The 2012 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. In their third year under head coach Brian Kelly, the Irish ended the regular season with a 12–0 record and lost to 2012 Alabama Crimson Tide football team in the BCS National Championship Game. The team outscored opponents by a total of 335 to 166 and was ranked No. 4 in the final AP poll and No. 3 in the final Coaches Poll.
Linebacker Manti Te'o was a unanimous All-American and won multiple postseason awards, including the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Award, the Lott Trophy, the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Butkus Award, and the Lombardi Award. and finished second to Johnny Manziel in the Heisman Trophy voting. Te'o led the second best defense in the country, giving up just 12.8 points per game. Other statistical leaders included quarterback Everett Golson (2,405 passing yards), running back Theo Riddick (917 rushing yards), and tight end Tyler Eifert (50 receptions for 684 yards).
In November 2016, the NCAA infractions panel vacated all wins from Notre Dame's 2012 and 2013 seasons based on its finding that ineligible students had played for the 2012 and 2013 teams. A student athletic trainer committed academic misconduct, including completing coursework, for two players and provided impermissible academic extra benefits to six other players. Another player was found to have committed academic misconduct on his own in a total of eight courses. The penalties were upheld after an appeal by Notre Dame.
The team played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Schedule
Before the season Senior quarterback Dayne Crist was granted a release from the team in December 2011 to explore transfer options. He decided to join his former Notre Dame head coach, Charlie Weis, at the Kansas. Aaron Lynch also transferred out of the program to USF.
Running backs coach Tim Hinton and offensive line and run game coordinator Ed Warriner left to take positions with Ohio State. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Charley Molnar left to take the head coach position at UMass.
There were also coaching changes within the staff. Bob Diaco became assistant head coach. Chuck Martin took over as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Scott Booker was promoted from being an intern to tight ends and special teams coach. There were some outside hires to fill positions on the staff as well. Bob Elliott was hired from Iowa State to coach the safeties, and Harry Hiestand was hired from Tennessee to be offensive line coach and run game coordinator.
Rankings
Game summaries Navy (Emerald Isle Classic)
Irish running backs Theo Riddick and George Atkinson both ran for two scores and defensive end Stephon Tuitt returned a fumble 77 yards for another TD as Notre Dame routed Navy 50–10 in Notre Dame's season opener in Ireland. A crowd of 49,000, mostly visiting Americans, filled Dublin's Aviva Stadium for the first U.S. college game in Ireland since 1996, when the same two teams played in the Emerald Isle Classic at Croke Park. The Fighting Irish dominated the game, running the ball for 293 yards and 6.4 yards per carry against Navy's defense. Riddick gained 107 yards on 19 carries, Atkinson 99 yards on just nine carries. Irish quarterback Everett Golson, making his first start, put the Fighting Irish up 27–0 with a 5-yard end zone jump ball to tight end Tyler Eifert, who beat two smaller Navy defenders. Navy managed a 26-yard field goal before halftime and opened the second half with a nifty three-pass drive capped by Shawn Lynch's 25-yard grab to make it 27–10 but could get no closer.
Notre Dame's defensive leader, inside linebacker Manti Te'o, recovered one fumble and intercepted Navy quarterback Trey Miller's final pass of the day, an underthrown ball into triple coverage. Surprisingly, they were his first fumble recovery and interception, respectively, of his four-year Notre Dame career. Irish starters Tommy Rees and Carlo Calabrese did not make the trip due to violating team and university rules regarding an off campus incident with Indiana police last Spring. Cierre Wood, Notre Dame's starting running back from a year ago, also did not play due to being suspended the first two games of the season for violating team rules.
The game was officially tied to an Irish tourism initiative called The Gathering, which seeks to encourage members of the Irish diaspora (especially in the U.S.) to visit their ancestral home in 2013. Unlike the 1996 meeting, the 2012 game was aired live in parts of Europe as well as the U.S.
Purdue
Following Notre Dame's dominant performance against Navy, the Irish found themselves in a dogfight versus their in-state rival Purdue, a team they had beaten soundly the year before 38–10. After a scoreless first quarter, Irish quarterback Everett Golson led the Irish on an 88-yard scoring play in the second quarter with three big third-down conversions to take a 7–0 lead. Golson scrambled on the first one, avoided two rushers and then hit tight end Troy Niklas on a 30-yard pass. Three plays later, on another third down, he found DaVaris Daniels behind the Boilermaker defense for a 41-yard gain to the 9. On a third-and-goal, Golson rolled right and made a dive for the end zone as he was being hit right at the goal line. Officials initially ruled him out of bounds, but after a video review the call on the field was reversed and he was awarded a touchdown because he hit the pylon. The Boilermakers alternated quarterbacks Caleb TerBush and Robert Marve throughout the game. Marve led the Boilermakers on a quick 58-yard scoring drive at the end of the first half that started with Raheem Mostert's 41-yard kickoff return. Marve then hit O. J. Ross with a 16-yarder and, on a third-and-goal from the 2, he found Antavian Edison in the corner of the end zone with nine seconds to play in the half to tie the game at 7–7.
In the third quarter, Golson found tight end Tyler Eifert for passes of 22 and 25 yards that carried them to the 3-yard line, where he tossed a touchdown pass to T. J. Jones for a 14–7 lead. The Irish would also add a Kyle Brindza field goal in the third quarter to take a 17–7 lead. in the fourth quarter, Purdue came roaring back with a field goal and then a TerBush 15-yard TD pass to Edison with 2:12 left to tie the game at 17–17. The late score was set up by Josh Johnson's recovery of a Golson fumble. Golson was shaken up on the play and having trouble gripping the ball, so the Irish turned to Tommy Rees, who was returning from a one-game suspension as a second stringer. The former starting quarterback got one chance and produced a last-minute drive that led to a 20–17 victory over the Boilermakers on Kyle Brindza's 27-yard field goal with seven seconds to go.
Michigan State
No. 20 Notre Dame got off to its best start since 2002, beating No. 10 Michigan State 20–3 in East Lansing. The win marked the first time Notre Dame had beaten a top 10 squad since defeating Michigan in 2005. Everett Golson threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score in the first half to help down the Spartans. Golson was 14 of 32 for 178 yards and a TD, including 36-yard pass to John Goodman. He ran for a 6-yard TD early in the second quarter to give Notre Dame a 14–0 lead. The Irish shook off a sloppy start that included George Atkinson running into a teammate on a kickoff return, a false start and a timeout before their first snap. The Irish defense was dominant, sacking Spartan quarterback Andrew Maxwell three times in the second quarter alone. The Spartans were held to 77 total yards rushing and 178 yards passing and 3 total points.
Late in the 4th quarter, the Irish extended their lead when Kyle Brindza made a 29-yard field goal at the end of a time-consuming drive that took 6:21 off the clock and extended the score to 17–3. Michigan State's slim comeback hopes were dashed when Spartan running back Le'Veon Bell was going out of bounds and his lateral was caught by linebacker Manti Te'o with 4:20 left in the game to set up Brindza's 47-yard field goal that provided the 20–3 final score. Te'o also had a game-high 12 tackles, one for a loss, and broke up two passes, playing just a few days after the supposed death of his girlfriend, who he believed had lost a long battle with leukemia, and his grandmother. The Irish improved to 46–28–1 against the Spartans and broke the Spartans' 15-home game winning streak.
Michigan
After three consecutive last second Wolverine victories over the Irish, Notre Dame's defense stifled a 17th-ranked Denard Robinson led Michigan squad in a 13–6 victory. Manti Te'o led the Irish defensive effort with two interceptions as the 11th-ranked Fighting Irish picked off five Michigan passes and forced a fumble. Irish backup quarterback Tommy Rees sparked the Notre Dame offense after a shaky start by Everett Golson, who threw two interceptions of his own before being pulled by Coach Brian Kelly. Robinson, who amassed 948 yards of total offense in victories over the Irish past two years, wasn't as effective this time around as the Irish repeatedly forced him into mistakes. He threw four interceptions in the first half, then lost a fumble at the Notre Dame 8-yard line on the first drive of the second half.
The victory sent the Irish off to their best start (4–0) since 2002. The win also ended a streak of three straight games in which Michigan beat the Irish with a score in the final 27 seconds, the last two Michigan victories with Robinson at quarterback. Robinson finished 13-of-24 passing for 138 yards and also rushed for 90 yards on 26 carries. The victory belonged to the Irish defenders, who held a nationally ranked opponent without a touchdown for a second straight week. Te'o finished with eight tackles, and safety Bennett Jackson had nine tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. The Irish fans showed support for Te'o by wearing Hawaiian leis, after Te'o had suffered the death of his grandmother and girlfriend the previous week.
Miami (Shamrock Series)
Stanford
The Irish defense once again proved to be the strength of the 2012 Notre Dame team, stuffing Stanford on a classic goal line stand in an overtime thriller to down the Cardinal by a score of 20–13. After three years of being pushed around by the Cardinal, the Fighting Irish pushed back, winning the most important shoving match they had all season. A wall of Notre Dame defenders stopped Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor inches from the end zone on fourth and goal. Taylor went up the middle and was knocked back, but kept reaching and turning with bodies underneath him. It was unclear if his knee ever did hit the ground before reaching the ball across the goal line, but the officials on the field ruled Taylor's forward progress to be stopped before crossing the goal line. The celebration by the Irish crowd of 80,795 had to wait for a replay review. The call stood. Irish fans who weren't already on the field spilled out of the stands in celebration of the win.