Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 4, 2023 13 110 Years Ago: Nov. 1, 1913 One of the watershed moments in Notre Dame football history occurred when first-year head coach Jesse Harper's "Catholics" stunned Eastern power Army 35-13 in West Point, N.Y. Because Notre Dame was blackballed from the West- ern Conference (later named the Big Ten), it was forced to schedule nationally, leading to a November sched- ule that featured road games at Army, at Penn State, against Christian Brothers in St. Louis and versus the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas, on Thanksgiving Day. The epic victory against the Cadets, highlighted by the passing combination of quarterback Gus Dorais to receiver/captain Knute Rockne, put Notre Dame football in the headlines on the East Coast and even- tually served as an impetus to national scheduling and becoming America's Team. 105 Years Ago: Nov. 2, 1918 After Notre Dame canceled its entire slate of Octo- ber games, first-year head coach Knute Rockne's team recorded a 66-7 victory against Wabash College. Football had been canceled throughout the country in October because the worldwide Spanish influenza epidemic swept into the United States. By the time it abated, more than a half-million Americans had died and nearly 20 million were afflicted. Theaters, bars, schools and churches were ordered closed, and there was a ban on the assembly of crowds for football games in efforts to keep the disease from spreading. Five Notre Dame games were canceled, including Army, but Notre Dame was able to reschedule Purdue for Nov. 23. Rockne's debut season ended with a 3-1-2 record. 80 Years Ago: Oct. 30, 1943 Two days before he was to report to Parris Island for advanced Marine training, Notre Dame quarter- back Angelo Bertelli played his last game for Notre Dame. The No. 1-ranked Fighting Irish defeated No. 4 Navy in Cleveland, 33-6, and they outrushed the Mid- shipmen 323 yards to minus 7. Bertelli completed 5 of 9 pass attempts for 119 yards with 3 scores — 49 yards to Jules Rykovich, 52 yards to Creighton Miller and 3 yards to John Yonakor. Bertelli also added a 1-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring. Later that season, Bertelli became Notre Dame's first Heisman recipient despite playing in only six games before heading off to World War II. 45 Years Ago: Nov. 4, 1978 Junior tailback Vagas Ferguson set a single-game Notre Dame record with 219 yards rushing during a 27-7 victory against 7-0 and No. 11-ranked Navy in a game played at Cleveland. Head coach George Welsh's Midshipmen entered the contest ranked No. 1 in total defense, allowing a measly 158.1 yards per game (57.0 on the ground). Highlighted by an 80-yard touchdown run by Ferguson, Notre Dame accumulated 530 yards of total of- fense, with 375 coming on the ground. Fullback Jerome Heavens — who held the previous single-game re- cord with 200 yards rushing — added 100 yards rushing to help the No. 15 Irish to their sixth straight win. 35 Years Ago: Oct. 29, 1988 No. 2 Notre Dame came out flat and posted an uninspiring 22-7 victory against a Navy team that lost 52-6 to Pitt the previous week. However, because No. 1 UCLA, with Troy Aikman at quarterback, was upset at home by Washington State, 34-30, the Fighting Irish were elevated to No. 1 for the first time since Sept. 19, 1981. That seven-year stretch without seeing the No. 1 ranking was, at the time, the second longest in school history, behind the 10 years from Oct. 2, 1954, until Nov. 7, 1964. 5 Years Ago: Nov. 2, 2013 A school-record nine lead changes occurred before freshman running back Tarean Folston dove over from a yard out with 3:47 remaining to give Notre Dame a hard-fought 38-34 victory over Navy. It also was Notre Dame's 10th consecutive victory that was decided by one score or less, tying the second longest such streak in school history. The previous record for most lead changes in a Notre Dame game was seven in a 34-30 loss at Penn State in 1983 and also in the 24-23 1973 Sugar Bowl victory versus Alabama that won the Irish the national title. UNDER THE DOME Angelo Bertelli (center) threw for 3 touch- downs and ran for 1 in his final game before heading off to serve in World War II. PHOTO BY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Anniversaries In Notre Dame History: Oct. 29 - Nov. 4 DID YOU KNOW... 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