1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season August 2023 January 2026 1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football Independent 4 6 10–2 Ara Parseghian 11th 4–3 Tom Clements Greg Collins Notre Dame Stadium Orange Bowl champion Orange Bowl W Won 13–11 vs. Alabama The 1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1974 NCAA Division I football season. In their tenth and final year under head coach Ara Parseghian, the Irish compiled a 10–2 record, outscored opponents by a total of 305 to 136, and were ranked No. 6 in the final AP poll and No. 4 in the final UPI poll. In three games against ranked opponents, they defeated No. 17 Pittsburgh, lost to No. 6 USC, and defeated No. 2 Alabama in the Orange Bowl.1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/notre-dame/1974-schedule.html Sports Reference LLC SR/College Football July 23, 20261974 Irish Football Review The Notre Dame Scholastic January 25, 1975 https://archives.nd.edu/Football/Football-1974s.pdf Notre Dame Archives Wide receiver Peter Demmerle and offensive guard Gerry DiNardo were consensus first-team picks on the 1974 All-America college football team.Football Award Winners National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 2016 October 21, 2017 10 http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2016/awards.pdf Quarterback Tom Clements, defensive end Steve Niehaus, defensive tackle Mike Fanning, and linebacker Greg Collins also received first-team All-America honors from one or more selectors. The team's statistical leaders included Clements (1,549 passing yards, .567 completion percentage), Wayne Bullock (855 rushing yards, 72 points scored), Demmerle (43 receptions for 667 yards), and Collins (144 tackles).1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stats https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/notre-dame/1974.html Sports Reference LLC SR/College Football July 23, 20261975 Irish Football Review, p. 33. On December 15, 1974, Parseghian resigned as head coach, effective after the Orange Bowl. Parseghian stated that he was "emotionally and physically exhausted" and planned to take at least a year's leave from football. On the same day, Notre Dame announced Green Bay Packers coach Dan Devine as Parseghian's replacement.Ara Resigns as N.D. Coach: Dan Devine Next The South Bend Tribune December 16, 1974 1 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-south-bend-tribune-ara-resigns-as-n/202281973/ Newspapers.com The team played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana. Schedule 1974 AP Eastern September 9 9:00 p.m. w y 3 Georgia Tech Grant Field Atlanta, GA rivalry ABC 31–7 45,228 https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-pepper-glad-iri/151970429/ Fort Worth Star-Telegram Pepper glad Irish getting out of town September 10, 1974 July 24, 2024 Newspapers.com September 21 2:00 p.m. w y 1 Northwestern Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL rivalry 49–3 55,000 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-times-notre-dame-crushes-wil/181463800/ The Journal Times Notre Dame crushes Wildcats November 22, 1974 September 20, 2025 Newspapers.com September 28 2:30 p.m. l 2 Purdue Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN rivalry 20–31 59,075 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cincinnati-enquirer-irish-go-blah-p/181463863/ The Cincinnati Enquirer Irish go blah, Purdue winner in 31–20 upset September 29, 1974 September 20, 2025 Newspapers.com October 5 1:30 p.m. w y 7 Michigan State Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI rivalry 19–14 77,431 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-conservative-irish/181463929/ The Indianapolis Star Conservative Irish edge Spartans October 6, 1974 September 20, 2025 Newspapers.com October 12 2:30 p.m. w 6 Rice Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN 10–3 59,075 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-late-td-saves-iris/169084122/ The Indianapolis Star Late TD saves Irish in 10–3 squeaker October 13, 1974 March 28, 2025 Newspapers.com October 19 2:30 p.m. w 7 Army Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN rivalry 48–0 59,075 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-post-crescent-notre-dame-routs-army/181333966/ The Post-Crescent Notre Dame routs Army October 20, 1974 September 20, 2025 Newspapers.com October 26 1:50 p.m. w 7 Miami (FL) Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN rivalry ABC 38–7 59,075 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-blade-notre-dames-aerial-strategy-s/181336329/ The Blade Notre Dame's aerial strategy stymies upset-minded Miami October 27, 1974 September 20, 2025 Newspapers.com November 2 1:30 p.m. w y 7 Navy Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA rivalry 14–6 48,634 https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-notre-dame-over/181334740/ Newsday Notre Dame over Navy, 14–6 November 3, 1974 September 20, 2025 Newspapers.com November 16 1:30 p.m. w 5 Pittsburgh 17 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN rivalry 14–10 59,075 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anderson-herald-irish-rally-to-beat/181413836/ The Anderson Herald Irish rally to beat Pitt November 17, 1974 September 20, 2025 Newspapers.com November 23 1:30 p.m. w 5 Air Force Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN rivalry 38–0 59,075 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel-irish-romp-past-falco/181333235/ The Daily Sentinel Irish romp past Falcons 38–0 November 24, 1974 September 20, 2025 Newspapers.com November 30 5:00 p.m. l y 5 USC 6 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA rivalry ABC 24–55 83,522 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fresno-bee-incredible-usc-rally-rips/181463733/ The Fresno Bee Incredible USC rally rips Irish December 1, 1974 September 20, 2025 Newspapers.com January 1, 1975 8:00 p.m. w y 9 Alabama 2 Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL Orange Bowl NBC 13–11 71,801 Mike McKenzie Mistakes spell defeat for Tide https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P0cgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=E50EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7250%2C432410 13 Google News Archives The Tuscaloosa News January 2, 1975 August 22, 2014Associated Press Notre Dame ends Alabama's dream of championship with 13–11 victory https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SVYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uPIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1483%2C4380844 17 Google News Archives The Gettysburg Times January 2, 1975 August 22, 2014 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.the sentence doesn't make sense October 2018 Northwestern Notre Dame 7 7 21 14 Northwestern 0 3 0 0 September 21 Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois 54,301 yes 1 ND Kornman 2 yard run (Reeve kick) Notre Dame 7–0 2 NW Blazevich 27 yard field goal Notre Dame 7–3 2 ND Bullock 1 yard run (Reeve kick) Notre Dame 14–3 3 ND Goodman 62 yard run (Reeve kick) Notre Dame 21–3 3 ND Weber 14 yard pass from Clements (Reeve kick) Notre Dame 28–3 3 ND Allocco 1 yard run (Reeve kick) Notre Dame 35–3 4 ND McLane 11 yard run (Reeve kick) Notre Dame 42–3 4 ND Eurick 1 yard run (Reeve kick) Notre Dame 49–3 yes "Irish rout Wildcats after slow start." Eugene Register-Guard. 1974 Sept 22. 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 2; text-align:center collapsed Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Navy Midshipmen Notre Dame 0 0 0 14 Navy 3 0 3 0 Veterans Stadium • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Notre Dame Football Archives 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. ND NAVY collapsed 1 Navy FG 49 Steve Dykes 0 3 3 Navy FG 37 Steve Dykes 0 6 4 Notre Dame RecTD Pete Demmerle Tom Clements 6 good Dave Reeve run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 6 4 2:12 Notre Dame IntTD Randy Harrison 40 good Dave Reeve run/pass good/failed/incomplete 14 6 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 thumb|right|A football signed by the 1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, including Ken MacAfee, Ara Parseghian, and Tom Clements. 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 f 12 Jr Frank Allocco QB 68 Jr Ed Bauer T 83 So Doug Buth TE 2 Sr Tom Clements QB y 85 Peter Demmerle WR y 72 Sr Gerry DiNardo G y 36 Jr Tom Parise FB 77 Jr Steve Quehl C 71 Sr Steve Sylvester Steve Sylvester (American football) OT y 48 Jr Jim Stock DE y 50 Sr Greg Collins Greg Collins (American football) LB y 88 Sr Mike Fanning Mike Fanning (American football) DT y Sr Mike Kemp DB y Mike Kemp (American football) 45 Sr Drew Mahalic LB y 70 Jr Steve Niehaus DT y *Ara Parseghian 1975 NFL draft 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 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 Notre Dame Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football seasons Category:Orange Bowl champion seasons Notre Dame Fighting Irish football