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 team 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 Irish won the game, 31–24, to put themselves in position to lock up a chance to play for the national championship with a win over Boston College in their final game. Notre Dame struggled through most of the game and were trailing 38–17 in the fourth quarter before rallying to take a one point lead with just over a minute left in the contest; the Eagles, however, kicked a field goal as time expired to secure the upset, winning 41–39. The Irish would settle for a Cotton Bowl bid, where they defeated Texas A&M.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
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
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

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

Team	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

Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Game attendance: 106,851
Television network: ABC

Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN

Source: [1]

Purdue

Stanford

Pittsburgh

Team	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

BYU

USC

Team	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

Navy

Team	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

Florida State

Team	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

Team	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

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

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


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


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


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


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


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