Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 12, 2024 15 100 Years Ago: Oct. 18, 1924 College football experienced its most famous day ever for immortal nicknames. First, Illinois halfback Harold "Red" Grange be- came "The Galloping Ghost" when in the first 12 minutes against a Michigan team that had not lost in 20 games he returns a kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown and then added scoring dashes of 67, 56 and 44 yards. He finished with 402 all-purpose yards and 5 touchdowns in the 39-14 upset. Meanwhile, at New York's Polo Grounds, es- teemed sportswriter Grantland Rice of the New York Herald Tribune wrote the most famous football lead ever after Notre Dame's 13-7 vic- tory versus Army: "Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: [Harry] Stuhldreher, [Don] Miller, [Jim] Crowley and [Elmer] Layden." George Strickler, Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne's student-aide for publicity, planted the seed in the press box by invoking the 1921 Rudolph Valentino movie "The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse." Days after Rice's story, Strickler — a future editor for The Chicago Tribune — posed the all-senior backfield in their football uniforms, on the backs of horses. Stuhl- dreher was the quarterback, Miller and Crowley the halfbacks and Layden the fullback. At first Rockne chided Strickler for taking his players off the field for a publicity photo, but the master marketer later complimented him for "a good idea" after the wire services picked up the photo and ran it nationally. Notre Dame would go on to win its first "con- sensus" national title that year, assuring the immortality of The Four Horsemen. 75 Years Ago: Oct. 15, 1949 In a showdown between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 4 Tulane — which would win the SEC title that season — head coach Frank Leahy's Fighting Irish raced to a 27-0 first-quarter lead en route to a 46-7 victory, extending their unbeaten streak to 32 games. Halfback Larry Coutre scored on 14-, 81- and 2-yard scoring runs in the first 10 minutes, and quarterback Bob Williams rounded out the first- quarter scoring explosion with a 34-yard touch- down pass to Frank Spaniel. During the unbeaten streak, it was the second- highest ranking of an opponent Notre Dame defeated, other than winning 38-7 at No. 3 USC to clinch the 1947 national title. 25 Years Ago: Oct. 16, 1999 Trailing 24-3 at home in the second half and in the rain versus USC, quarterback Jarious Jackson led the largest comeback victory by the Fight- ing Irish in the 69-year history of Notre Dame Stadium. On the game-winning score, Jackson scrambled 17 yards to the Trojans' 1-yard line, where he is jarred and fumbles — but tight end Jabari Holloway recovered it in the end zone with 2:40 left in the 25-24 victory. The comeback win from a 21-point deficit topped the previous school record at home set two weeks earlier when Notre Dame trailed Oklahoma 30-14 before winning 34-30. 10 Years Ago: Oct. 18, 2014 In one of the most controversial finishes ever in a Notre Dame game, reigning national champion and No. 2 Florida State defeated the No. 5 Fighting Irish 31-27 when an Everett Golson 2-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal to Corey Robinson (his third score of the game) with 13 seconds remaining was nullified when pass interference was called on wideout C.J. Prosise for a "pick play" that the Irish had run and succeeded on earlier. A fourth-and-goal desperation heave by Gol- son from his 18-yard line was then intercepted in the end zone to clinch the Seminoles' win. "It's pretty clear what happened on the play," an angry coach Brian Kelly said the next day. "Florida State blew the coverage and they got rewarded for it. It's unfortunate." 5 Years Ago: Oct. 12, 2019 The No. 9-ranked Irish racked up a season-high 311 yards on the ground en route to knocking off Southern Cal 30-27 at Notre Dame Stadium. Running back Tony Jones Jr. led the Notre Dame rushing attack with a career-high 176 rushing yards on 25 carries. It was his third straight 100-yard rushing game, and he gained 120 in the first half. Wide receiver Braden Lenzy ripped off a 51- yard touchdown — the longest rush of the sea- son for the Irish — while quarterback Ian Book connected on 17 of 32 throws for 165 yards with 2 touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing). UNDER THE DOME Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: October 12-18 FOOTBALL SEASON DIGITAL NEWSLETTERS Exclusively For Subscribers Of Blue & Gold Illustrated Our digital football-season newsletter is emailed every pre-game Wednesday. They include printable team rosters and depth charts for both teams. Be sure to get your email on the list!* *For your convenience, we'll send you a direct link to each newsletter via email as soon as each edition is published. Please send your EMAIL ADDRESS to BGIsupport@BlueandGold.com For more information, visit BlueGoldOnline.com In 1999, quarterback Jarious Jackson rallied the Irish from a 24-3 deficit against Southern Cal to a 25-24 victory — the largest comeback victory by the Fighting Irish in the 69-year his- tory of Notre Dame Stadium. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS