The year was 1896. The United States had just completed a presidential election, pitting Ohio Governor William McKinley against youthful orator William Jennings Bryan, the first of two such elections that McKinley would win. In the world of sports, the Games of the First Modern Olympiad were staged in Athens, Greece, some 1,500 years after the last Olympic Games of the ancient era. The great Cy Young already had won 192 of his Major League-record 511 wins, Ty Cobb was a nine-year-old boy, still nine years away from his Major League debut, and George Herman "Babe" Ruth was but a baby. At the University of Notre Dame, the finishing touches were being made on the latest addition to the university’s campus, a replica of the Shrine of Our Lady at Lourdes, France. It was 1896, and Notre Dame and Purdue played for the first time on the gridiron.
The Notre Dame "program" was still in its nascent days, having played only 25 games prior to their mid-November match-up with their neighbors from West Lafayette. Meanwhile, Purdue was playing in only its 52nd game. (Interestingly, Notre Dame and Purdue both played their first games in 1887.) Notre Dame's coach, Frank E. Hering, who would go on to later fame as the "Father of Mother’s Day," worked only on a part-time basis. Nevertheless, his three-year tenure at Notre Dame, during which he went 12-6-1 (.658), was the longest for a N.D. coach until 1913 when the school hired Jesse Harper to fill the role in a full-time capacity. Meanwhile, Purdue was enjoying its status as a charter member in the newly founded Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, forerunner to today's Big Ten Conference.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about that first game between these ancient foes was that it was a high-scoring affair. In an era where touchdowns were worth only four points, Notre Dame and Purdue put on what must have been for that era a clinic of offensive football. Purdue won that first game, 28-22. One-hundred and ten years later, the Irish and Boilermakers still play one another annually on the gridiron.
Like Michigan State, Southern Cal, and Navy, Purdue is a regular on Notre Dame football schedules. This Saturday will mark the 78th meeting between the schools, as well as the 61st consecutive season in which they will meet on the gridiron, dating back to 1946. Notre Dame holds a 50-25-2 record against Purdue. Aside from Navy, Notre Dame has played and beaten no opponent as frequently as Purdue. Conversely, no schools other than Southern Cal and Michigan State have beaten the Irish more frequently than Purdue.
Despite pressure from the Big Ten in the 1940s to drop the Irish from their football schedule, officials at Purdue always set aside a place for the Irish, surely a pragmatic move because of Notre Dame's immense popularity and national radio network. Historically, Purdue has scheduled Notre Dame at many times when other Big Ten school flatly refused to do so.
Perhaps because Notre Dame traditionally has owned this series, the games that stand out always seem to be Purdue victories. One such game was the 1950 contest at Notre Dame, in which the #1 Irish lost to Purdue, 28-14, snapping N.D.'s school-record 39-game unbeaten streak. Similarly, in 1968, the schools met again at Notre Dame with the Boilermakers ranked #1 and the Irish ranked #2. Purdue handed the Irish their only home loss ever in a #1 vs. #2 game.
The last time these teams met at Notre Dame, Purdue won for the first time in 30 years at N.D., 41-16, in one of N.D.'s worst home defeats ever. Last year, the Irish exacted revenge at Purdue, winning 49-28 in a game that was not as close as the score indicated.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-The Irish have won four of their first five games only three times since 1996, starting 4-1 in 1996, 5-0 in 2002, and 4-1 last season.
-At least one team has been ranked in this series in 19 of the last 20 seasons (2001).
-Notre Dame holds a 25-11-0 record against Purdue at home (22-10-0 at Notre Dame Stadium).
-The winner of the Notre Dame-Purdue series receives The Shillelagh Trophy, which was donated to the schools in 1957 by the late Joe McLaughlin, a merchant seaman and fan of Notre Dame, who brought the club from Ireland.
-These schools will continue to meet yearly, as they have every year since 1946.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is how things stand after last week:
#6 Michigan defeated unranked Wisconsin at home, 27-7, moving their record to 853-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7451. This week, #6 Michigan travels to unranked Minnesota.
#12 Notre Dame defeated unranked Michigan State on the road, 40-37, moving their record to 814-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7435. This week, #12 Notre Dame hosts unranked Purdue.
Michigan's lead stands at 15/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish look to build on their amazing comeback in last week's game at Michigan State. The game is at 2:30 EDT on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Boilers!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Notre Dame vs. Michigan State
Michigan State has been a member of the Big Ten Conference for many years, but that has not always been the case. Like Notre Dame, Michigan State lobbied for years to gain admission into the Big Ten. Also like Notre Dame, MSU's efforts were thwarted by the academic high-brows of the conference. Consequently, through the years Notre Dame and Michigan State forged a rivalry of sorts in football, playing on and off through the early decades of the twentieth century.
In 1946, the University of Chicago withdrew as a member of the Big Ten, having relinquished its athletic program to pursue a purely academic model. MSU believed that it was the perfect fit for the "Big Nine," but their attempts to join were thwarted again. By this time, things were so bleak for MSU's football program that longtime N.D. athletic director Edward "Moose" Krause offered to schedule a long series of games to help the fledgling program out. As it turned out, MSU's football program benefited greatly from this gesture, as well as from the fact that they were granted membership in the Big Ten in 1950.
Despite their newfound membership status, MSU never forgot the kind act by Krause. Despite attempts to get MSU to join other Big Ten schools in refusing to schedule Notre Dame, the Spartans continued to renew the series with the Irish, a series which continues to be played regularly to this day. Little could anyone have known that these dealings in the late 1940s and early 1950s would set the stage for one of the most famous college football games ever played.
Throughout the 1950s the programs of Notre Dame and Michigan State were headed in different directions. Frank Leahy left as N.D.'s head coach after one final undefeated campaign in 1953, his sixth in eleven seasons, and his departure ushered in an era of mediocre football under the Golden Dome. In the first ten post-Leahy years, the Irish went an unremarkable 51-48-0 (.515), one of the worst ten-year stretches in the long history of Irish football.
Meanwhile, State had hired Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty in 1954 to lead its football program. Daugherty took over a program in 1954 that was two years removed from a national championship. He would go on to coach nineteen years at MSU, still a record for longevity at the school. Under Daugherty, the Spartans would win 62% of their games, two Big Ten championships, as well as a share of the national championship in 1965. To underline the varying fortunes of these programs, in 1956, the #2 Spartans delivered a 47-14 shellacking to the unranked Irish at Notre Dame, one of the worst losses in Irish football history.
Things took a turn for the better for the Irish with the hiring of Northwestern coach Ara Parseghian following N.D.'s disastrous 2-7-0 campaign in 1963. Parseghian coached Notre Dame back to national prominence in his very first season in 1964, leading the Irish to a 9-0-0 start, before a season-ending loss at Southern Cal ruined a national championship. Making the most of the talent he had inherited, Parseghian delivered a 7-2-1 encore in his sophomore season.
By 1966 Parseghian and Daugherty had put together two of the most talented teams in the history of college football. Both rosters were filled with All-Americans and future NFL stars. Notre Dame's offense, led by QB Terry Hanratty and HB Nick Eddy, was heralded far and wide that year, and the defense was one of the great units in history. In a ten-game season in 1966, the Irish defense, led by Pete Duranko, Jim Lynch, and Alan Page, gave up a mere 24 points. State's defense was highly touted as well, featuring future NFL player and star of Police Academy movies, Bubba Smith, as well as George Webster.
As the season progressed, everyone could see the titanic match-up between these two schools looming. Entering the November 19 game, both schools had perfect records: #2 MSU 9-0-0; #1 N.D. 8-0-0. The hype surrounding the game was palpable. Five-dollar tickets to the game were scalped for $100 or more each, and that was if one could find a willing seller. NCAA rules restricting the national broadcast of the game were lifted because demand to see the game from coast to coast was so great. The 76,000 spectators in the stadium were treated to one of the hardest-hitting, smash-mouth games of football in history.
The Spartans stormed out to an early 10-0 lead, an amazing accomplishment against a defense that had only allowed 14 points all season. Things took a turn for the worse for the Irish when Hanratty, mistakenly hearing a HB draw play call from Parseghian as a QB draw, suffered a separated shoulder when he was creamed by the Spartan defense as he ran the ball. If the Irish were to come back, backup QB Coley O'Brien would have to do it. Just before the half, O'Brien completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to RB Bob Gladieux, who had replaced Eddy. (Eddy was unable to play because he had reinjured his shoulder after falling down icy steps coming off the team's train.). Early in the fourth quarter, Irish kicker Joe Azzaro tied the game with a field goal, 10-10.
From that point forward, the game would devolve into two defenses trying to outplay each other. In the closing minutes of the game, Daugherty opted to punt the ball to the Irish instead of going for the win. With 90 seconds remaining, Parseghian, his offense in tatters with his two biggest stars out of the game and his backup QB in danger of going into a diabetic coma, decided to run out the remaining time on the clock and play for the tie. Parseghian is still associated with the controversial decision to this day, even though he had played it safe, just as Daugherty had done. His rationale was that the Irish had come from too far back to risk losing the game. Additionally, the Irish had a remaining game the following week (at Southern Cal), and if they played well enough, they could claim the national championship. His decision would prove to be right, as the Irish went on to beat the Trojans 51-0, resulting in the program's eighth national title and first since the Leahy Era.
Forty years have passed and "The Game of the Century" has stood the test of time as one of the great contests in college football history. The fact that the game ended in a tie has lent it an air of fame that it would not enjoy had a winner been determined. Few other contests that the Irish have played measure up to the scope of this game, and all games in the Notre Dame-Michigan State series continue to be played in the long shadow of the 1966 contest.
Few series for Notre Dame date back as far as Michigan State. Since 1897, N.D. and MSU have been regular opponents. Aside from Navy (79), Southern Cal (77), and Purdue (77), no school has played Notre Dame as frequently as Michigan State. This weekend's game will mark the 70th meeting between the schools. Notre Dame traditionally has owned the series, leading MSU 43-25-1, though the Spartans have won seven of the last nine games, dating back to 1997.
In recent years, the schools have played a number of close games against one another. Since 1999, five of the last six games have been decided in the game's final minutes. Last season, the Irish came from 21 points down to send the game into overtime before the Spartans won, 44-41. The Spartans then proceeded to plant an MSU flag at mid-field in Notre Dame Stadium.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-Two of Notre Dame's greatest coaches served as assistants at Michigan State. Frank Leahy (1941-43, 1946-53) was an assistant in the 1930s for Jim Crowley, a Notre Dame graduate and member of the famed "Four Horsemen" backfield. Dan Devine (1975-80) served on Duffy Daugherty's staff in the 1950s.
-Notre Dame has won two straight games at Spartan Stadium.
-Navy (69), Purdue (50), and Pittsburgh (44) are the only opponents that N.D. has beaten more frequently than MSU. Only Southern Cal (30) has beaten N.D. more than MSU.
-Notre Dame is 17-13-1 in games played at Michigan State. In games played at Spartan Stadium, the Irish are 15-11-1.
-The Irish are 6-0 on the road under Charlie Weis.
-The winner of the Notre Dame-Michigan State game receives the Megaphone Trophy, sponsored by the Notre Dame and Michigan State clubs of Detroit.
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting through the 2011 season.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#11 Michigan defeated #2 Notre Dame on the road, 47-21, moving their record to 852-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7449. This week, #6 Michigan hosts unranked Wisconsin.
#2 Notre Dame lost to #11 Michigan at home, 47-21, dropping their record to 813-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7433. This week, #12 Notre Dame travels to unranked Michigan State.
Michigan's lead expands to 16/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish have a lot to prove after last week's showing. The game is at 8:00 p.m. EDT on ABC.
Go Irish! Beat Spartans!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
In 1946, the University of Chicago withdrew as a member of the Big Ten, having relinquished its athletic program to pursue a purely academic model. MSU believed that it was the perfect fit for the "Big Nine," but their attempts to join were thwarted again. By this time, things were so bleak for MSU's football program that longtime N.D. athletic director Edward "Moose" Krause offered to schedule a long series of games to help the fledgling program out. As it turned out, MSU's football program benefited greatly from this gesture, as well as from the fact that they were granted membership in the Big Ten in 1950.
Despite their newfound membership status, MSU never forgot the kind act by Krause. Despite attempts to get MSU to join other Big Ten schools in refusing to schedule Notre Dame, the Spartans continued to renew the series with the Irish, a series which continues to be played regularly to this day. Little could anyone have known that these dealings in the late 1940s and early 1950s would set the stage for one of the most famous college football games ever played.
Throughout the 1950s the programs of Notre Dame and Michigan State were headed in different directions. Frank Leahy left as N.D.'s head coach after one final undefeated campaign in 1953, his sixth in eleven seasons, and his departure ushered in an era of mediocre football under the Golden Dome. In the first ten post-Leahy years, the Irish went an unremarkable 51-48-0 (.515), one of the worst ten-year stretches in the long history of Irish football.
Meanwhile, State had hired Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty in 1954 to lead its football program. Daugherty took over a program in 1954 that was two years removed from a national championship. He would go on to coach nineteen years at MSU, still a record for longevity at the school. Under Daugherty, the Spartans would win 62% of their games, two Big Ten championships, as well as a share of the national championship in 1965. To underline the varying fortunes of these programs, in 1956, the #2 Spartans delivered a 47-14 shellacking to the unranked Irish at Notre Dame, one of the worst losses in Irish football history.
Things took a turn for the better for the Irish with the hiring of Northwestern coach Ara Parseghian following N.D.'s disastrous 2-7-0 campaign in 1963. Parseghian coached Notre Dame back to national prominence in his very first season in 1964, leading the Irish to a 9-0-0 start, before a season-ending loss at Southern Cal ruined a national championship. Making the most of the talent he had inherited, Parseghian delivered a 7-2-1 encore in his sophomore season.
By 1966 Parseghian and Daugherty had put together two of the most talented teams in the history of college football. Both rosters were filled with All-Americans and future NFL stars. Notre Dame's offense, led by QB Terry Hanratty and HB Nick Eddy, was heralded far and wide that year, and the defense was one of the great units in history. In a ten-game season in 1966, the Irish defense, led by Pete Duranko, Jim Lynch, and Alan Page, gave up a mere 24 points. State's defense was highly touted as well, featuring future NFL player and star of Police Academy movies, Bubba Smith, as well as George Webster.
As the season progressed, everyone could see the titanic match-up between these two schools looming. Entering the November 19 game, both schools had perfect records: #2 MSU 9-0-0; #1 N.D. 8-0-0. The hype surrounding the game was palpable. Five-dollar tickets to the game were scalped for $100 or more each, and that was if one could find a willing seller. NCAA rules restricting the national broadcast of the game were lifted because demand to see the game from coast to coast was so great. The 76,000 spectators in the stadium were treated to one of the hardest-hitting, smash-mouth games of football in history.
The Spartans stormed out to an early 10-0 lead, an amazing accomplishment against a defense that had only allowed 14 points all season. Things took a turn for the worse for the Irish when Hanratty, mistakenly hearing a HB draw play call from Parseghian as a QB draw, suffered a separated shoulder when he was creamed by the Spartan defense as he ran the ball. If the Irish were to come back, backup QB Coley O'Brien would have to do it. Just before the half, O'Brien completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to RB Bob Gladieux, who had replaced Eddy. (Eddy was unable to play because he had reinjured his shoulder after falling down icy steps coming off the team's train.). Early in the fourth quarter, Irish kicker Joe Azzaro tied the game with a field goal, 10-10.
From that point forward, the game would devolve into two defenses trying to outplay each other. In the closing minutes of the game, Daugherty opted to punt the ball to the Irish instead of going for the win. With 90 seconds remaining, Parseghian, his offense in tatters with his two biggest stars out of the game and his backup QB in danger of going into a diabetic coma, decided to run out the remaining time on the clock and play for the tie. Parseghian is still associated with the controversial decision to this day, even though he had played it safe, just as Daugherty had done. His rationale was that the Irish had come from too far back to risk losing the game. Additionally, the Irish had a remaining game the following week (at Southern Cal), and if they played well enough, they could claim the national championship. His decision would prove to be right, as the Irish went on to beat the Trojans 51-0, resulting in the program's eighth national title and first since the Leahy Era.
Forty years have passed and "The Game of the Century" has stood the test of time as one of the great contests in college football history. The fact that the game ended in a tie has lent it an air of fame that it would not enjoy had a winner been determined. Few other contests that the Irish have played measure up to the scope of this game, and all games in the Notre Dame-Michigan State series continue to be played in the long shadow of the 1966 contest.
Few series for Notre Dame date back as far as Michigan State. Since 1897, N.D. and MSU have been regular opponents. Aside from Navy (79), Southern Cal (77), and Purdue (77), no school has played Notre Dame as frequently as Michigan State. This weekend's game will mark the 70th meeting between the schools. Notre Dame traditionally has owned the series, leading MSU 43-25-1, though the Spartans have won seven of the last nine games, dating back to 1997.
In recent years, the schools have played a number of close games against one another. Since 1999, five of the last six games have been decided in the game's final minutes. Last season, the Irish came from 21 points down to send the game into overtime before the Spartans won, 44-41. The Spartans then proceeded to plant an MSU flag at mid-field in Notre Dame Stadium.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-Two of Notre Dame's greatest coaches served as assistants at Michigan State. Frank Leahy (1941-43, 1946-53) was an assistant in the 1930s for Jim Crowley, a Notre Dame graduate and member of the famed "Four Horsemen" backfield. Dan Devine (1975-80) served on Duffy Daugherty's staff in the 1950s.
-Notre Dame has won two straight games at Spartan Stadium.
-Navy (69), Purdue (50), and Pittsburgh (44) are the only opponents that N.D. has beaten more frequently than MSU. Only Southern Cal (30) has beaten N.D. more than MSU.
-Notre Dame is 17-13-1 in games played at Michigan State. In games played at Spartan Stadium, the Irish are 15-11-1.
-The Irish are 6-0 on the road under Charlie Weis.
-The winner of the Notre Dame-Michigan State game receives the Megaphone Trophy, sponsored by the Notre Dame and Michigan State clubs of Detroit.
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting through the 2011 season.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#11 Michigan defeated #2 Notre Dame on the road, 47-21, moving their record to 852-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7449. This week, #6 Michigan hosts unranked Wisconsin.
#2 Notre Dame lost to #11 Michigan at home, 47-21, dropping their record to 813-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7433. This week, #12 Notre Dame travels to unranked Michigan State.
Michigan's lead expands to 16/10,000ths of a point.
The Irish have a lot to prove after last week's showing. The game is at 8:00 p.m. EDT on ABC.
Go Irish! Beat Spartans!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Notre Dame vs. Michigan
In 1909, Notre Dame was on the brink of breaking through as a major power in college football. In the midst of a 13-game winning streak, the boys of Notre Dame traveled to Ann Arbor to play the Wolverines of Michigan. Led by the inimitable Fielding "Hurry Up" Yost, Michigan boasted (emphasis on the word "boasted") some of the great teams of that era, as Yost's teams routinely defeated their opponents by 60 points or more. Notre Dame was a team that always gave Michigan fits, however.
The plucky bunch of middle-class Irish kids from the small Catholic school always played the Wolverines tougher than expected. In 1908, Michigan had barely escaped losing to N.D. at home (Michigan never deigned to come to South Bend in those days), winning 12-6. In that 1909 contest Notre Dame was ready for the Wolverines. Michigan had won all eight of the previous contests in the series, dating back to N.D.'s very first game in 1887, but there had been a number of near misses. N.D. was led by coach Frank "Shorty" Longman, a graduate of Michigan and one of Yost's former players. In a game that may have given birth to the "Fighting Irish" nickname (various sources disagree to the exact etymology), Notre Dame came to Ann Arbor in early November and proceeded to run over the Wolverines. Harry "Red" Miller, whose son Creighton played for Frank Leahy in the 1940s, scored the game's only touchdown and gave Notre Dame its first-ever victory over Michigan, 11-3. For Longman, he was "bereft of his senses" at becoming the first Yost pupil to beat his teacher.
By all accounts this turn in the series should have marked the start of a new era in the rivalry. The teams were on an even keel now. Always a proud man, however, Yost was deeply upset by the loss. His anger undoubtedly was exacerbated by the sight of Longman, having returned to his home in Ann Arbor in the off-season, walking around town with his pet bulldog, while his dog wore a jacket trumpeting the 11-3 win over Michigan. Always looking to belittle Notre Dame, Yost later claimed that the game was merely a "scrimmage," and that it did not count.
The following season, Notre Dame, still unable to get Michigan to play in South Bend, returned to Ann Arbor. There, the night before the teams were to play, Yost said that the game had been canceled. Never giving an adequate reason for the cancellation, Yost left the N.D. players to return home to South Bend. The schools would not play again for another 32 years.
As if not scheduling Notre Dame was not enough, Yost used his considerable clout to implement a conference-wide boycott of N.D. shortly after this bizarre episode. The freeze-out could have spelled doom had the N.D. administration not acted quickly. Ironically, Michigan and the Big Ten, in trying to stifle Notre Dame, actually set the school down a path toward unparalleled popularity in the American psyche.
As Yost aged, his bitter feelings toward Notre Dame eased, and, thanks to some sweet-talking from N.D. coach and athletic director Elmer Layden in the mid-1930s, Michigan and N.D. scheduled a home-and-home series for 1942 and 1943. The teams split that series, but Notre Dame beat Michigan so badly in 1943 that Michigan coach Fritz Crisler refused to schedule the Irish again, claiming that they were a dirty team. The schools would not play again for another 35 years.
Once Crisler retired in the late 1960s, the schools finally scheduled a resumption of the series. Since 1978, Notre Dame and Michigan have been regular opponents on one another's schedules, playing some of the great games in the history of both programs. Courtesy of its 8-0 record against Notre Dame from 1887 to 1908, Michigan still holds the lead in this series, 18-14-1. Since the resumption of the series in 1978, however, N.D. holds a 12-9-1 advantage. Despite the litany of great and memorable games between the schools, still an antagonism exists, even after all these years. Recently, former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, never a fan of the Notre Dame-Michigan series, was quoted as saying that Michigan doesn't need Notre Dame, but Notre Dame needs Michigan, and that the Wolverines should drop the Irish from their schedule. In the spirit of fairness, it should be noted that Schembechler's record against the Irish was 4-6-0.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
History abounds in this series. Michigan was not only the opponent in Notre Dame's very first game back in November 1887, but was also N.D.'s opponent in the program's second and third games, contested on back-to-back days in April 1888. This series was the first to feature a match-up of #1 and #2 teams in the Associated Press poll when the schools met in 1943. Interestingly, the teams met in another #1 vs. #2 match-up in 1989, when Raghib Ismail ran back two kickoffs for touchdowns in a 23-19 victory over UM. The series features two of the most famous marching bands in the nation and undoubtedly the two most famous fight songs. The schools' stadiums are very similar, not surprising because Michigan Stadium served as the model for Notre Dame Stadium when the university decided to build a football facility in the 1920s.
Two years ago, Michigan led at the half at Notre Dame Stadium, but the Irish stormed back to claim victory, 28-20. Last season, the Irish traveled to Ann Arbor and manhandled the Wolverines, downing them, 17-10, in a game much more lopsided than the final score indicated.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-Since 1985, 14 of the 17 series games played have been decided by ten points or less (1987: ND 26, UM 7; 1998: ND 36, UM 20; 2003: UM 38, ND 0).
-The Irish have won three out of the last four games in this series, dating back to 2002. Overall, the schools have split the last eight games, dating back to 1994.
-At least one of these schools has been ranked every time they have played since the AP poll was instituted in 1936. Both teams have been ranked in 20 of those 25 games, and at least one school has been in the top ten in the last sixteen games.
-The lower ranked team has won six of the last nine games in this series.
-This year is the first time that Notre Dame will be the higher ranked team in this game since 1994. That game was Michigan's last win at Notre Dame Stadium (26-24).
-The Wolverines are 0-6 in their last six road openers, and have won only one road opener in their last eight seasons (1999 at Syracuse).
-Charlie Weis is the first coach since Knute Rockne (1918-30) to start his first two seasons at Notre Dame with 2-0 records.
-Notre Dame is in the top five for the third consecutive week. The last time that occurred in one season was 1993, when the Irish were in the top five after their second game, a 27-23 win at #3 Michigan, through their season-ending Cotton Bowl win against #7 Texas A&M.
-This season marks only the third time since 1974 that the Irish have been in the top five for each of the first three weeks of a college football season. It also occurred in 1989 and 1990 during the zenith of the Holtz Era.
-Charlie Weis is looking to become the first Irish coach to go 12-3 through his first 15 games at N.D. since Ara Parseghian (1964-74). Parseghian coached nineteen games at N.D. before losing his third game (a 12-3 home loss at the hands of #1 Michigan State in 1965).
-Notre Dame is 7-4-1 against Michigan at Notre Dame Stadium. Michigan has only won at Notre Dame twice since 1978 (1986 and 1994).
-Michigan (18-14-1) is one of only seven current Division I-A schools with a winning record against Notre Dame. The others are: Nebraska (8-7-1); Florida State (4-2-0); Ohio State (3-2-0); Oregon State (2-0-0); Georgia (1-0-0); and North Carolina State (1-0-0).
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting annually through 2011.
-These schools rank #1 and #2 in all-time winning percentage and all-time wins.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#10 Michigan defeated unranked Central Michigan at home, 41-17, moving their record to 851-250-36 for a winning percentage of .7446. This week, #11 Michigan travels to #2 Notre Dame.
#4 Notre Dame defeated #19 Penn State at home, 41-17, moving their record to 813-266-42 for a winning percentage of .7440. This week, #2 Notre Dame hosts #11 Michigan.
Michigan leads Notre Dame by 67/100,000ths of a point. As if the stakes were not high enough in this game, the winner will claim the title as college football's winningest program.
The game kicks off at 3:30 EDT on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Wolverines!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
The plucky bunch of middle-class Irish kids from the small Catholic school always played the Wolverines tougher than expected. In 1908, Michigan had barely escaped losing to N.D. at home (Michigan never deigned to come to South Bend in those days), winning 12-6. In that 1909 contest Notre Dame was ready for the Wolverines. Michigan had won all eight of the previous contests in the series, dating back to N.D.'s very first game in 1887, but there had been a number of near misses. N.D. was led by coach Frank "Shorty" Longman, a graduate of Michigan and one of Yost's former players. In a game that may have given birth to the "Fighting Irish" nickname (various sources disagree to the exact etymology), Notre Dame came to Ann Arbor in early November and proceeded to run over the Wolverines. Harry "Red" Miller, whose son Creighton played for Frank Leahy in the 1940s, scored the game's only touchdown and gave Notre Dame its first-ever victory over Michigan, 11-3. For Longman, he was "bereft of his senses" at becoming the first Yost pupil to beat his teacher.
By all accounts this turn in the series should have marked the start of a new era in the rivalry. The teams were on an even keel now. Always a proud man, however, Yost was deeply upset by the loss. His anger undoubtedly was exacerbated by the sight of Longman, having returned to his home in Ann Arbor in the off-season, walking around town with his pet bulldog, while his dog wore a jacket trumpeting the 11-3 win over Michigan. Always looking to belittle Notre Dame, Yost later claimed that the game was merely a "scrimmage," and that it did not count.
The following season, Notre Dame, still unable to get Michigan to play in South Bend, returned to Ann Arbor. There, the night before the teams were to play, Yost said that the game had been canceled. Never giving an adequate reason for the cancellation, Yost left the N.D. players to return home to South Bend. The schools would not play again for another 32 years.
As if not scheduling Notre Dame was not enough, Yost used his considerable clout to implement a conference-wide boycott of N.D. shortly after this bizarre episode. The freeze-out could have spelled doom had the N.D. administration not acted quickly. Ironically, Michigan and the Big Ten, in trying to stifle Notre Dame, actually set the school down a path toward unparalleled popularity in the American psyche.
As Yost aged, his bitter feelings toward Notre Dame eased, and, thanks to some sweet-talking from N.D. coach and athletic director Elmer Layden in the mid-1930s, Michigan and N.D. scheduled a home-and-home series for 1942 and 1943. The teams split that series, but Notre Dame beat Michigan so badly in 1943 that Michigan coach Fritz Crisler refused to schedule the Irish again, claiming that they were a dirty team. The schools would not play again for another 35 years.
Once Crisler retired in the late 1960s, the schools finally scheduled a resumption of the series. Since 1978, Notre Dame and Michigan have been regular opponents on one another's schedules, playing some of the great games in the history of both programs. Courtesy of its 8-0 record against Notre Dame from 1887 to 1908, Michigan still holds the lead in this series, 18-14-1. Since the resumption of the series in 1978, however, N.D. holds a 12-9-1 advantage. Despite the litany of great and memorable games between the schools, still an antagonism exists, even after all these years. Recently, former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, never a fan of the Notre Dame-Michigan series, was quoted as saying that Michigan doesn't need Notre Dame, but Notre Dame needs Michigan, and that the Wolverines should drop the Irish from their schedule. In the spirit of fairness, it should be noted that Schembechler's record against the Irish was 4-6-0.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
History abounds in this series. Michigan was not only the opponent in Notre Dame's very first game back in November 1887, but was also N.D.'s opponent in the program's second and third games, contested on back-to-back days in April 1888. This series was the first to feature a match-up of #1 and #2 teams in the Associated Press poll when the schools met in 1943. Interestingly, the teams met in another #1 vs. #2 match-up in 1989, when Raghib Ismail ran back two kickoffs for touchdowns in a 23-19 victory over UM. The series features two of the most famous marching bands in the nation and undoubtedly the two most famous fight songs. The schools' stadiums are very similar, not surprising because Michigan Stadium served as the model for Notre Dame Stadium when the university decided to build a football facility in the 1920s.
Two years ago, Michigan led at the half at Notre Dame Stadium, but the Irish stormed back to claim victory, 28-20. Last season, the Irish traveled to Ann Arbor and manhandled the Wolverines, downing them, 17-10, in a game much more lopsided than the final score indicated.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-Since 1985, 14 of the 17 series games played have been decided by ten points or less (1987: ND 26, UM 7; 1998: ND 36, UM 20; 2003: UM 38, ND 0).
-The Irish have won three out of the last four games in this series, dating back to 2002. Overall, the schools have split the last eight games, dating back to 1994.
-At least one of these schools has been ranked every time they have played since the AP poll was instituted in 1936. Both teams have been ranked in 20 of those 25 games, and at least one school has been in the top ten in the last sixteen games.
-The lower ranked team has won six of the last nine games in this series.
-This year is the first time that Notre Dame will be the higher ranked team in this game since 1994. That game was Michigan's last win at Notre Dame Stadium (26-24).
-The Wolverines are 0-6 in their last six road openers, and have won only one road opener in their last eight seasons (1999 at Syracuse).
-Charlie Weis is the first coach since Knute Rockne (1918-30) to start his first two seasons at Notre Dame with 2-0 records.
-Notre Dame is in the top five for the third consecutive week. The last time that occurred in one season was 1993, when the Irish were in the top five after their second game, a 27-23 win at #3 Michigan, through their season-ending Cotton Bowl win against #7 Texas A&M.
-This season marks only the third time since 1974 that the Irish have been in the top five for each of the first three weeks of a college football season. It also occurred in 1989 and 1990 during the zenith of the Holtz Era.
-Charlie Weis is looking to become the first Irish coach to go 12-3 through his first 15 games at N.D. since Ara Parseghian (1964-74). Parseghian coached nineteen games at N.D. before losing his third game (a 12-3 home loss at the hands of #1 Michigan State in 1965).
-Notre Dame is 7-4-1 against Michigan at Notre Dame Stadium. Michigan has only won at Notre Dame twice since 1978 (1986 and 1994).
-Michigan (18-14-1) is one of only seven current Division I-A schools with a winning record against Notre Dame. The others are: Nebraska (8-7-1); Florida State (4-2-0); Ohio State (3-2-0); Oregon State (2-0-0); Georgia (1-0-0); and North Carolina State (1-0-0).
-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting annually through 2011.
-These schools rank #1 and #2 in all-time winning percentage and all-time wins.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#10 Michigan defeated unranked Central Michigan at home, 41-17, moving their record to 851-250-36 for a winning percentage of .7446. This week, #11 Michigan travels to #2 Notre Dame.
#4 Notre Dame defeated #19 Penn State at home, 41-17, moving their record to 813-266-42 for a winning percentage of .7440. This week, #2 Notre Dame hosts #11 Michigan.
Michigan leads Notre Dame by 67/100,000ths of a point. As if the stakes were not high enough in this game, the winner will claim the title as college football's winningest program.
The game kicks off at 3:30 EDT on NBC.
Go Irish! Beat Wolverines!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Notre Dame vs. Penn State
In modern times, the independence of Notre Dame football is one of the major points of identity for students, alumni, and fans of the Fighting Irish. What other program could "go it alone," while turning down offers of membership from the Big Ten, and perhaps other conferences? What other program could have its own national television contract? Indeed, the independence of Notre Dame's football program is one of its most appealing aspects. That which makes N.D. reviled by so many seems to make the football program even more endearing to those who love it.
This wasn't always the case, however. Notre Dame for many years longed to join a conference. In the early decades of the twentieth century, the Holy Cross fathers made several abortive attempts at landing membership in the highly-respected "Western Conference," now known as the Big Ten. Their attempts were always thwarted by the academic highbrow communities at Big Ten universities. Rejecting Notre Dame's attempts time and again, Holy Cross administrators had to listen as their teaching methods came under condescending criticism from administrators at other schools.
These difficulties extended to the athletic fields as well. In that era of limited transportation and communication, the Big Ten members began actively choosing not to place Notre Dame on their athletic schedules. This amounted to an attempt to suffocate Notre Dame football and other sports while they were in the cradle. The situation became so grave that in late 1912, the university hired its first truly full-time head football coach, Jess Harper. Harper, who would also coach basketball, track, and baseball at Notre Dame, had extensive connections with the Big Ten, given that he had played football at the University of Chicago for Amos Alonzo Stagg. The hope was that Harper would be able to thaw the freeze-out that the Big Ten had imposed on Notre Dame.
Things did not work out that way, however, and Harper had to shift his focus in a different direction. Instead of limiting Notre Dame to playing in the Midwest against other small schools, in his first season at the helm, Harper took his football squad around the country to play an audacious series of games. That 1913 season featured one of Notre Dame's first landmark victories, when they won at Army, 35-13, as well as an impressive victory at Texas. That season sowed the seeds for the success that Notre Dame would enjoy in the 1920s under Knute Rockne. That season would also sow the seeds for one of N.D.'s great football rivalries. During that season, the boys of Notre Dame traveled for the first time to play the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Notre Dame and Penn State share certain things in common despite their distance from one another and their differences in size and composition. Both schools have tremendous football traditions, and are frequently associated with classic simplicity. Just looking at the teams' uniforms, one can see that the programs exude tradition. Until 1993, when Penn State joined the Big Ten, both schools shared their status as football independents as other independents joined conferences. Historically, Notre Dame and Penn State have fought over many recruits from the talent-rich state of Pennsylvania. Indeed, some of Notre Dame's greatest players, like Johnny Lujack and Joe Montana, came to South Bend from Pennsylvania.
Despite the history between the teams, it has been fourteen years since the Fighting Irish and the Nittany Lions have met on the gridiron. It is a series that has an interesting history, but a rivalry that has been largely overlooked in recent years as the teams have not scheduled one another. Overall, the series stands exactly tied, 8-8-1, with the Irish holding the edge in games played at Notre Dame, 4-3-0. The schools only played a total of four games against one another through 1975. In 1976, the #15 Irish and #20 Lions met in the Gator Bowl, which Notre Dame won, 20-9, generating tremendous interest among the fan bases of both schools. During those days, Penn State coach and athletic director Joe Paterno was looking to shore up the Lions' notoriously weak football schedules. Given that Penn State was one of the dwindling number of major independent football schools, Paterno sought out N.D. athletic director Moose Krause. The two agreed to an ambitious 12-year home-and-home contract to start in 1981.
From 1981 through 1992, the schools played every year, taking part in some of the most remarkable games that fans of either school remember. Lions fans remember fondly #18 PSU knocking off the #1 Irish at home in 1990, the second time that a #1-ranked Notre Dame team lost at home that year. Irish fans, on the other hand, hearken back to the famous "Snow Bowl" game of 1992, when Reggie Brooks pulled in a two-point conversion pass from Rick Mirer with seconds remaining to give N.D. the 17-16 victory, in a frigid, tense, and hard-fought game. The Snow Bowl stands as the most recent chapter in this fascinating series, which will be renewed once again this weekend.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-The Irish are 14-5-1 (.763) in home openers since the start of the Holtz Era in 1986. The losses came in 1986 to Michigan (24-23), in 1994 to Michigan (26-24), in 1995 to Northwestern (17-15), in 2001 to Michigan State (17-10), and last season to Michigan State (44-41 in OT). The one tie came against Michigan (17-17) in 1992.
-On Saturday, Notre Dame Stadium will open for its 77th season of football, and its tenth season since its expansion. Since opening in October 1930, N.D. Stadium has seen the Irish compile a home record of 292-89-5 (.765). Since the expansion, N.D.'s home record is 39-16 (.709), a record which reflects on the level of coaching talent the Irish have had during most of the post-expansion years.
-This weekend marks the second consecutive week that Notre Dame will play while ranked in the AP top five. The last time that occurred was during the first two games of the 1994 season.
-The Irish are 82-25-1 (.764) at home since the start of the program's last national championship season (1988).
-Saturday marks the first time that the Irish and Lions will play in September. The schools have traditionally played late-season games against one another. Before this year, the earliest that Notre Dame and Penn State played in a season was in 1926, when the schools played on October 16.
-The fourteen-year gap between games in this series is due partly to Penn State joining the Big Ten Conference following the 1992 season. Before that, they, like Notre Dame, were a football independent.
-Notre Dame has won three out of the last five games in this series, dating back to 1988.
-Saturday's game will be the fifth consecutive meeting in the series in which both teams are ranked.
-The Nittany Lions have currently won six consecutive games, dating back to last season.
-Among current Division I-A schools, Notre Dame and Penn State rank #2 and #10 in all-time winning percentage and #2 and #7 in all-time wins, respectively.
-Penn State's mascot, the "Nittany Lion," is a reference to the mountain lions that once roamed Mount Nittany near the campus of Penn State University.
-These teams will meet again next September in State College, PA.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#14 Michigan defeated unranked Vanderbilt at home, 27-7, moving their record to 850-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7444. This week, #10 Michigan hosts Central Michigan.
#2 Notre Dame defeated unranked Georgia Tech on the road, 14-10, moving their record to 812-266-42 for a winning percentage of .7438. This week, #4 Notre Dame hosts #19 Penn State.
Michigan's lead stands at 68/100,000ths of a point.
The game kicks off at 3:30 EDT on NBC. For those of you on campus, Erin and I will be hosting our first annual tailgater on Saturday morning. We'll be in the tower lot, south of the Joyce Center lots, by mid-morning.
Go Irish! Beat Lions!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
This wasn't always the case, however. Notre Dame for many years longed to join a conference. In the early decades of the twentieth century, the Holy Cross fathers made several abortive attempts at landing membership in the highly-respected "Western Conference," now known as the Big Ten. Their attempts were always thwarted by the academic highbrow communities at Big Ten universities. Rejecting Notre Dame's attempts time and again, Holy Cross administrators had to listen as their teaching methods came under condescending criticism from administrators at other schools.
These difficulties extended to the athletic fields as well. In that era of limited transportation and communication, the Big Ten members began actively choosing not to place Notre Dame on their athletic schedules. This amounted to an attempt to suffocate Notre Dame football and other sports while they were in the cradle. The situation became so grave that in late 1912, the university hired its first truly full-time head football coach, Jess Harper. Harper, who would also coach basketball, track, and baseball at Notre Dame, had extensive connections with the Big Ten, given that he had played football at the University of Chicago for Amos Alonzo Stagg. The hope was that Harper would be able to thaw the freeze-out that the Big Ten had imposed on Notre Dame.
Things did not work out that way, however, and Harper had to shift his focus in a different direction. Instead of limiting Notre Dame to playing in the Midwest against other small schools, in his first season at the helm, Harper took his football squad around the country to play an audacious series of games. That 1913 season featured one of Notre Dame's first landmark victories, when they won at Army, 35-13, as well as an impressive victory at Texas. That season sowed the seeds for the success that Notre Dame would enjoy in the 1920s under Knute Rockne. That season would also sow the seeds for one of N.D.'s great football rivalries. During that season, the boys of Notre Dame traveled for the first time to play the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Notre Dame and Penn State share certain things in common despite their distance from one another and their differences in size and composition. Both schools have tremendous football traditions, and are frequently associated with classic simplicity. Just looking at the teams' uniforms, one can see that the programs exude tradition. Until 1993, when Penn State joined the Big Ten, both schools shared their status as football independents as other independents joined conferences. Historically, Notre Dame and Penn State have fought over many recruits from the talent-rich state of Pennsylvania. Indeed, some of Notre Dame's greatest players, like Johnny Lujack and Joe Montana, came to South Bend from Pennsylvania.
Despite the history between the teams, it has been fourteen years since the Fighting Irish and the Nittany Lions have met on the gridiron. It is a series that has an interesting history, but a rivalry that has been largely overlooked in recent years as the teams have not scheduled one another. Overall, the series stands exactly tied, 8-8-1, with the Irish holding the edge in games played at Notre Dame, 4-3-0. The schools only played a total of four games against one another through 1975. In 1976, the #15 Irish and #20 Lions met in the Gator Bowl, which Notre Dame won, 20-9, generating tremendous interest among the fan bases of both schools. During those days, Penn State coach and athletic director Joe Paterno was looking to shore up the Lions' notoriously weak football schedules. Given that Penn State was one of the dwindling number of major independent football schools, Paterno sought out N.D. athletic director Moose Krause. The two agreed to an ambitious 12-year home-and-home contract to start in 1981.
From 1981 through 1992, the schools played every year, taking part in some of the most remarkable games that fans of either school remember. Lions fans remember fondly #18 PSU knocking off the #1 Irish at home in 1990, the second time that a #1-ranked Notre Dame team lost at home that year. Irish fans, on the other hand, hearken back to the famous "Snow Bowl" game of 1992, when Reggie Brooks pulled in a two-point conversion pass from Rick Mirer with seconds remaining to give N.D. the 17-16 victory, in a frigid, tense, and hard-fought game. The Snow Bowl stands as the most recent chapter in this fascinating series, which will be renewed once again this weekend.
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Other notes:
-The Irish are 14-5-1 (.763) in home openers since the start of the Holtz Era in 1986. The losses came in 1986 to Michigan (24-23), in 1994 to Michigan (26-24), in 1995 to Northwestern (17-15), in 2001 to Michigan State (17-10), and last season to Michigan State (44-41 in OT). The one tie came against Michigan (17-17) in 1992.
-On Saturday, Notre Dame Stadium will open for its 77th season of football, and its tenth season since its expansion. Since opening in October 1930, N.D. Stadium has seen the Irish compile a home record of 292-89-5 (.765). Since the expansion, N.D.'s home record is 39-16 (.709), a record which reflects on the level of coaching talent the Irish have had during most of the post-expansion years.
-This weekend marks the second consecutive week that Notre Dame will play while ranked in the AP top five. The last time that occurred was during the first two games of the 1994 season.
-The Irish are 82-25-1 (.764) at home since the start of the program's last national championship season (1988).
-Saturday marks the first time that the Irish and Lions will play in September. The schools have traditionally played late-season games against one another. Before this year, the earliest that Notre Dame and Penn State played in a season was in 1926, when the schools played on October 16.
-The fourteen-year gap between games in this series is due partly to Penn State joining the Big Ten Conference following the 1992 season. Before that, they, like Notre Dame, were a football independent.
-Notre Dame has won three out of the last five games in this series, dating back to 1988.
-Saturday's game will be the fifth consecutive meeting in the series in which both teams are ranked.
-The Nittany Lions have currently won six consecutive games, dating back to last season.
-Among current Division I-A schools, Notre Dame and Penn State rank #2 and #10 in all-time winning percentage and #2 and #7 in all-time wins, respectively.
-Penn State's mascot, the "Nittany Lion," is a reference to the mountain lions that once roamed Mount Nittany near the campus of Penn State University.
-These teams will meet again next September in State College, PA.
-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:
#14 Michigan defeated unranked Vanderbilt at home, 27-7, moving their record to 850-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7444. This week, #10 Michigan hosts Central Michigan.
#2 Notre Dame defeated unranked Georgia Tech on the road, 14-10, moving their record to 812-266-42 for a winning percentage of .7438. This week, #4 Notre Dame hosts #19 Penn State.
Michigan's lead stands at 68/100,000ths of a point.
The game kicks off at 3:30 EDT on NBC. For those of you on campus, Erin and I will be hosting our first annual tailgater on Saturday morning. We'll be in the tower lot, south of the Joyce Center lots, by mid-morning.
Go Irish! Beat Lions!
Big Mike
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Friday, September 01, 2006
John Huarte
Through the years, Notre Dame has had four quarterbacks win the most coveted individual award in college football, the Heisman Trophy. The conventional wisdom always has been that quarterbacks at N.D. have an advantage when it comes to consideration for the Heisman; remember the adulation heaped upon Ron Powlus after his four-touchdown debut against Northwestern in 1994? Despite what conventions might dictate, however, it has been 42 years since an Irish signal-caller last won the most coveted individual award in college football. This week, we look at the most recent Irish QB to win the Heisman, John Huarte.
Go Irish! Beat Jackets!
Mike
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Notre Dame fans experience a curious consciousness when it comes to their beloved football program. They revel in the landmark victories, but for a program that has experienced so much success, oftentimes the heartbreaking losses stand out more. Southern Cal's come-from-behind 16-14 victory in 1931 at Notre Dame Stadium left fans scratching their heads for decades. For fans in more recent times, the 41-39 loss to Boston College in 1993 still touches a nerve. For an earlier generation of fans, the standout heartbreaker was the 20-17 loss in final game of the 1964 season, versus Southern Cal. In that game, the hopes and dreams of an improbable turnaround season were dashed, as the Irish finished with a 9-1-0 record in Ara Parseghian's first season at the helm in South Bend. Despite that national championship-denying loss, it was one of the most memorable seasons in school history, aided in large part by the season-long throwing clinic put on by Irish senior QB John Huarte.
Of all the Heisman Trophy winners to have come through Notre Dame, Huarte is perhaps the most overlooked and, certainly, the most improbable of the seven. A native of Anaheim, California, where he played for Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Huarte was recruited to Notre Dame by Joe Kuharich. Given Kuharich's nightmarish 17-23 four-year tenure as head coach for the Irish, it is not surprising that Huarte's skills went overlooked by the coach. As a sophomore in 1962, Huarte played all of five minutes for an Irish squad that went 5-5. In 1963, under interim head coach Hugh Devore, Huarte played 45 minutes as a junior, still buried on the QB depth chart.
In entered Ara Parseghian, whose long-acknowledged greatest ability as a coach was to recognize talent and put it in the correct place on the roster. Allegedly, when Parseghian arrived at Notre Dame with his top assistant Tom Pagna, he was startled and pleasantly surprised at how much talent he had inherited from a team that had gone 2-7 the previous season. A player who caught his eye immediately was Huarte, despite the fact that the QB had thrown only 50 passes in his varsity career. Huarte had good quarterback sense and was able to integrate Parseghian's complex system of hand signals that the coach employed from the sidelines. Huarte sustained a shoulder injury during spring practices in 1964, but Parseghian gave him a vote of confidence as he headed home to California for the summer.
In a scene reminiscent of Knute Rockne and Gus Dorais on the beaches of Sandusky, Ohio before the 1913 season, Huarte and his favorite target, Jack Snow, worked on receiving patterns on the beaches of southern California during the summer. Their hard work paid off; that fall, Huarte and Snow took the college football world by storm. Notre Dame dashed to an improbable 9-0 start, following their disastrous finish the previous year. Then came the Southern Cal game, which the #1-ranked Irish led 17-0 at one point. In a scene that would be repeated often during the Parseghian Era at Notre Dame, Southern Cal snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with less than ninety seconds to play.
Understandably, the Irish were devastated by the loss. Had they held on for another few seconds, they would have had the national championship. Despite the blemish on an otherwise perfect record, it remained a memorable season about which fans still talk. Huarte set twelve school passing records during the season, including marks for passing yardage (2,062), touchdown passes (16), and pass completions (114 on 205 attempts). He ranked third in total offense nationally while leading the Irish to a #3 finish in the final rankings. These numbers were all the more impressive considering that Huarte had never started before his senior season. Following the season, Huarte garnered All-America honors and received the Heisman Trophy, beating out, among others, Illinois' Dick Butkus. He became Notre Dame's sixth winner of the award in its 31-year existence.
There is an interesting historical footnote to Huarte's improbable senior campaign. A few days following the Heisman ceremony at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York, Notre Dame held its annual football banquet. During that banquet, Parseghain conferred monograms upon a number of players for the first time. Among those first-time winners of a monogram was Huarte. The Californian actually won the Heisman Trophy before winning a varsity monogram for Notre Dame. This fact remains as one of Parseghian's favorite anecdotes from his time at Notre Dame.
After his playing days at Notre Dame, Huarte went on to the professional ranks. Drafted in the sixth round by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL draft, Huarte opted to sign with the New York Jets of the upstart American Football League. The Jets drafted him in the second round and signed him to a $200,000 contract. He entered the league with another Jets rookie QB, Joe Namath. His career in the AFL, and the later the NFL, was largely undistinguished. He played until the mid-1970s, never really experiencing the same success he enjoyed at Notre Dame. He now is the president and owner of a chain of fourteen tile and marble distribution stores in the west.
Few athletes have experienced such a meteoric rise to stardom as John Huarte. Forty-two years after winning his Heisman Trophy (and Notre Dame monogram), Huarte's accomplishments are no less amazing now than they were then. Although he is often overlooked when younger fans reel off the names of Notre Dame legends, Huarte's journey will long stand as one of the most amazing stories in the history of Notre Dame football.
Originally published August 23, 2006
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Go Irish! Beat Jackets!
Mike
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Notre Dame fans experience a curious consciousness when it comes to their beloved football program. They revel in the landmark victories, but for a program that has experienced so much success, oftentimes the heartbreaking losses stand out more. Southern Cal's come-from-behind 16-14 victory in 1931 at Notre Dame Stadium left fans scratching their heads for decades. For fans in more recent times, the 41-39 loss to Boston College in 1993 still touches a nerve. For an earlier generation of fans, the standout heartbreaker was the 20-17 loss in final game of the 1964 season, versus Southern Cal. In that game, the hopes and dreams of an improbable turnaround season were dashed, as the Irish finished with a 9-1-0 record in Ara Parseghian's first season at the helm in South Bend. Despite that national championship-denying loss, it was one of the most memorable seasons in school history, aided in large part by the season-long throwing clinic put on by Irish senior QB John Huarte.
Of all the Heisman Trophy winners to have come through Notre Dame, Huarte is perhaps the most overlooked and, certainly, the most improbable of the seven. A native of Anaheim, California, where he played for Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Huarte was recruited to Notre Dame by Joe Kuharich. Given Kuharich's nightmarish 17-23 four-year tenure as head coach for the Irish, it is not surprising that Huarte's skills went overlooked by the coach. As a sophomore in 1962, Huarte played all of five minutes for an Irish squad that went 5-5. In 1963, under interim head coach Hugh Devore, Huarte played 45 minutes as a junior, still buried on the QB depth chart.
In entered Ara Parseghian, whose long-acknowledged greatest ability as a coach was to recognize talent and put it in the correct place on the roster. Allegedly, when Parseghian arrived at Notre Dame with his top assistant Tom Pagna, he was startled and pleasantly surprised at how much talent he had inherited from a team that had gone 2-7 the previous season. A player who caught his eye immediately was Huarte, despite the fact that the QB had thrown only 50 passes in his varsity career. Huarte had good quarterback sense and was able to integrate Parseghian's complex system of hand signals that the coach employed from the sidelines. Huarte sustained a shoulder injury during spring practices in 1964, but Parseghian gave him a vote of confidence as he headed home to California for the summer.
In a scene reminiscent of Knute Rockne and Gus Dorais on the beaches of Sandusky, Ohio before the 1913 season, Huarte and his favorite target, Jack Snow, worked on receiving patterns on the beaches of southern California during the summer. Their hard work paid off; that fall, Huarte and Snow took the college football world by storm. Notre Dame dashed to an improbable 9-0 start, following their disastrous finish the previous year. Then came the Southern Cal game, which the #1-ranked Irish led 17-0 at one point. In a scene that would be repeated often during the Parseghian Era at Notre Dame, Southern Cal snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with less than ninety seconds to play.
Understandably, the Irish were devastated by the loss. Had they held on for another few seconds, they would have had the national championship. Despite the blemish on an otherwise perfect record, it remained a memorable season about which fans still talk. Huarte set twelve school passing records during the season, including marks for passing yardage (2,062), touchdown passes (16), and pass completions (114 on 205 attempts). He ranked third in total offense nationally while leading the Irish to a #3 finish in the final rankings. These numbers were all the more impressive considering that Huarte had never started before his senior season. Following the season, Huarte garnered All-America honors and received the Heisman Trophy, beating out, among others, Illinois' Dick Butkus. He became Notre Dame's sixth winner of the award in its 31-year existence.
There is an interesting historical footnote to Huarte's improbable senior campaign. A few days following the Heisman ceremony at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York, Notre Dame held its annual football banquet. During that banquet, Parseghain conferred monograms upon a number of players for the first time. Among those first-time winners of a monogram was Huarte. The Californian actually won the Heisman Trophy before winning a varsity monogram for Notre Dame. This fact remains as one of Parseghian's favorite anecdotes from his time at Notre Dame.
After his playing days at Notre Dame, Huarte went on to the professional ranks. Drafted in the sixth round by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL draft, Huarte opted to sign with the New York Jets of the upstart American Football League. The Jets drafted him in the second round and signed him to a $200,000 contract. He entered the league with another Jets rookie QB, Joe Namath. His career in the AFL, and the later the NFL, was largely undistinguished. He played until the mid-1970s, never really experiencing the same success he enjoyed at Notre Dame. He now is the president and owner of a chain of fourteen tile and marble distribution stores in the west.
Few athletes have experienced such a meteoric rise to stardom as John Huarte. Forty-two years after winning his Heisman Trophy (and Notre Dame monogram), Huarte's accomplishments are no less amazing now than they were then. Although he is often overlooked when younger fans reel off the names of Notre Dame legends, Huarte's journey will long stand as one of the most amazing stories in the history of Notre Dame football.
Originally published August 23, 2006
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Angelo Bertelli
Another season of Notre Dame football is nearly upon us. To get everyone ready for the 2006 season, over the course of each of the next four weeks, I'll be sending out emails that look at different personalities that have contributed to Notre Dame through the 119-year tradition of what has been called "history's program." This week, we look at the story of one of Notre Dame's greatest players and her very first Heisman Trophy winner. A heralded signalcaller, war hero, and successful businessman, Angelo Bertelli always kept a state of quiet dignity about his accomplishments.
Go Irish! Beat Jackets!
Mike
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
It is one of the old standards of college sports that one should never follow a legend. The expectations for an individual in that position are too great, and, consequently, the chances for success are more difficult. This adage has been proved time and again with Notre Dame's famed football program. Perhaps at no point was this better demonstrated than in the years following the untimely death of the school's most famous coach, Knute Rockne. In the ten years following Rock's death in 1931, coaches Hunk Anderson and Elmer Layden struggled in the shadow cast by the titanic litany of Rockne. So great was Rockne's influence on the school that in the late 1930s, as other programs were adopting new offensive schemes, Notre Dame was still employing the outdated Rockne Shift. This all changed in 1942 when second-year coach Frank Leahy controversially abandoned the Shift in favor of the innovative T formation. This move was made possible in part by the unique abilities of one of Leahy's most famous players and Notre Dame's first Heisman Trophy winner, Angelo Bertelli.
The great Angelo Bertelli was a heralded back from Springfield , Massachusetts who was recruited heavily by a number of coaches as his high school career ended in 1940, including the then-coach of Boston College , Leahy. Born in 1921, Bertelli electrified opponents during his high school years, earning him the nickname "The Springfield Rifle." Despite its distance from home, Notre Dame was Bertelli's choice when he graduated high school, opting for the famed university as so many recruits from Catholic high schools did in those days.
Bertelli enrolled at Notre Dame in the fall of 1940, but due to restrictions on freshmen playing in those days, he did not play in that, the final season of Coach Elmer Layden's tenure. As a sophomore in 1941, Bertelli played as a tailback. During that season, he threw for over 1,000 yards and led the nation in completion percentage, showing the skills that led many to remark on his remarkably accurate short passing abilities. That 1941 season saw the Irish finish with a 9-0-1 record, the school's first undefeated campaign since the days of Rockne. Meanwhile, in a bit of foreshadowing, the sophomore Bertelli finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting that year.
In 1942, Leahy implemented his switch to the T formation. Fans howled in protest when the school only went 2-2 in its first four games, including a loss to Michigan in the schools' first meeting since 1909. With Bertelli at quarterback, the team improved, however, finishing the season with a 7-2-2 record.
In Bertelli's senior season of 1943, the T formation would allow him to lead an offensive attack that averaged 43 points per game through its first six games. The most anticipated game of that season was when #1 Notre Dame and #2 Michigan squared off in Ann Arbor . Notre Dame's convincing 35-12 win put them in the driver's seat for the national title, a position that was further strengthened by a win over wartime power Navy in which Bertelli threw for three touchdowns.
Having led the team to a 6-0 start, Bertelli was excited to take part in Notre Dame's annual grudge match against third-ranked Army in New York in early November. Uncle Sam had other plans, however. As World War II continued to rage throughout Europe and the Pacific, Bertelli was called to training camp for the Marine Corps. As a member of the first training group at Parris Island , Bertelli and his comrades had a group of Marines waiting to run them into the ground.
Notre Dame's good fortunes continued on in Bertelli's absence, however. Future Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack would take Bertelli's place at quarterback and lead the Irish to a 9-1-0 final record, culminating with the school's fourth consensus national title and first since 1930. The national championship was bestowed on Notre Dame despite a last second season-ending loss to a team of semi-professionals from Great Lakes Naval Base. In a hut on Parris Island , Bertelli and a group of other Notre Dame student-recruits listened to the radio in shock as the Irish lost that final game. As Bertelli left the hut, however, he was approached by a Marine with a telegram informing him that he had just won the Heisman Trophy.
Bertelli went on to serve with distinction during his tour with the Marines during World War II, attaining the rank of captain. He fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Guam , earning the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After leaving the Marines, Bertelli finished his degree at Notre Dame, and then went on to play for the Los Angeles and Chicago franchises in the All-America Football Conference for three seasons before knee injuries ended his career. Bertelli later ran a series of businesses after settling in Clifton , New Jersey . He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.
Despite the accomplishments that Angelo Bertelli attained during his career at Notre Dame, he was always a humble and unassuming individual. As the first of Notre Dame's seven Heisman Trophy winners, Bertelli started a tradition of Notre Dame quarterbacks being considered for college football's greatest individual award, a tradition that continues this year with Brady Quinn. Although he passed on in June of 1999, Bertelli's legacy will long endure at Notre Dame, not simply for his gridiron greatness, but for the sacrifice that he made during his service in World War II, and the unassuming manner in which he carried himself through life.
Originally published August 2, 2006
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Go Irish! Beat Jackets!
Mike
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
It is one of the old standards of college sports that one should never follow a legend. The expectations for an individual in that position are too great, and, consequently, the chances for success are more difficult. This adage has been proved time and again with Notre Dame's famed football program. Perhaps at no point was this better demonstrated than in the years following the untimely death of the school's most famous coach, Knute Rockne. In the ten years following Rock's death in 1931, coaches Hunk Anderson and Elmer Layden struggled in the shadow cast by the titanic litany of Rockne. So great was Rockne's influence on the school that in the late 1930s, as other programs were adopting new offensive schemes, Notre Dame was still employing the outdated Rockne Shift. This all changed in 1942 when second-year coach Frank Leahy controversially abandoned the Shift in favor of the innovative T formation. This move was made possible in part by the unique abilities of one of Leahy's most famous players and Notre Dame's first Heisman Trophy winner, Angelo Bertelli.
The great Angelo Bertelli was a heralded back from Springfield , Massachusetts who was recruited heavily by a number of coaches as his high school career ended in 1940, including the then-coach of Boston College , Leahy. Born in 1921, Bertelli electrified opponents during his high school years, earning him the nickname "The Springfield Rifle." Despite its distance from home, Notre Dame was Bertelli's choice when he graduated high school, opting for the famed university as so many recruits from Catholic high schools did in those days.
Bertelli enrolled at Notre Dame in the fall of 1940, but due to restrictions on freshmen playing in those days, he did not play in that, the final season of Coach Elmer Layden's tenure. As a sophomore in 1941, Bertelli played as a tailback. During that season, he threw for over 1,000 yards and led the nation in completion percentage, showing the skills that led many to remark on his remarkably accurate short passing abilities. That 1941 season saw the Irish finish with a 9-0-1 record, the school's first undefeated campaign since the days of Rockne. Meanwhile, in a bit of foreshadowing, the sophomore Bertelli finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting that year.
In 1942, Leahy implemented his switch to the T formation. Fans howled in protest when the school only went 2-2 in its first four games, including a loss to Michigan in the schools' first meeting since 1909. With Bertelli at quarterback, the team improved, however, finishing the season with a 7-2-2 record.
In Bertelli's senior season of 1943, the T formation would allow him to lead an offensive attack that averaged 43 points per game through its first six games. The most anticipated game of that season was when #1 Notre Dame and #2 Michigan squared off in Ann Arbor . Notre Dame's convincing 35-12 win put them in the driver's seat for the national title, a position that was further strengthened by a win over wartime power Navy in which Bertelli threw for three touchdowns.
Having led the team to a 6-0 start, Bertelli was excited to take part in Notre Dame's annual grudge match against third-ranked Army in New York in early November. Uncle Sam had other plans, however. As World War II continued to rage throughout Europe and the Pacific, Bertelli was called to training camp for the Marine Corps. As a member of the first training group at Parris Island , Bertelli and his comrades had a group of Marines waiting to run them into the ground.
Notre Dame's good fortunes continued on in Bertelli's absence, however. Future Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack would take Bertelli's place at quarterback and lead the Irish to a 9-1-0 final record, culminating with the school's fourth consensus national title and first since 1930. The national championship was bestowed on Notre Dame despite a last second season-ending loss to a team of semi-professionals from Great Lakes Naval Base. In a hut on Parris Island , Bertelli and a group of other Notre Dame student-recruits listened to the radio in shock as the Irish lost that final game. As Bertelli left the hut, however, he was approached by a Marine with a telegram informing him that he had just won the Heisman Trophy.
Bertelli went on to serve with distinction during his tour with the Marines during World War II, attaining the rank of captain. He fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Guam , earning the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After leaving the Marines, Bertelli finished his degree at Notre Dame, and then went on to play for the Los Angeles and Chicago franchises in the All-America Football Conference for three seasons before knee injuries ended his career. Bertelli later ran a series of businesses after settling in Clifton , New Jersey . He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.
Despite the accomplishments that Angelo Bertelli attained during his career at Notre Dame, he was always a humble and unassuming individual. As the first of Notre Dame's seven Heisman Trophy winners, Bertelli started a tradition of Notre Dame quarterbacks being considered for college football's greatest individual award, a tradition that continues this year with Brady Quinn. Although he passed on in June of 1999, Bertelli's legacy will long endure at Notre Dame, not simply for his gridiron greatness, but for the sacrifice that he made during his service in World War II, and the unassuming manner in which he carried himself through life.
Originally published August 2, 2006
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Johnny Lujack
Despite the attention being placed upon Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn as a candidate for this year's Heisman Trophy, it has been a long time since the Irish have had a player in this position. Regardless, Notre Dame has had seven winners of the greatest individual award in college football, a number only matched by arch-rival Southern Cal . Last week, we looked at Heisman-hopeful-turned-war-hero Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame's first winner of the award. This week, we look at the individual who became the starting QB when Bertelli was called into the military, and who would go on to win the Heisman in his own right in 1947, Johnny Lujack.
Go Irish! Beat Jackets!
Mike
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Undoubtedly, one of the most famous games in the history of the Notre Dame program came in 1946. In one of the great defensive match-ups in the annals of college football, #1 Army and #2 Notre Dame fought to a 0-0 draw in front of 80,000 fans at Yankee Stadium in New York . The build-up to the 1946 game was comparable to many later "Games of the Century," and was accentuated by the fact that Army had walloped the Irish in 48-0 and 59-0 whitewashings in their 1944 and 1945 games. The Cadets' owned a 25-game winning streak that would end on that November afternoon in the Bronx . Endzone seats with face values of $3.30 were selling for $200 each. Historically, the game still stands as the only one to feature four different Heisman Trophy winners playing on the same field: Army's Doc "Mister Inside" Blanchard (1945) and Glenn "Mister Outside" Davis (1946) and Notre Dame's Johnny Lujack (1947) and Leon Hart (1949). As is so often the case with tense games such as the famous Notre Dame-Army tie, one great defensive play stood out as the turning point in the game. The author of that play was junior Johnny Lujack.
As that 1946 season began, everyone had taken note of the amazing collection of talent that Irish coach Frank Leahy had put together in the wake of World War II. In his role as a commander in the U.S. Navy during the war, Leahy oversaw recreational activities for officers in the Pacific Theater, a role that often gave him access to talented "recruits" whom he would often persuade to enroll at Notre Dame and play for the juggernaut that he was assembling. Considered perhaps the greatest collection of talent in the history of college football, the 1946 and 1947 Notre Dame teams featured a large number of players, many of whom never saw the playing field for the Irish, go on to star in the professional ranks. Of all the players on those teams, however, Lujack was the one most recognized as the "difference maker."
Lujack, like so many other great Irish quarterbacks, came to South Bend from western Pennsylvania . Born in Connelsville in 1925, Lujack was a phenomenal athlete who received monograms at Notre Dame in baseball, basketball, and track, as well as in football. He saw his first action as a football starter in 1943, when he replaced senior QB Angelo Bertelli, and led the Irish to a resounding 26-0 victory over Army. After serving for two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Lujack returned to Notre Dame to complete his degree. Over the course of his career as the starting QB for the Irish, Lujack amassed an astounding 20-1-1 record, and led three separate Irish squads to the national championship.
Although Lujack will be best remembered as one of Notre Dame's most heralded signal callers, perhaps his defining moment as a player at Notre Dame came during the 1946 Army game on the defensive side of the ball. His playing status questionable until game time because of a sprained ankle, Lujack nevertheless started as QB on offense, and as a DB on defense in an era where players played on both sides of the ball. As a DB, Lujack executed a brilliant open-field tackle of Army's Blanchard that saved a certain touchdown, and spared Notre Dame a third consecutive loss to Army. Indeed, that tackle essentially won the Irish the 1946 national title, a feat that the Irish would accomplish two more times over the next three seasons.
Lujack's brilliance in the 1946 season garnered him unanimous All America honors, as well as a third-place finish in the Heisman Trophy balloting that year. In 1947, he would follow up his performance from the previous year by leading the Irish to a 9-0-0 finish, the program's first perfect season since Rockne's last campaign in 1930. His excellence on the gridiron earned him unanimous All America honors again, as well as the Heisman Trophy, making him the second Irish player to win the award. He was also voted the recipient of that year's Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, beating out the New York Yankees' Joe DiMaggio.
After graduating from Notre Dame in the spring of 1948, Lujack went on to play professionally for the Chicago Bears. In his first game, he intercepted three Green Bay Packer passes, a record that still stands in the Bears' record books. On the offensive side of the ball, he once set the NFL record for most passing yardage in a game with 468 yards, while throwing six touchdown passes in the same game against the Chicago Cardinals. Knee injuries cut short Lujack's playing career after only four seasons, although he was selected to the the All-Pro squad in his last two years as a professional. He went on to serve as an assistant coach for the Bears for several seasons before he left football to open a successful car dealership in Davenport, Iowa, and later pursued a number of other business ventures. Now retired in the Quad Cities area, Lujack recently endowed a scholarship at Notre Dame.
One of the greatest all-around athletes that Notre Dame has ever produced, Johnny Lujack is frequently overlooked because his professional career was cut short, as well as the fact that he played for such tremendously talented teams during his last two years at Notre Dame. Regardless, Lujack continued the Heisman tradition at Notre Dame began by his predecessor Angelo Bertelli, and remains a loyal and dedicated son of Notre Dame to this day.
Originally published August 10, 2006
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Go Irish! Beat Jackets!
Mike
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Undoubtedly, one of the most famous games in the history of the Notre Dame program came in 1946. In one of the great defensive match-ups in the annals of college football, #1 Army and #2 Notre Dame fought to a 0-0 draw in front of 80,000 fans at Yankee Stadium in New York . The build-up to the 1946 game was comparable to many later "Games of the Century," and was accentuated by the fact that Army had walloped the Irish in 48-0 and 59-0 whitewashings in their 1944 and 1945 games. The Cadets' owned a 25-game winning streak that would end on that November afternoon in the Bronx . Endzone seats with face values of $3.30 were selling for $200 each. Historically, the game still stands as the only one to feature four different Heisman Trophy winners playing on the same field: Army's Doc "Mister Inside" Blanchard (1945) and Glenn "Mister Outside" Davis (1946) and Notre Dame's Johnny Lujack (1947) and Leon Hart (1949). As is so often the case with tense games such as the famous Notre Dame-Army tie, one great defensive play stood out as the turning point in the game. The author of that play was junior Johnny Lujack.
As that 1946 season began, everyone had taken note of the amazing collection of talent that Irish coach Frank Leahy had put together in the wake of World War II. In his role as a commander in the U.S. Navy during the war, Leahy oversaw recreational activities for officers in the Pacific Theater, a role that often gave him access to talented "recruits" whom he would often persuade to enroll at Notre Dame and play for the juggernaut that he was assembling. Considered perhaps the greatest collection of talent in the history of college football, the 1946 and 1947 Notre Dame teams featured a large number of players, many of whom never saw the playing field for the Irish, go on to star in the professional ranks. Of all the players on those teams, however, Lujack was the one most recognized as the "difference maker."
Lujack, like so many other great Irish quarterbacks, came to South Bend from western Pennsylvania . Born in Connelsville in 1925, Lujack was a phenomenal athlete who received monograms at Notre Dame in baseball, basketball, and track, as well as in football. He saw his first action as a football starter in 1943, when he replaced senior QB Angelo Bertelli, and led the Irish to a resounding 26-0 victory over Army. After serving for two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Lujack returned to Notre Dame to complete his degree. Over the course of his career as the starting QB for the Irish, Lujack amassed an astounding 20-1-1 record, and led three separate Irish squads to the national championship.
Although Lujack will be best remembered as one of Notre Dame's most heralded signal callers, perhaps his defining moment as a player at Notre Dame came during the 1946 Army game on the defensive side of the ball. His playing status questionable until game time because of a sprained ankle, Lujack nevertheless started as QB on offense, and as a DB on defense in an era where players played on both sides of the ball. As a DB, Lujack executed a brilliant open-field tackle of Army's Blanchard that saved a certain touchdown, and spared Notre Dame a third consecutive loss to Army. Indeed, that tackle essentially won the Irish the 1946 national title, a feat that the Irish would accomplish two more times over the next three seasons.
Lujack's brilliance in the 1946 season garnered him unanimous All America honors, as well as a third-place finish in the Heisman Trophy balloting that year. In 1947, he would follow up his performance from the previous year by leading the Irish to a 9-0-0 finish, the program's first perfect season since Rockne's last campaign in 1930. His excellence on the gridiron earned him unanimous All America honors again, as well as the Heisman Trophy, making him the second Irish player to win the award. He was also voted the recipient of that year's Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, beating out the New York Yankees' Joe DiMaggio.
After graduating from Notre Dame in the spring of 1948, Lujack went on to play professionally for the Chicago Bears. In his first game, he intercepted three Green Bay Packer passes, a record that still stands in the Bears' record books. On the offensive side of the ball, he once set the NFL record for most passing yardage in a game with 468 yards, while throwing six touchdown passes in the same game against the Chicago Cardinals. Knee injuries cut short Lujack's playing career after only four seasons, although he was selected to the the All-Pro squad in his last two years as a professional. He went on to serve as an assistant coach for the Bears for several seasons before he left football to open a successful car dealership in Davenport, Iowa, and later pursued a number of other business ventures. Now retired in the Quad Cities area, Lujack recently endowed a scholarship at Notre Dame.
One of the greatest all-around athletes that Notre Dame has ever produced, Johnny Lujack is frequently overlooked because his professional career was cut short, as well as the fact that he played for such tremendously talented teams during his last two years at Notre Dame. Regardless, Lujack continued the Heisman tradition at Notre Dame began by his predecessor Angelo Bertelli, and remains a loyal and dedicated son of Notre Dame to this day.
Originally published August 10, 2006
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Paul Hornung
This week, Sports Illustrated features on one of its regional college football preview covers Brady Quinn and two other Irish players, sending shivers down the spines of believers in the alleged "Cover Jinx." As the hype for Quinn builds, it is interesting to look back at another winner of the Heisman Trophy for Notre Dame. The incomparable Paul Hornung was one of the most talented players ever to come through N.D., all while playing as a senior for one of the worst teams the school has ever had. Sorry for the lateness, as it's been hard to find time for typing during my honeymoon in Mexico!
Go Irish! Beat Jackets!
Mike
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
During the recent media maelstrom surrounding Notre Dame's firing of Tyrone Willingham in December 2004, a frequently cited but oft-overlooked fact was that Notre Dame had suffered three losing seasons out of five years for the first time in the program's history (1999, 2001, 2003), a fact that may have hastened Willingham's departure. Indeed, losing seasons at Notre Dame are an historical anomaly, happening on average only once every eleven or so seasons. Of all the losing seasons, one of the worst came in 1956, when the Irish went 2-8. Even in that season, the nadir of the Terry Brennan Era, an era that spanned 1954 to 1958, there was one bright spot: Irish QB Paul Hornung became Notre Dame's fifth Heisman Trophy winner. Among the seventy individuals to have won the Heisman Trophy since 1935, Hornung still stands fifty years after winning the honor as the only one to play for a team with a losing record. The fact that he still holds this distinction speaks in large part to the appeal of Notre Dame's famed football program, but also to the unique abilities of the versatile Hornung.
Hailing from Louisville , Kentucky , Hornung was heavily recruited to the University of Kentucky by an up and coming Paul "Bear" Bryant. Listening to the desires of his devoutly Catholic mother, however, Hornung, a four-year letterman in baseball, basketball, and football in high school, decided to play for Frank Leahy at Notre Dame, making him (eventually) the fifth separate Heisman winner that The Master recruited to the Irish sidelines.
Hornung, however, never got the opportunity to play for Leahy. Because of health considerations (and perhaps other administration-related reasons), Leahy stepped down after the 1953 season at the tender age of 45. In stepped the 25-year-old Terry Brennan, who had played for Leahy in the late 1940s, and who had most recently served as Leahy's freshman squad coach. Undoubtedly, Brennan would have worked closely with Hornung, and would have seen his abilities very closely during the talented back's freshman season of 1953.
As a sophomore, Hornung saw limited playing time as a reserve fullback. The following season, however, he started at halfback and safety, and finished fourth in the nation in total offense. His impressive offensive numbers were enough to garner him acclaim as an All-American for the 1955 season. The following year, he would lead the Irish in passing, rushing, scoring, kickoff and punt returns. As if that were not enough, he also led the team in punting. For his achievements during the 1956 season, Hornung again received All-America honors, and was awarded with the Heisman for that season. One wonders with a player of such prodigious talents how the Irish only managed a mere two victories that season. Perhaps this contributed to the later departure of Terry Brennan, who only lasted two seasons more after Hornung graduated and headed for the NFL.
After leaving the friendly confines of Notre Dame, Hornung continued to excel in football, perhaps as much as any Notre Dame footballer ever has. During his distinguished career for the Green Bay Packers, Hornung would live up to the expectations that accompanied him as the number-one overall pick in the 1957 NFL draft. Playing for the legendary Vince Lombardi, Hornung played primarily as a halfback and kicker. In a 12-game season in 1960, he set an NFL record by scoring 176 points. During the following season's championship game, he scored 19 points, which still stands as a record for NFL championship games to this day. His versatility translated well to the professional game, where he was twice honored as the league's Most Valuable Player, making him one of only five players to win that award and the Heisman.
Hornung's career was blemished by a potentially career-ending suspension by the NFL during the 1963 season. That year, a scandal was uncovered involving Hornung and Detroit Lions star Alex Karras (later of television "Webster" fame) involved in a gambling ring which involved betting on games. Hornung fessed up to his mistake and was reinstated during the following season. His career lasted long enough for him to be on the roster when the Packers played in and won the first Super Bowl following the 1966 season.
Following his career in the NFL, Hornung pursued a number of businesses in real estate, while always keeping connections to the game of football. In 1985 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and in 1986 he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has over thirty years of experience in broadcasting games on the radio and television, most notably as a host for Westwood One's coverage of Notre Dame football. That affiliation ended two seasons ago after Hornung made what some considered to be racially insensitive remarks.
Despite the recent controversy surrounding Hornung, he remains always "The Golden Boy." Deemed by Vince Lombardi as "the most versatile man who ever played the game," Hornung still stands as one of Notre Dame's most outstanding athletes and will be always on the short list of the greatest football players the school has ever produced.
Originally published August 18, 2006
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Go Irish! Beat Jackets!
Mike
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
During the recent media maelstrom surrounding Notre Dame's firing of Tyrone Willingham in December 2004, a frequently cited but oft-overlooked fact was that Notre Dame had suffered three losing seasons out of five years for the first time in the program's history (1999, 2001, 2003), a fact that may have hastened Willingham's departure. Indeed, losing seasons at Notre Dame are an historical anomaly, happening on average only once every eleven or so seasons. Of all the losing seasons, one of the worst came in 1956, when the Irish went 2-8. Even in that season, the nadir of the Terry Brennan Era, an era that spanned 1954 to 1958, there was one bright spot: Irish QB Paul Hornung became Notre Dame's fifth Heisman Trophy winner. Among the seventy individuals to have won the Heisman Trophy since 1935, Hornung still stands fifty years after winning the honor as the only one to play for a team with a losing record. The fact that he still holds this distinction speaks in large part to the appeal of Notre Dame's famed football program, but also to the unique abilities of the versatile Hornung.
Hailing from Louisville , Kentucky , Hornung was heavily recruited to the University of Kentucky by an up and coming Paul "Bear" Bryant. Listening to the desires of his devoutly Catholic mother, however, Hornung, a four-year letterman in baseball, basketball, and football in high school, decided to play for Frank Leahy at Notre Dame, making him (eventually) the fifth separate Heisman winner that The Master recruited to the Irish sidelines.
Hornung, however, never got the opportunity to play for Leahy. Because of health considerations (and perhaps other administration-related reasons), Leahy stepped down after the 1953 season at the tender age of 45. In stepped the 25-year-old Terry Brennan, who had played for Leahy in the late 1940s, and who had most recently served as Leahy's freshman squad coach. Undoubtedly, Brennan would have worked closely with Hornung, and would have seen his abilities very closely during the talented back's freshman season of 1953.
As a sophomore, Hornung saw limited playing time as a reserve fullback. The following season, however, he started at halfback and safety, and finished fourth in the nation in total offense. His impressive offensive numbers were enough to garner him acclaim as an All-American for the 1955 season. The following year, he would lead the Irish in passing, rushing, scoring, kickoff and punt returns. As if that were not enough, he also led the team in punting. For his achievements during the 1956 season, Hornung again received All-America honors, and was awarded with the Heisman for that season. One wonders with a player of such prodigious talents how the Irish only managed a mere two victories that season. Perhaps this contributed to the later departure of Terry Brennan, who only lasted two seasons more after Hornung graduated and headed for the NFL.
After leaving the friendly confines of Notre Dame, Hornung continued to excel in football, perhaps as much as any Notre Dame footballer ever has. During his distinguished career for the Green Bay Packers, Hornung would live up to the expectations that accompanied him as the number-one overall pick in the 1957 NFL draft. Playing for the legendary Vince Lombardi, Hornung played primarily as a halfback and kicker. In a 12-game season in 1960, he set an NFL record by scoring 176 points. During the following season's championship game, he scored 19 points, which still stands as a record for NFL championship games to this day. His versatility translated well to the professional game, where he was twice honored as the league's Most Valuable Player, making him one of only five players to win that award and the Heisman.
Hornung's career was blemished by a potentially career-ending suspension by the NFL during the 1963 season. That year, a scandal was uncovered involving Hornung and Detroit Lions star Alex Karras (later of television "Webster" fame) involved in a gambling ring which involved betting on games. Hornung fessed up to his mistake and was reinstated during the following season. His career lasted long enough for him to be on the roster when the Packers played in and won the first Super Bowl following the 1966 season.
Following his career in the NFL, Hornung pursued a number of businesses in real estate, while always keeping connections to the game of football. In 1985 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and in 1986 he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has over thirty years of experience in broadcasting games on the radio and television, most notably as a host for Westwood One's coverage of Notre Dame football. That affiliation ended two seasons ago after Hornung made what some considered to be racially insensitive remarks.
Despite the recent controversy surrounding Hornung, he remains always "The Golden Boy." Deemed by Vince Lombardi as "the most versatile man who ever played the game," Hornung still stands as one of Notre Dame's most outstanding athletes and will be always on the short list of the greatest football players the school has ever produced.
Originally published August 18, 2006
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)