Tag: 1993 notre dame football

Notre Dame-Boston College: Jerome Bettis on ’93 upset

Would Bettis have made a difference in the end result that day?

Legendary Notre Dame and NFL running back [autotag]Jerome Bettis[/autotag] wasn’t a part of the memorable 1993 Fighting Irish football team.  Yeah, the one that was ranked No. 1 before being upset by Boston College in the final game of the regular season.  That doesn’t mean that the stunning upset didn’t bother the Pro Football Hall of Famer then, or now, though.

ABC 57 in South Bend features “Bettis on a Bus” during their Notre Dame football pregame coverage each week this season.  This week The Bus and Allison Hayes looked back at the sting the infamous ’93 upset caused him – not because he was part of that ’93 squad, but instead because he wasn’t.

“And so the fact that I wasn’t there, they were like, man, we would have won that game. Had you been here. So guys would give me a lot of grief after that game. And it was just a rough one. But yeah, Boston College, for me has always been a good game.”
-Jerome Bettis

Personally, I wonder if Bettis could have stepped in on defense and done something about the 41 points allowed that day.  Perhaps the deficit never reaches 21-points if he was still there but it’s hard to see how much more he adds to the chances of victory when those 41 are surrendered.

You can see the full video on the ABC 57 website.

[vertical-gallery id=25615]

Notre Dame Makes Scholarship Offer to Son of Fighting Irish Great

Bobby Taylor was a star for Notre Dame football in the early 90’s. Almost three decades later the Irish have offered his son a scholarship.

Notre Dame fans of a certain age range (mine included) more than just remember the name Bobby Taylor.  The 1994 consensus First-Team All-American corner helped the Irish was a part of a team that nearly won a national title a year earlier.

After his impressive 1994 season Taylor was selected 50th overall in the 1995 NFL Draft and spent the next nine years with the Philadelphia Eagles before finishing his career in 2005 with the Seattle Seahawks.

Now Notre Dame is looking for their second Bobby Taylor to be a key part of their secondary as they offered his son Bobby a football scholarship on Tuesday.

The younger Taylor is listed at 6-1, 180 pounds and is rated as a top-30 corner in the 2022 recruiting class according to 247Sports.

After playing his freshman year of high school football at Houston Heights, Taylor helped Katy High School to an 11-2 record and Texas 6A D-1 third round playoff appearance as a sophomore.

Notre Dame joins over 20 other programs to have offered Taylor with plenty of the biggest powers including Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and USC.

You Can Now Watch All 1993 Home Games Now Online

1993 was a magical year for Notre Dame. You can now watch every home game from that season here.

In either 1990 or ’91 I remember starting to watch Notre Dame football and liking them.  If I didn’t catch all the game I remember the old SportsChannel in Chicago replaying the condensed versions the following Sunday.  It was then I probably knew I would always be a bigger college football fan than professional football fan.

By the time 1992 came around my fandom grew to the point my grandpa who lived in Northwest Indiana would mail me the local newspapers of the Notre Dame and college football preview sections.

And then 1993 happened and it took me from liking Notre Dame and the first teams I watched with Rick Mirer and Jerome Bettis to a whole next level.  It also went hand in hand with the local high school team that would eventually go unbeaten and win the state championship.

It didn’t get much better than watching the Coal City Coalers dominate on Friday night and then watching Notre Dame do the same on Saturday.

Now Notre Dame has made the home part of that season available on YouTube, posting every home game from the year online.

Every home game from that season is now available and maybe, just maybe, we’ll have some fun with that in the weeks to come at Fighting Irish Wire in our own unique way.  In the meantime here are the links to the 1993 home games:

Sept. 4 – No. 7 Notre Dame vs. Northwestern

Sept. 18 – No. 4 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State

Oct. 9 – No. 4 Notre Dame vs. Pitt

Oct. 23 – No. 2 Notre Dame vs. USC

Nov. 13 – No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Florida State (we’ve been told this day was fun)

Nov. 20 – No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 17 Boston College (this one comes with a warning for all Notre Dame fans – seriously, props to them for having the guts to post it as well.  Had I been in charge I would have “mistakenly” forgotten the link)

So if you’re looking for something to watch all of the 1993 season is now available, at least in terms of home games.  It’d be nice to see them somehow get rights to add the Michigan game and Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M as well.