1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team was coached by Lou Holtz and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Orange Bowl, L 9–10 vs. Colorado
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
1990 record	9–3
Head coach	Lou Holtz (5th season)
Captains	Mike Heldt Chris Zorich Todd Lyght Ricky Watters
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)

1990 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 14 Louisville			–					10	–	1	–	1
No. 3 Miami			–					10	–	2	–	0
No. 4 Florida State			–					10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Notre Dame			–					9	–	3	–	0
No. 11 Penn State			–					9	–	3	–	0
Louisiana Tech			–					8	–	3	–	1
Southern Miss			–					8	–	4	–	0
Temple			–					7	–	4	–	0
Syracuse			–					7	–	4	–	2
Army			–					6	–	5	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina			–					6	–	5	–	0
Virginia Tech			–					6	–	5	–	0
East Carolina			–					5	–	6	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana			–					5	–	6	–	0
Navy			–					5	–	6	–	0
Memphis State			–					4	–	6	–	1
Boston College			–					4	–	7	–	0
Tulane			–					4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia			–					4	–	7	–	0
Akron			–					3	–	7	–	1
Pittsburgh			–					3	–	7	–	1
Rutgers			–					3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa			–					3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Rivalries

• Notre Dame beat Michigan State to claim the Megaphone Trophy.
• Notre Dame beat Purdue to claim the Shillelagh Trophy.
• In the Michigan – Notre Dame rivalry, Notre Dame beat Michigan.
• Notre Dame beat USC to claim the Jeweled Shillelagh.
• Notre Dame lost to 1-3 Stanford to lose the Legends Trophy, and costing them a shot at the national championship.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 15	9:00 p.m.	No. 4 Michigan	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (rivalry)	CBS	W 28–24	59,075
September 22	3:30 p.m.	at No. 24 Michigan State	No. 1	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (Megaphone Trophy)	ABC	W 20–19	80,401
September 29	12:00 p.m.	Purdue	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)		W 37–11	59,075
October 6	12:00 p.m.	Stanford	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (Legends Trophy)		L 31–36	59,075
October 13	12:00 p.m.	Air Force	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN		W 57–27	59,075
October 20	3:30 p.m.	No. 2 Miami (FL)	No. 6	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (Catholics vs Convicts)	CBS	W 29–20	59,075
October 27	7:45 p.m.	at Pittsburgh	No. 3	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 31–22	56,500
November 3	12:00 p.m.	vs. Navy	No. 2	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (rivalry)		W 52–31	70,382
November 10	2:30 p.m.	at No. 9 Tennessee	No. 1	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	CBS	W 34–29	97,123
November 17	4:00 p.m.	No. 18 Penn State	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN	ESPN	L 21–24	59,075
November 24	8:00 p.m.	at No. 18 USC	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	W 10–6	91,639
January 1, 1991	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 1 Colorado	No. 5	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 9–10	77,062
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FB 6 Jerome Bettis Fr RB 40 Tony Brooks Jr TE 86 Derek Brown Jr RB 5 Rodney Culver Jr WR 87 Lake Dawson Fr WR 25 Raghib Ismail Sr WR 10 Adrian Jarrell So T 65 Lindsay Knapp Jr RB 4 Dorsey Levens So TE 80 Oscar McBride Fr T 76 Gene McGuire Jr QB 3 Rick Mirer So G 52 Tim Ryan Sr WR 12 Ricky Watters Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 9 Jeff Burris Fr CB 32 Willie Clark Fr CB 29 John Covington Fr DT 93 Bob Dahl Sr LB 31 Demetrius DuBose So LB 42 Micheal Stonebreaker Jr CB 1 Todd Lyght Sr LB 46 Brian Ratigan So CB 21 Rod Smith Jr DT 97 Bryant Young Fr DT 50 Chris Zorich Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 28 Craig Hentrich So P 16 Jim Sexton Sr	Head coach Lou Holtz Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Michigan

See also: 1990 Michigan Wolverines football team and Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–10	1989	ND, 24–19

Michigan Wolverines (0–0) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan	3	7	14	0	24
Notre Dame	14	0	0	14	28

at Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, Indiana

• Date: September 15
• Game time: night
• Game attendance: 59,075
• Box Score

Game information
Michigan Elvis Grbac 17/30, 190 Yds, 2 TD, 2 INT' Jon Vaughn 22 Rush, 201 Yds Desmond Howard 6 Rec, 133 Yds, 2 TD Notre Dame Rick Mirer 14/23, 165 Yds, TD Rodney Culver 19 Rush, 95 Yds, TD Raghib Ismail 4 Rec, 42 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP MICH ND 1 11:28 Notre Dame Mirer 2-yard touchdown run, Hentrich kick good 0 7 1 7:01 Michigan 38-yard field goal by Carlson 3 7 2 1:59 Notre Dame Brooks 2-yard touchdown run, Hentrich kick good 3 14 2 3:56 Michigan Howard 25-yard touchdown reception from Grbac, Carlson kick good 10 14 3 7:49 Michigan Jefferson 1-yard touchdown run, Carlson kick good 17 14 3 7:33 Michigan Howard 25-yard touchdown reception from Grbac, Carlson kick good 24 14 4 12:59 Notre Dame Culver 1-yard touchdown run, Hentrich kick good 24 21 4 1:40 Notre Dame Jarrell 18-yard touchdown reception from Mirer, Hentrich kick good 24 28 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 24 28

Michigan State

#1 Notre Dame at #24 Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total • Fighting Irish 7 0 0 14 21 Spartans 0 12 7 0 19 Date: September 22 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI Source:

Scoring summary 1 ND Watters 5 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 7-0 2 MSU Langeloh 42 yard field goal ND 7-3 2 MSU Safety, blocked punt out of end zone ND 7-5 2 MSU Hickson 1 yard run (Langeloh kick) MSU 12-7 3 MSU Duckett 1 yard run (Langeloh kick) MSU 19-7 4 13:13 ND Watters 2 yard run (Hentrich kick) MSU 19-14 4 0:34 ND Culver 1 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 21-19

See also: 1990 Michigan State Spartans football team and Michigan State–Notre Dame football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
36–18–1	1989	W 21–13

The Immaculate Deflection - Rick Mirer's 24-yard completion to Adrian Jarrell, which bounced off hands of MSU LB Todd Murray up and into Jarrell's arms at MSU 2. Three plays later, Culver scored. "There's definitely somebody looking out for us. There's somebody on our side," said Mirer.

• Notre Dame's 60th victory as No. 1 ranked team & 5-0-1 vs. MSU when ranked #1

Purdue

See also: 1990 Purdue Boilermakers football team and Notre Dame–Purdue football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
38–21–2	1989	W 40–7

Stanford

Stanford at #1 Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total • Cardinal 7 8 14 7 36 Fighting Irish 7 17 7 0 31 Date: September 22 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN Game attendance: 59,075 Source:

Scoring summary 1 ND Mirer 1 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 7-0 1 Sta Milburn 9 run (Hopkins kick) Tied 7-7 2 ND Hentrich 29 yard field goal ND 10-7 2 ND T. Smith 11 yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick) ND 17-7 2 ND T. Smith 15 yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick) ND 24-7 2 Sta Vardell 1 yard run (Palumbis to McCafferty pass) ND 24-15 3 Sta Vardell 1 yard run (Hopkins kick) ND 24-22 3 ND Culver 1 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 31-22 3 Sta Vardell 1 yard run (Hopkins kick) ND 31-29 4 Sta Vardell 1 yard run (Hopkins kick) Sta 36-31

See also: 1990 Stanford Cardinal football team and Notre Dame–Stanford football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–1	1989	W 27–17

Air Force

See also: 1990 Air Force Falcons football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–4	1989	W 41–27

Miami (FL)

#2 Miami (FL) at #6 Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total Hurricanes 10 7 0 3 20 • Fighting Irish 10 6 6 7 29 Date: October 20 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game attendance: 59,075 TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz and Tim Brant

Scoring summary Q1 12:17 MIA McGuire 1-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 7–0 6:51 ND Hentrich-25 yard field goal MIA 7–3 1:43 MIA Huerta 23-yard field goal MIA 10–3 ND Ismail 94-yard kickoff return (Hentrich kick) Tie 10–10 Q2 11:48 ND Hentrich-44 yard field goal ND 13–10 8:10 MIA Erickson-1 yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 17–13 4:16 ND Hentrich-34 yard field goal MIA 17–16 Q3 5:24 ND Hentrich-36 yard field goal ND 19–17 1:45 ND Hentrich 35-yard field goal ND 22–17 Q4 14:01 MIA Huerta 25-yard field goal ND 22–20 6:16 ND Culver 21-yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick) ND 29–20

See also: 1990 Miami Hurricanes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
14–7–1	1989	L 10–27

[2]

Pittsburgh

See also: 1990 Pittsburgh Panthers football team and Notre Dame–Pittsburgh football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
34–16–1	1989	W 45–7

Navy

#2 Notre Dame vs. Navy

1 2 3 4 Total • Fighting Irish 7 3 21 21 52 Midshipmen 0 10 7 14 31 Date: November 3 Location: Giants Stadium Game attendance: 70,382

Scoring summary Q1 ND Bettis 1 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 7–0 Q2 NAVY Pace 1 yard run (Schenk kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 ND Hentrich 31 yard field goal ND 10–7 Q2 NAVY Schenk 27 yard field goal Tie 10–10 Q3 ND Culver 7 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 17–10 Q3 ND Watters 2 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 24–10 Q3 ND Mirer 30 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 31–10 Q3 NAVY Grizzard 6 yard run (Schenk kick) ND 31–17 Q4 ND Brooks 3 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 38–17 Q4 NAVY Berghutt 19 yard pass from Grizzard (Schenk kick) ND 38–24 Q4 ND Ismail 54 yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick) ND 45–24 Q4 NAVY Mason 7 yard pass from Grizzard (Schenk kick) ND 45–31 Q4 ND Lyght 53 yard kickoff return (Hentrich kick) ND 52–31

See also: 1990 Navy Midshipmen football team and Navy–Notre Dame football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
53–9–1	1989	W 41–0

[3]

Tennessee

#1 Notre Dame at #9 Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total • Fighting Irish 7 3 7 17 34 Volunteers 6 0 14 9 29 Date: November 10 Location: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN Source:

Scoring summary 1 TEN Burke 46 yard field goal TEN 3-0 1 ND Culver 59 yard pass from Mirer (Hentrich kick) ND 7-3 1 TEN Burke 22 yard field goal ND 7-6 2 ND Hentrich 26 yard field goal ND 10-6 3 TEN Thompson 10 yard run (Burke kick) TEN 13-10 3 ND Watters 68 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 17-13 3 TEN Harper 32 yard pass from Kelly (Burke kick) TEN 20-17 4 ND Hentrich 20 yard field goal Tied 20-20 4 TEN Burke 45 yard field goal TEN 23-20 4 ND Watters 10 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 27-23 4 ND Ismail 44 yard run (Hentrich kick) ND 34-23 4 TEN Harper 23 yard pass from Kelly (pass failed) ND 34-29

See also: 1990 Tennessee Volunteers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–1	1979	L 18–40

Penn State

See also: 1990 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–6–1	1989	W 34–23

USC

See also: 1990 USC Trojans football team and Notre Dame–USC football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
34–23–4	1989	W 28–24

Colorado (Orange Bowl)

#5 Notre Dame vs. #1 Colorado

1 2 3 4 Total Fighting Irish 0 6 3 0 9 • Buffaloes 0 3 7 0 10 Date: January 1 Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL Game attendance: 77,062 TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh

Scoring summary Q2 CU Jim Harper 22-yard field goal CU 3–0 7:32 ND Ricky Watters 2-yard run (PAT blocked) ND 6–3 Q3 ND Craig Hentrich 24-yard field goal ND 9–3 CU Eric Bieniemy 1-yard run (Harper kick) 'CU 10–9

Main article: 1991 Orange Bowl

See also: 1990 Colorado Buffaloes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–0	1990	W 21–6

[4] [5]

Team players drafted into the NFL

• Despite being drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders, the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League signed Raghib Ismail to a four-year contract worth 18 million dollars in April 1991.[6] The Ismail signing included four million dollars upfront.[7]

Awards and honors

• Raghib Ismail finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy.[8]
• Raghib Ismail, Walter Camp Award[9]
• Chris Zorich: Lombardi Award[10]

References

1. "Notre Dame Yearly Results (1990-1994)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
2. Gainesville Sun. 1990 Sep 21. Retrieved 2018-Oct-06.
3. Gainesville Sun. 1990 Nov 4. Retrieved 2018-Dec-15.
4. "Top-Ranked Colorado Holds Off Notre Dame". The New York Times. January 2, 1991. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
5. "FLAG WIPED THE EGG OFF MCCARTNEY". The Washington Post. January 3, 1991. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
6. Drake, Stephen (2009). Weird Facts about Canadian Football: Strange, Wacky and Hilarious Stories. OverTime Books. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-897277-26-3.
7. Drake, Stephen (2009). Weird Facts about Canadian Football: Strange, Wacky and Hilarious Stories. OverTime Books. p. 114. ISBN 978-1-897277-26-3.
8. https://web.archive.org/web/20080106231937/http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/nd-m-footbl-archive.html
9. "Walter Camp Football Foundation Awards (Page 3)". The Walter Camp Foundation. Archived from the original on 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
10. "Winners & Finalists". Rotary Club of Houston. Archived from the original on 2009-01-08. Retrieved 2008-01-02.