The 1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 during the 1974 college football season

1974 college football season

The 1974 college football season finished with two national champions. The Associated Press writers' poll ranked the University of Oklahoma, which was on probation and barred by the NCAA from postseason play, #1 at season's end...

. It was Ara Parseghian

Ara Parseghian

Ara Raoul Parseghian is a former American football player and coach of Armenian descent. He served as the head football coach at Miami University , Northwestern University , and the University of Notre Dame , compiling a career college football record of 170–58–6...

's final season as head coach.

Georgia Tech

The season began as Notre Dame faced Georgia Tech who scored first, but the Irish came back to scored 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 telcast caught a great play when Steve Sylvester

Steve Sylvester (American football)

Steve Sylvester was an American football offensive lineman who played 9 seasons in the National Football League for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. He played college football for the University of Notre Dame....

 blindsided a pursuing Tech linemen as he Clements on a broken play.

Northwestern

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 pas 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 akeeper after another fumble. Reserves Mark McLane punched over an 11-yard touchdown and Terry Eurick a two-yarder. Future All-America

All-America

An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...

 tihght end Ken MacAfee

Ken MacAfee

Kenneth Adams MacAfee, Jr. , is a former college and professional American football player. He played collegiately at the University of Notre Dame and professionally for the San Francisco 49ers.-High school:...

 (6'5" and 245 pounds0 made his freshman appearance. Notre Dame won 49-3.

Purdue

Purdue stopped the 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 scored 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 Mike Stock

Mike Stock

Michael Stock is an English songwriter, record producer and musician best known for being a member of the songwriting and production team Stock Aitken and Waterman that achieved huge success in the 1980s and 90s...

 and Mike Fanning

Mike Fanning

Michael LaVern Fanning is a retired American football player. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame. He was a defensive tackle for ten seasons in the National Football League...

. 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. 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

Tom Baker

Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...

 scored the same way in the fourth quarter, form the six.

Miami

Miami was 4-1 and had stars Rubin Carter

Rubin Carter

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter fought professionally as a middleweight boxer from 1961 to 1966. In 1966, he was arrested for a triple homicide in the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey...

, Dennis Harrah

Dennis Harrah

Dennis Wayne Harrah is a former NFL Offensive Lineman who played 13 seasons in the National Football League for Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the University of Miami.- University of Miami :...

, 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 fter MacAfee set him up with a 24-yard pass play. Randy Harrison

Randy Harrison

Randolph Clarke Harrison is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Justin Taylor on the Showtime drama Queer as Folk.-Early life and college:...

 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

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. The fighting Irish probably played down to the Middies. 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. Surving 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. It was an ugly win and Clements had his worst day, 5 of 22 with two interceptions.

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 uesd 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

Neil Worden

Neil James Worden is a former American football fullback who played in the National Football League. He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1954 NFL Draft and played in the 1954 and 1957 seasons. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame.-Collage Years:Worden went to...

'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

Kevin Doherty

Kevin Doherty is a songwriter, musician and singer from Ireland. He has played with various bands since the late 1980s and currently records and performs both as a solo artist and as a member of Four Men and a Dog.-Early life:...

 with a 25-yard touchdown pass.

USC

The Fighting Irish blew a two-touchdwon lead as USC scored 55 points in a strange game. Drew Mahalic intercepted a Pat Haden

Pat Haden

Patrick Capper "Pat" Haden is the athletic director at the University of Southern California. He played quarterback for the USC Trojans before playing professionally in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams from 1976 to 1981...

 pass, and Bullock scored from the two to end the short drive. Clements threw to Demmerle for a touchdown form the USC 29. reeve hit a field goal, and McLane scored from the nine with a drwa play. Anthony Davis scored from the eoght with a swing pass but they missed the point after. then they hammered Notre Dame for 49 unanswered points in the second half. Davis ran the kickoff back 102 yards for a touchdown, scored from the six, and then four. J.K. McKay caught an 18-yard touchdown pass, and a 44-yarder. the Fighting Irish fumbled, and Diggs caught a 16-yard touchdown pass, A long Clements pass was returned 58 yards for the final touchdown and a 55-24 win for USC.

The Orange Bowl

A Crimson Tide fumble at the 16 ended in a Bullock score from the four. Notre Dame rolled on along drive, mostly running, and McLane scored from the nine in the second quarter. The point after was missed. An Irish fumble earned Alabama a field goal. 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 haad foundered on the Notre Dame defense, so they 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 62 yards all evening. The Fighting Irish players carried Ara off the field and into history.

Schedule