Blue and Gold Illustrated

January 2014 Issue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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Upon Further Review todd D. burlage gram still finding its way. The football schedule in 1913 for Notre Dame also included Alma (Michigan) and Christian Brothers College (St. Louis). But that first game against Army eventually gathered historical significance as the day when Notre Dame began its push as a university with a national scope. An appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl will never carry the historical clout of that November day in 1913. But this postseason game against Rutgers at Yankee Stadium will add another chapter and some big city attention for a little midwestern university that has built a very large presence in the Big Apple during that last century. The Notre Dame football program truly secured its footing in New York City during the 1920s when the legendary rivalry with Army hit full speed. Army was the standard of college football programs during that era, and the perfect opponent for the Irish to build their national reputation as both a football program and an elite university. By the mid-1920s, the annual football game with Army had created so much interest in and around New York, it was moved 50 miles south from the West Point campus and into the city. The 1923 game was played at Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn, and the 1924 game was held at the Polo Grounds in New York City — the same year the Four Horsemen led Notre Dame to a 13-7 victory over mighty Army and finished the season 10-0 to claim the program's first na- tional championship. The Army game was moved to Yankee Stadium in 1925, where it remained for 22 straight years, save for the game in 1930 that was played at Soldier Field in Chicago. More than 65,000 fans packed Yankee Stadium for that inaugural game. In the 21 years Notre Dame played at Yankee Stadium, the memories and moments were many, including Rockne's "win one for the Gipper" halftime speech in 1928 and the 0-0 tie with Army in 1946 that many still consider "The Game of the Century" for the 1900s. Notre Dame featured three Heisman Trophy winners (Angelo Bertelli, John Jujack and Leon Hart) and three national championship teams (1929, 1943 and 1946) that played games at Yankee Stadium during that important era of success and growth for the Irish football program. A December bowl, in the cold, against an opponent nobody knows anything about, wasn't on the preseason wish list, and it won't rate among the great Irish football moments in New York history. But a postseason trip there is still something to celebrate — as a homecoming and an anniversary. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. And Notre Dame has been making it happen in New York for 100 years. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com

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