) ND 52–0 Q4 PUR Brunner 18 yard pass from Everett (kick failed) ND 52–6

• Allen Pinkett 15 Rush, 115 Yds

[2]

Colorado

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 10 7 7 3 27 Colorado 3 0 0 0 3 Date: October 1 Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado Source:

Scoring summary 1 ND Pinkett 10-yard run (Johnston kick) ND 7-0 1 COL Field 43-yard field goal ND 7-3 1 ND Johnston 21-yard field goal ND 10-3 2 ND Brooks 31-yard run (Johnston kick) ND 17-3 3 ND Smith 29-yard run (Johnston kick) ND 24-3 4 ND Johnston 39-yard field goal ND 27-3

USC

1 2 3 4 Total USC 0 0 6 0 6 • Notre Dame 7 10 10 0 27 Date: October 22 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Source:

Scoring summary 1 ND Pinkett 11-yard run (Johnston kick) ND 7-0 2 ND Pinkett 9-yard run (Johnston kick) ND 14-0 2 0:29 ND Johnston 30-yard field goal ND 17-0 3 ND Pinkett 11-yard run (Johnston kick) ND 24-0 3 USC Harper 1-yard run (run failed) ND 24-6 3 0:02 ND Johnston 39-yard field goal ND 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.

Team players drafted into the NFL

Awards and honors

• Allen Pinkett finished 16th in voting for the Heisman Trophy.[3]
• Former Fighting Irish players Bill Fischer and Bill Shakespeare was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

References

1. "Notre Dame Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
2. Gainesville Sun. 1983 Sept 11. Retrieved 2015-Sep-20.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-12-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)