Notre Dame vs Army 11/18/06

286 Miles Northwest of Armageddon is the Home of the Original Apocalypse

When Notre Dame and Army square off Saturday for the 49th time, over 235 years of football history will be on the field. Well before the era of endorsements, special teams and agents, the two programs exemplified excellence on the gridiron. For one stretch from 1944-49 during their shared halcyon days, the two programs won or shared an amazing seven national championships.



While this matchup doesn't look on paper to be close, here are more than a handful of reasons why they play the games:

October 18, 1924: After one of the most famous and important games in Notre Dame and college football history, New York Herald-Tribune sportswriter Grantland Rice pens his acclaimed lead after the Irish beat Army 13-7 at the Polo Grounds in New York: "Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. There real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley, and Layden." The Four Horsemen would be the most famous backfield of all time."

October 30, 1920: George Gipp put on the greatest performance of his career in leading the Irish to victory over Army 27-17. The following account of an incident which took place near the end of the game is from One for The Gipper, Pat Chelland's excellent biography of George Gipp:

With his brother Alexander in the stands cheering him on, George Gipp had put on one of the greatest performances of his career. Gipp's statistics were as follows: 150 yards gained in twenty rushes; 123 yards picked up as a result of five completed passes out of nine attempts; an additional 112 yards gained in running back punts and kick-offs. All of this was against one of the greatest teams of the era.

Despite Gipp's brilliant performance on the field, one of the most memorable moments of the afternoon occurred shortly after George left the field and took a seat on the Notre Dame bench to watch the final minutes of action. To those critics of George who have accused him of being self-centered, lacking in school loyalty, and indifferent to his team's fortunes, Father Charles L. O'Donnell, who happened to be seated on the Irish bench, has left behind a moving description of what he witnessed:

"He had done everything that any football player had ever done upon a field, and he had done it better than most. Darkness was coming in on the bitter winds that swept across the plains as he sat there in his blanket, relaxed, pale, silent, crying a little, I think. Then suddenly he was on his feet. He leaped onto the bench; the blanket had fallen from his shoulders.

"Chet Wynne, our fullback, had made one of his amazing cuts through the line, good for some fifteen or twenty yards. In a voice that could be heard, it seemed to me, above all the roar of the crowd, Gipp shouted: 'Yea, Chet!' as he stood there, self entirely forgotten, quivering from head to toe with joy and loyal pride in the achievement of a teammate."

November 1, 1913: In a game that serves as the school's springboard to national prominence, Notre Dame shock's Army 35-13 on the plains of West Point. Quarterback Gus Dorais and end Knute Rockne help to popularize use of the forward pass by introducing it as a staple of their offense. The forward pass had been legal for seven years, but until this game, most of the eastern teams had viewed the aerial mode of attack at worst as gimmickry, at best as unnecessarily risky.

November 4, 1916: The Army team, led by their all-time great runner Elmer Oliphant, defeated the Irish 30-10 at West Point. Rockne referred to Oliphant as in the '16 game as a "one-man team phenomenon. If anybody asks me who was the greatest player Army ever had, my vote goes to Oliphant." George Gipp, then a freshmen, was schooled to imitate Oliphant in the Notre Dame practice sessions. Rock said: "He gave a perfect imitation of Oliphant's veering style of ball-carrying, which arched his body so that he could spin or pivot at any fraction of an instant. The only drawback was that in the actual game with Army, Oliphant gave a perfect imitation of Gipp."

November 9, 1946: A titanic struggle between two powerhouse teams ends in a 0-0 tie for Notre Dame and Army. Notre Dame students, stung by two consecutive losses with military depleted teams, 59-0 and 48-0, chanted "59 and 48, this is the year we retaliate!" The game is also famous for Leahy distaining to go for the game winning field goal late in the game, and Notre Dame was stopped on downs near the goal line. Also famous was Johnny Lujack's diving touchdown and game saving tackle of Doc Blanchard.

November 10, 1928: In one of the most famous game and moments in Notre Dame football history, Knute Rockne gives his "Win one for the Gipper" speech. An outmanned ND team defeats the favored Army team 12-6 At Yankee Stadium. Jack Chevigny, who was later killed on Iwo Jima, shouts "There's one for the Gipper" as he scores ND first touchdown.

November 24, 1934: Army was favored this year and the game attracted "the biggest turn out of fans in the East this season." Eighty-one thousand "jammed the huge triple-decked Yankee Stadium, overflowed into the aisles and furnished a brilliant, vociferous background...for the football battle." (AP) Paul Gallico estimated that three-quarters [of the fans were] were bawling at the top of their lungs for Notre Dame du Lac," and, on this day, they cheered a satisfying Fighting Irish win. They also embraced the new head coach [Elmer Layden], some running on the field after the game to lift him onto their shoulders. The press emphasized the point that, in this victory, a symbolic torch passed from Rockne to Layden because the player scoring the winning touchdown was "the last remaining Rockne coached member of the Fighting Irish." (New York Post) Fullback Don Hanley of the switched-jersey fame (1931 USC game) had sat out 1931-1932, but Layden sent him into the Army game as a substitute and with time running out, Hanley plunged over to secure the 12-6 win.

December 2, 1933: In what turns out to be Coach Hunk Anderson's final game as head coach, Notre Dame edges Army 13-12 before 73,594 at Yankee Stadium in New York. Anderson compiles a 16-9-2 record (.630) in the three years following Knute Rockne's tragic death and would be replaced by one of the Four Horsemen, Elmer Layden.

December 14, 1920: "The Gipper" - star Notre Dame halfback George Gipp - dies early in the morning of a severe strep throat infection at age twenty-five in South Bend. He had lapsed into a coma the day before. In his last conversation with Coach Knute Rockne, he evidently made a plea that Rockne one day ask the team to "win one for the Gipper." Eight years later against Army, Rockne did, and the squad responded with a victory, upsetting Army 12-6 at Yankee Stadium.

December 30, 1946: On this day, Notre Dame and Army jointly announced a temporary severance of football relations after a final game at South Bend in 1947, because it "will be good for both schools and for intercollegiate athletics as a whole." The announcement was full of good will and friendship. In essence it said that the Notre Dame - Army game had grown too big and produced too many problems and that a breather period would be welcome. The series had started in 1913, and Notre Dame led in the series of games played, 23-8-4.

Source: Irish Legends

Notre Dame over Army.