1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
National champion (Matthews, NCF)
Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Conference Independent
Ranking
Coaches No. 2
AP No. 2
Record 11–1
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Skip Holtz (2nd as OC, 4th overall season)
Defensive coordinator Rick Minter (2nd season)
Captains
Home stadium Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)
1993 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
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. 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.

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
NBC W 27–12 59,075
September 11 12:00 p.m. at No. 3 Michigan No. 11
ABC W 27–23 106,851
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
ABC W 17–0 67,861
October 2 3:30 p.m. at Stanford No. 4
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
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
ABC W 58–27 61,813
November 13 2:30 p.m. No. 1 Florida State No. 2
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
NBC W 24–21 69,855

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
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

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
    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
      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

      Michigan State

      1 2 3 4 Total
      Michigan St 7 0 0 7 14
      • Notre Dame 0 16 13 7 36
      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

      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
      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

      Navy

      1 2 3 4 Total
      • Notre Dame 3 14 21 20 58
      Navy 10 14 3 0 27
      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

      Florida State

      1 2 3 4 Total
      Florida State 7 0 7 10 24
      • Notre Dame 7 14 3 7 31
      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
      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

      Awards and honors

      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