The 1969 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

during the

1969 NCAA University Division football season The 1969 NCAA University Division football season was celebrated as the centennial of college football (the first season being the one in 1869). During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams, later known a ...

. The Fighting Irish were led by sixth-year head coach

Ara Parseghian Ara Raoul Parseghian (; hy, Արա Ռաուլ Պարսեղյան; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for br ...

and played their home games on campus at

Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, the home field of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. It was built in 1930 under the guidance of Knute Rockne, regarded as one of the greatest c ...

. After 44 seasons without postseason play (

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

–

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

), the school ended its self-imposed

bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom forming a seamless curve. This makes ...

hiatus. With an regular season record, the Irish were led on the field by junior quarterback

Joe Theismann Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canad ...

. They met top-ranked

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in the Cotton Bowl in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

on New Year's Day, but lost 21–17 when the Longhorns scored a late touchdown.

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

Northwestern

Purdue

Michigan State

Army

Southern Cal

Tulane

Navy

Pittsburgh

Georgia Tech

Air Force

"Irish Shaky, Nip Falcons." Palm Beach Post. 1969 Nov 23.

vs. Texas (Cotton Bowl)

1970 NFL Draft

References

External links

Sports Reference
- 1969 Notre Dame football season Notre Dame Notre Dame Fighting Irish football seasons Notre Dame Fighting Irish football {{Collegefootball-1960s-season-stub