In anticipation of the first College Football Playoff game ever held in South Bend, we’re diving into 12 of the greatest wins ever seen at Notre Dame Stadium. In part 1 of this list, we examined the best wins from “the Classic Era” (1930-1989), and in this article, we’ll be covering “The Modern Era” (1990-2024). Let’s get into it.
Photo by The Irish Tribune
“The Modern Era” (1990-2024)
1992: No. 8 Notre Dame - No. 22 Penn State
The 1992 Irish began the year at #3 and crushed Northwestern 42-7 at Soldier Field in their opener. Holtz’s squad encountered their first true test in week 2, a home matchup against the #6 Michigan Wolverines. The game was incredibly competitive, and things were tied up 17-17 when a series of controversial late game play calls and poor clock management by Holtz led to an unused timeout and a failed final drive that could have won the game. The 17-17 tie dropped the Irish to #7, but they’d go on to win their next two games against Michigan State and Purdue, giving them a 3-0-1 record going into their matchup with #18 Stanford. Sadly, the Irish would drop their home game against the Cardinal, sending them from #6 to #13. The 1992 Irish would win 6-straight games, highlighted by a dominant win against #9 Boston College 54-7, and an instant classic against #22 Penn State.
Despite not being considered a traditional rival of the Irish, the Nittany Lions entered the final matchup in their scheduling series with the Irish leading the all time series 8-7-1, giving the Irish a chance to even the series before it went on hiatus. It was a below freezing November day in South Bend, with light flurries coming down and a full-on storm threatening. The Irish limped into the game, with QB Rick Mirer sick with a stomach bug and Jerome Bettis with a tweaked ankle. Penn State struck first, rushing for a TD but had their extra point blocked, earning them only 6 points for their efforts. The Irish offense struggled to get the ball in the end zone, settling for 3 points in each quarter and turning the ball over twice. The Nittany Lions struck back to back in the 4th with a field goal and a drive ending in a 12-yard rushing touchdown to put PSU up 16-9 with 4:25 left in the 4th.
A 4th FG wouldn’t help Notre Dame’s struggling offense, and a touchdown would only tie the score at 16: the Irish would need to score their first touchdown of the day and follow it with a 2-point conversion to win. After a 4 minute 61-yard drive, the Irish sat on the Penn State 3 yard line. It all came down to this - on 4th down with only 25 seconds left, down 7, Rick Mirer tossed a floater just over the line to Bettis for a touchdown, bringing the Irish within 1. Penn State knew what was coming, and Holtz lined his offense up for a 2-point conversion. As Mirer dropped back, his pocket began collapsing under the pressure, forcing him to scramble outside the pocket. While being chased by two defenders, nothing appeared open, yet he tossed a prayer off his back foot, holding the game’s fate in his hands. The ball sailed to the back corner of the end zone, only to be met by a diving Reggie Brooks who reeled the ball in to put the Irish up 17-16 and steal the game from the Nittany Lions. The come from behind win would go down in Notre Dame history, dubbed the “Snow Bowl.”
In their final game of the season, #5 Notre Dame beat #19 USC 31-23, finishing as 9-1-1 along with a Cotton Bowl invitation against Texas A&M. Despite missing out on a National Title bid, Holt’s squad rose to the challenge, pummeling the Aggies 28-3. Jerome Bettis scored 3 of Notre Dame’s 4 touchdowns, and the Irish defense held A&M scoreless until the 4th quarter, when they kicked a 41-yard field goal. After the bowl win, the Irish finished at #4 in the polls with a 10-1-1 record.
1993: No. 2 Notre Dame - No. 1 Florida State
On November 13th, 1993, the undefeated #1 Florida State Seminoles arrived in South Bend, bringing the 1993 squad their biggest challenge of the year. The 9-0 Irish had only played one ranked opponent, #3 Michigan, but had looked dominant all season against the rest of their middling schedule. The stakes for both teams could not have been higher, with legendary coaches Bobby Bowden and Lou Holtz battling for more than a bluechip win and bragging rights: the winner of this game would almost assuredly go on to play undefeated #3 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl for the National Title. Although considered the two best teams in the country, the Seminoles were favored by 7 points despite being on the road, and Holtz was looking to play spoiler.
FSU scored 1st, via a 12 yard pass from Charlie Ward, but the Irish responded shortly after with a 32 yard touchdown run by Adrian Jarrell. The Irish used the 2nd quarter to put some distance between themselves and the Seminoles, adding two more rushing touchdowns to put them up 21-7 going into the half. Notre Dame scored first in the 3rd, padding their lead with a field goal, putting them up 24-7. The Seminoles finally scored again, finding the end zone on Charlie Ward’s 2nd passing touchdown of the day, followed by an early 4th quarter field goal to bring the score to 24-17. The Irish chewed another 4 minutes off the clock with their relentless ground game, going 80 yards for their 4th rushing touchdown of the day.
With time running out, the Seminoles drove deep into Irish territory, hoping to score and get the ball back on an onside kick. On 3rd and goal, Charlie Ward tossed what looked to be his 3rd touchdown pass of the day to the near corner of the end zone, but the stifling Irish secondary knocked the ball loose to force a 4th and goal on the 20. With the game on the line, Ward threw another ball over the middle, but the Irish defense got there first, tipping the ball into the air. In a split second, the ball sailed towards the back of the end zone, but was reeled in by the only Seminole near the ball for a touchdown. Only down 7, the Seminoles elected for the onside kick, hoping to keep the ball away from Notre Dame, but the Irish recovered.
Unfortunately, Holtz’s boys couldn’t keep the drive going and run the clock out and were forced to punt with under a minute left. With one last chance, the Seminoles moved the ball down to Notre Dame’s 15 with 3 seconds left on the clock. Ward dropped back in the pocket but was forced to scramble left by the Irish pass rush. With the game in his hands, Ward evaded a game ending sack, and threw a dart across his body. The ball sailed towards the end zone, but the Irish secondary swarmed the ball, and Shawn Wooden batted it to the ground, sealing the victory for Holtz and the Irish. The final red zone stand would go down in Notre Dame history, and the instant classic would earn the infamous “Game of the Century” title.
The win pushed the Irish to 10-0, with all signs pointing to another National Championship appearance, and only a single opponent stood in their way - #17 Boston College. In one of the most heartbreaking home losses in recent memory, Eagles kicker David Gordon split the uprights as time expired, and BC stole a 41-39 win. The season finale loss derailed Notre Dame’s Title aspirations and ironically gifted the Seminoles a chance at it against Nebraska. The Championship Committee moved FSU ahead of the Irish primarily due to their stronger strength of schedule, which outweighed the head to head contest results. Notre Dame dropped to #4, but earned a trip to the cotton bowl where they went on to beat #7 Texas A&M, 24-21, while FSU beat Nebraska 16-12 in the Sugar Bowl.
Lou Holtz made his case for the Irish to be named National Champions, but ultimately FSU would be given the Title, despite their loss to the Irish. FSU’s close 4-point win over Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl, 16-12 was apparently enough to give them the edge over the Irish. Notre Dame was named National Champion by the Matthew’s and NCF polls, technically making them Co-National Champions for the 2nd time in Holtz's tenure in South Bend, the other being the 1989 season. Unfortunately, Notre Dame does not acknowledge any Co-National Champion Titles, including these two, and. they ended the season at #2 behind only FSU, once again.
2012: No. 7 Notre Dame - No. 17 Stanford
Notre Dame’s 2012 campaign was a surprising one. The Irish began the season unranked and on the heels of a less than impressive 8-5 showing in 2011. They began with wins over unranked Navy and Purdue before surprising the #10 Michigan State Spartans 20-3 in East Lansing. The ranked win pushed Kelly’s 3rd year squad to #11 in the polls before they welcomed #18 Michigan to South Bend. It may not have been pretty, but Notre Dame bested the Wolverines 13-6 before demolishing the Miami Hurricanes 41-3 the following week. Now 5-0, the #7 Irish welcomed one of their biggest threats of the season to Notre Dame Stadium - #17 Stanford. Brian Kelly had yet to defeat the Cardinal in his time at Notre Dame, and he looked to get his first win against 2nd year Stanford head coach David Shaw.
The game began amidst a steady rain, which made it a messy first half. The Cardinal punted on their first drive, while the Irish responded by turning the ball over on a muffed snap at midfield. On the ensuing drive, Stanford QB Josh Nunez tossed a soaring ball to the end zone but was picked off by Irish DB Bennett Jackson. The Irish offense ended up punting the ball back to Stanford, only for Nunes to throw his 2nd pick of the day. This time, sophomore Mathias Farley reeled in the errant pass and returned it 46-yards to the Stanford 17. The Cardinal stifled Notre Dame’s momentum, and the Irish were forced to settle for a field goal. Stanford responded with a successful drive deep into Irish territory, but failed to convert on a 25-yard field goal after shanking it hard to the left. The Irish inherited the ball on the 10, and were backed up to the 4 when QB Everett Golson was strip-sacked in the endzone and Stanford recovered for a touchdown.
Notre Dame’s woes continued when on the next drive, they ended up in the red zone, but again failed to score a touchdown and settled for a field goal attempt. Unfortunately, the snap was muffed and the Irish left 3 points on the board. To add insult to injury, Stanford took over with under two minutes left in the 2nd quarter and got themselves in field goal position, this time knocking one through to take a 10-3 lead going into the half. It was the first time Notre Dame had trailed at halftime all season.
The Irish offense came out flat in the 3rd, and turned the ball over on the only successful drive they had in the quarter. Golson then led the Irish on an early 4th quarter drive where they converted on 3rd & 8 with a 22-yard catch by Theo Riddick to keep the drive alive. After working the ball down to the Cardinal 25, the Irish faced an imposing 3rd & 18. As Golson dropped back he launched a ball to the front corner of the end zone where the hands of Irish tight-end Tyler Eifert rose above two Stanford defenders to reel in the score. Notre Dame’s first touchdown of the game came at the 14:15 mark in the 4th quarter, and tied things up at 10-10.
After getting down to Notre Dame’s 3-yard line, the Cardinals were knocked back to the 11 on a crucial 3rd & 3 stop by the Irish D, and were forced to settle for a field goal. Notre Dame got the ball back with 6 minutes left to play, and proceeded to burn all but 0:20 seconds off the clock before they knocked in a field goal of their own to tie the game at 13-13 and send it into overtime.
After a head injury to Golson, Kelly was forced to put backup QB Tommy Rees in to lead the offense through overtime. After getting sacked on his first snap, Rees tossed two major throws to get the Irish to Stanford’s 8-yard line. On a quick toss to the front of the end zone, Rees delivered a bullet to TJ Jones for the touchdown, giving them the lead 20-13. Stanford had to score to stay alive. Their first play from scrimmage was a delayed HB screen that the Irish D easily sniffed out for a 5 yard loss.
The Cardinal ultimately converted and found themselves with 1st & goal at Notre Dame’s 4 yard line. They had 4 plays to move 4 yards but faced a determined Notre Dame defense led by surprise Heisman Trophy candidate Manti Teo. The Irish stopped 3 consecutive Stanford runs to force 4th & 1 at the 1. In a miraculous display of grit and determination, the Irish held a remarkable goal line stand and turned the Cardinal back for the 4th straight time to win the game 20-13 in OT.
It was Notre Dame’s hardest fought and most thrilling matchup of the season, and was one of the first times the Irish had been truly tested and they’d been deemed worthy by the media of being taken seriously. The Irish rattled off 6 more wins including a road win against then #8 Oklahoma, and ended the regular season with a 12-0 record and a #1 ranking. They earned an invite to the BCS National Championship game to play Nick Saban and the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide. It was Notre Dame’s first shot at a National Championship in more than 20 years, and the Irish were on the precipice of renewed legitimacy. Unfortunately, that's kind of where the rose-colored glasses came off for the 2012 Irish. They were thoroughly dominated and embarrassed by Bama, and were run off the field 14-42. Regardless, none of that would have been possible had the Irish not been able to beat Stanford in overtime at the midway point of their season.
2018: No. 12 Notre Dame - No. 14 Michigan
It was the first time the historic rivals had faced off in three years, and both programs began the season with a lot of potential and a lot of questions. ESPN’s “College Gameday” came to campus for the season opening heavyweight matchup, the 7th time in the rivalry’s history. With the stakes at their highest and all eyes on South Bend, Notre Dame Stadium declared it a green out game.
The Irish marched down the field on their first drive of the day led by Ian Book, ending with a 13-yard Jafar Armstrong rushing touchdown to score the game’s first points. Brandon Wimbush took over on Notre Dame’s 2nd drive, which began on the Irish 5 yard line. Wimbush tossed a 25-yard ball to Alize Mack that got them some breathing room, followed by a 1st down scramble to get the Irish into Wolverine territory. Wimbush then hit Chris Finke down the middle of the field, who caught it over two Michigan defenders and came down with the score to put the Irish up 14-0. The Irish defense slowed a determined Michigan drive and forced them to settle for a 28-yard field goal for their first points of the game.
Notre Dame responded with a 6-minute drive that ended with another Jafar Armstrong touchdown to extend the Irish lead to 21-3. With all momentum in Notre Dame’s favor, they kicked off with just under 4 minutes left in the half. Michigan’s Ambry Thomas fielded the kick at the 3, and followed his blockers’ wedge and busted out of the scrum, breaking an arm tackle before separating for the 97-yard score. The touchdown narrowed the score to 21-10 going into halftime.
Michigan’s first drive of the 2nd half brought them to a 34-yard field goal attempt, but it was muffed and the Irish defense smothered the holder to keep the Wolverines off the scoreboard again. Both defenses kept things quiet for the rest of the 3rd quarter with an interception by both teams. Michigan was held in check until the clock was under 3 minutes, where they capped off a 7-play 80-yard drive with a touchdown to narrow the score to 24-17.
After failing to burn out the remaining 2 minutes, the Irish gave the ball back to the Wolverines for a final chance to tie the game or take the lead. After allowing Michigan across midfield, the Irish defense stepped up one final time and when it mattered most. Michigan’s Shea Patterson was pressured by the Irish D-line and the pocket collapsed, forcing him to step up in the pocket to get free. Just as he did, Notre Dame’s Jerry Tillery slapped the ball out of Patterson’s hands before Tevon Coney scooped it up and returned it to the Michigan 34. From there, the Irish ran out the clock and bested Coach Harbaugh and the visiting Wolverines. Though the 24-17 score may seem close, this was a confident win for the Irish and never truly seemed in doubt.
The win over Michigan began Brian Kelly and Notre Dame’s path to an undefeated 12-0 regular season. It was enough to earn the Irish an appearance in their first ever College Football Playoff game.
2020: No. 4 Notre Dame - No. 1 Clemson
In a strange season completely transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame found themselves a temporary but official member of the ACC and playing amongst almost non-existent crowds. Despite the conditions, the Irish rattled off 6 straight wins over ACC competition and South Florida to go from #10 to #4. Clemson traveled to South Bend as the country’s #1 team along with an undefeated 7-0 record. The Tigers were favored, but the recent illness to their star QB Trevor Lawrence seemed to somewhat even the playing field with then freshman backup DJ Uiagalelei would make the start.
On the first play from scrimmage, Ian Book handed the ball off to Kyren Williams like he had countless times before, but this time, Williams blew through the open gap and dashed 75-yards untouched for an instant score. After stopping the Tigers’ first drive, the Irish got the ball back and worked their way back into Clemson territory. This time around, they were held up and forced to kick a field goal, going up 10-0 halfway through the 1st. Clemson finally broke through on their 3rd drive of the game with two consecutive first downs that got them to midfield.
Uiagalelei then chucked a 53-yard bomb to Cornell Powell who pulled it in for Clemson’s first score of the day to narrow things to 7-10. The Irish responded with another drive that ended within Clemson's 10-yard line, but once again only came away with a field goal. Clemson added a field goal of their own about half way through the 2nd quarter before stopping the struggling Irish offense to get the ball back. Just when the game had gotten competitive, the Irish D made their presence known. On a 1st & 10 from their own 31, Uiagalelei tossed a routine pitch to Travis Etienne, but the ball hit his hands and ricocheted into the arms of Notre Dame’s Owusu-Koramoah. In one fell swoop, Koramoah went from blitzing to catching to rushing, and he managed to return it for a touchdown. Just before the end of the 1st half, the Irish knocked in their third field goal of the day to go up 23-10.
Clemson struck first out of halftime with a 46-yard field goal before getting the ball back once again. After driving the length of the field, Uiagalelei tossed his 2nd passing touchdown on a 9-yard toss to tight-end Davis Allen, tying the game at 23-23 with about 4 minutes left in the 3rd. Both teams traded a pair of field goals in the 4th quarter to tie things up at 26-26 with just under 10 minutes left in the 4th. Clemson put together a 12-play 74-yard drive that leeched nearly all the game’s remaining clock, and ended with a Travis Etienne touchdown to give Clemson their first lead of the day.
With under two minutes left, Ian Book and the Notre Dame offense began their final drive. The Irish were making steady but slow progress before Book opened everything up with a monster 39-yard pass to Avery Davis, who split two defenders and carried it down to the Clemson 5. With only 22-seconds left, the Irish faced 3rd & goal on the 6 yard line, when Ian Book rolled to the right and found none other than the man that got them down there - Avery Davis, for the score. The PAT tied things up 33-33 and sent the thrilling game into overtime.
Both teams scored touchdowns on their first possessions, sending the game into double overtime tied 40-40. Notre Dame scored on their first possession of 2OT, making it the 3rd Kyren Williams rushing touchdown of the game. With the score, the Irish put all the pressure on Clemson to respond with a touchdown of their own to send things to 3OT.
On the first two plays of Clemson’s make-or-break series, the elite Irish defense swarmed Uiagalelei for back-to-back sacks to force a 4th & 24. The Tigers could only muster a short pass underneath that was immediately lateralled out of desperation and ultimately fell short, dropping their first game of the season as the Irish faithful stormed the field in celebration.
It was the biggest win of the 2020 squad’s undefeated 10-0 regular season, and was enough to earn them a trip to the ACC Championship against familiar foe Clemson. This time around, things went south for the Irish, who fell in embarrassing fashion 34-10 against a Clemson squad led by a now healthy Trevor Lawrence. Despite the loss, Brian Kelly and the Irish earned an invite to the College Football Playoff against #1 Alabama, where they ultimately fell 14-31.
2023: No. 21 Notre Dame - No. 10 USC
Marcus Freeman’s 2nd season in South Bend began with a lot of promise. The Irish pulled in the hottest transfer portal QB in that of Sam Hartman, began at #13 in the polls, and started the season hot with a 4-0 record, albeit against middling competition. Their first real challenge came against #6 Ohio State, where the Irish stayed competitive and truly had a chance to win, but ultimately fell 14-17. It was a disappointing outcome, but Freeman and the Irish responded the following week with a win over #17 Duke. The following week, the Irish hit the road to face #25 Louisville, where they completely dropped the ball. It seemed Notre Dame overlooked the Cardinals, and left shocked with a 20-33 let down.
The now 5-2 Irish had dropped back to #21 in the polls, and were set to host undefeated #10 USC in South Bend for week 8. The Trojans were led by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, and were on the cusp of a National Title run. On USC’s first drive of the game, Williams tossed a floater over the middle and just out of reach of his receiver where it was quickly reeled in by Irish Safety Xavier Watts at the 50. Watts returned the pick inside the 15 to set up a Sam Hartman touchdown pass to Gi’Bran Payne, putting the Irish up 7-0. Despite reaching Notre Dame’s 9-yard line on the next drive, the Trojans were forced to settle for a field goal. The Irish then knocked in a field goal of their own to go up 10-3.
A few drives later, USC was pinned behind their own 20 on a 1st & 10, and Caleb Williams was forced to dodge incoming defenders before tossing another ill-advised ball over the middle in the general direction of his man. Once again, the ball hung in the air before being collected by none other than Xavier Watts, who returned it all the way to the USC 2-yardline. All it took was a strong Audric Estime plunge through the middle to convert on the Trojan turnover, and put the Irish up 17-3 with halftime looming. Now behind the 8-ball, USC was desperate to kill Notre Dame’s momentum and close the gap before the half.
On a 2nd & 10 from USC’s 35, Williams used his skill to dance away from a collapsing pocket before rocketing a ball down the near sideline. To his dismay and the delight of Irish fans, the ball was snatched out of the air from CB Benjamin Morrison, becoming William’s 3rd interception of the day and the officially the most he’d ever thrown in a single game. Sam Hartman moved the Irish from midfield into USC territory before the ever-dependable Audric Estime punched it in for his second score of the day. With under a minute left in the 2nd, the Trojans managed to scrape together a drive that ended in a field goal to narrow the deficit to 6-24.
The 3rd quarter was silent until about the midway point, when a USC drive to Notre Dame’s 31 was capped off with an option pitch from Caleb Williams to MarShawn Lloyd for a score for the first Trojan touchdown of the day. The Irish offense wasted no time, quickly responding on the next series with a 48-yard bomb from Hartman to the speedy Chris Tyree, who edged out his defender for the touchdown, putting the Irish up 31-13.
USC’s Zachariah Branch returned an Irish punt 55-yards into the red zone before Caleb Williams tossed his first touchdown pass of the contest to Brendan Rice for a 7-yard score. Now within striking distance at 31-20, the Trojans kicked off to Jadarian Price - and that's where they messed up. Price fielded the kick at Notre Dame’s 2-yard line and took off, beginning down the right sideline and into a scrum before shedding a tackle and cutting completely across to the other side of the field. He followed his blockers and outran USC’s final defender to seal the 98-yard kickoff return and put the Irish up 38-20. Notre Dame’s defense stifled USC’s offense for the remainder of the game, stopping them on 4th down at their own 22 which led to another Irish field goal, and the final dagger - a scoop and score strip from none other than Xavier Watts, sealing the win 48-20.
While the 2023 season wasn’t an unmitigated success for the program, the USC win was notable for Freeman. It was the first time he’d beaten the Trojans as Notre Dame’s head coach, and was only his 2nd win over a top-10 opponent. This was one of the least competitive games on the list, and that's exactly why it was picked. Seeing Freeman not only get the big win, but in dominant fashion, at home, against the reigning Heisman winner, and versus the school’s biggest rival cemented his position and primed him for his success in 2024.
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