Former Irish running back Dick Lynch, who scores the lone TD in Notre Dame's epic 7-0 win at Oklahoma in 1957, dies Wednesday morning at the age of 72.

Former Irish Football Great Dick Lynch Passes Away At Age 72

Sept. 24, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Dick Lynch, who earned a treasured place in University of Notre Dame football lore by scoring the only touchdown for the Irish in their 7-0 upset of unbeaten Oklahoma in 1957 that ended the Sooners’ all-time record 47-game winning streak, died this morning after a long illness. He was 72.

A 6-0, 185-pound Bound Brook, N.J., native (he attended Phillipsburg Catholic High School in Clinton, N.J.), Lynch led the Irish in receiving as a senior in `57 (13 catches for 128 yards). He also paced the team in kickoff returns that season with a 31.8-yard average (five for 159 yards). A three-year letter-winner (1955, ’56 and ’57), Lynch was the starting right halfback for Notre Dame in ’57. As a senior he ranked second on the squad in both rushing (287 yards) and scoring (30 points). He also made 28 tackles at right outside linebacker on defense in ’57.

Lynch’s three-yard, fourth-down run in that ’57 Oklahoma game came with 3:50 left in that contest. The Irish win ended the streak that remains the longest in the history of major-college football.

His Notre Dame career included 888 all-purpose yards and six TDs. He played in the 1958 College All-Star game in Chicago.

A sixth-round draft pick of the NFL Washington Redskins in 1958, Lynch played one year in Washington, then eight more with the New York Giants. He retired in 1966 and had been part of the Giants’ radio broadcast team since ’67. He was a Pro Bowler for the Giants in 1963, when he led the NFL with nine interceptions.

Among survivors are Lynch’s son, John (the youngest of six children), a ’96 Notre Dame graduate who played in ’92 and ’93 as a walk-on receiver and special-teams contributor.

— ND —