1989 Fiesta Bowl

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1989 Fiesta Bowl
Bowl Game
Notre Dame Fighting Irish West Virginia Mountaineers
(11-0) (11-0)
34 21
Head coach: 
Lou Holtz		 Head coach: 
Don Nehlen
AP Coaches
1 1
AP Coaches
3 3
1 2 3 4 Total
Notre Dame 9 14 3 8 34
West Virginia 0 6 7 8 21
Date January 2, 1989
Stadium Sun Devil Stadium
Location Tempe, Arizona
MVP QB Tony Rice & LB Frank Stams
Attendance 74,911
United States TV coverage
Network NBC
Announcers Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen
Nielsen Ratings 17.0

The 1989 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl, played on January 2, 1989, was the 18th edition of the Fiesta Bowl. The game featured the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the West Virginia Mountaineers. The 1988 Notre Dame team was widely considered one of the best in NCAA history.

Billy Hackett started the scoring with a 45 yard field goal to give Notre Dame an early 3-0 lead. Running back Anthony Johnson then scored on a 1 yard touchdown run to give Notre Dame a 9-0 lead. The ensuing extra point missed, and the score remained 9-0. Early in the second quarter, Rodney Culver added a 5 yard touchdown run to increase Notre Dame's lead to 16-0. Charlie Baumann of West Virginia scored on a 29 yard field goal to cut the lead to 16-3.

Later in the second quarter, Tony Rice threw a 29 yard touchdown pass to Raghib Ismail, to extend the lead to 23-3. Charlie Baumann added a 31 yard field goal before halftime, to make it 23-6, Notre Dame. Early in the third quarter, Ho added a 32 yard field goal to increase the lead to 26-6.

WVU quarterback Major Harris hit Grantis Bell for a 17 yard touchdown pass, cutting the lead to 26-13. He later left the game with an injury. Tony Rice threw a 3 yard touchdown pass to Frank Jacobs. He later took it in himself for the 2 point conversion, giving Notre Dame a 34-13 lead. WVU scored with its back up quarterback running 3 yards for a touchdown. The ensuing two point conversion succeeded, making the score 34-21. Notre Dame sealed the game, by intercepting a pass in the end zone.

Preceded by
1988 Fiesta Bowl		 1989 Fiesta Bowl
1989		 Succeeded by
1990 Fiesta Bowl
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Fiesta Bowl

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