Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The Toughest Schedule Ever? Seven decades ago, the 1943 national champs went through a gauntlet unlike any other I By Lou Somogyi n countdowns of college football's greatest single-season teams ever, Nebraska's 1971 outfit often is listed No. 1. One reason why is head coach Bob Devaney's Cornhuskers defeated the teams that finished No. 2 (Oklahoma), No. 3 (Colorado) and No. 4 (Alabama) in the final Associated Press poll. In fact, Nebraska slaughtered 11-0 and then-No. 2 Alabama in the Orange Bowl, 38-6, to clinch the national title. How astounding is it to conquer the teams that finished Nos. 2, 3 and 4? Only one other college football program accomplished it — Frank Leahy's 1943 national champion Fighting Irish. Now, here's something else to consider: During Nebraska's 13-0 campaign in 1971, the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 finishers were the lone Husker foes in the final top 20. Conversely, not only did Notre Dame's 1943 edition defeat No. 2 (Iowa Pre-Flight), No. 3 (Michigan) and No. 4 (Navy), it also toppled No. 9 (Northwestern), No. 11 (Army) and No. 13 (Georgia Tech), and lost in the closing seconds of the finale to a semi-pro outfit, Great Lakes, that finished No. 6. That 1943 Notre Dame team is the only one in college football history to lose its regular-season finale, not play in a bowl and still finish No. 1. Never was an exception as deserving as that 9-1 Fighting Irish squad. Seven of the 10 teams Notre Dame faced in 1943 finished in the AP top 13. Even the three that didn't — Pitt, Wisconsin and Illinois — had established respectable traditions. Pitt was the "Team of The 1930s" under Jock Sutherland, Wisconsin finished No. 3 a year earlier, and the Illini came in at No. 15 in 1944. Furthermore, only three of the 10 games played by the Irish in 1943 were at home. There was another Notre Dame team that played more games on the road, namely the 1929 national champs that barnstormed their way across the country en route to a 9-0 finish while Notre Dame Stadium