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1913 The Game-Changer Notre Dame's football program took root 100 years ago F By Lou Somogyi ootball at Notre Dame officially began Nov. 23, 1887, when the University of Michigan team traveled to the South Bend campus to introduce the rules and intricacies of the game that was still in its infancy. With an eight-year football history under its collective belt, Michigan scored two touchdowns (worth four points back then, and not six until 1912) and recorded an 8-0 victory, with no second half played. Nevertheless, some popular opinion holds that the true "birth" of Notre Dame's football program didn't occur until Nov. 1, 1913, the day it upset powerful Army 35-13 in West Point. That day was a confluence of many factors — innovation, national scheduling, powerful leadership at the top, a can-do spirit and legendary players — that would make Notre Dame's football program maybe the most famous and successful brand name in intercollegiate athletics over the next 100 years. Setting The Table The 25 years from 1887-1912 had two main on-field landmark events for the Notre Dame football program. One was halfback Louis "Red" Salmon in 1903 becoming the first Notre Dame player named to Walter Camp's All-America unit (third team). Next was the 11-3 upset of head coach Fielding Yost's Michigan team in 1909 after having gone 0-8 all-time against the Wol- verines. However, that only precipitated a fall-out when hours prior to the 1910 Notre Dame-Michigan meeting, Yost cancelled the contest. The small, Catholic school with a limited identity in the Midwest, which had been ostracized by the Western Conference (now the Big Ten) during its fledgling years, had no full-time head coach or athletics administrator to lead it out from the wilderness (it had 10 different head coaches from 1899-1912, none going beyond two years). Notre Dame's frustration was manifested with its football schedules. The eight-game 1911 slate featured unglamorous home games against Ohio Northern, St. Viator, Butler, Loyola (Chicago) and St. Bonaventure teams that Notre Dame out- Head coach Jesse Harper (left) — who was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 1971 — posted a 34-5-1 record at Notre Dame from 1913-17, despite his teams playing only 16 games at home and 24 on the road. photo courtesy notre dame media relations 140 ✦ Blue & Gold Illustrated 2013 Football Preview 140-143.100th Anniversary ND vs Army.indd 140 6/25/13 9:31 AM