1994 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1994 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Fiesta Bowl, L 24–41 vs. Colorado
Conference	Independent
Record	6–5–1
Head coach	Lou Holtz (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dave Roberts (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple I formation
Defensive coordinator	Bob Davie (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
MVP	Derrick Mayes
Captains	Lee Becton Justin Goheen Brian Hamilton Ryan Leahy
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium

1994 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
East Carolina			–					7	–	5	–	0
Louisville			–					6	–	5	–	0
Memphis			–					6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss			–					6	–	5	–	0
Notre Dame			–					6	–	5	–	1
Army			–					4	–	7	–	0
Northeast Louisiana			–					3	–	8	–	0
Navy			–					3	–	8	–	0
Tulsa			–					3	–	8	–	0
Cincinnati			–					2	–	8	–	1
Tulane			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1994 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their ninth year under head coach Lou Holtz, the Irish compiled a 6–5–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 318 to 239, and were unranked in the final AP and UPI polls. They were ranked No. 3 in the preseason AP poll, but lost to No. 6 Michigan, unranked Boston College and BYU, and No. 8 Florida State. They concluded the season with a loss to No. 4 Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl.

Cornerback Bobby Taylor was a consensus first-team pick on the 1994 All-America college football team. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Ron Powlus (1,729 passing yards), running back Randy Kinder (702 rushing yards), split end Derrick Mayes (47 receptions for 847 yards, 66 points scored), and defensive back Brian Magee (81 tackles).

The team played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	8:00 p.m.	vs. Northwestern	No. 3	Soldier Field Chicago, IL (rivalry)	ABC	W 42–15	66,946
September 10	2:30 p.m.	No. 6 Michigan	No. 3	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry, College GameDay)	NBC	L 24–26	59,075
September 17	3:30 p.m.	at Michigan State	No. 8	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 21–20	74,183
September 24	2:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 9	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 39–21	59,075
October 1	2:30 p.m.	Stanford	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 34–15	59,075
October 8	12:00 p.m.	at Boston College	No. 8	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA (Holy War)	ABC	L 11–30	44,500
October 15	2:30 p.m.	BYU	No. 17	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	NBC	L 14–21	59,075
October 29	2:30 p.m.	Navy		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 58–21	59,075
November 12	12:00 p.m.	vs. No. 8 Florida State		Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (rivalry)	ABC	L 16–23	72,868
November 19	1:30 p.m.	Air Force		Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 42–30	59,075
November 26	8:00 p.m.	at No. 17 USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	ABC	T 17–17	90,217
January 2, 1995	4:30 p.m.	vs. No. 4 Colorado		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	L 24–41	73,968
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Northwestern

See also: 1994 Northwestern Wildcats football team and Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry

Michigan

Michigan at Notre Dame

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 6 Wolverines	7	3	10	6	26
No. 3 Fighting Irish	10	0	7	7	24

• Date: September 10
• Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana
• Game attendance: 59,075
• Television network: NBC

Scoring summary

Q1		ND	Schroffner 32 yard field goal	ND 3–0
Q1		MICH	Biakabutuka 9 yard run (Hamilton kick)	MICH 7–3
Q1		ND	Becton 1 yard pass from Powlus (Schroffner kick)	ND 10–7
Q2		MICH	Hamilton 32 yard field goal	Tie 10–10
Q3		ND	Edwards 8 yard run (Schroffner kick)	ND 17–10
Q3		MICH	Riemersma 3 yard pass from Collins (Hamilton kick)	Tie 17–17
Q3		MICH	Hamilton 35 yard field goal	MICH 20–17
Q4		MICH	Hamilton 32 yard field goal	MICH 23–17
Q4	:52	ND	Mayes 7 yard pass from Powlus (Schroffner kick)	ND 24–23
Q4	:02	MICH	Hamilton 42 yard field goal	MICH 26–24

See also: 1994 Michigan Wolverines football team, Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry, and College GameDay (football)

USC

See also: 1994 USC Trojans football team and Notre Dame–USC football rivalry

Fiesta Bowl

See also: 1994 Colorado Buffaloes football team and 1995 Fiesta Bowl

Roster

1994 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 98 Pete Chryplewicz Jr FB 44 Marc Edwards So RB 31 Robert Farmer So WR 1 Derrick Mayes Jr TE 80 Oscar McBride Sr QB 3 Ron Powlus So RB 34 Ray Zellars Sr C 77 Dusty Zeigler Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 13 Bertrand Berry So LB 6 Lyron Cobbins So DT 93 Paul Grasmanis Jr CB 15 Allen Rossum Fr CB 21 Bobby Taylor Jr CB 22 Shawn Wooden Jr DE 48 Renaldo Wynn Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Lou Holtz Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Awards and honors

Cornerback Bobby Taylor was a consensus first-team pick on the 1994 All-America college football team.

Split end Derrick Mayes was selected by his teammates as the team's most valuable player.

1995 NFL draft

The following Notre Dame players were selectedin the 1995 NFL draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Ray Zellars	Running back	2	44	New Orleans Saints
Bobby Taylor	Cornerback	2	50	Philadelphia Eagles
Oliver Gibson	Defensive tackle	4	120	Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike Miller	Wide receiver	5	147	Cleveland Browns
Travis Davis	Safety	5	147	New Orleans Saints