Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 30, 2019 53 a four-year starter. As a senior two- way player, he led the 1949 squad in minutes played (405) and received the George Gipp Award as the top athlete on the campus. In other words, fellow Notre Dame end — 1949 co-captain and Heisman Trophy winner Leon Hart — wasn't even considered the best athlete on his own team. Ah yes, Hart, the man-child who enrolled at age 17 in 1946 and who re- mains the last lineman to be awarded the Heisman. No one had a more per- fect career in college football history than this man who never lost a col- lege football game, won three national titles, was awarded the Heisman and was the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. Two more College Football Hall of Fame members graced the Irish start- ing lineup in 1949: junior quarterback Bob Williams and linebacker/center Jerry Groom. During the 1949 season, Williams' pass efficiency rating of 161.4 stood for 60 years as the Notre Dame record before Jimmy Clausen edged past him with a 161.42 mark 60 years later. Groom would serve as the team cap- tain in 1950 before becoming the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL Draft. SUPPORTING CAST In addition to the five Hall of Fame members, 16 players from the 1946 recruiting haul became starters or regulars in an era when athletes played both sides of the ball. While Sitko merited the "Six-Yard" sobriquet for his penchant to average six yards per carry, two of his class- mates in the 1949 starting backfield — Larry Coutre and Frank Spaniel — also averaged six-plus yards per carry as 1949 seniors. Coutre rushed for 645 yards and 6.3 yards per carry, while Spaniel amassed 496 yards and 6.2 yards per carry. They also combined for 29 re- ceptions and 16.7 yards per catch. Yet another halfback from that class, Ernie Zalejski, a fifth-round pick in the NFL Draft, averaged 5.9 yards per rushing attempt as a senior in '49, and his five pass receptions averaged 30.2 yards — with four of them resulting in touchdowns. Then there was a fifth halfback, Mike Swis- towicz, who started on defense and also was a fifth-round NFL selection. Prolific depth on the 1949 team was evident not only in the backfield, but also in the trenches. End Bill Wightkin, was blessed with enough ability to shift Martin, a three-year starter at end from 1946- 48, to tackle. Wightkin went on to snare 17 passes for a team-high 309 yards (18.2 yards per catch) in '49. In the shadows of Hart and Martin, tackle Ralph McGehee quietly put together a stellar football career as a two-way starter on the undefeated 1948-49 units. Bob Lally and Rodney Johnson started at guard, yet backup line- men such as Gus Cifelli, Ed Hudak and Ray Espenan were all talented enough to be drafted by the NFL. (Tragically, in February 1950, Es- penan died in a freak gymnasium accident.) Walt Grothaus was good enough to play ahead of Groom, who starred at middle linebacker, at center. Unlike the unbeaten teams from 1946-48, not every starter on offense also played defense, or vice versa. Talented soph- omores such as defensive lineman Bob Toneff or safety John Petitbon were therefore able to crack the starting lineup on de- fense. During its 10-0 run in 1949, Notre Dame played only four home games, highlighted by a 46-7 demolition of No. 4-ranked Tulane and a 32-0 rout of No. 17-ranked USC. The Irish had their tightest outings at No. 10-ranked Michigan State, a 34-21 triumph, and a 27-20 thriller in the season finale versus SMU in Dallas that clinched the national title. After the 1946 recruits — whether returning from World War II or just out of high school — picked up their diplomas in the spring of 1950, Leahy's dynasty fell to 4-4-1 that au- tumn, and also finished out of the top 20 in 1951 before returning to prosperity. The 1940s remain an era by which any other 10-year reign of excellence is measured. THE BEST FOR LAST Notre Dame's final game of the Fabulous '40s also happened to be the most exciting one in Leahy's 11- year reign. On Dec. 3, 1949 in front of 75,457 fans at Dallas' Cotton Bowl, Notre Dame was gunning for an unprec- edented fourth straight unbeaten campaign and third national title in four years. The opponent was SMU, which had finished No. 3 and No. 10 in the Associated Press poll the two previous years and featured 1948 Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker. Because Walker was injured and had to sit out the Notre Dame game, the Irish were made multiple touch- down favorites after having already outscored their previous nine foes by a 333-66 count. The contest went as expected for 30 minutes with the Irish taking a 13-0 halftime lead while also making a goal-line stand. I n t h e s e c o n d h a l f , though, Walker 's replace- ment, sophomore Kyle Rote, put on a scintillating show, finishing with 115 rushing yards, 146 pass- ing yards and three touch- downs to help knot the score at 20 in the fourth quarter, with a blocked point after try by Groom preventing the Mustangs from taking the lead. "For the first time all fall we had only a few minutes to prove we were really a championship team," Leahy said years later. Notre Dame answered with a 54- yard drive in 10 plays capped by Bill Barrett's five-yard touchdown with 8:37 remaining for a 27-20 lead. A second goal-line stand was needed when Rote drove SMU 66 yards to the Irish 5-yard line before he had to be taken out for two plays because of injury. On fourth down, Groom picked off Rote's pass into the end zone, with an assist from Lally, to help secure another national title. Twenty-five years later, Notre Dame's 1949 national champs made Rote an "Honorary Member" of their team to salute his sterling efforts. It was the first time since Knute Rockne's final season in 1930 a Notre Dame team achieved the 10-0 mark, and it would take another 24 years (1973) before the Fighting Irish matched it en route to finishing 11-0 during another national title march. "I never saw more excitement in a game in my life," Leahy said after the SMU thriller. And college football still has never seen such a four-year unbeaten run. ✦ NOTRE DAME'S RECORD 1940-49 1940 7-2 1941 8-0-1 1942 7-2-2 1943 9-1* 1944 8-2 1945 7-2-1 1946 8-0-1* 1947 9-0* 1948 9-0-1 1949 10-0* * National champs