Notre Dame vs. Stanford

Each fall on the Notre Dame campus, many freshmen are indoctrinated into the culture of the university through the airing of the classic 1940 film, Knute Rockne All American. Starring Pat O'Brien in the title role, the film features a number of memorable scenes, including future president Ronald Reagan delivering George Gipp's famous deathbed plea to "win one for the Gipper." One scene that is perhaps overlooked, but interesting nevertheless, features a bevy of Hall of Fame coaches discussing with Rockne an upcoming Congressional inquiry about the future of college football. Among the luminaries in that scene are Southern Cal coach Howard Jones, Chicago coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, and Stanford coach Glenn "Pop" Warner. Each of the coaches had relationships with Rockne to varying degrees. Jones, for example, owed his job at USC to a recommendation that Rockne proffered when university was looking to find a new head football coach, while Stagg could claim Rockne as part of his coaching tree through Stagg's pupil and Rockne's mentor, Jesse Harper, who played for Stagg at Chicago and coached at N.D. from 1913 through 1917.

Pop Warner's relationship with Rock was highlighted by their teams' lone meeting on the gridiron in the 1925 Rose Bowl. Notre Dame's first football game on the west coast served as a sign of the program's growing national popularity. In addition to the two coaching legends on either sideline, Notre Dame and Stanford each had rosters boasting tremendous talent. The Indians' biggest star was future Hall of Fame QB Ernie Nevers. Notre Dame, meanwhile, boasted one of the most famous backfields in college football history with QB Harry Stuhldreher, HBs Don Miller and Jim Crowley, and FB Elmer Layden, collectively known at "The Four Horsemen." Less heralded, but no less important was the offensive line, known to history as "The Seven Mules," led by Hall of Famers Adam Walsh and Edgar "Rip" Miller. The two teams were widely known for their offensive firepower, so everyone expected a shootout. It is ironic to note, then, that two defensive plays decided the game. In one of the greatest individual performances in school history Layden scored N.D.'s lone offensive touchdown, but is best remembered for returning interceptions of 70 and 80 yards for touchdowns. Stanford was left reeling from their offensive miscues and N.D.'s ability to capitalize on the Indians' mistakes. Layden's three-touchdown heroics gave Notre Dame a commanding 27-10 victory in their only bowl appearance until 1970, and solidified Notre Dame's claim on its first of eleven consensus national championships.

Despite the ancient beginnings of this series, Notre Dame and Stanford have not been frequent opponents until recent times. Before 1988, when the current series began, the schools had played only four games (1924, 1942, 1963, and 1964) in which the Irish compiled a 3-1-0 record. Since 1988 the schools have played one another every season, with the exception of 1995 & 1996, when Stanford left N.D.'s schedule to make room for a home-and-home series against Washington. Notre Dame leads the series, 14-6-0.

Much like Notre Dame's series with Purdue, the games that stand out in the Stanford series tend to be Cardinal victories, primarily because Notre Dame traditionally has owned the series. In 1990, "Touchdown" Tommy Vardell scored four touchdowns (all from one yard out) to lead the Cardinal to a 36-31 victory over the #1-ranked Irish at home, N.D.'s first home loss since 1986. That game would start a disturbing trend of higher-ranked Lou Holtz-coached Irish squads losing to inferior competition, particularly at home. In 1992, the #7 Irish were still in the thick of national title contention when they took a 16-0 lead over Stanford. The Cardinal, led by head coach Bill Walsh, stormed back to score 33 unanswered points, stealing victory at Notre Dame.

In the last series game played at Notre Dame, Ty Willingham continued his mastery over his former school, winning 23-15 in his final season on the Irish sidelines. Last year, the Irish executed a flawless two-minute drill to score the go-ahead points in the final minute, winning in the last game at old Stanford Stadium, 38-31.

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Other notes:

-The Irish are 6-3 at home during the Weis Era.

-Saturday's game against Stanford will be the first of three games pitting the Irish against Pacific-10 teams this season. After a bye week, the Irish will host UCLA, and later will finish the season at Southern Cal during Thanksgiving weekend.

-So far, all six of Notre Dame's opponents this season have series with the Irish that date back to the 1920s or earlier.

-The Irish have won four consecutive games against Stanford. The Cardinal's last series win came during Thanksgiving weekend in 2001. Interestingly, the four-game Irish winning streak is the longest such streak by either team in the series.

-Notre Dame is 8-2-0 in series games played at Notre Dame Stadium, dating back to 1942. The Irish have won five consecutive home games against the Cardinal. Stanford's last win at Notre Dame was the aforementioned 33-16 victory in 1992.

-The Irish have started 5-1 or better only twice since 1993. In 1998, the Irish started 5-1 on the way to a final 9-3 record. In 2002, the Irish started 6-0 en route to a final 10-3 record.

-The last Irish coach to start his first two seasons with records of 5-1 or better was Ara Parseghian (1964, 6-0-0; 1965, 5-1-0).

-The Bay Area Notre Dame Alumni Club will present the winner of this game with The Legends Trophy, a combination of Irish crystal and California redwood. The trophy was presented for the first time at the 1989 game, a 27-17 Irish victory.

-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting through 2010.

-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 weekend:

#6 Michigan won at unranked Minnesota, 28-14, extending their record to 854-280-36 for a winning percentage of .7453. This week, #6 Michigan hosts the floundering Michigan State Spartans.

#12 Notre Dame defeated unranked Purdue at home, 35-21, extending their record to 815-267-42 for a winning percentage of .7438. This week, #12 Notre Dame hosts unranked Stanford.

For the third consecutive week, Michigan's lead stands at 15/10,000ths of a point.

The Irish will look to keep their momentum from the MSU comeback and Purdue win going on Saturday. The game kicks off at 2:30 EDT on NBC.

Go Irish! Beat Cardinal!
Big Mike

copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006