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2002 Notre Dame

10–⁠3, coached by Tyrone Willingham, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Notre Dame in 2002, game by game: won vs. No. 21 Maryland 22–0; won vs. Purdue 24–17; won vs. No. 7 Michigan 25–23; won at Michigan State 21–17; won vs. Stanford 31–7; won vs. Pittsburgh 14–6; won at No. 18 Air Force 21–14; won at No. 11 Florida State 34–24; lost vs. Boston College 7–14; won vs. Navy 30–23; won vs. Rutgers 42–0; lost at No. 6 USC 13–44; lost vs. No. 17 NC State 6–28+42−31Won 22–0 vs. No. 21 Maryland+22No. 21 MarylandWon 24–17 vs. Purdue+7PurdueWon 25–23 vs. No. 7 Michigan+2No. 7 MichiganWon 21–17 at Michigan State+4Michigan StateWon 31–7 vs. Stanford+24StanfordWon 14–6 vs. Pittsburgh+8PittsburghWon 21–14 at No. 18 Air Force+7No. 18 Air ForceWon 34–24 at No. 11 Florida State+10No. 11 Florida StateLost 7–14 vs. Boston College-7Boston CollegeWon 30–23 vs. Navy+7NavyWon 42–0 vs. Rutgers+42RutgersLost 13–44 at No. 6 USC-31No. 6 USCLost 6–28 vs. No. 17 NC State-22No. 17 NC State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vs21MarylandW 22–⁠045%
Sep 7vsPurdueW 24–⁠1765%
Sep 14vs7MichiganW 25–⁠2352%
Sep 21atMichigan StateW 21–⁠1754%
Oct 5vsStanfordW 31–⁠768%
Oct 12vsPittsburghW 14–⁠656%
Oct 19at18Air ForceW 21–⁠1451%
Oct 26at11Florida StateW 34–⁠2441%
Nov 2vsBoston CollegeL 7–⁠1475%
Nov 9vsNavyW 30–⁠2392%
Nov 23vsRutgersW 42–⁠094%
Nov 30at6USCL 13–⁠4434%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs17NC StateGator BowlL 6–⁠2852%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to NC State 28–⁠6 in the Gator Bowl; No. 17 in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 89th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 23
  2. Wk 4: 20
  3. Wk 5: 12
  4. Wk 6: 10
  5. Wk 7: 9
  6. Wk 8: 8
  7. Wk 9: 7
  8. Wk 10: 6
  9. Wk 11: 4
  10. Wk 12: 9
  11. Wk 13: 9
  12. Wk 14: 8
  13. Wk 15: 7
  14. Wk 16: 11
  15. Final: 17

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2002.

Consensus All-AmericanShane Walton, CB

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
—
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 4
Points
290–⁠217
Coach
Tyrone Willingham
Elo
1623 +79 this season
SP+ rating
17.1 No. 17 of 117; offense No. 73, defense No. 3
SRS
11.7 No. 23 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 12
Offensive coordinator
Bill Diedrick
Defensive coordinator
Kent Baer
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 30— allowed
Defense0.0own 32— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2002 class

Rhema McKnight WR★★★★No. 43
Derek Landri DT★★★★No. 53
Travis Leitko SDE★★★★No. 98
Maurice Stovall WR★★★★No. 100
James Bonelli OG★★★★No. 104

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.800
Receivers33.30.895
Offensive line14.00.935
Defensive line33.70.905
Whole class83.50.892

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2003

The 2003 draft
Rd 1Jeff Faine CCleveland Browns
Rd 5Jordan Black OTKansas City Chiefs
Rd 5Sean Mahan OGTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Shane Walton DBSt. Louis Rams
Rd 6Gerome Sapp DBBaltimore Ravens
Rd 6Arnaz Battle WRSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 6Brennan Curtin OTGreen Bay Packers