1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Orange Bowl, L 9–10 vs. Colorado
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	#6
AP	#6
1990 record	9–3
Head coach	Lou Holtz (5th year)
Captain	Mike Heldt
Captain	Chris Zorich
Captain	Todd Lyght
Captain	Ricky Watters
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)

1990 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#14 Louisville			–					10	–	1	–	1
#3 Miami			–					10	–	2	–	0
#4 Florida State			–					10	–	2	–	0
#6 Notre Dame			–					9	–	3	–	0
#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			–					4	–	6	–	1
Boston College			–					4	–	7	–	0
Tulane			–					4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia			–					4	–	7	–	0
Akron			–					3	–	7	–	1
Arkansas State			–					3	–	7	–	1
Pittsburgh			–					3	–	7	–	1
Rutgers			–					3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa			–					3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1990 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1990 college football season. The team was coached by Lou Holtz and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

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.	#4 Michigan*	#1	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Rivalry)	CBS	W 28–24	59,075
September 22	3:30 p.m.	at #24 Michigan State*	#1	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Megaphone Trophy)	ABC	W 20–19	80,401
September 29	12:00 p.m.	Purdue*	#1	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)		W 37–11	59,075
October 6	12:00 p.m.	Stanford*	#1	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Legends Trophy)		L 31–36	59,075
October 13	12:00 p.m.	Air Force*	#7	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN		W 57–27	59,075
October 20	3:30 p.m.	#2 Miami (FL)*	#6	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN	CBS	W 29–20	59,075
October 27	7:45 p.m.	at Pittsburgh*	#3	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN	W 31–22	56,500
November 3	12:00 p.m.	vs. Navy*	#2	Giants Stadium • East Rutherford, NJ (Rivalry)		W 52–31	70,382
November 10	2:30 p.m.	at #9 Tennessee*	#1	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	CBS	W 34–29	97,123
November 17	4:00 p.m.	#22 Penn State*	#1	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN	ESPN	L 21–24	59,075
November 24	8:00 p.m.	at #18 Southern California*	#7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	W 10–6	91,639
January 1	8:00 p.m.	vs. #1 Colorado*	#6	Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 9–10	77,062
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game notes

Michigan State

#1 Notre Dame at #24 Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 7 0 0 14 21 Michigan St 0 12 7 0 19 Date: September 22 Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI Source: [1]

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

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

Stanford

#1 Notre Dame vs. Stanford

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

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

Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 7 3 7 17 34 Tennessee 6 0 14 9 29 Date: November 10 Location: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN Source: [3]

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

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. The Ismail signing included four million dollars upfront.

Awards and honors

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