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1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 13–11 vs. Alabama
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 6
Record	10–2
Head coach	Ara Parseghian (11th season);
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Tom Clements; Greg Collins;
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
	Seasons ← 1973 1975 →

1974 NCAA Division I independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 6 Notre Dame		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 7 Penn State		–		10	–	2	–	0
Temple		–		8	–	2	–	0
Boston College		–		8	–	3	–	0
Utah State		–		8	–	3	–	0
No. 19 Houston		–		8	–	3	–	1
Rutgers		–		7	–	3	–	1
Cincinnati		–		7	–	4	–	0
Memphis State		–		7	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		7	–	4	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		6	–	5	–	0
Hawaii		–		6	–	5	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		6	–	5	–	0
Tampa		–		6	–	5	–	0
Holy Cross		–		5	–	5	–	1
Tulane		–		5	–	6	–	0
Colgate		–		4	–	6	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		4	–	7	–	0
Navy		–		4	–	7	–	0
South Carolina		–		4	–	7	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia		–		4	–	7	–	0
Army		–		3	–	8	–	0
Dayton		–		3	–	8	–	0
Villanova		–		3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		2	–	9	–	0
Southern Illinois		–		2	–	9	–	0
Syracuse		–		2	–	9	–	0
Florida State		–		1	–	10	–	0
Marshall		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1974 NCAA Division I football season. It was Ara Parseghian's final season as head coach.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	9:00 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	No. 3	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	ABC	W 31–7	45,228	^[1]
September 21	2:00 p.m.	at Northwestern	No. 1	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)		W 49–3	55,000
September 28	2:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 2	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		L 20–31	59,075
October 5	1:30 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 7	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)		W 19–14	77,431
October 12	2:30 p.m.	Rice	No. 6	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		W 10–3	59,075
October 19	2:30 p.m.	Army	No. 7	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 48–0	59,075
October 26	1:50 p.m.	Miami (FL)	No. 7	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ABC	W 38–7	59,075
November 2	1:30 p.m.	vs. Navy	No. 7	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)		W 14–6	48,634
November 16	1:30 p.m.	No. 17 Pittsburgh	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 14–10	59,075
November 23	1:30 p.m.	Air Force	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 38–0	59,075
November 30	5:00 p.m.	at No. 6 USC	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	ABC	L 24–55	83,522
January 1, 1975	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 2 Alabama	No. 9	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	NBC	W 13–11	71,801	^[2]^[3]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Georgia Tech

The season began as Notre Dame faced Georgia Tech on Monday night national television. Georgia Tech scored first, but the Irish came back to score 31 unanswered points. Wayne Bullock tied it with a 14-yard touchdown run after a Tech fumble. the Fighting Irish took the lead in the second quarter on a 22-yard Dave Reeve field goal and a 7-yard touchdown pass from Tom Clements to Pete Demmerle. in the second half, Bullock scored from the one and Al Samules slashed in from the 8 on a sweep. The national telecast caught a great play when Steve Sylvester blindsided a pursuing Georgia Tech linemen as he Clements on a broken play.^{[clarification needed]}

Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Notre Dame	7	7	21	14	49
Northwestern	0	3	0	0	3

Date: September 21
Location: Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois
Game attendance: 54,301

^[4]

Notre Dame dropped four fumbles in the first half and Northwestern held the Irish to a 14–3 halftime lead. the first Fighting Irish score followed a pass to Demmerle that reached the Northwestern 2; Russ Kornman scored. Bullock scored for the second touchdown after a Northwestern roughing penalty boosted a drive. Ron Goodman ran 62 yards to score on the fourth play of the new half. Clements followed a fumble recovery with a drive and a 14-yard touchdown pass to Robin Weber. Frank Allocco scored a keeper after another fumble. Reserves Mark McLane punched over an 11-yard touchdown and Terry Eurick a two-yarder. Future All-America tight end Ken MacAfee (6'5" and 245 pounds0 made his freshman appearance. Notre Dame won 49–3.

Purdue

Purdue stopped the Notre Dame winning streak at 13 with a 31–20 victory. The Fighting Irish self-destructed with early fumbles and interceptions. Purdue enjoyed a 21–0 lead after only 11 plays. Their scoring came on a one-yard quarterback keeper around end, a 52-yard scoring sprint, and a 21-yard interception return. Notre Dame shanked a punt and Purdue nailed a 47-yard field goal. Bullock scored early in the second quarter. At the half, the score was 24–7, and Notre Dame had 208 yards to Purdue's 168. Bullock scored on a short run in the third quarter after a busted play. Two scoring opportunities were wasted with loss of possession on downs and an ineligible receiver penalty. Purdue intercepted a pass and made a 6-yard follow-up touchdown. Clements hit Demmerle late with a touchdown pass, too late to change the outcome. The Fighting Irish beat themselves with offensive mistakes, although they outgained Purdue 407 yard to 270.

Michigan State

The Fighting Irish came back the next week against Michigan State. In the first quarter, Kevin Nosbusch recovered a fumble caused by Jim Stock and Mike Fanning. Clements almost got a touchdown out of a pass play to Weber; Bullock plowed in for the score. The Spartans fumbled at their 10 and Bullock scored on the next play. Reeve made a field goal from 38 yards after a bad Spartan punt. he added a 32-yarder in the last period. The Spartans drove 99 yards for their first touchdown, scored again, but Randy Payne intercepted a pass to kill their last good chance. Bullock ran the ball against MSU 36 times, a new record.

Rice

Rice, normally a patsy, went down by the surprising score of 10–3. Notre Dame spotted Rice an early field goal and spent the rest of the game searching for their missing offense. In the second quarter, the Fighting Irish were flagged for illegal procedure; a referee claimed the linemen's posteriors were not on the same horizontal plane, within an inch's variance. Ara protested with all he had, only to add to the penalty. After 5 futile drives, Reeve kicked a 45-yard field goal. Rice was kept in check for the rest of the game. in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame used 20 plays to execute an 80-yard drive. Bullock scored from the two around left end.

Army

Army was again mismatched, 48–0. The game featured an unexpectedly early fall snowstorm. Bullock scored from the six to lead Fighting Irish backs to 525 yards rushing and 30 first downs, a new record. Bullock scored the second touchdown as well. Clements ran a seven-yard keeper before halftime for a touchdown and a 20–0 score. in the third period, Russ Kornman scored twice, form the seven and the four, and Al Samuels went 35 yards on a pitchout to score. Tom Baker scored the same way in the fourth quarter, form the six.

Miami

Miami was 4–1 and had stars Rubin Carter, Dennis Harrah, and Mike Archer but fell to Notre Dame. Demmerle caught a 53-yard touchdown in the first two minutes of the game. Miami later fumbled on a 69-yard punt, at their nine; Bullock rammed in to score on the next play. Reeve made an 18-yard field goal after MacAfee set him up with a 24-yard pass play. Randy Harrison intercepted a pass and ran it back 44 yards for a touchdown. Clements scored on a keeper from the Miami 8, and MacAfee made a four-yard touchdown catch. Clements was 13 of 19 for 154 yards and two touchdowns.

Navy

Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Navy Midshipmen

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	0	0	0	14	14
Navy	3	0	3	0	6

at Veterans Stadium • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Notre Dame Football Archives

Game information

Notre Dame

Tom Clements 5/22, TD, 2 INT

Navy

The 14–6 win over Navy was a turning point in Notre Dame football history; on the flight back from Philadelphia, a weary Ara Parseghian decided he would leave football. He had important family considerations and constant pressure; the fun was gone.

Goodman fumbled a punt early in the game and Navy kicked a field goal. They added another in the second half for a 6–0 lead. The only decent Fighting Irish drive to that point ended in a missed field goal. The defense turned it up, forced a punt, and Goodman took it back to their 28. Surviving a bad snap at the five, Clements found Demmerle for a touchdown. Randy Harrison made an interception and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown.

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	ND	NAVY
1					Navy	49-yard field goal by Steve Dykes	0	3
3					Navy	37-yard field goal by Steve Dykes	0	6
4					Notre Dame	Pete Demmerle 6-yard touchdown reception from Tom Clements, Dave Reeve kick good	7	6
4	2:12				Notre Dame	Interception returned 40 yards for touchdown by Randy Harrison, Dave Reeve kick good	14	6
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							14	6

Pittsburgh

In their next game, Notre Dame looked proficient on the first possession and Bullock scored from the seven. But then they had to wait until the fourth quarter. in the interim, Pitt kicked a field goal and scored from the one. Notre Dame had stopped a Pitt scoring attempt after a blocked Irish punt—this proved to be the game-saver. With 8 minutes left, and 55 yards away from the goal, Clements used Bullock for 32 yards on line smashes, and hit Demmerle with a 3-yard touchdown pass for the win. Bullock's 25 runs gave him 193 for the year to break Neil Worden's old record.

Air Force

Kornman, in for an injured Bullock, scored from the one, but Parise got in there with a 62-yard jaunt. Parise scored in the second quarter from the 11, and Clements scored from the nine. Allocco scored on a keeper from the one for a 28-0 halftime score. in the second half, Reeve booted a 33-yard field goal and Allocco hit Kevin Doherty with a 25-yard touchdown pass.

USC

The Fighting Irish blew a 24–0 lead as USC scored 55 points in a strange game. Drew Mahalic intercepted a Pat Haden pass, and Bullock scored from the two to end the short drive. Clements threw to Demmerle for a touchdown from the USC 29. Reeve hit a field goal, and McLane scored from the nine with a draw play. Anthony Davis scored from the eight with a swing pass for the Trojans, but they missed the point after. Then they hammered Notre Dame for 49 unanswered points in the second half. Davis ran the second half opening kickoff back 102 yards for a touchdown, scored from the six, and then from the four. John McKay Jr. caught an 18-yard touchdown pass, and also a 44-yarder on the last play of the third quarter. The Fighting Irish fumbled, and Diggs caught a 16-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing possession. A long Clements pass was intercepted and returned 58 yards for the final touchdown, and a 55–24 win for USC. Four of the last five Trojan touchdowns came off Irish turnovers.

Orange Bowl

Notre Dame bounced back from its stunning loss at USC to ruin Alabama's perfect season and national championship hopes, in Ara Parseghian's final game as coach. A Crimson Tide fumble at the 16 resulted in a Bullock score from the four. Notre Dame rolled on a long drive, mostly running, and McLane scored from the nine in the second quarter. The point after was missed, and Notre Dame led 13–0. An Irish fumble earned Alabama a field goal, making the halftime score 13–3, Irish. The third quarter was scoreless. The Crimson Tide scored on a 48-yard pass play in the fourth quarter and made a 2-point conversion. The wishbone had foundered on the Notre Dame defense, so Alabama had to pass. It was their undoing. Reggie Barnett intercepted a pass and zigzagged all over the Orange Bowl for the win. The wishbone gained only 62 yards all evening. The Fighting Irish players carried Ara off the field and into history.

Roster

1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`12`	Frank Allocco	Jr
OT	`68`	Ed Bauer	Jr
TE	`83`	Doug Buth	So
QB	`2`	Tom Clements	Sr
WR	`85`	Peter Demmerle
G	`72`	Gerry DiNardo	Sr
FB	`36`	Tom Parise	Jr
C	`77`	Steve Quehl	Jr
OT	`71`	Steve Sylvester	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE	`48`	Jim Stock	Jr
LB	`50`	Greg Collins	Sr
DT	`88`	Mike Fanning	Sr
DB		Mike Kemp	Sr
LB	`45`	Drew Mahalic	Sr
DT	`70`	Steve Niehaus	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Ara Parseghian

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Mike Fanning	Defensive tackle	1	9	Los Angeles Rams
Greg Collins	Linebacker	2	36	San Francisco 49ers
Drew Mahalic	Linebacker	3	69	Denver Broncos
Kevin Nosbusch	Defensive tackle	5	111	San Diego Chargers
Wayne Bullock	Running back	5	114	San Francisco 49ers
Steve Sylvester	Tackle	10	259	Oakland Raiders
Peter Demmerle	Wide receiver	13	320	San Diego Chargers
Eric Penick	Running back	13	329	Denver Broncos
Reggie Barnett	Defensive back	14	345	San Diego Chargers
Tom Fine	Tight end	16	408	Buffalo Bills

References

^ "Pepper glad Irish getting out of town". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 10, 1974. Retrieved July 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ McKenzie, Mike (January 2, 1975). "Mistakes spell defeat for Tide". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 13. Retrieved August 22, 2014 – via Google News Archives.
^ "Notre Dame ends Alabama's dream of championship with 13–11 victory". The Gettysburg Times. Associated Press. January 2, 1975. p. 17. Retrieved August 22, 2014 – via Google News Archives.
^ "Irish rout Wildcats after slow start." Eugene Register-Guard. 1974 Sept 22.