| Year Game Played: | 1989 |
| Title Sponsor: | Sunkist |
| Game Name: | Fiesta Bowl |
| Subheader: | 17th edition National Championship Game |
| Football Season: | 1988 |
| Visitor Name Short: | West Virginia |
| Visitor Nickname: | Mountaineers |
| Visitor School: | West Virginia University |
| Home Name Short: | Notre Dame |
| Home Nickname: | Fighting Irish |
| Home School: | University of Notre Dame |
| Visitor Record: | 11–0 |
| Visitor Conference: | Independent |
| Home Record: | 11–0 |
| Home Conference: | Independent |
| Visitor Coach: | Don Nehlen |
| Home Coach: | Lou Holtz |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 3 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 3 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 1 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 1 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 8 |
| Home 1Q: | 9 |
| Home 2Q: | 14 |
| Home 3Q: | 3 |
| Home 4Q: | 8 |
| Date Game Played: | January 2 |
| Stadium: | Sun Devil Stadium |
| City: | Tempe, Arizona |
| Mvp: | Tony Rice(QB, Notre Dame) Frank Stams (LB, Notre Dame) |
| Odds: | Notre Dame by 5 points [1] |
| Referee: | Frank Shepard (SWC) |
| Attendance: | 74,911 |
| Us Network: | NBC |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen |
| Ratings: | 17.0 |
| Navigation 2: | College Football Championship Game |
| Different Previous 2: | 1988 |
| Different Next 2: | 1993 (Bowl Coalition) |
The 1989 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl, played on Monday, January 2, was the 18th edition of the Fiesta Bowl. It featured the top-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the third-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers. With both teams undefeated, the Fiesta Bowl was the stage for the "national championship" for the second time in three years. As in 1987, the Fiesta Bowl featured two independents squaring off for the national title. The Fighting Irish defeated the Mountaineers to win their first national championship since 1977, and their most recent to date.
Also, as in 1987, the game was played on January 2, but this was because New Year's Day fell on a Sunday in 1989 and, per protocols, all of the bowls that would normally take place that day were played on January 2. With NBC no longer televising the Rose Bowl, the kickoff for the Fiesta Bowl was moved three hours later, to 2:30 p.m. and the game now had NBC's top broadcast team of and
This was the last national championship game before the start of the Bowl Coalition system in 1992, which was intended to ensure that the national championship would be decided on the field in bowl games such as this one. It would later be replaced by the Bowl Alliance, BCS, and later the College Football Playoff systems, which took greater steps to prevent a split national championship from ever happening again.
After West Virginia quarterback and Heisman candidate Major Harris separated his shoulder on the third play of the game, Notre Dame took control to claim their record eleventh national championship. Though Harris would return to the game he was severely hampered by Coach Nehlen later admitting that WVU had to abandon a large portion of its gameplan due to the injury of Harris.[2] WVU also suffered the loss of three other starters during the 1st half which did not help matters. They were NG Jim Gray, OG John Stroia, and productive reserve running back Undra Johnson also left the game early with a knee injury on his first carry.[3] Johnson had rushed for over 700yds and 11 TDs during the 1988 season.[4] WVU had already went into the game without its starting FS Darrell Whitmore who was injured in the final game of the season.[5]
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, but the ensuing extra point missed, and the score remained Early in the second quarter, Rodney Culver added a 5-yard touchdown run to increase Notre Dame's lead Charlie Baumann of West Virginia scored on a 29-yard field goal to cut the lead
Later in the second quarter, Tony Rice threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Raghib Ismail, to extend the lead to 23–3. Mountaineer Charlie Baumann added a 31-yard field goal before halftime to make
Early in the third quarter, Reggie Ho added a 32-yard field goal to increase the Irish lead to 26–6. WVU quarterback Harris hit Grantis Bell for a 17-yard touchdown pass, cutting the lead to 26–13. He later left the game with an injury. Rice threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Frank Jacobs. Rice later took it in himself for the 2-point conversion, giving Notre Dame a 34–13 lead. WVU scored with a 3-yard touchdown run by Reggie Rembert, who also converted the 2-point conversion, making the score 34–21. Notre Dame sealed the win by intercepting a pass in the end zone.[6]
Notre Dame retained its top ranking in the final AP poll and West Virginia fell this remains the most recent national championship for the Irish.
| Scoring Summary | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Quarter | |||
| ND – Billy Hackett 45-yard field goal | ND 3–0 | ||
| ND – Anthony Johnson 1 Yard rush (pat failed) | ND 9–0 | ||
| 2nd Quarter | |||
| ND – Rodney Culver 5-yard rush (Reggie Ho kick) | ND 16–0 | ||
| WV – Charlie Baumann 29-yard field goal | ND 16–3 | ||
| ND – Tony Rice 29-yard pass to Raghib Ismail (Reggie Ho kick) | ND 23–3 | ||
| WV – Charlie Baumann 32-yard field goal | ND 23–6 | ||
| 3rd Quarter | |||
| ND – Reggie Ho 32-yard field goal | ND 26–6 | ||
| WV – Major Harris 17-yard pass to Grantis Bell (Charlie Baumann kick) | ND 26–13 | ||
| 4th Quarter | |||
| ND – Tony Rice 3-yard pass to Frank Jacobs (Tony Rice run) | ND 34–13 | ||
| WV – Reggie Rembert 3-yard rush (Greg Jones pass to Reggie Rembert) | ND 34–21 | ||
| Statistics | West Virginia | Notre Dame | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 19 | 19 | |
| Rushes–yards | 37–108 | 59–242 | |
| Passing yards | 174 | 213 | |
| Passes | 14–30–1 | 7–11–1 | |
| Total yards | 282 | 455 | |
| Punts–average | 7–45 | 4–37 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 0–0 | 2–0 | |
| Turnovers by | 1 | 1 | |
| Penalties-yards | 3–38 | 11–102 | |
| Time of possession | 23:17 | 36:43 |