# 1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

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 |
| September 2 | 2:30 p.m. | Northwestern | No. 7 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | NBC | W 27–12 | 59,075 |
| September 11 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 3 Michigan | No. 11 | Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI (rivalry) | ABC | W 27–23 | 106,851 |
| September 18 | 2:30 p.m. | Michigan State | No. 4 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | NBC | W 36–14 | 59,075 |
| September 25 | 3:30 p.m. | at Purdue | No. 4 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN (rivalry) | ABC | W 17–0 | 67,861 |
| October 2 | 3:30 p.m. | at Stanford | No. 4 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA (rivalry) | ABC | W 48–20 | 80,300 |
| October 9 | 2:30 p.m. | Pittsburgh | No. 4 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | NBC | W 44–0 | 59,075 |
| October 16 | 7:30 p.m. | at BYU | No. 3 | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | ESPN | W 45–20 | 66,247 |
| October 23 | 2:30 p.m. | USC | No. 2 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | NBC | W 31–13 | 59,075 |
| October 30 | 12:00 p.m. | vs. Navy | No. 2 | Veterans StadiumPhiladelphia, PA (rivalry) | ABC | W 58–27 | 61,813 |
| November 13 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 1 Florida State | No. 2 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre 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 StadiumNotre 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 BowlDallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic) | NBC | W 24–21 | 69,855 |
| Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Rankings

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

### Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 10 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 27 |
| Michigan | 3 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 23 |

### Michigan State

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

### Pittsburgh

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Notre Dame | 7 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 44 |

### USC

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| USC | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| • Notre Dame | 14 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 31 |

### Navy

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

### Florida State

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

### 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 |