1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
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 as OC, 4th overall season)
Defensive coordinator	Rick Minter (2nd season)
Captains	Jeff Burris; Tim Ruddy; Aaron Taylor; Bryant Young;
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)
	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

The 1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1993 college football season.^[1] The team was coached by Lou Holtz and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

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, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, was certain to play No. 3 Nebraska (which would then move up to No. 2) in the Orange Bowl for the national championship.^[2]

The next week, the Fighting Irish faced No. 17 Boston College. Although the Notre Dame offense piled up 427 yards of offense, scored 5 touchdowns, including 22 points in the last 11 minutes, the game would forever be remembered by Boston College's last drive as their kicker, David Gordon, hit a 41-yard field goal as time expired to win it 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 4	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	^[3]
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 (College GameDay) (rivalry)	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

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

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

Michigan

	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

^[4]

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: [1]

Purdue

Stanford

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

^[5]

BYU

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

^[6]

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

^[7]

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)

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

Texas A&M

Awards and honors

Aaron Taylor: Lombardi Award

Team players in the NFL

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

References

^ "Notre Dame Yearly Results (1990-1994)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
^ Fighting Irish Win Game of the Century The Tech (MIT newspaper) Mike Duffy and Andrew Heitner. Volume 113, Issue 59 : Friday, November 19, 1993
^ Angelique S. Chengelis (September 12, 1993). "U-M season under siege". The Detroit News. pp. 1E, 6E – via Newspapers.com.
^ Blue & Gold Illustrated 1994 Notre Dame Football Preview
^ Gainesville Sun. 1993 Oct 10. Retrieved 2018-Oct-28.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1993 Oct 24.
^ Gainesville Sun. 1993 Oct 31.