American college football season
The 2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season . The team was coached by Tyrone Willingham and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana .
Season overview
The 2002 season became known as a "Return to Glory" for the Irish.[1] This phrase appeared on a student shirt that created a "Sea of Green" in the Irish stands.[2] It was picked up by many in the media and was used on the front cover of Sports Illustrated .[3] Despite not scoring an offensive touchdown in their first two games,[4] the Irish won both, and in the process made Willingham the 24th Notre Dame head coach to win his opener in his first season.[5] The team went on to win its next six games, including wins over Willingham's alma mater, Michigan State , and Stanford , his former team.[6] [7]
The team was initially led throughout the season by quarterback Carlyle Holiday , former quarterback and wide receiver Arnaz Battle , and on defense, Shane Walton. Running back Ryan Grant , who had to replace Julius Jones who was out for academic reasons, also played an important role. During the Michigan State game, however, Holiday was injured and replaced by backup Pat Dillingham. Dillingham led the Irish to a comeback win on a screen pass to Battle in that game,[6] and he continued the winning streak until Holiday returned for the Florida State game. In that game, Holiday threw a 65-yard touchdown on his first play to Battle that helped the Irish win the game.[8]
The first Irish loss of the season came against the
halftime against
USC and won the game 37–3. The ploy, however, did not work this time, as the Irish committed 5 turnovers and Holliday was injured again and replaced by Dillingham, who threw 2 interception, one of which the Eagles returned for a touchdown that sealed the loss for the Irish.
[10]
The Fighting Irish won their next two games, including their 39th straight victory over
After the season, some Irish were honored with post-season awards. Battle was named by one foundation as their sportsman of the year,Sporting News as "Sportsman of the Year",
[21] and was the only coach listed by
Sporting News as one of their "Most Powerful People in Sports".
[22]
Schedule
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance August 31 8:00 p.m. vs. No. 21 ABC
W 22–072,903
September 7 12:00 p.m. Purdue No. 23 NBC W 24–1780,795
September 14 1:30 p.m. No. 7 Michigan No. 20 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) NBC W 25–2380,795
September 21 3:30 p.m. at Michigan State No. 12 ABC W 21–1775,182
October 5 1:30 p.m. Stanford No. 9 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) NBC W 31–780,795
October 12 1:30 p.m. Pittsburgh No. 8 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry ) NBC W 14–680,795
October 19 10:00 p.m. at No. 18 Air Force No. 7 ESPN W 21–1456,409
October 26 12:00 p.m. at No. 11 Florida State No. 6 ABC W 34–2484,106
November 2 2:30 p.m. Boston College No. 4 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Holy War ) NBC L 7–1480,935
November 9 12:00 p.m. at Navy No. 9 CBS W 30–2370,260
November 23 1:00 p.m. Rutgers No. 8 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN NBC W 42–080,795
November 30 8:00 p.m. at No. 6 USC No. 7 ABC L 13–4491,432
12:30 p.m. vs. No. 17 NC State No. 11 NBC L 6–2873,491
Roster
2002 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Pos.
#
Name
Class
P
17
Joey Hildbold
Sr
K
13
Nick Setta
Jr
LS
53
John Crowther
Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Roster Last update: 2002-08-02
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Final AP
— — 23 20 12 10 9 8 7 6 4 (1) 9 9 8 7 11 11 17 Coaches — — 24 21 12 10 9 8 7 6 6 (1) 10 9 8 7 13 12 17 BCS Not released 3 3 7 7 6 7 10 9 Not released
Game summaries
At Florida State
at No. 6 USC
1
2 3 4 Total
No. 7 Fighting Irish
6
7 0 0
13
• No. 6 Trojans
0
17 13 14
44
Date: November 30Location: EST
Elapsed time: 3:26Game attendance: 91,432Game weather: Cloudy; 60 °F (16 °C); wind variableReferee: Chuck McFerrinTelevision network: ABC
Scoring summary Q1 4:10 ND Setta 34-yard field goal ND 3–0
Q1 3:46 ND Setta 32-yard field goal ND 6–0
Q2 10:49 USC Williams 6-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 7–6
Q2 3:34 USC Killeen 22-yard field goal USC 10–6
Q2 1:07 ND Pierre-Antoine recovered blocked punt in end zone (Setta kick) ND 13–10
Q2 :05 USC Williams 19-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick) USC 17–13
Q3 12:01 USC MacKenzie 15-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick)USC 24–13
Q3 6:36 USC Killeen 27-yard field goal USC 27–13
Q3 2:15 USC Killeen 29-yard field goal USC 30–13
Q4 11:58 USC McCullough 11-yard run (Killeen kick)USC 37–13
Q4 7:23 USC MacKenzie 10-yard pass from Palmer (Killeen kick) USC 44–13
Vs. NC State (Gator Bowl)
Gator Bowl
1
2 3 4 Total
• Wolfpack
0
21 0 7
28
Fighting Irish
3
0 3 0
6
Date: January 1, 2003Location:
Scoring summary 1 5:09 ND Nick Setta 23-yard field goal ND 3-0
2 14:30 NCST T.A. McLendon 2-yard run (Adam Kiker kick) NCST 7-3
2 5:30 NCST T.A. McLendon 3-yard run (Adam Kiker kick) NCST 14-3
2 1:37 NCST Jerricho Cotchery 9-yard pass from Philip Rivers (Adam Kiker kick) NCST 21-3
3 2:50 ND Nick Setta 41-yard field goal NCST 21-6
4 10:50 NCST Sean Berton 7-yard pass from Philip Rivers (Adam Kiker kick) NCST 28-6
Team players in the NFL
References
^ Barra, Allen (September 27, 2002). "Notre Dame's return to glory! (Part 23)" . Salon . Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ Krivickas, Justin (October 2, 2002). " "The Shirt" makes a return to glory" . The Observer . UK. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "SI Covers" . Sports Illustrated . Archived from the original on June 12, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "Irish defense scoring all the touchdowns" . ESPN. September 7, 2002. Retrieved August 23, 2007 .
^ "Notre Dame 22, Maryland 0" . UND.cstv.com . August 31, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2007 .
^ a b "Irish Rally To Stop Spartans, 21–17" . UND.cstv.com . September 21, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "Fighting Irish Crush Cardinal, 31–7" . UND.cstv.com . October 5, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "No. 6 Notre Dame Rolls Past No. 11 FSU, 34–24" . UND.cstv.com . October 26, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "Post Game Notes" . UND.cstv.com . November 2, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "No. 4 Irish Fall To Boston College, 14–7" . UND.cstv.com . November 2, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "No. 9 Irish Come From Behind To Beat Navy" . UND.cstv.com . November 9, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "No. 8 Irish Rough Up Rutgers, 42–0" . UND.cstv.com . November 23, 2002. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "Palmer wins every region except Midwest" . ESPN. December 16, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2009 .
^ "No. 7 Irish Fall To Trojans" . UND.cstv.com . November 30, 2002. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "No. 11 Irish Fall To No. 17 NC State In Gator Bowl, 28–6" . UND.cstv.com . January 1, 2003. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "2002 NCAA Football Rankings – Postseason Week 3 (Jan. 5)" . ESPN. January 5, 2003. Retrieved February 18, 2008 .
^ "Arnaz Battle Named Independence Bowl Foundation Sportsman of the Year" . UND.cstv.com . December 18, 2002. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "Shane Walton Named Consensus All-American" . UND.cstv.com . January 3, 2003. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "Tyrone Willingham Named Home Depot National Coach Of The Year" . UND.cstv.com . December 9, 2002. Archived from the original on July 21, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "Tyrone Willingham Wins George Munger Award for College Coach of the Year" . UND.cstv.com . December 13, 2002. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ Bock, Hal (December 11, 2002). "Willingham named Sporting News Sportsman of the Year" . Centralohio.com . Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
^ "Willingham Listed As One Of The Most Powerful People In Sports" . UND.cstv.com . January 13, 2003. Archived from the original on February 17, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2007 .
Venues Bowls and rivalries Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold