1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

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

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

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

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

^[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]

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

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

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

^[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

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

^[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

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

^[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

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

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.

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