1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game

NCAAFootballSingleGameHeader
Name=1946 Army vs. Notre Dame game
The "Game of the Century"
(1946 version)
Date=November 9, 1946
Year=1946
Visitor School=University of Notre Dame
Visitor Name Short=Notre Dame
Visitor Nickname=Fighting Irish
Visitor Record=6-0
Visitor

Visitor Coaches=2
Visitor BCS=
Visitor Coach=Frank Leahy
Visitor1=0
Visitor2=0
Visitor3=0
Visitor4=0
Visitor Total=0
Home School=United States Military Academy
Home Name Short=Army
Home Nickname=Black Knights
Home Record=6-0
Home

Home Coaches=1
Home BCS=
Home Coach=Earl Blaik
Home1=0
Home2=0
Home3=0
Home4=0
Home Total=0
Stadium=Yankee Stadium
Type=nc


City=New York City, New York
MVP=
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Anthem=
Referee=
Halftime=
Attendance=74,121 (capacity crowd)
US Network=
US Announcers=
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Intl Network=
Intl Announcers=The 1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game was an American College Football game played in the 1946 college football season on November 9, 1946. Army (the football program of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York), then ranked Number 1 in the Associated Press college football poll, played the University of Notre Dame, of South Bend, Indiana, ranked Number 2, at Yankee Stadium in New York City. [LaPointe, Joe. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/sports/ncaafootball/08irish.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=army+%22notre+dame%22+1946&oref=slogin "Notre Dame and Army to Wake Up the Echoes"] , "The New York Times", September 8, 2005. Accessed January 10, 2008.] This game is regarded as one of the 20th century Games of the Century. [cite book |last=Whittingham |first=Richard |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Rites of autumn: the story of college football |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= 2001 |month= |publisher=The Free Press |location=New York |language=English |isbn=0-7432-2219-9 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=148-183 |chapter=6 |chapterurl= |quote=It was surely the game of the year, and many have said it was the college football game of the century ]

The teams

With Army the representation of American strength, and Notre Dame being America's unofficial Catholic university, this was as close to a truly national contest as college football has ever had. This matchup, with the national attention it got in the era before the service academies ceased to be major football powers, was usually played at a neutral site, often in New York City.

Previous matchups

The 1924 game between the schools, a Notre Dame victory at the Polo Grounds, was the game at which sportswriter Grantland Rice christened the Fighting Irish backfield -- quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfbacks Jim Crowley and Don Miller, and fullback Elmer Layden -- the "Four Horsemen." The 1928 edition, with Notre Dame trailing Army at halftime at Yankee Stadium, was the game where Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne delivered his "Win one for the Gipper" speech, resulting in a comeback win for the Fighting Irish.

The 1946 season

Both teams were undefeated going into the 1946 game at Yankee Stadium. Both teams averaged over 30 points per game.

Army had a 25-game winning streak, last losing to Notre Dame in 1943 (26-0), but had won the last two contests between the schools by scores of 59-0 and 48-0. Army had the defending Heisman Trophy winner, Doc Blanchard, also known as "Mr. Inside," the man who would win it that year, Glenn Davis, also known as "Mr. Outside," and one of the nation's top quarterbacks in Arnold Tucker.

Notre Dame had the quarterback who would win the Heisman the next year, Johnny Lujack. Both Tucker and Lujack were also outstanding defensive backs at a time when football players, college as well as professional, usually played both offense and defense. Notre Dame had defeated eventual 1947 Rose Bowl participant Illinois in Champaign-Urbana 26-6 to open the season. On October 26, they won at #17 Iowa 41-6. The game leading up to this one was a 28-0 Irish defeat of Navy at Baltimore.

Game summary

Despite the high-scoring and much-hyped offenses, the game ended in a scoreless tie, with each school's best chance at a scoring drive coming back-to-back: Tucker intercepting Lujack, and Lujack then making a touchdown-saving tackle on Blanchard a few plays later. Notre Dame's defense did something no other team had ever done — it held the famous "Touchdown Twins," Blanchard and Davis, to a total of 79 yards. As an indication of how the defense of both teams dominated, seven linemen in that game were nominated for Lineman of the Week honors in the weekly Associated Press poll. Joe Steffy, an Army guard who helped shut down the Notre Dame running game, won the honor, followed closely by Notre Dame right tackle George Sullivan and freshman lineman Jim Martin who helped stifle Army's running attack and dropped Davis on consecutive plays for losses totalling 17 yards. Both Notre Dame coach Leahy and Army coach Blaik called the game "a terrific battle of defenses."

Aftermath

Both teams would finish the season undefeated with this one tie, but it was Notre Dame that was awarded the National Championship by the Associated Press, with Army coming in second. [Anderson, Dave. [http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F50716FB3E5D0C778DDDA00894DE484D81 "SPORTS OF THE TIMES; 'NO MORAL VICTORIES' FOR IRISH"] , "The New York Times", September 14, 1986. Accessed January 10, 2008.] [ [http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F00C15F7385D0C718EDDA80994DB484D81 "SPORTS OF THE TIMES"] , "The New York Times", November 22, 1983. Accessed January 10, 2008. "Notre Dame's football team has been considered the national champion seven times - 1977, 1973, 1966, 1949, 1947, 1946 and 1943."] Neither school accepted bowl bids in that era, and so neither put itself at risk of a loss that would have tarnished their National Championship bid. The Pacific Coast Conference and the Big Nine Conference, the forerunners of the PAC-10 and Big 10, signed the agreement to start with the 1947 Rose Bowl of matching their conference champions. The national sports writers wanted to match either Notre Dame or Army with #4 and undefeated UCLA. Instead, #5 Illinois was the first Midwestern team to go by the terms of the agreement and routed UCLA 45-14. [Illini Rout UCLA 45-14. Urbana-Champaign News Gazette, January 2, 1947]

With Blanchard, Davis and Tucker having graduated, Army's unbeaten streak would be broken the next year, by Columbia University. Notre Dame would not lose until early in the 1950 season. Sporting News named the 1944-45 Army Cadets and the 1946 Fighting Irish the second and fifth greatest teams of the Twentieth Century respectively.

This was only the sixth time that the number one ranked team faced the number two ranked team since the inception of the Associated Press Football Poll in 1936. This would not happen again until the 1963 Rose Bowl. [AP No. 1 vs. No. 2 games. Associated Press, August 13, 2008]

ee also

*Game of the Century (college football)
*Notre Dame Fighting Irish football rivalries

References

*Notre Dame football media guide (PDF copy available at [http://und.cstv.com und.cstv.com] )

Books

*Peters, Nick. (1988) "College Football's Twenty-Five Greatest Teams": The Sporting News. ISBN 0-89204-281-8
*Whittingham, Richard. (December 1985). "Saturday Afternoon: College Football and the Men Who Made the Day": Workman Pub Co. ISBN 0894809334