Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 15, 2018 53 for Great Lakes. After the war, he en- rolled at Notre Dame at age 23 with four years of eligibility remaining. Of the 185 college teams that had competed in 1942, 91 were unable to field teams in 1943. Most of the SEC schools cancelled their campaigns, including Alabama and Tennessee, the winners of the Orange and Sugar Bowls, respectively, in 1942. Others such as Stanford and Boston College also temporarily did without football. As a private institution, Notre Dame might have had to close its doors dur- ing the war without sufficient capi- tal. However, the United States Navy came to the rescue by making the school's campus one of the sites of its V-12 officers' training program. On July 1, 1943, the largest V-12 program in the United States was launched with 1,851 Navy trainees at Notre Dame. School president emeritus Rev. The- odore Hesburgh has stated Our La- dy's school is eternally indebted to the Navy for literally keeping Her afloat — and that is why the series with the Naval Academy will never stop, un- less the Navy itself wants it to cease. The Irish football team benefited from this as well, with the roster in- cluding 14 Naval Reserve apprentice seamen, 17 Marine Reserve privates and one member of the NROTC. BOUNCE-BACK SEASON Leahy was castigated in 1942 dur- ing a 7-2-2 campaign in which he implemented the revolutionary new T-formation and scrapped the tradi- tional Rockne Box. That season began with a 7-7 tie against Wisconsin and a 13-6 loss at home to Georgia Tech. One year later, the rough edges were smoothed out. The Irish crushed Georgia Tech 55-13 in game two, the week after winning at outmanned Pitt 41-0, in the opener. In game four, Wis- consin fell by a 50-0 count. Most remarkable, though, was game three at Ann Arbor. A year ear- lier, the Wolverines upset the Irish 32-20 in Notre Dame Stadium. This time, led by Creighton Mill- er's 159 yards on just 10 carries, No. 1 Notre Dame easily disposed of No. 2 Michigan 35-12, with a late touch- down by the Wolverines serving as window-dressing points. After dis- patching of Illinois 47-0, Notre Dame was 5-0 while outscoring the opposi- tion 228-25 (an average of 46-5). Prior to facing Navy Oct. 30, though, the reality of the times hit home. That year 's Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Angelo Bertelli, had to leave the Notre Dame campus to begin his military training at Parris Island. S.C. on Nov. 1. UNPRECEDENTED SECOND HALF OF SEASON The final five games were a stretch unparalleled before and ever since in college football. In consecutive weeks, Notre Dame: • Traveled to Cleveland to face No. 3 Navy. In Bertelli's finale, he was 5 of 9 for 115 yards with three touchdowns in the 33-6 victory. The Irish rushed for 323 yards, while limiting Navy to mi- nus-7 on the ground. It was Navy's lone loss of the year. • Trekked to Yankee Stadium for a showdown against the new No. 3, Army. Bertelli's replacement, Johnny Lu- jack, was 8 of 15 for 182 yards in a 26-0 rout of the Black Knights, who would finish unbeaten the next three seasons. • Journeyed to No. 8 Northwest- ern, led by quarterback icon Otto Graham, who in the pros was a mind-boggling 114-20-4 (.841 win- ning percentage) with seven titles. Notre Dame rushed for 302 yards (151 by Miller) and limited Graham to 3-of-9 passing, plus nine yards on 10 carries, in a 25-6 victory. • Hosted semi-pro and No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight. In their second No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown of the year, the Irish faced a unit that included seven pros who were anywhere from 25 to 28 years old. The oldest Notre Dame starter was 22, with Lujack a pup at 18. Notre Dame rallied from 7-0 and 13-7 deficits to win 14-13. Miller scored the winning touchdown from six yards out, and Fred Early, who had just turned 18 during the school year, kicked the point after (Pre- Flight missed a point after earlier). • Visited powerful Great Lakes, another semi-pro outfit. At Chicago's Ross Field, the 22,000 seats were filled by uniformed sail- ors. A late touchdown by Miller capped a 20-play drive (all runs) and gave Notre Dame a 14-12 edge. Notre Dame is the one school that should never lose on a "Hail Mary" pass — but that's what occurred on a 54-yard touchdown from Steve Lach to Paul Anderson with 33 seconds left. The game ended when Sitko in- tercepted a Lujack pass on the ensu- ing series. After the game, Leahy sought out Sitko and Steve Juzwik, who had been on Notre Dame rosters prior to the war, in the Great Lakes locker room. "How are you, Coach?" Sitko po- litely asked. "Not too well, Emil," Leahy re- plied. "My school lost today." "So did mine, Coach," Sitko said. EPILOGUE A game was lost, but the season was won. The lone losses by Iowa Pre-Flight, Michigan and Navy, the teams that finished Nos. 2-4, were to Notre Dame. Great Lakes lost only to No. 5 Purdue and No. 9 Northwestern — a team Notre Dame walloped. Purdue was unbeaten, but the strength of schedule was not quite the same. Northwestern lost only to the Irish and No. 3 Michigan. Army lost only to Notre Dame and No. 4 Navy. Georgia Tech lost to Notre Dame, Navy and No. 7 Duke. Among the AP poll's 131 votes, Notre Dame received 86 first-place ballots to easily capture the national title despite closing with a loss. Iowa Pre-Flight and Purdue received 12 votes apiece, while six others re- ceived at least one. After competing and thriving against this type of schedule, there really was no other choice. ✦ Notre Dame finished with a 9-1 record, despite losing quarterback Angelo Bertelli — that year's Heisman Trophy winner — in the middle of the season to begin his military training at Parris Island, S.C. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS