Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527865
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 19, 2024 51 the candle lights still gleam through the Indiana sycamores, those in the way must take to storm cellars at top speed. Yesterday the cyclone struck again, as Notre Dame beat the Army, 13 to 7, with a set of backfield stars that ripped and crashed through a strong Army defense with more speed and power than the warring cadets could meet." From there, Rice described "the driv- ing power of one of the greatest back- fields that ever churned up the turf of any gridiron in any football age." He noted the following on the second quar- ter scoring drives: "the unwavering power of the Western attack that ham- mered relentlessly and remorselessly without easing up for a second's breath." Rice paid particular homage to the speed of the Irish attack, the precision with which it worked, and the consis- tently effective blocking it used to ad- vance the ball on the ground. "Always in front of these offensive drivers could be found the whirling form of Stuhldreher, taking the first man out of the play as cleanly as though he had used a hand grenade at close range," Rice wrote. He also had high praise for Notre Dame's defensive play. "This Notre Dame interference was a marvelous thing to look upon," he noted. "When a back such as Harry Wil- son finds few chances to get started, you can figure upon the defensive strength that is barricading the road. Wilson is one of the hardest backs in the game to suppress, but he found few chances yesterday to show his broken-field abil- ity. You can't run through a broken field unless you get there." He concluded by stating that "we doubt that any team in the country could have beaten Rockne's array yes- terday afternoon, East or West. It was a great football team brilliantly directed, a team of speed, power and team play. The Army has no cause for gloom over its showing. It played first class football against more speed than it could match. "Those who have tackled a cyclone can understand." After returning to South Bend, Strick- ler arranged to borrow four work horses from a coal and ice company downtown and brought them to Cartier Field. There, in a quick photo shoot, photographer Harry Elmore created one of the most lasting images in sports iconography. In the ensuing weeks, the image made its way onto sports pages across the na- tion, while the Irish mowed down a chal- lenging schedule including Princeton, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Northwestern and Carnegie Tech. The Four Horsemen would not be stopped. ✦ Congratula ons JOE THEISMANN Recipient of the 2024 Knute Rockne Spirit of Sports LIVING LEGEND Award To see a recap of the Award event, please visit www.RockneSociety.org Jim Lefebvre is an award-winning Notre Dame author and leads the Knute Rockne Memorial Society. He can be reached at: jim@ndfootballhistory.com Rice was considered the dean of American sports writers. PHOTO COURTESY KNUTE ROCKNE MEMORIAL SOCIETY