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1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1974 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
NotreDameFightingIrish.svg
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 13–11 vs. Alabama
Conference Independent
Ranking
Coaches No. 4
AP No. 6
1974 record 10–2
Head coach Ara Parseghian (11th year)
Captain Tom Clements
Captain Greg Collins
Home stadium Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons
« 1973 1975 »
1974 NCAA Division I Independents football records
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#6 Notre Dame         10 2 0
#7 Penn State         10 2 0
Temple         8 2 0
Boston College         8 3 0
Utah State         8 3 0
#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
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
Syracuse         2 9 0
Florida State         1 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1 2 3 4 Total
• Notre Dame 7 7 21 14 49
Northwestern 0 3 0 0 3

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.

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 telcast caught a great play when Steve Sylvester blindsided a pursuing Tech linemen as he Clements on a broken play.

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

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.


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