Avoiding The Unthinkable: The Top 10 Upsets Of The Fighting Irish

In the midst of a massive rebuild under first-year head coach Scot Loeffler, Bowling Green State University is a 45-point underdog for its contest at Notre Dame on Saturday.

That is the largest margin in its history, eclipsing the 40.5 at Ohio State in 1997 (the Falcons did cover the spread by losing only 44-13).

One of the most extraordinary upsets ever in college football occurred on Oct. 6, 2007, when 41-point underdog Stanford notched a 24-23 win at USC. Still, it was one Power Five team defeating another, and it’s not like the Cardinal didn’t have a history of defeating the Trojans.

That same year, Appalachian State was an underdog by five scores at Michigan before winning 34-32 — but the Mountaineers were Football Championship Subdivision national champions.

On the other hand, Bowling Green is 9-27 the past three years and in its most recent three games the Falcons were outscored 149-27, notably 62-20 by Kent State prior to its bye last weekend.

During head coach Brian Kelly’s 10 seasons at Notre Dame, there have been many an upset pulled at home. It began with the 28-27 loss to Tulsa in 2010 after getting stunned by Navy (35-17) a week earlier.

South Florida was supposed to be the “gimme” opener in 2011, but the Bulls came away with a 23-20 victory — and then went 4-7 the rest of the way.

In 2012, 18.5-point favorite and 8-0 Notre Dame, the week after winning at Oklahoma, found itself trailing Pitt 20-6 and needed three overtimes, plus an officiating blunder, to rally to a 29-26 victory.

Pitt in 2013 … a 3-6 Northwestern team in 2014 at home … a 4-8 Duke team at home in 2016 … Fortunately over the past three years the program has evolved to where such an occurrence would be much more unlikely.

What were the most shocking upsets of Fighting Irish football? Here is our countdown of the top 10:

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Notre Dame was 10-0 and ranked No. 1. Plus, it had annihilated Boston College a year earlier, 54-7.

Head coach Tom Coughlin’s Eagles were on a seven-game winning streak and would finish 9-3 and No. 13 nationally — but they were still a double-digit underdog on the road to an Irish team that had just upset No. 1 Florida State and was destined for the national title.

Boston College won on David Gordon’s 41-yard field goal as time elapsed … and Notre Dame football hasn’t quite been the same since then.

The Irish were 9-0-1 the previous year while Purdue finished 2-7. Notre Dame also vaulted to No. 1 under first-year head coach Terry Brennan this season after defeating No. 4 Texas 21-0 in the opener.

But Boilermakers quarterback Len Dawson propelled an upset at Notre Dame Stadium with four TD passes — Notre Dame’s lone loss of 1954. Purdue finished 5-3-1.

Granted, this wasn’t a premier Notre Dame team, yet the Irish were still a 21-point favorite at home against the 2-8 Orange that had lost 42-28 at home to Akron and had just fired head coach Greg Robinson earlier in the week after a 39-14 defeat at home to Connecticut.

Notre Dame held a 23-10 fourth-quarter advantage before Syracuse scored two touchdowns and became the first eight-loss team ever to vanquish the Irish.

At the time, it was considered maybe the most embarrassing home loss ever. Northwestern had not posted a winning season since 1971 and had lost 14 straight to Notre Dame by an average of 31.7 points.

Lou Holtz’s Irish were 27-point favorites against fourth-year head coach Gary Barnett’s Wildcats.

In retrospect, the victory by the Wildcats wasn’t as dramatic as originally thought. Northwestern went on to finish 10-1, shared the Big Ten title with Ohio State and lost a tough battle to USC in the Rose Bowl.

Head coach Dan Devine’s 7-0 and No. 1 Irish traveled to 1-7 Georgia Tech and escaped with a 3-3 verdict. Kicker Harry Oliver had to convert a 47-yard field goal with 4:44 left in the contest to avert the loss to a team that would finish 1-9-1 and had lost to Duke and Tulane the two previous weeks.

It wasn’t a defeat, but it was one of the more stunning setbacks in the program’s history. The next week, Notre Dame defeated Bear Bryant’s reigning two-time national champion Alabama team in Birmingham.

The preseason choice to win the 1977 national title with the return of all 11 starters on defense and a powerful offense, Devine’s Irish were stunned by a Rebels team that would lose at home to Southern Mississippi the week after and finish under .500.

The 1-1 Irish would win their final 10 games to capture the national title.

Head coach Ara Parseghian’s squad was the defending national champ and a favorite to repeat, outscoring its first two opponents 80-10. The Boilermakers were 0-1-1, with the tie occurring against Miami (Ohio).

The Irish were a four-touchdown favorite — but fell behind 24-0 in the first quarter en route to a stunning defeat.

One week later, Purdue lost at home to Duke. The Boilermakers would finish 4-6-1, while Notre Dame went 10-2 after defeating No. 1 Alabama in the Orange Bowl, 13-11.

Notre Dame was 27-1 in its previous 28 games, was ranked No. 1 and had won 19 straight at home. Stanford was an 18-point underdog, finishing 3-8 the year before and entering with a 1-3 mark — with a 29-23 loss to San Jose State the previous week.

Remarkably, the late Dennis “They Are Who We Thought They Were!” Green’s Cardinal rallied from a 24-7 deficit to pull off the upset. Stanford still finished with only a 5-6 record.

Parseghian’s 4-0 Irish yielded only 30 points in their first four games, while Missouri was coming off a 1-10 record the previous year and a 62-0 loss to Nebraska the week before traveling to Notre Dame. Consequently, the Tigers were a 35-point underdog.

Missouri took a 30-14 lead into the fourth quarter (aided by a first-half phantom touchdown) and held on against a fierce Irish rally.

Knute Rockne’s 1926 Irish were 8-0, had outscored their opponents 197-7, recorded six straight shutouts and were the overwhelming favorite to win the national title. Carnegie Tech had lost four straight to Notre Dame by a 111-19 total, including 26-0 the previous year.

So confident was Rockne, he didn’t make the trip to the game while attending a public relations event in Chicago. The game cost the Irish the national title despite closing with a 13-12 victory over powerful 8-1 USC to finish 9-1.

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