1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Lou Holtz, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 11–1 with a win over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl Classic. The tam played home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.

1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
National champion (Matthews, NCF) Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 24–21 vs. Texas A&M
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	11–1
Head coach	Lou Holtz (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Skip Holtz (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Rick Minter (2nd season)
Captains	Jeff Burris Tim Ruddy Aaron Taylor Bryant Young
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ← 1992 1994 →

1993 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Notre Dame			–					11	–	1	–	0
No. 24 Louisville			–					9	–	3	–	0
Cincinnati			–					8	–	3	–	0
Army			–					6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State			–					6	–	5	–	0
Tulsa			–					4	–	6	–	1
Navy			–					4	–	7	–	0
Tulane			–					3	–	9	–	0
Southern Miss			–					2	–	8	–	1
East Carolina			–					2	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

On November 13, Notre Dame played Florida State in a matchup of unbeatens, with the two ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP poll. The winner of this game was likely to play Nebraska in the Orange Bowl for the national championship.^[1] Although the Fighting Irish defeated Seminoles, they lost the next week to No. 17 Boston College. The Notre Dame offense piled up 427 yards of offense, scored 5 touchdowns, including 22 points in the last 11 minutes again the Eagle, but Boston College kicker David Gordon, hit a 41-yard field goal as time expired to win the game, 41–39, ending Notre Dame's bid for an undefeated season. Despite beating No. 7 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year's Day, the national championship was awarded to Florida State.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	2:30 p.m.	Northwestern	No. 7	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 27–12	59,075
September 11	12:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Michigan	No. 11	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 27–23	106,851	[2]
September 18	2:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 4	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 36–14	59,075
September 25	3:30 p.m.	at Purdue	No. 4	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	ABC	W 17–0	67,861
October 2	3:30 p.m.	at Stanford	No. 4	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	ABC	W 48–20	80,300
October 9	2:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh	No. 4	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 44–0	59,075
October 16	7:30 p.m.	at BYU	No. 3	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN	W 45–20	66,247
October 23	2:30 p.m.	USC	No. 2	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 31–13	59,075
October 30	12:00 p.m.	vs. Navy	No. 2	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)	ABC	W 58–27	61,813
November 13	2:30 p.m.	No. 1 Florida State	No. 2	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry, College GameDay)	NBC	W 31–24	59,075
November 20	1:30 p.m.	No. 17 Boston College	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Holy War)	NBC	L 39–41	59,075
January 1, 1994	4:30 p.m.	vs. No. 7 Texas A&M	No. 4	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	NBC	W 24–21	69,855
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

Main article: 1993 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	7	7	11	4	4	4	4	3	2	2	2	2	1 (62)	4 (1)	5	4 (1)	2 (12)
Coaches	6 (1)	6	10	5	4	4	4 (1)	3 (2)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (2)	2 (2)	1 (60)	4 (1)	4 (1)	4 (1)	2 (25)

Game summaries

Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total Northwestern 0 6 6 0 12 • Notre Dame 7 0 10 10 27 Date: September 4 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game attendance: 59,075 TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bob Trumpy

Scoring summary 1 ND Bercich 21 yard interception return (Pendergast kick) ND 7-0 2 NW Lundy 6 yard pass from Williams (kick failed) ND 7-6 3 NW Lundy 11 yard run (pass failed) NW 12-7 3 ND Zellers 6 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 14-12 3 ND Pendergast 29 yard field goal ND 17-12 3 ND Pendergast 27 yard field goal ND 20-12 3 ND Burris 2 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 27-12

See also: 1993 Northwestern Wildcats football team and Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry

Michigan

See also: 1993 Michigan Wolverines football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 10 14 3 0 27 Michigan 3 7 0 13 23 Date: September 11 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich. Game attendance: 106,851 Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 ND McDougal 43 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 7-0 1 Mich Elezovic 32 yard field goal ND 7-3 1 ND Pendergast 24 yard field goal ND 10-3 2 ND M. Miller 56 yard punt return (Pendergast kick) ND 17-3 2 Mich Wheatley 1 yard run (Elezovic kick) ND 17-10 2 ND McDougal 11 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 24-10 3 ND Pendergast 19 yard field goal ND 27-10 4 Mich Wheatley 4 yard run (Elezovic kick) ND 27-17 4 Mich Hayes 13 pass from Collins (Collins pass failed) ND 27-23

^[3]

Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan St 7 0 0 7 14 • Notre Dame 0 16 13 7 36 Date: September 18 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Source:

Scoring summary 1 MSU Thomas 1 yard run (Stoyanovich kick) MSU 7-0 2 ND Farmer 1 yard (kick failed) MSU 7-6 2 ND Pendergast 26 yard field goal ND 9-7 2 ND Zellers 4 yard pass from McDougal (Pendergast kick) ND 16-7 3 ND Pendergast 23 yard field goal ND 19-7 3 ND Pendergast 31 yard field goal ND 22-7 3 ND Edwards 1 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 29-7 4 ND Becton 12 yard pass from McDougal (Pendergast kick) ND 36-7 4 MSU Coleman 5 yard pass from Miller (Stoyanovich kick) ND 36-14

See also: 1993 Michigan State Spartans football team and Michigan State–Notre Dame football rivalry

Purdue

See also: 1993 Purdue Boilermakers football team and Notre Dame–Purdue football rivalry

Stanford

See also: 1993 Stanford Cardinal football team

Pittsburgh

1 2 3 4 Total Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 0 • Notre Dame 7 6 10 21 44 Date: October 9 Location: Notre Dame Stadium

Scoring summary Q1 ND Becton 8 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 7–0 Q2 ND Zellars 19 yard run (kick failed) ND 13–0 Q3 ND Pendergast 27 yard field goal ND 16–0 Q3 ND Zellars 11 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 23–0 Q4 ND Kinder 31 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 30–0 Q4 ND Farmer 3 yard run (Marsh kick) ND 37–0 Q4 ND Burris 60 yard punt return (Schroffner kick) ND 44–0

See also: 1993 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

^[4]

BYU

See also: 1993 BYU Cougars football team

USC

1 2 3 4 Total USC 0 7 0 6 13 • Notre Dame 14 14 3 0 31 Date: October 23 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game attendance: 59,075 Television network: NBC

Scoring summary 1 ND Becton 70 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 7-0 1 ND Edwards 2 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 14-0 2 ND Burris 4 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 21-0 2 USC Strother 13 yard pass from Johnson (Salmon kick) ND 21-7 2 ND Zellars 29 yard pass from Failla (Pendergast kick) ND 28-7 3 ND Pendergast 43 yard field goal ND 31-7 4 USC McWilliams 8 yard pass from Johnson (pass failed) ND 31-13

See also: 1993 USC Trojans football team and Notre Dame–USC football rivalry

^[5]

Navy

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 3 14 21 20 58 Navy 10 14 3 0 27 Date: October 30 Location: Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, PA Game attendance: 61,813

Scoring summary 1 NAVY Bucchianeri 38 yard field goal NAVY 3-0 1 ND Pendergast 32 yard field goal Tied 3-3 1 NAVY Dixon 31 yard pass from Kubiak (Bucchianeri kick) NAVY 10-3 2 ND Edwards 3 yard run (Pendergast kick) Tied 10-10 2 NAVY Stramanak 1 yard run (Bucchianeri kick) NAVY 17-10 2 ND Edwards 10 yard run (Pendergast kick) Tied 17-17 2 NAVY Screen 53 yard pass from Kubiak (Bucchianeri kick) NAVY 24-17 3 ND Dawson 44 hard pass from McDougal (Pendergast kick) Tied 24-24 3 ND Kinder 70 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 31-24 3 ND Farmer 9 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 38-24 3 NAVY Bucchianeri 34 yard field goal ND 38-27 4 ND Burns 3 yard run (Pendergast kick) ND 45-27 4 ND Edwards 1 yard run (kick failed) ND 51-27 4 ND Taylor 31 yard interception return (Pendergast kick) ND 58-27

See also: 1993 Navy Midshipmen football team

^[6]

Florida State

1 2 3 4 Total Florida State 7 0 7 10 24 • Notre Dame 7 14 3 7 31 Date: November 13 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game start: Kickoff 1:47pm, NBC coverage begins at 1:30pm Game attendance: 59,075 Game weather: pregame showers, temp near 60, wind from south 20 to 30 mph TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones, Todd Christensen, Bob Costas (studio host), John Dockery (sideline) and O. J. Simpson (sideline)

Main article: 1993 Florida State vs. Notre Dame football game

See also: 1993 Florida State Seminoles football team and Game of the Century (college football)

The #2 Fighting Irish prevailed over the #1 Florida State Seminoles as ESPN's College GameDay made its first campus visit.

Boston College

1 2 3 4 Total • Boston College 10 14 7 10 41 Notre Dame 0 14 3 22 39 Date: November 20 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game attendance: 59,075 TV announcers (NBC): Tom Hammond, Cris Collinsworth

Scoring summary 1 8:02 BC David Gordon 28 yard field goal BC 3-0 1 BC Ivan Boyd 5 yard pass from Glenn Foley (Gordon kick) BC 10-0 2 11:58 ND Ray Zellars 39 yard pass from Kevin McDougal (Pendergast kick) BC 10-7 2 BC Ivan Boyd 35 yard pass from Glenn Foley (Gordon kick) BC 17-7 2 5:52 ND #9 1 yard run (Pendergast kick) BC 17-14 2 0:21 BC Pete Mitchell 3 yard pass from Glenn Foley (Gordon kick) BC 24-14 3 11:24 BC Darnell Campbell 22 yard run (Gordon kick) BC 31-14 3 3:20 ND Pendergast 29 yard field goal BC 31-17 4 11:13 BC Pete Mitchell 2 yard pass from Glenn Foley (Gordon kick) BC 38-17 4 10:12 ND Lee Becton 29 yard run (Becton pass to McDougal) BC 38-25 4 4:02 ND Ray Zellars 4 yard run (Pendergast kick) BC 38-32 4 1:09 ND Dawson 4 yard pass from McDougal (Pendergast kick) ND 39-38 4 0:00 BC David Gordon 41 yard field goal BC 41-39

See also: 1993 Boston College Eagles football team and Holy War (Boston College–Notre Dame)

Texas A&M

See also: 1993 Texas A&M Aggies football team and 1994 Cotton Bowl Classic

Roster

1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 37 Travis Davis Jr WR 87 Lake Dawson Sr WR 1 Derrick Mayes So FB 30 Marc Edwards Fr TE 80 Oscar McBride Sr QB 15 Kevin McDougal Sr C 61 Tim Ruddy Sr OT 75 Aaron Taylor Sr RB 34 Ray Zellars Jr C 77 Dusty Zeigler So RB 25 Randy Kinder Fr QB 8 Paul Failla Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 47 Pete Bercich Sr S 9 Jeff Burris Sr CB 32 Willie Clark Sr CB 29 John Covington Sr DT 44 Jim Flanigan Sr DT 55 Oliver Gibson Sr DT 93 Paul Grasmanis So LB 49 Tony Peterson Sr CB 21 Bobby Taylor So CB 22 Shawn Wooden So DE 48 Renaldo Wynn So DE 97 Bryant Young Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Lou Holtz Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Awards and honors

• Aaron Taylor: Lombardi Award

Team players in the NFL

See also: 1994 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Bryant Young	Defensive tackle	1	7	San Francisco 49ers
Aaron Taylor	Tackle	1	16	Green Bay Packers
Jeff Burris	Cornerback	1	27	Buffalo Bills
Tim Ruddy	Center	2	65	Miami Dolphins
Jim Flanigan	Defensive tackle	3	74	Chicago Bears
Willie Clark	Cornerback	3	82	San Diego Chargers
Lake Dawson	Wide Receiver	3	92	Kansas City Chiefs
John Covington	Safety	5	133	Indianapolis Colts
Tony Peterson	Linebacker	5	153	San Francisco 49ers
Pete Bercich	Linebacker	7	211	Minnesota Vikings