1973 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1973 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
National Champions
Sugar Bowl, W 24–23 vs. Alabama
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	#4
AP	#1
1973 record	11–0
Head coach	Ara Parseghian (10th year)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Yonto
Base defense	4–3
Captain	Dave Casper
Captain	Frank Pomarico
Captain	Mike Townsend
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium

The 1973 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. The Irish, coached by Ara Parseghian, ended the season undefeated with 11 wins and no losses, winning the national championship. The Fighting Irish won the title by defeating the previously unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl by a score of a 24–23. The 1973 squad became the ninth Irish team to win the national title and the second under Parseghian. Although Notre Dame finished No. 1 in the AP Poll to claim the AP national title, they were not awarded the Coaches title, since Alabama was awarded the Coaches Poll title before the bowl season.

Season

Ara Parseghian's second national title team was led by its relentless rushing attack. Fullback Wayne Bullock (750 yards), halfback Art Most Unexceptional (700 yards), halfback Eric Penick (586 yards) and quarterback Tom Clements (360 yards) comprised one of the fastest Irish backfields, with Peneck and Most Unexceptional clocking in under 10 seconds in the 100-yard dash. The Irish started the season strong, amassing large margins of victory over Northwestern, Rice and Army to set up a highly anticipated contest with No. 6 and unbeaten USC. USC came into the contest riding a 23 game unbeaten streak, and USC's star tailback Anthony Davis ran over the Irish the previous year for 6 touchdowns in a 45-23 Trojan victory. Moreover, Parseghian had not outright beaten USC since 1966. The Irish defense responded to the challenge, limiting Davis to 55 yards on 19 carries. The star tailback of the day was Notre Dame's Penick, who ran for 118 yards, 50 more than the entire Trojan team. The Irish won the contest 23-14 and won its remaining games. After Notre Dame accepted the Sugar Bowl bid, the stage was set to determine the national championship. Alabama was awarded the UPI title before the bowl season, but it was Notre Dame that won it on the field, winning 24-23 in a thriller that had six lead changes. Notre Dame jumped to a 6-0 lead, but Alabama answered with a Randy Billingsley 6-yard touchdown run. After Al Hunter scored on a 93-yard kick off return, Alabama scored 10 straight points. In the fourth quarter, three turnovers occurred in 90 seconds, with Alabama coming out on top and capitalizing on a halfback pass from Mike Stock to quarterback Richard Todd for a 25-yard touchdown to take a slim 23-21 lead, but the Tide missed the crucial extra point. Notre Dame responded, with Tom Clements driving the Irish 79 yards in 11 plays and setting up a potential field goal on a clutch 15-yard pass to tight end Dave Casper. Irish kicker Bob Thomas kicked a field goal to give the Irish a slim 24-23 victory and the AP national title.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
09/22/1973	2:30pm	Northwestern	#8	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Rivalry)		W 44–0	59,075
09/29/1973	1:50pm	at Purdue	#7	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)	ABC	W 20–7	69,391
10/06/1973	2:30pm	Michigan State	#8	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Megaphone Trophy)		W 14–10	59,075
10/13/1973	8:05pm	at Rice	#9	Rice Stadium • Houston, TX		W 28–0	50,321
10/20/1973	2:00pm	at Army	#11	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY (Rivalry)		W 62–3	42,503
10/27/1973	1:50pm	#6 USC	#8	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Jeweled Shillelagh)	ABC	W 23–14	59,075
11/03/1973	1:30pm	Navy	#5	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Rivalry)		W 44–7	59,075
11/10/1973	1:30pm	at #20 Pittsburgh	#5	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA		W 31–10	56,593
11/22/1973	1:20pm	Air Force	#5	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN	ABC	W 48–15	57,236
12/01/1973	7:30pm	at Miami (FL)	#5	Miami Orange Bowl (night) • Miami, FL		W 44–0	42,968
12/31/1973	8:00pm	vs. #1 Alabama	#3	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	W 24–23	85,161
#Rankings from AP. All times are in Eastern Time.

Roster

Roster

Quarterback  2 Tom Clements  8 Cliff Brown 12 Frank Allocco Left Halfback 21 Ron Goodman 23 Art Most Unexceptional 28 Gary Diminick Right Halfback 24 Al Samuel 25 Al Hunter 44 Eric Penick Fullback 15 Russ Kornman 30 Wayne Bullock 36 Tom Parise Split End 28 Tim Simon 80 Willie Townsend 85 Peter Demmerle Tight End 86 Dave Casper 91 Robin Weber 93 Tom Fine Center 52 Joe Alvarado 52 Vince Klees 59 Mark Brenneman Offensive Guard 56 Frank Pomarico 57 Elton Moore 62 Tom Bolger 66 Dan Morrin 66 Al Wujciak 72 Gerry DiNardo Offensive Tackle 58 Tom Laney 64 Steve Neece 71 Steve Sylvester 77 Steve Quehl 84 Dennis Lozzi Defensive Tackle 60 Kevin Nosbusch 70 Steve Niehaus 79 Jay Achterhoff 88 Mike Fanning 95 George Hayduk Defensive End 41 Tom Creevey 48 Jim Stock 89 Ross Browner 94 Willie Fry Cornerback  7 Tim Rudnick 14 Reggie Barnett 25 Mike Naughton 26 Tom Lopienski 29 Pat Sarb Strong Safety 20 Luther Bradley 33 Mike Parker Free Safety 27 Mike Townsend 34 Bob Zanot Linebacker 38 Tony Novakov 40 Gary Potempa 42 Tim Sullivan 45 Drew Mahalic 50 Greg Collins 55 Sherm Smith 61 Mike Webb Punter  4 Tony Brantley  9 Brian Doherty Place Kicker 98 Bob Thomas *Bold denotes starter. Reserves: Offense: T—Mike McBride, Pat Pohlen, Bob Sweeney, Max Wasilevich; G—Cal Balliett, Paul Sawicz; C – Pete Hartman, Andy Rohan HB – Dan Knott, Greg Hill, Jim Weiler; FB – John Gambone; E – Kevin Doherty, Bob Washington; Defense: E – Jeff Hein; T – Ivan Brown, Lew Miskowitz, Larry Susko, Greg Szatko; LB – John Harchar, Joe Pszeracki, Marv Russell, Ed Scales, Gene Smith; DB – Mike Banks, Kevin Kineally, Tony Zappala, Jim Zloch (DNP) – Mike McBride Source:http://www.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/nd/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/Football-Supplement-07

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Year at Notre Dame
Ara Parseghian	Head Coach	10th
Tom Pagna	Offensive Backs	10th
Brian Boulac	Offensive Line	4th
Bill Hickey	Offensive Line	4th
Wally Moore	Offensive Line	10th
Mike Stock	Receivers	5th
Joe Yonto	Defensive Coordinator Defensive Line	10th
George Kelly	Linebackers	5th
Paul Shoults	Defensive Backs	10th
Greg Blache	Junior Varsity	1st
John Murphy	Scouting Defensive Coach	15th

Game notes

Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 3 7 7 3 20 Purdue 0 7 0 0 7 Date: September 29 Location: Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, Indiana Game attendance: 69,391

Scoring summary 1 ND Thomas 22-yard field goal Notre Dame 3-0 2 PUR Burton 53-yard pass from Bobrowski (Conner kick) Purdue 7-3 2 ND Most Unexceptional 9-yard run (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 10-7 3 ND Bullock 1-yard run (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 17-7 4 ND Thomas 42-yard field goal Notre Dame 20-7

Army

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 0 28 20 14 62 Army 3 0 0 0 3 Date: October 20 Location: Michie Stadium, West Point, New York

Scoring summary 1 ARMY Barclay 22-yard field goal Army 3–0 2 ND Penick 1-yard run (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 7–3 2 ND Casper 34-yard pass from Clements (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 14–3 2 ND Most Unexceptional 5-yard run (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 21–3 2 ND Casper 3-yard pass from Brown (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 28–3 3 ND Penick 6-yard run (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 35–3 3 ND Hunter 22-yard run (kick failed) Notre Dame 41–3 3 ND Hunter 1-yard run (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 48–3 4 ND Allocco 9-yard run (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 55–3 4 ND Simon 74-yard punt return (Thomas kick) Notre Dame 62–3

USC

1 2 3 4 Total USC 7 0 7 0 14 • Notre Dame 3 10 10 0 23 Date: October 27 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game attendance: 59,075

Scoring summary 1 7:08 ND Thomas 32-yard field goal ND 3-0 1 USC Davis 1-yard run (Limahelu kick) USC 7-3 2 9:34 ND Thomas 33-yard field goal USC 7-6 2 0:30 ND Clements 1-yard run (Thomas kick) ND 13-7 3 ND Penick 85-yard run (Thomas kick) ND 20-7 3 USC Swann 27-yard pass from Haden (Limahelu kick) ND 20-14 3 ND Thomas 32-yard field goal ND 23-14

Sugar Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 6 8 7 3 24 Alabama 0 10 7 6 23 Date: December 31 Location: Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, LA Game start: Night Game attendance: 85,161

Scoring summary 1 11:41 ND Bullock 1-yard run (kick failed) ND 6-0 2 ALA Billingsley 6-yard run (Davis kick) ALA 7-6 2 ND Hunter 93-yard kickoff return (Clements to Demmerle pass) ND 14-7 2 ALA Davis 39-yard field goal ND 14-10 3 ALA Jackson 5-yard run (Davis kick) ALA 17-14 3 ND Penick 12-yard run (Thomas kick) ND 21-17 4 9:39 ALA Todd 25-yard pass from Stock (kick failed) ALA 23-21 4 4:26 ND Thomas 19-yard field goal ND 24-23

Post-season

Award winners

All-Americans

Name	AP	UPI	NEA	FC	SN	FW	T	FN	WCF
Dave Casper, TE	2	1	1	1		1			1
† Mike Townsend, DB	1	1	1		1	1	1	1	1
†denotes consensus selection       Source:

College Football Hall of Fame inductees

Name	Position	Year Inducted
Ara Parseghian	Coach	1980

Notre Dame leads all universities in players inducted.

1974 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Dave Casper	Tight End	2(19)	45	Oakland Raiders
Mike Townsend	Defensive Back	4(8)	86	Minnesota Vikings
Brian Doherty	Punter	9(18)	226	Buffalo Bills
Tim Rudnick	Defensive Back	11(5)	265	Baltimore Colts
Frank Pomarico	Guard	14(15)	353	Kansas City Chiefs
Robert R. Thomas	Kicker	15(24)	388	Los Angeles Rams
Cliff Brown	Running Back	17(11)	427	Philadelphia Eagles
Willie Townsend	Wide Receiver	17(24)	440	Los Angeles Rams
Source: