Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2023 13 90 Years Ago: Dec. 2, 1933 In one of the most stunning upsets in Notre Dame history, the 2-5-1 Fighting Irish under maligned third-year head coach Hunk Anderson ended 9-0 Army's hope of clinching the national title with a 13-12 victory in Yankee Stadium. Notre Dame had scored only 19 points in the first eight contests — 0 in four home games — and trailed the Black Knights 12-0 late in the third quar- ter. That's when Irish senior lineman Ed "Moose" Krause, who earlier had blocked a point-after try, blocked a quick kick. It set up a short touchdown drive to close the gap to 12-7, following a drop kick by Buddy Bonar for the point after. Minutes later, Army was forced to punt from the end zone. Notre Dame end Wayne Millner blocked it and fell on the ball past the goal line for the win- ning points in what would be Anderson's final game. 75 Years Ago: Dec. 4, 1948 Notre Dame's school-record 21-game winning streak was snapped at USC, but the Irish finished unbeaten for the third straight year and through 28 games with a 14-14 tie against the Trojans. Notre Dame lost 6 fumbles and fell behind 14-7 with 2:30 remaining. Bill Gay then returned the USC kickoff 86 yards to the Trojan 13-yard line to set up Emil "Six Yard" Sitko's 1-yard scoring run with 35 seconds remaining. Steve Oracko's extra point — the two-point conversion wouldn't be a part of col- lege football until 10 years later — salvaged the tie. Already ranked behind No. 1 Michigan (9-0), Notre Dame finished No. 2 with its 9-0-1 ledger. The Wolverines received 197 first-place votes to Notre Dame's 92 votes in the final Associated Press vote to claim the national championship. 70 Years Ago: Dec. 5, 1953 In what would be his final game as the Notre Dame head coach, Frank Leahy led the Fighting Irish to their sixth unbeaten season in his 11 years with a 40-14 rout of SMU. Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lattner, who would become Leahy's fourth Heisman winner in 10 years, led the charge with a game-high 84 yards rush- ing and a touchdown. He also added a 24-yard catch for another score and completed a 55-yard pass to Dan Shannon to set up what would be one of three short scoring runs by fullback Neil Worden. He also starred on defense, and his lone punt traveled 47 yards. Only 45 years of age, Leahy would never walk the sidelines again. His 87- 11-9 career record featured consensus national titles in 1943, 1946, 1947 and 1949, plus unbeaten seasons in 1941 (8-0-1), 1948 (9-0-1) and 1953 (9-0-1). It was a tumultuous season for Leahy, who collapsed due to acute pancre- atitis and was even administered last rites at halftime during a game against Georgia Tech Oct. 24, was castigated nationally for his team twice feigning injuries to stop the clock when the team was out of timeouts and had to rally to tie Iowa 14-14 Nov. 21. He could not make the trip to USC the ensuing week because of health reasons. Including his 20-2 record in his two seasons at Boston College (1939-40), Leahy had a career mark of 107-13-9 (.864). That ranks just behind his former coach and mentor, Knute Rockne, who was 105-12-1 (.881) with the Irish from 1918-30 before dying in a plane crash at age 43. Rockne and Leahy rank one-two in major college history for best winning percentage after coaching at least 10 seasons. Leahy resigned on Jan. 31, 1954. 50 Years Ago: Dec. 1, 1973 For the first time in 24 years, and only the third time ever, Notre Dame's record was 10-0 following a 44-0 romp at Miami in the regular-season finale. The Hurricanes earlier in the year had defeated preseason No. 1 Texas and lost only 24-20 to current No. 2 Oklahoma. With 448 yards rushing (it outgained Miami 574- 168 overall), head coach Ara Parseghian's Fighting Irish set a single-season rushing standard of 350.2 yards per game that still stands. Fullback Wayne "The Train" Bullock rushed for 116 yards and 2 scores, halfbacks Art Best and Eric Penick added 92 and 69, respectively, and quarterback Tom Clements found wideout Pete Demmerle on 21- and 7-yard touchdown passes. The victory came 11 months to the day that Parseghian suffered his worst loss ever at Notre Dame on that same Orange Bowl field, 40-6 to Nebraska. All that remained between a national title was a win over No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl Dec. 31. 20 Years Ago: Dec. 5-7, 2003 This may have been the worst weekend in Notre Dame athletic perfor- mance: • On Dec. 6, the football team was crushed 38-12 by 5-6 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, leaving the Irish with a 5-7 record to close the season. The Orange had lost three straight and four of their last five. • That same evening at home, the No. 23-ranked Notre Dame's men's bas- ketball team lost at the buzzer, 69-68, to Central Michigan — which would finish 6-24. The Irish barely missed the NCAA Tournament later that season, and this setback was deemed a tipping point. • The women's basketball team lost at Washington, 85-74. • The hockey team, 8-1-2 in its previous 11 games, was swept by Western Michigan, 8-6 and 6-4 Dec. 5-6. • Volleyball lost in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament to Louisville. The lone Irish teams to win were the swim teams, which captured the Notre Dame Invitational. UNDER THE DOME At the age of 45, Frank Leahy coached his final game at Notre Dame in 1953. He led the Irish to their sixth unbeaten season in his 11 years with a 40-14 rout of SMU. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: December ❱ Your home address will be automatically changed to the mailing address on file with the US Postal Service. ALL addresses are cross-referenced with the USPS National Change of Address database. ❱ It can take up to 7 days for the USPS to update your address in their database. To prevent missed issues, please notify the US Postal Service ASAP. ❱ Your postal forwarding order expires in 60 days or less. Most forwarding requests expire in 60 days and DO NOT always include periodical mail. Issues are discarded at their discretion. ❱ You should call your local post office to verify your delivery address. 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