Conference Independent Head coach Gerry Faust (3rd year) Captain Blair Kiel | 1983 record 7–5 Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson Captain Stacey Toran | |
The 1983 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Gerry Faust and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
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Notre Dame made it to the Liberty Bowl where they faced Boston College and their prized quarterback Doug Flutie. Boston College scored first on a 13-yard touchdown pass but missed the extra point. Notre Dame came back as Allen Pinkett and Chris Smith each rushed for 100-plus yards, while Pinkett scored two touchdowns as Notre Dame beat Boston College, 19–18, to win their first bowl game since the 1979 Cotton Bowl.
Rivalries
Purdue
USC
The game came to be known as the "Green Jerseys II" game. Notre Dame snapped a five-game losing streak to USC as Allen Pinkett rushed 21 times for 122 yards, his fourth straight 100-yard game and the first Irish player to do so since Jim Stone in 1980. "We felt could have beat USC in blue. We felt we could have beat them in T-shirts," said Pinkett. The game took place six years to the day from the original "Green Jersey" game in 1977 but head coach Gerry Faust had already made the decision to wear the jerseys over the summer.