You couldn't blame the Notre Dame Fighting Irish or its fans for being angry that they had to play the Texas A&M Aggies in the Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year's Day in 1994 as they felt, especially their head coach Lou Holtz, that they should be playing for the national championship.
Late in the '93 regular season, the #2 ranked Irish defeated #1 Florida State 31-24 in the "Game of the Century" to claim the #1 ranking with a 10-0 record(If you want to read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2018/11/college-football-old-school-game-of.html).
The experts felt that a rematch should occur in that year's Fiesta Bowl if the Irish and the Seminoles won out for the rest of the regular season.
But one week after their win over Florida State, the Irish would be upset by #17 Boston College 41-39 as the Eagles won the game on a 41-yard field goal by David Gordon as time expiered, which would drop Notre Dame from #1 to #4.
The shocking loss also derailed the chances of a Florida State-Notre Dame as the Seminoles would win their final two games of the regular season to finish the season as the #1 team in the country which earned them an invitation to play #2 Nebraska Cornhuskers for the national championship in the Orange Bowl.
This led to the Irish accepting an invitation to return to Dallas to play in the Cotton Bowl where some of the Irish faithful hoped that a decisive victory over the Aggies could sway voters in the AP or Coaches Poll to vote Notre Dame #1 after all the bowl games.
The Irish were led by senior quarterback Kevin McDougal, who only become the Irish's starting quarterback when incoming freshman Ron Powlus broke his collarbone one week before the start of the 1993 season.
McDougal led a run-oriented offense that averaged 260.7 yards per game and featured a stable of running backs including Lee Becton, who rushed for 1,044 yards during the season while on defense, the Irish were led by All-American free safety Jeff Burris and cornerback Bobby Taylor that a unit that allowed 17.6 points per game.
The Irish were favored by a touchdown over their opponents, the Texas A&M Aggies, who came into the game ranked #6 in the coaches poll and #7 in the AP poll with a 10-1 record, their only loss being a 44-14 beatdown by the Oklahoma Sooners in the second game of the season.
A&M was led by R.C. Slocum, who had led the Aggies to their third straight Southwest Confernce championship and third straight trip to the Cotton Bowl
Under Slocum, the Aggies became known for their defense nicknamed the "Wrecking Crew" which led the nation in total defense in 1991 and was strong again in 1993 as the "Crew" led by All-American defensive lineman Sam Adams and cornerback Aaron Glenn allowed just 10.8 points per game during the regular season.
But if the Aggies were going to upset the Irish they were going to need a strong performance from their offense which scored a total of just five points in A&M's previous two Cotton Bowl appearances, including a 28-3 loss to the Irish one year before.
Notre Dame would get the ball to start the game as they would drive 91 yards in 13 plays with all but one of those plays being a run as McDougal would keep it himself on a quarterback option for a 19-yard touchdown that put the Irish on top 7-0.
Not to be outdone, the Aggies would also drive for a touchdown on their opening possession of the game as A&M would drive 79 yards in 10 plays as quarterback Corey Pullig completed passes of 21 yards to Thomas, nine yards to tight end Greg Schorp, and 18 yards to running back Clif Groce, to set up an eight-yard touchdown run by running back Greg Hill, the first touchdown A&M had scored in a Cotton Bowl since their win over the Irish six years earlier.
Following a Notre Dame punt, the Aggies would get the ball back at their 40-yard-line as A&M would quickly drive to the Irish 22-yard-line as Hill busted loose for a 20-yard run which was followed by an 18-yard pass from Pullig to wide receiver Brian Mitchell.
However, the drive would stall as Pullig would throw three straight incomplete passes, forcing the Aggies to call on Terry Venetoulias to attempt a 39-yard field goal which would be blocked by Notre Dame cornerback Bobby Taylor to keep score at 7-7 as the first quarter came to an end.
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| Notre Dame running back Lee Becton ran for 138 yards on 26 carries. |
The two teams would exchange punts at the beginning of the second quarter until the Aggies took over at their 23-yard-line as they would put together a drive that would last over seven minutes which included two 4th down conversions.
The first one came at the A&M 44-yard-line as Pullig sneaked for two yards to pick up the 1st down on a 4th & inches and the second one come on a 4th & 1 at the Notre Dame 15-yard-line as Pullig found running back Detron Smith wide open for the touchdown to give the Aggies a 14-7 lead with 2:56 left before halftime.
The Irish would hold the ball for over two minutes before punting it back to the Aggies who ran out the clock to go into the halftime break up 14-7 and set to get the ball to start the second half.
But the Aggies would go three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half which was compounded by a 12-yard punt by Kevin Bennett which gave the Irish great field position as they would begin their ensuing possession at their 49-yard-line.
From there, the Irish would drive 51 yards in eight plays, all of them runs, as Becton carried the ball four times for 32 yards on the drive, which culminated with a two-yard touchdown run by fullback Ray Zellers that help tied the game at 14 with 10:21 to play in the third quarter.
The Aggies would respond with a 10-play, 80-yard drive which saw running back Leeland McElroy run for 21 yards on the first play of the drive and then for 16 yards later in the drive to set up Rodney Thomas' one-yard touchdown run to put A&M back in front at 21-14 with 6:50 left in the third quarter.
Back came the Irish as they would move 65 yards in seven plays on a drive where Becton ran the ball three times for 30 yards and McDougal completed a 18-yard pass to Zellers, all leading up to a two-yard touchdown run by fullback Marc Edwards that with the extra point tied the game once again, this time at 21 with 3:48 remaining in the third quarter.
After both teams punted on their next possessions, the Aggies got the ball back at their 36-yard-line as A&M would overcome a 3rd & 17 situation as Pullig completed a 24-yard pass to wide receiver Tony Harrison to give the Aggies a 1st down at the Notre Dame 47-yard-line.
But two plays later, the Aggies would turn it over as Notre Dame linebacker Pete Bercich made a diving interception to kill the A&M drive and give the Irish the ball at their 45-yard-line.
It was a bit of redemption for Bercich as he had a potential interception slip through his fingers on Boston College's eventual drive for the game-winning field goal.
The Irish would advance to the A&M 43-yard-line before punting it back to the Aggies, who took over at their 10-yard-line as they would go three-and-out as they would be forced to punt and give Notre Dame great field position for their next drive.
The field position would become even greater as Michael Miller would return the punt 38 yards to the A&M 22-yard-line where the Irish would take over with 3:55 left in the game and a short field to drive for the go-ahead score.
Becton would run for eight yards on 1st down but would lose a yard on 2nd down to set up 3rd & 3 where Zellars picked up just one yard to bring up 4th & 2 as the Irish lined up to go for the 1st down only to call timeout with 2:22 left as an attempt to draw the Aggies offsides failed.
On came Kevin Pendergast, who would come on and kick a 31-yard field goal that split through the arms of a diving Glenn, who was attempting to block the kick, and just inside the right upright for a successful kick to give the Irish a 24-21 with 2:17 to go in the game.
The Aggies would begin their ensuing possession at their 31-yard-line with a chance to drive down for a potential game-tying field goal or game-winning touchdown, only to turn it over on the first play from scrimmage as at the end of an 11-yard run by Thomas, Irish free safety Jeff Burris would hit Thomas so hard it jarred the ball loose.
Taylor wound up recovering the fumble to give Notre Dame the ball at the Aggies 42-yard-line, giving the Irish a chance to run out the clock and clinch the victory.
However, the Aggies would force a three-and-out as they would spend their last two timeouts as A&M would start their next possession at its 20-yard-line with 1:10 remaining.
Pullig would give the Aggies hope for a miracle as he completed a 32-yard pass to Schrop to give A&M a 1st down at the Notre Dame 48-yard-line only to be followed up with a quarterback sack and an incomplete pass to force a 3rd & 17 at the Aggies 41-yard-line.
That is when Pullig connected with Harrison for a 24-yard completion that the junior wide receiver hoped to make a bigger play as he tried to lateral the ball to McElroy on a hook-and-ladder play which was disrupted by Taylor whose hit on Harrison caused him to pitch the ball over McElroy's head and into the arms of Notre Dame defensive lineman Renaldo Wynn.
Wynn's recovery allowed the Irish to take a knee to run out the clock as Notre Dame would come away with the 24-21 win for their second straight win in the Cotton Bowl.
The loss would only drop the Aggies one place in the final Coaches poll and two places in the final AP poll as they would finish #8 and #9 respectively in what would be their final trip to the Cotton Bowl as members of the Southwest Conference as the conference would dissolve following the 1995 season as A&M would join the Big 12 conference in 1996.
As for the Irish, they would finish #2 in both the AP and coaches' polls despite Holtz's campaigning that Notre Dame be voted #1 as Florida State would defeat #2 Nebraska 18-16 in the Orange Bowl as the Seminoles be declared the national champion for 1993 despite their loss to the Irish.
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| Kevin Pendergast looks on as to see to his game-winning field goal sail through the uprights. |
The Aggies would begin their ensuing possession at their 31-yard-line with a chance to drive down for a potential game-tying field goal or game-winning touchdown, only to turn it over on the first play from scrimmage as at the end of an 11-yard run by Thomas, Irish free safety Jeff Burris would hit Thomas so hard it jarred the ball loose.
Taylor wound up recovering the fumble to give Notre Dame the ball at the Aggies 42-yard-line, giving the Irish a chance to run out the clock and clinch the victory.
However, the Aggies would force a three-and-out as they would spend their last two timeouts as A&M would start their next possession at its 20-yard-line with 1:10 remaining.
Pullig would give the Aggies hope for a miracle as he completed a 32-yard pass to Schrop to give A&M a 1st down at the Notre Dame 48-yard-line only to be followed up with a quarterback sack and an incomplete pass to force a 3rd & 17 at the Aggies 41-yard-line.
That is when Pullig connected with Harrison for a 24-yard completion that the junior wide receiver hoped to make a bigger play as he tried to lateral the ball to McElroy on a hook-and-ladder play which was disrupted by Taylor whose hit on Harrison caused him to pitch the ball over McElroy's head and into the arms of Notre Dame defensive lineman Renaldo Wynn.
Wynn's recovery allowed the Irish to take a knee to run out the clock as Notre Dame would come away with the 24-21 win for their second straight win in the Cotton Bowl.
The loss would only drop the Aggies one place in the final Coaches poll and two places in the final AP poll as they would finish #8 and #9 respectively in what would be their final trip to the Cotton Bowl as members of the Southwest Conference as the conference would dissolve following the 1995 season as A&M would join the Big 12 conference in 1996.
As for the Irish, they would finish #2 in both the AP and coaches' polls despite Holtz's campaigning that Notre Dame be voted #1 as Florida State would defeat #2 Nebraska 18-16 in the Orange Bowl as the Seminoles be declared the national champion for 1993 despite their loss to the Irish.
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