December 14, 1930: The New York Giants Beat the Notre Dame All-Stars

December 14, 1930: A football game was played at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan. The home team was not the one cheered by most of the fans. Most of them left stunned at the result.

America was a year into the Great Depression, and Jimmy Walker, the flamboyant, corrupt Mayor of New York City, had a private unemployment relief fund. He contacted his friend, Charles Stoneham, owner of the New York Giants baseball team and its home, the Polo Grounds; and another friend, Tim Mara, owner of the New York Giants football team, which leased the Polo Grounds from Stoneham. He asked if Stoneham would host, and Mara would play, a benefit game for the relief fund. Both agreed.

But who would be the opponent? There was a football team called the Brooklyn Dodgers, and another called the Staten Island Stapletons, but neither had a following that would fill the Polo Grounds' 56,000 seats. Nor did the Giants: Only once all season did they have a home crowd over 25,000, and that was on November 23, when 37,000 saw them beat the Green Bay Packers, 13-6. That would be the Packers' only loss of the season, as they won the Championship by 1 game over the Giants.

The most popular football team among New Yorkers was a college team, 700 miles west: The University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana. Although there is a school in Washington, D.C. named "The Catholic University of America," the high profile of Notre Dame's football team had made their school America's most familiar Catholic school.

This was due to the success of their head coach, the charismatic Norwegian immigrant Knute Rockne. Coaching players like the ill-fated George Gipp on his National Championship teams of 1919 and 1920, and the four-man backfield known as "The Four Horsemen" on his National Championship team of 1924, Rockne had made himself and his school legend. Catholics in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, who couldn't afford to go to college, or even to finish high school, read of Notre Dame's exploits in the newspapers, and became fans, known as "Subway Alumni."

The game in which the great Southern, but nationally-syndicated, sportswriter Grantland Rice had named quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfback Don Miller and Jim Crowley, and Elmer Layden "The Four Horsemen," after the Apocalypse figures in the Bible's book of Revelation, had been at the Polo Grounds, a win over the U.S. Military Academy, a.k.a. "Army." The 1928 game in which Rockne had told his players of the dying wish of Gipp, suffering from an infection in those pre-antibiotic days, to "win just one for the Gipper," had also been against Army, at Yankee Stadium.

And Notre Dame had won the National Championship again in 1929 and 1930. In the current season alone, they had gone 10-0, and brought 66,000 fans to Pitt Stadium for their win over the University of Pittsburgh, 75,000 to Franklin Field in Philadelphia for their win over the University of Pennsylvania, 110,000 to Soldier Field in Chicago for their win over Army, and 74,000 to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for their win over the University of Southern California.

So they were the ideal opponent. And it's not as though teams in the NFL's early days hadn't played college teams before. So the Giants asked Rockne if he would bring his "Fighting Irish" east to play the Giants.

He wouldn't do it. Not because he objected to playing professionals -- or because the game would be on a Sunday. (The State of New York had only legalized professional sports on Sundays in 1919.) It was because the game had been set for December 14, only 8 days after their win over USC, and, having needed 3 days to get back to South Bend by train, and needing another day to get to New York by train, Rockne thought his players would be too tired to play.

So a team of "Notre Dame All-Stars" was set up: A few of the current players, who felt they could do it, came east. And the Four Horsemen, none of whom had made the trip to Los Angeles, were reunited.

But Stuhldreher was now the head coach at Villanova University in Philadelphia, Crowley the head coach at Michigan State, Layden the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh, and Miller the backfield coach at Ohio State. None of them had played beyond the 1926 season, and they were now 29 (Stuhldreher), 28 (Miller and Crowley) and 27 (Layden) years old -- not old if they had still been playing all along, but old enough to not be able to fully resume their playing careers if they had wanted.

Nevertheless, the American media had put into the heads of the American football-watching public that college football was superior to professional football, that pro football was a way for boys who hadn't grown up to make money playing the game they loved, on top of, or maybe instead of, getting a "real job." The consensus was that the Giants would be no match for the 24 men who assembled to represent the great Notre Dame.

But the Giants had quarterback Benny Friedman, who has been called the NFL's 1st great passer. They had end Red Badgro. They had tackle Steve Owen, who was also their head coach. All 3 would one day make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They had backs Dale Burnett and Chris Caple. There were reasons why the Giants nearly won the NFL Championship.

Instead, the Giants sacked Stuhldreher in the end zone for a safety just 2 minutes into the game, and led 2-0. The Giants' big linemen overwhelmed the Notre Dame line, including some of the "Seven Mules" who had blocked for the Four Horsemen. It did no good: The Irish gained only 34 yards -- the entire game. Their passing attack was 0-for-9, with 2 interceptions.

In the New York Daily News, Marshall Hunt wrote of the crowd that came to see Notre Dame and ended up seeing the Giants, "More than 50,000 cheered every futile thrust of Knute Rockne's improvised squadron of former Notre Dame football players against the super line of Tim Mara's team."

In the 2nd quarter, Friedman drove the Giants down the field, and scored on a 4-yard touchdown run. Close to halftime, the Giants' line opened a hole for him, and he ran in from 22 yards. Giants 15, Fighting Irish 0.

Rockne lost the plot, as would be said in English soccer. This was not something he did often. He found Giants team president Harry March, and tore into him for allowing the Giants to embarrass his squad in a purported charity game. He told March to call off the dogs in the second half.

March must have gotten the message to Owen, because he sent in the reserves. And still, in the 3rd quarter, Francis "Hap" Moran threw a touchdown pass to Glenn Campbell (no relation to Glen Campbell the later singer). The Giants won, 22-0.

As sports historian Clayton Trutor wrote for Notre Dame Magazine in 2021:

The 22-0 final score headlined all newspapers in the city, earning the hometown team a grudging respect from writers who had previously discounted the professional game. Nevertheless, they were treated like sparring partners by many of the New York papers, who instead focused their coverage on the plucky performance of a Notre Dame alumni team that had assembled just a few days earlier.

It wasn't the catalyst for the NFL to take over from the pros in the minds of the public, but it was part of a gradual process that began, also with the Giants at the Polo Grounds, when Red Grange and the Chicago Bears beat them in front of 75,000.

Rockne died in a plane crash the next year, and many of the other great old football coaches, some of whom had spoken ill of the professional game -- passed from the scene, either through death or retirement.

In 1933, Jim Crowley became the head coach at Fordham University in The Bronx, and coached a line known as "The Seven Blocks of Granite," including future Packer coach Vince Lombardi. That team played their bigger games at the Polo Grounds, and had a famous 0-0 tie with Pittsburgh there, with both teams going in undefeated.

*

December 14, 1930 was a Sunday. There was 1 regular-season game in the NFL that day: The Green Bay Packers, their Championship already assured, played the Portsmouth Spartans to a tie, 6-6 at Universal Stadium (now Spartan Memorial Stadium) in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Baseball was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There were 2 games in the NHL. The New York Rangers beat the Detroit Falcons, 3-0 at the old (but then-new) Madison Square Garden. And the Montreal Maroons beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-0 at the Chicago Stadium. The Falcons became the Red Wings in 1932, and the Maroons folded in 1938.

December 4, 1926: The 1st Notre Dame vs. USC Game

December 4, 1926: The University of Notre Dame and the University of Southern California play each other in football, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was the 1st meeting between the schools, and the birth of a great rivalry.

So why do a school based in South Bend, Indiana and one based in Los Angeles, California play each other, just about every year? Blame Bonnie Rockne and Marion Wilson, the wives of, respectively, Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne and USC athletic director Gwynn Wilson.

In 1926, USC, already a traditional power in West Coast college football, had an open date on their schedule, and were looking for a major opponent to fill it. The Wilsons went to Lincoln, Nebraska to watch Notre Dame, themselves already a traditional power nationwide, play the University of Nebraska on Thanksgiving Day. Nebraska won, 17-0.

Mr. Wilson approached Mr. Rockne about the idea of the Fighting Irish coming to L.A. to play USC. He didn't want to do that much traveling. After all, this was still the early days of airplanes, and the year the federal highway system was founded, so most long-distance travel was still done by train. But Mrs. Wilson told Mrs. Rockne that a trip every 2 years to sunny Southern California was better than one to snowy, hostile Nebraska. Mrs. Rockne talked Mr. Rockne into it, and the game was played on December 4, 1926, at the Coliseum. Notre Dame won, 13-12, and Rockne called it the greatest game he'd ever seen.

For the 1927 and 1929 games, Notre Dame had the home field, and since their on-campus Cartier Field topped out at 30,000 seats, they chose to play at Soldier Field in Chicago. Their 7-6 win in 1927 and their 13-12 win in 1929 were both seen by about 120,000 people, among the largest crowds in college football history.

Notre Dame Stadium opened on the South Bend campus in 1930. It long had a capacity of 59,075, until a 1997 renovation expanded it to 77,622. And so, every year, from 1930 onward, they've traded home fields -- except for the World War II seasons of 1943, '44 and '45, when wartime travel restrictions made intersectional college football games inappropriate, with even the major bowl games restricting themselves to matchups of teams from their own regions.

But every year since 1946, USC has hosted the game at the Coliseum in even-numbered years, usually on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend; while Notre Dame had hosted it in South Bend in odd-numbered years, usually in the middle of October, because the weather is usually better in the Midwest then than it would be in late November.

And, since 1951, it has always been broadcast on national television. When it's at USC, ABC broadcasts it in prime time. When it's at NBC, since 1991, they've broadcast it, leading to jokes about NBC standing for "Notredame Broadcasting Company."

In 1931, USC won in South Bend for the 1st time, coming from 14-0 down to win 16-14 on Johnny Baker's 33-yard field goal with 1 minute left, ending Notre Dame's 26-game unbeaten streak, a streak that had been intact despite Rockne's death in a plane crash early in the year. In 1938, Notre Dame went into the game ranked Number 1, but USC beat them, 13-0. In 1948, Notre Dame went into the game ranked Number 1 and with a 21-game winning streak, but USC held them to a 14-14 tie.

In 1964, Notre Dame went into the game ranked Number 1, but USC beat them, 20-17. In 1968, USC went into the game ranked Number 1, but Notre Dame tied them, 21-21. In 1972, Anthony Davis scored 6 touchdowns in a win. In 1974, Notre Dame led 24-0, but USC won 55-24. It was "The Anthony Davis Game," as A.D. scored 4 times.

From 1983 to 1993, Notre Dame beat USC 11 straight times, with a tie in 1994 and another Irish win in 1995. It became a running gag on the TV show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee: The Monday morning after the game, Kathie Lee Gifford would take a dollar bill and slip it to Regis Philbin, because he, a Notre Dame graduate, had a bet with Kathie Lee's husband, Frank Gifford, an ABC sportscaster and one of USC football's biggest legends. From 2002 to 2009, USC won 8 straight years, including the 2005 game won with the supposedly illegal push of Reggie Bush into the end zone in South Bend.

Including the game of November 26, 2022, a 38-27 USC win, Notre Dame leads the rivalry, 48-37, with 5 ties. The teams play for the Jeweled Shillelagh, a trophy that goes to the winning team each year. Although it's not the kind of thing you normally show in public.

Take a guess as to why.

 

Alabama, Michigan or Ohio State fans might object, but it could be argued that Notre Dame and USC are the two greatest college football programs. Notre Dame have won 11 National Championships, 22 bowl games, and 7 Heisman trophies -- but no Conference Championships, since they've never been in a conference. USC have won 11 National Championships, 39 Conference Championships, 36 bowl games, and 8 Heisman Trophies.

UPDATE: As of the 2025 season, Notre Dame leads, 51-37-5. But USC's move to the Big Ten Conference -- a move that the Midwest-based Notre Dame should have made decades ago, but never has -- led to scheduling issues that prevented games between the schools for the 2026, '27, '28 and '29 seasons. They've agreed to play in 2030, '31, '32 and '33, but early in the season, instead of in the middle when it's Notre Dame's turn to host and late when it's USC's.

*

December 4, 1926 was a Saturday. In English soccer, Arsenal defeated Manchester-area team Bury, 1-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, nicknamed Highbury for its North London neighborhood.

I have a separate entry for this event.

There was 1 score in the NFL: The Frankford Yellow Jackets beat the Chicago Bears, 7-6 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. This game was considered big enough to move from the Jackets' usual home, Frankford Stadium in North Philadelphia. The Jackets went on to win the NFL Championship.

Baseball was out of season. Professional basketball was hardly major league at this point. There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Cougars, 1-0 at the Border Cities Arena (now the Windsor Arena) in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, across the Detroit River from Detroit. The Cougars moved to the Olympia Stadium in Detroit in 1927, became the Detroit Falcons in 1930, and became the Detroit Red Wings in 1932.

* The New York Americans beat the Toronto St. Patrick's, 1-0 at the Mutual Street Arena in Toronto. The St. Patricks became the Maple Leafs in 1927.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Montreal Maroons, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at the Ottawa Auditorium.

* And the Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at the Duquesne Gardens in Pittsburgh. Harry Oliver scored the winning goal, 7:25 into overtime. 

November 30, 1974: The Anthony Davis Game

November 30, 1974: The University of Southern California hosts the University of Notre Dame in football at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

USC vs. Notre Dame is the biggest inter-sectional rivalry in American college football, and has been since it was established in 1926. No other pair of traditional rivals has as many National Championships, or as many Heisman Trophy winners. Notre Dame has had more 1st-round picks in the NFL Draft than any other school, and USC is 2nd in that regard. And both teams' fans are regarded as insufferable by pretty much everyone who hasn't bought into the schools' respective myths.

In odd-numbered years, the game is played at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, in mid-to-late October, when the leaves are changing. In even-numbered years, the game is played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, when it would be too cold to play it in the Midwest.

It had been 10 years since USC had upset Notre Dame to end their National Championship hopes. Since then, Ara Parseghian had led Notre Dame to the National Championship in 1966 and 1973, and John McKay had led USC to it in 1967 and 1972, and were both still in charge.

Notre Dame went into the game at 9-1. Their only loss had been at home to Purdue. Their only ranked opponent was Number 17 University of Pittsburgh, whom they beat at home. Nevertheless, being Notre Dame, they were still the media darlings, and were ranked Number 5.

USC came in at 8-1-1. They lost their opener away to Number 20 Arkansas. But they beat Pitt, who were then ranked Number 8, away. They were held to a tie by the University of California at home. The week before, they beat UCLA to clinch the Pacific-Eight Conference title, and were ranked Number 8 coming in. As usual, ABC broadcast the game nationally.

Notre Dame took a 24-0 lead in the 2nd quarter. In 2021, for a USC-themed website, Trojan linebacker Kevin Bruce wrote:

The entire game was the typical uber-physical and nasty play on the field. Lots of punching, poking, grabbing and chippy-yacking after most plays. It was only the vague deep-down stirring of playing disciplined football just in case we could claw our way back into this game that prevented a fullout bar fight on the field in the first, as had happened several times in the last few years.

USC scored a touchdown before the end of the half, but the extra point was blocked: 24-6. McKay told his team at intermission that they still had a very good chance to win if they just calmed down, focused on scoring on their opening drive of the 2nd half, and executed better on defense.

(McKay liked to use the word "execution." In 1976, he left USC to become the 1st coach of an NFL expansion team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He went from 3 National Championships to an 0-26 start. When asked what he thought of his team's "execution," he said, "I'm for it.")

Bruce again:

I'm delighted to be able to tell you as an eyewitness and active participant what really happened on that magical day in November 1974. This was the day that Sports Illustrated called "17 minutes that shook LA." This was an earthquake that was very selective. Only Notre Dame was damaged by it, which I for one, think is a best practice. The only thing missing was Traveler stomping on that annoying little green leprechaun. 

In the 1961 Rose Parade in Pasadena, a USC events director saw Richard Saukko riding his white horse, Traveler. Saukko was talked into riding his horse around the Coliseum track at USC football games. The tradition has continued. The rider is often called Tommy Trojan, like the famous on-campus statue, but the character does not have an official name. The rider continues to ride a horse named Traveler around the field before every game, after every win, and following every touchdown, although the Coliseum's 1995 renovation has removed the track.

Notre Dame kicked off to start the 2nd half, and Anthony Davis returned the ball 102 yards for a touchdown. He scored twice more, as USC put up 49 points in 16 minutes and 31 seconds of game time, to win going away, 55-24.

Davis later said that, on his last run into the end zone, he saw a nun waving a crucifix at him, saying, "You must be the Devil! Nobody does that to Notre Dame!" Well, Anthony Davis did that to Notre Dame.

John McKay and Anthony Davis

Joe Jares, the Sports Illustrated writer quoted above by Bruce, said that the loss was "the worst disaster for the Irish since the potato famine." This was the final regular season game for Notre Dame's Hall of Fame head coach Ara Parseghian, who announced his retirement after the year. Parseghian was sick over what transpired and reportedly said "he was damn tired" of seeing Traveler running around the track every time USC scored.

USC fans call it "The Comeback." Notre Dame fans call it "That Game," or worse. USC had already clinched the title in the league then known as the Pacific-Eight Conference the week before, beating intra-city rival UCLA.

Davis finished 2nd in the Heisman Trophy voting, to Ohio State running back Archie Griffin. He played in 4 different professional football leagues: The World Football League (WFL), with the Southern California Sun in 1975; the Canadian Football League (CFL), with the Toronto Argonauts in 1976; the NFL, with McKay's Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1977, the Houston Oilers in 1978, and the Los Angeles Rams, back at the Coliseum and again with Haden as quarterback, later in 1978; and the United States Football League (USFL), with the Los Angeles Express, again at the Coliseum, in 1983.

He later became a successful real estate developer, but, like so many other football players, his head-on collisions led to CTE and brain impairment. As of November 30, 2022, he is still alive.

*

November 30, 1974 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games were played that day:

* Rivalry: Number 1 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, 44-13 at Owen Field in Norman. The Sooners won the Big Eight Conference title, and were undefeated at 11-0. However, they were on probation, due to recruiting violations, and were not eligible for the UPI coaches' poll National Championship, or a bowl game appearance, or even a television appearance. Nevertheless, the AP sportswriters' poll awarded them their National Championship.

* Number 16 Baylor beat Rice, 24-3 at Baylor Stadium (later Floyd Casey Stadium) in Waco, Texas. Baylor clinched the Southwest Conference title.

* Rivalry: Navy beat Army, 19-0 at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

* Rivalry: Boston College beat Holy Cross, 38-6 at Alumni Stadium outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

* Rivalry: Georgia Tech beat Georgia, 34-14 at Sanford Stadium in Athens.

* Rivalry: Florida beat Miami, 31-7 at Florida Field in Gainesville.

* Rivalry: Heavily favored Tennessee were held to a tie by Vanderbilt, 21-21 at Dudley Field (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Mississippi (Ole Miss) beat Tulane, 26-10 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. This was Tulane's last game at their old stadium. The following season, they moved into the Superdome.

* Louisiana State (LSU) beat Utah, 35-10 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I have no idea why this one was set up: It sounds more like a bowl game.

* Rivalry: Arizona beat Arizona State, 10-0 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.

* And Rutgers lost to Hawaii, 28-16 at Honolulu Stadium. Hawaii played 1 more game there, losing to Arizona State the next week, and opened the new Aloha Stadium the next season.

* The day before, Number 2 Alabama beat Number 7 Auburn, 17-13 at Legion Field in Birmingham. 'Bama won the Southeastern Conference title.

* Also the day before, Number 17 Texas upset Number 8 Texas A&M, 32-3 at Memorial Stadium in Austin.

* And the day before that, Thanksgiving, Number 10 Penn State beat Number 18 Pittsburgh, 31-10 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Penn State went on to beat Baylor in the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 8 Nebraska were idle, having lost a game, and the Big 8 title, to Oklahoma the week before. They beat Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 3 Ohio State were idle, having beaten then-Number 2 Michigan for the Big Ten Conference title. USC, with Davis, went on to beat Ohio State, with Griffin, in the Rose Bowl. With Number 1 Oklahoma (through their own fault) and Number 5 Michigan (through a dumb Big 10 rule) both ineligible for a bowl, and Number 2 Alabama and Number 3 Ohio State both losing their bowl games, the latter to Number 5 Ohio State, UPI named USC its National Champion.

Notre Dame went on to beat Alabama in the Orange Bowl. It was Parseghian's last game: He retired, and joined ABC's broadcast crew. Dan Devine succeeded him as head coach. A year after that, McKay left for Tampa Bay, and was succeeded by John Robinson.

Baseball was out of season. There were 6 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Buffalo Braves, 118-111 at Madison Square Garden. Bob McAdoo scored 36 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in defeat for the Braves.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 122-90 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bulls, 101-99 in double overtime at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Houston Rockets, 112-100 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* The Golden State Warriors beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, 128-118 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Rick Barry scored 43 points.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the New Orleans Jazz, 117-85 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

There were 4 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The Virginia Squires beat the Indiana Pacers, 121-120 at the Hampton Coliseum outside Norfolk in Hampton, Virginia. George McGinnis scored 38 in defeat for the Pacers.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 109-100 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

* The Utah Stars beat the San Antonio Spurs, 110-103 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* And the Denver Nuggets beat the Spirits of St. Louis, 128-109 at the Denver Auditorium Arena.

There were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the St. Louis Blues, 7-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Washington Capitals, 7-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 5-5 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Kansas City Scouts, 1-0 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Boston Bruins, 2-0 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the New York Rangers, the Philadelphia Flyers, the California Golden Seals and the Atlanta Flames were not scheduled.

There were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The Chicago Cougars beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 7-5 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. And the Cleveland Crusaders beat the Houston Aeros, 5-4 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Yorkshire team Middlesbrough, 2-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.

November 28, 1964: USC Upsets Notre Dame

November 28, 1964: As occasionally happens, the game between the University of Southern California and the University of Notre Dame becomes one of the most important games of the college football season.

USC vs. Notre Dame is the biggest inter-sectional rivalry in American college football, and has been since it was established in 1926. No other pair of traditional rivals has as many National Championships, or as many Heisman Trophy winners. Notre Dame has had more 1st-round picks in the NFL Draft than any other school, and USC is 2nd in that regard. And both teams' fans are regarded as insufferable by pretty much everyone who hasn't bought into the schools' respective myths.

In odd-numbered years, the game is played at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, in mid-to-late October, when the leaves are changing. In even-numbered years, the game is played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, when it would be too cold to play it in the Midwest.

In 1964, the Fighting Irish had a new head coach, Ara Parseghian. He had played for Woody Hayes at Miami University of Ohio and Paul Brown with the Cleveland Browns; coached under Hayes at Miami; succeeded him at that job when Hayes was hired at Ohio State, then coached at Northwestern.

In that 1st season, he had quarterback John Huarte, who would win the Heisman Trophy; defensive tackle Alan Page, who would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame; and linebacker Jim Lynch, whose Kansas City Chiefs would beat Page's Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV, 5 years later.

They won their 1st 9 games, most of them easily, although one of them should have been an omen, a visit to the University of Pittsburgh where they came away with only a 17-15 win. And none of their opponents had been nationally ranked. Still, they went into the season finale at USC ranked Number 1.

John McKay was in his 5th season at USC, and had already won a National Championship in 1962. Despite having the next season's Heisman winner, running back Mike Garrett, the Trojans did not have a good season. While Notre Dame had beaten Michigan State, 34-7 at home, USC lost to them, 17-7 away. They also lost to Ohio State in Columbus and the University of Washington at home. That dropped them to 4-3.

Their next game was away to Stanford, whom Notre Dame had beaten at home, 28-6. But the Trojans got on their horses and beat Stanford, 15-10. After a week off, they played arch-rival UCLA, and won, 34-13. It may not have been clear that they were ready to face the Number 1 team in the country. Nevertheless, 83,840 fans plowed into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to watch it.

Sure enough, Notre Dame led 17-0 at the half. But in the 3rd quarter, USC drove down the field, and Garrett scored on a 1-yard run to get on the board. With 4:45 left, Craig Fertig threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Fred Hill, but the extra point was missed.

But their defense held the Irish, and, with 1:35 to go, Fertig threw a 15-yard pass to Rod Sherman, and USC led, 20-17. Their defense held again, and one of the biggest upsets in recent college football was complete.

Neither team went to a bowl game. Notre Dame bounced back, and won the National Championship in 1966; USC, the year after. McKay would lead USC to another in 1972, while Parseghian led Notre Dame to one the following year. Then came 1974, and another epic game between the teams.

*

November 28, 1964 was a Saturday. This was also the day that "Leader of the Pack" by The Shangri-Las hit Number 1. I have a separate entry for that event.

These other notable college football games were played:

* Rivalry: Army beat Navy, 11-8 at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

* Rivalry: Boston College beat Holy Cross, 10-8 at Alumni Stadium outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

* Rivalry: Georgia beat Georgia Tech, 7-0 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Rivalry: Florida beat Miami, 12-10 at Florida Field (now Ben Hill Griffin Stadium) in Gainesville, Florida.

* Rivalry: Vanderbilt beat Tennessee, 7-0 at Dudley Field (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Rivalry: Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, 21-16 at Lewis Field (now Pickens Stadium) in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

* Rivalry: Texas Christian University (TCU) beat Southern Methodist University (SMU), 17-6 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* Rivalry: Arizona beat Arizona State, 30-6 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.

Two days earlier, on Thanksgiving Day:

* Rivalry: Number 2 Alabama beat Auburn, 21-14 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. 'Bama won the Southeastern Conference title. 

* Rivalry: Number 5 Texas beat Texas A&M, 26-7 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Idle: Number 3 Arkansas, who had beaten Texas, and won the Southwest Conference title; Number 6 Michigan, who had won the Big Ten Conference title; Number 7 Nebraska, who, despite losing the week before to arch-rival Oklahoma, had won the Big Eight Conference title; Number 8 Louisiana State University (LSU); Number 9 Oregon State, who had won the title in the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU), the league that became the Pacific-Eight (or Pac-8) the next year; Number 10 Ohio State, which had blown the Big 10 title by losing their finale to Michigan; and New Jersey teams Rutgers and Princeton.

And so, at a time when the National Championship was awarded by the Associated Press' sportswriters' poll after the regular season, with Notre Dame's loss, Alabama, coached by Bear Bryant and quarterbacked by Joe Namath, rose to Number 1.

But Texas beat Alabama in the Orange Bowl, and Arkansas beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl, to earn a share of the National Championship with Alabama. Michigan beat Oregon State in the Rose Bowl, and LSU beat Syracuse in the Sugar Bowl.

Both the NFL and the AFL played the next day, plus games 2 days earlier, on Thanksgiving. The CFL played its championship game, the Grey Cup, and the BC Lions beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 34-24 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. It was the 1st Grey Cup for the Vancouver-based team. I have a separate entry for this event.

Baseball was out of season. There were 4 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the St. Louis Hawks, 106-91 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Cincinnati Royals, 129-98 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia76ers beat the Detroit Pistons, 101-93 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* And the San Francisco Warriors beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, 109-106 at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Just another day at the office for Wilt Chamberlain: 40 points and 30 rebounds.

There were 2 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1 at the Montreal Forum. The Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, Manchester United beat Arsenal, 3-2 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.

November 16, 1957: Notre Dame Ends Oklahoma's 47-Game Winning Streak

November 16, 1957: The University of Oklahoma football team takes a 47-game winning streak into a home game with the University of Notre Dame, the last team to have beaten them.

Notre Dame had beaten Oklahoma on September 26, 1953, at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (a.k.a. Owen Field, now Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium) in Norman, Oklahoma, en route to a National Championship. The following week, Oklahoma were held to a tie by the University of Pittsburgh. The week after that, they beat arch-rival Texas, and it was off to the races from there. Coach Charles "Bud" Wilkinson's Sooners ran the table, finishing 9-1-1.

They won all 10 games in 1954, but finished behind both Ohio State and UCLA in the last national poll. They won all 11 games in 1955, and this time, they were rewarded with the National Championship. They won all 10 games in 1956, and were again awarded the National Championship. Running back Tommy McDonald was the star of these teams, before going on to a Hall of Fame career as a flanker with the Philadelphia Eagles. In 1956, McDonald finished 2nd to Paul Hornung of the Notre Dame for the Heisman Trophy, and, in a rare height for an offensive lineman, Oklahoma center Jerry Tubbs finished 3rd.

The Sooners kept going in 1957, winning away to Number 8 Pitt, then beating Iowa State at home, Texas in the Cotton Bowl, Kansas and Colorado at home, then Kansas State and Number 19 Missouri on the road. That made them 7-0, with a 47-game winning streak, and a 48-game unbeaten streak, both all-time records in college football.

Notre Dame began the 1957 season by winning their 1st 4 games, over Purdue, Indiana, then-Number 10 Army and Pittsburgh. But they lost their next 2, home to Number 16 Navy and away to Number 2 Michigan State. They entered the game unranked, but perhaps harshly so.

Still, Oklahoma were a 19-point favorite and the Number 2-ranked team in the nation going in, so anyone predicting that Notre Dame would beat Oklahoma was just guessing. Sports Illustrated, founded 3 years earlier, was not guessing: They put the Sooners on the cover, with the headline, "WHY OKLAHOMA IS UNBEATABLE."

Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, 1957

Notre Dame didn't get the memo. Their defense proved every bit as tough as Oklahoma's. Midway through the 4th quarter, the game was still scoreless. The Fighting Irish launched an 80-yard drive, and, on the drive's 20th play, on 4th and goal from the 3-yard-line, quarterback Bob Williams pitched the ball to running back Dick Lynch, later an All-Pro for the New York Giants, and put Notre Dame on top, 7-0.

Oklahoma had one last chance, but, with less than 1 minute left, Williams intercepted a pass, and the 7-0 score held to the final gun, and most people in the crowd of 63,170 were stunned.

Oklahoma shook the loss off, beating Nebraska and Oklahoma State, winning the Big Seven Conference title, and they beat Duke in the Orange Bowl. They finished the season ranked Number 4. Notre Dame weren't as lucky: The win over Oklahoma raised them to Number 9, but they lost their next game, home to Iowa. They beat USC at home, and then beat SMU in the Cotton Bowl (the stadium, not the game), and finished Number 9.

In a weird twist of events, the longest winning streak in the history of men's college basketball is 88 games, set by UCLA from 1971 to 1974. The last team to beat them before the streak began, and the team that beat them to end it? In each case, it was Notre Dame. Unlike Oklahoma football, however, both UCLA losses to Notre Dame were on the Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Indiana.

*

November 16, 1957 was a Saturday. Among the other college football games played that day were these:

* Oklahoma may have had the most shocking defeat of the day, or even of the decade, but they weren't even the highest-ranked team to lose that day. Texas A&M went in ranked Number 1, but were upset by Number 20 Rice, 7-6 at Rice Stadium in Houston. Rice went on to win the Southwest Conference title.

* Number 3 Auburn beat Georgia, 6-0 at Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Georgia.

* Number 4 Michigan State beat Minnesota, 42-13 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* Number 5 Iowa were slightly upset by Number 6 Ohio State, 17-13 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State won the Big Ten Conference title.

* Number 7 Tennessee were slightly upset by Number 8 Mississippi, 14-7 at Crump Stadium in Memphis. "Ole Miss" went on to win the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Texas in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 9 Navy beat George Washington University, 52-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Navy beat Rice in the Cotton Bowl, in large part due to running back Pete Dawkins, who won the Heisman Trophy the next season.

* Number 10 Army beat Tulane, 20-14 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* Number 11 Duke beat Number 14 Clemson, 7-6 at Duke Stadium (now Wallace Wade Stadium) in Durham, North Carolina.

* Number 15 Illinois were upset by Wisconsin, 24-13 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

* Number 16 Oregon beat Southern California (USC), 16-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Oregon won the Pacific Coast Conference title. But the Ohio State beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl, and were awarded the National Championship by UPI.

* In New York City, Columbia lost to the University of Pennsylvania, 28-6 at Baker Field in Manhattan.

* And in New Jersey, Rutgers lost to William & Mary, 38-7 at Cary Field in Williamsburg, Virginia; and Princeton lost to Yale, 20-13 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Detroit Pistons, 109-105 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 111-89 at the Boston Garden. Bill Russell scored 28 points and set a new NBA record with 49 rebounds. Three years later, with the Warriors, Wilt Chamberlain said a record which has never seriously been approached, against Russell and the Celtics, with 55 rebounds. But the Celtics won the game.

* And the St. Louis Hawks beat the Syracuse Nationals, 118-101 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 1-0 at the Chicago Stadium.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Hampshire team Portsmouth, 3-2 at Highbury in North London.

November 13, 1993: Florida State vs. Notre Dame, "The Game of the Century"

November 13, 1993: Not every college football game billed as "The Game of the Century" lives up to the billing. This one did.

Florida State University, coached by Bobby Bowden, and quarterbacked by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward, had gone through several near-misses for the National Championship. In 1993, they looked ready to go all the way. They won their 1st 5 games: 42-0 over Kansas in the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands, 45-7 away to Duke, 57-0 home to Number 17 Clemson, 33-7 away to Number 13 North Carolina, and 51-0 home to Georgia Tech.

The 2 previous years, they had lost to one of their rivals, the University of Miami, on missed last-play field goals. This time, with Miami coming into Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee with the Number 3 ranking, the Seminoles left no doubt, winning 28-10. No last-play, or even last-minute, heroics necessary. They followed this with a 40-14 win home to Number 15 Virginia, a 54-0 home win over Clemson, and a 49-20 win away to Maryland.

That set up a meeting with the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish played about as tough a schedule as could be played without being part of a major conference, including 4 Big 10 schools. They opened the season by beating Northwestern at home, 27-12. The beat then-Number 3 Michigan away, 27-23; Michigan State at home, 36-14; Purdue away, 17-0; Stanford away, 48-20; the University of Pittsburgh at home, 44-0; Brigham Young University (BYU) award, 45-20; the University of Southern California (USC) at home, 31-13; and Navy at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, 58-27.

The Irish were also undefeated, and looked every bit as unstoppable as the Seminoles. With NBC having the contract to broadcast Notre Dame home games, they could hype this Number 1 vs. Number 2 matchup as "The Game of the Century."

Notre Dame outplayed Florida State the entire game, to the tune of a 31–17 lead in the 4th quarter. The offense had hung its shoulders around their junior running back Lee Becton, who had yet another 100+ yard afternoon.

With 1:39 left, Ward drove Florida State down the field, and hit Kez McCorvey on 4th-and-20 for a touchdown. The pass bounced off of Notre Dame safety Brian McGee and into McCorvey's hands.

Notre Dame then went three-and-out on their next possession, giving Florida State one last shot. In just 3 plays, Ward led Florida State to the Notre Dame 14 with 3 seconds to play. On the last play of the game, Ward rolled out, and had his final pass attempt batted down by Notre Dame cornerback Shawn Wooden, clinching the final score as Notre Dame 31, Florida State 24.

There was pandemonium in South Bend. Meanwhile, all of Florida, people were crushed. It looked like Florida State's best chance ever to win the National Championship had been lost. Not exactly "blown," as it was with the missed field goals of the preceding 2 years, but definitively taken away from them by a team which, if not necessarily better, was certainly good enough and had the home-field advantage.

Afterward, all Notre Dame had to do was beat Boston College at home the following Saturday, and theyvwould be able to play Nebraska for the National Championship in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day. That was all.

They didn't. BC were ranked Number 17, and David Gordon kicked a 41-yard field goal on the last play of the game, to give them a 41-39 win. It was BC's biggest win since Doug Flutie led them past Miami in 1984, and their biggest without Flutie since clinching a share of the National Championship in the 1941 Sugar Bowl.

Had there been a Bowl Championship Series or a National Championship Playoff at the time, Notre Dame would still have gotten into it. Instead, they dropped from Number 1 to Number 4. They ended up beating Number 7 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

In contrast, losing away to Notre Dame by 7 points only dropped Florida State to Number 2. They beat North Carolina State, 62-3 at home, to clinch the Atlantic Coast Conference title, to retake the Number 1 spot. Then they beat Number 7 and arch-rival Florida away, 33-21, to set up a National Championship matchup with Number 2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Florida State won, 18-16.

In the final polls, both the Associated Pres (AP, the sportswriters) and United Press International (UPI, the head coaches) had Florida State at Number 1, and Notre Dame at Number 2.

*

November 13, 1993 was a Saturday. These other major college football games were played that day:

* Number 3 Miami beat Rutgers, 31-17 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* Number 4 Nebraska beat Iowa State, 49-17 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 5 Ohio State beat Number 19 Indiana, 23-17 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Number 7 Auburn beat Georgia, 42-28 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 8 Florida beat South Carolina, 37-26 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

* Number 9 West Virginia beat Temple, 49-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* Number 10 UCLA were upset by Arizona State, 9-3 at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California.

* Number 11 Texas A&M beat Number 20 University of Louisville, 42-7 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

* Number 12 Alabama beat Mississippi State, 36-25 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

* Number 13 Arizona were upset by the University of California, 24-20 at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California.

* Number 18 Virginia were upset by Clemson, 23-14 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 23 Wyoming were upset by New Mexico, 10-7 at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

* Number 25 University of Washington were upset by the University of Southern California (USC), 22-17 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

* In the "Little Brown Jug," Michigan beat Minnesota, 58-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* Army beat Lafayette, 35-12 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* Navy lost to Vanderbilt, 41-7 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

In New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, lost to Woodbridge, 29-23 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.

Baseball was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 99-86 at Madison Square Garden. John Starks scored 35 points.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 98-97 at the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 98-97 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Dallas Mavericks, 101-100 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns, 99-95 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets, 106-98 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 92-90 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 97-89 in overtime at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

And there were 12 games played in the NHL, with every team in action except the 2 new expansion teams, the Florida Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim:

* The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals, 2-0 at the USAirways Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the San Jose Sharks, 4-2 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the Montreal Forum. Dave McLlwain scored the winning goal with 1:38 left in overtime. 

* The Edmonton Oilers and the Hartford Whalers played to a tie, 4-4 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-3 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

 

November 2, 1935: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State, "The Game of the Century"

November 2, 1935: For the 1st time, a college football game is given the label "The Game of the Century."

This may have been inspired by the trial, earlier in the year, of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, for kidnapping and killing Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 2-year-old son of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. That trial, held in Flemington, Hunterdon County, New Jersey from January 3 to February 13, was known as "The Trial of the Century."

Most college football games that have been called "The Game of the Century" were between the teams ranked Number 1 and Number 2 in the national polls. That was not possible this time: The 1st major poll, that of the Associated Press, did not begin until the next season.

At the time, Ohio State University was one of the better programs, having gone 7-1 in both 1933 and 1934. But they weren't yet an iconic team: That would come in the 1950s, under head coach Woody Hayes. For now, the Buckeyes were coached by Francis Schmidt. And they had begun the season by beating Kentucky, Drake (clobbering the Des Moines, Iowa school 85-7), Northwestern and Indiana.

In contrast, the University of Notre Dame, based in South Bend, Indiana, did already have a national following, thanks to their late coach Knute Rockne. They had won the National Championship in 1924, thanks to a backfield known as the Four Horsemen. Now, one of those Horsemen, Elmer Layden, was their head coach.

They had already become the unofficial Catholic university of America. (Not to be confused with The Catholic University of America, an actual school in Washington, D.C.) The a Irish opened their season 5-0, beating Kansas at home, Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) away, Wisconsin away, Pittsburgh at home, and Navy in Baltimore.

So these 2 big teams were ready to face each other on November 2, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Every major newspaper in the country sent a writer to cover it. It was broadcast on national radio, unusual even then. A crowd of 81,018 poured in, and some people had paid scalpers up to $50 for a ticket -- a little over $1,000 in today's money. And this was during the Great Depression.

Ohio Stadium, as it would have appeared in 1935

Ohio State were heavily favored, and, at first, the game followed that script. Frank Antenucci intercepted Notre Dame quarterback Mike Layden (the coach's younger brother), and lateraled to Frank Boucher (no relation to the New York Rangers hockey star of the same name), resulting in a 65-yard return for a touchdown.

In the 2nd quarter, another interception set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Joe Williams. But, having kicked the extra point on the 1st touchdown, Dick Beltz missed on this one. Still, that 13-0 lead held into the 4th quarter. Notre Dame looked beaten.

Looks can be deceiving. At the end of the 3rd quarter, Andy Pilney returned a punt to the Ohio State 13-yard line. That led to, early in the 4th quarter, Steve Miller running the ball in from 1 yard. It was 13-6 Ohio State. Pilney later threw a touchdown pass to Mike Layden, making it 13-12. Both times, the extra point was missed.

Notre Dame had a legendary name in their backfield: William Shakespeare. Playing off his sharing of a name of the greatest writer in the English language, the New York native was known as the Bard of Staten Island, the Bard of South Bend, and the Merchant of Menace. He had already scored a touchdown for Notre Dame against Army the year before, at Yankee Stadium in his hometown.

Now, Ohio State tried to run out the clock, but fumbled, and the Irish recovered. With less than a minute to go, Pilney ran for 30 yards, getting the ball to the Buckeye 19. But he was injured on the play. Shakespeare entered the game. Once more unto the breach. He threw a pass, and an Ohio State player nearly intercepted it, but dropped it.

Finally, with time for perhaps one more play, fullback Jim McKenna took the snap, and handed it to Shakespeare, who threw an option pass. Wayne Millner, later to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame by catching passes from Sammy Baugh on the Washington Redskins, was down on his knees in the end zone, and caught the ball. Notre Dame had won, 18-13.

Grantland Rice, his column in The New York Herald Tribune syndicated throughout the land, wrote of the game, "This was one of the finest things I've ever seen in football."

But the glory did not last. Just 7 days later, at home no less, Notre Dame lost to Northwestern. Then they went to New York, to again play Army at Yankee Stadium, and only came away with a 6-6 tie. They closed the season at home, beating USC, finishing 7-1-1.

Ohio State bounced back, beating the University of Chicago away, Illinois at home, and Michigan in Ann Arbor. But they didn't play Minnesota. Ohio State and Minnesota were declared Co-Champions of the Big Ten Conference, but it was Minnesota, 8-0, who were named National Champions by most organizations then deciding the thing.

There have been a few "Games of the Century" since, some involving Notre Dame. One in 1993 followed this pattern: Notre Dame stunned Florida State, then blew the National Championship the following week by losing, in that case to Boston College.

Aside from Millner, most of the players on both sides did not play professional football. Shakespeare was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, but made more money than he could have in football at the time by signing with the Cincinnati Rubber Company. He became an executive with them, and still was one when he died in 1974.

Elmer Layden remained at Notre Dame until 1941, when he was offered the job of NFL Commissioner. He held that job for 5 seasons, guiding the League through the difficult days of World War II. He died in 1973.

Francis Schmidt stayed at Ohio State through the 1940 season, winning another Big Ten title in 1939. He was succeeded by Paul Brown, who began his legend by leading the Buckeyes to the 1942 National Championship. Schmidt became head coach at the University of Idaho, but his health began to fail, and he died in 1944.

*

November 2, 1935 was a Saturday. There were a few other big college football games that day.

One was in New York. Fordham University -- coached by another of Notre Dame's former Four Horsemen, Jim Crowley -- played the University of Pittsburgh at the Polo Grounds, and it ended 0-0. Fordham finished 6-1-2 on the year, Pitt 7-1-2. They would play each other at the Polo Grounds again in 1936 and 1937, and those games would also end scoreless. Finally, in 1938, Fordham went to Pitt Stadium, and the Panthers emerged victorious, 24-13.

Manhattan College beat City College (CCNY), 65-0 at Ebbets Field. New York University beat Bucknell, 14-0 at Yankee Stadium. One of NYU's players, Ed Smith, had done some modeling work, and was a high school teammate of sculptor Frank Eliscu. Eliscu asked Smith to pose in his football uniform. In 1982, someone called Smith up and asked him what it was like being the model for the Heisman Trophy, which Eliscu had designed. Smith said he did know he was the model for the Heisman. The Downtown Athletic Club, caretakers of the Trophy, gave him a copy.

Among New Jersey's teams: Rutgers beat Lafayette, 31-6 at Fisher Field in Easton, Pennsylvania; and Princeton beat Navy, 26-0 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

The aforementioned Minnesota beat Purdue, 29-7 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. Nebraska beat Missouri, 19-6 at Memorial Stadium (now Faurot Field) in Columbia, and went on to win the Big Six Conference, which later became the Big Eight and formed the bulk of the Big Twelve.

Stanford beat Santa Clara, 9-6 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California, between San Francisco and San Jose. By beating the University of California 3 weeks later, they won the Pacific Coast Conference, the precursor to today's Pac-12.

Louisiana State beat Auburn, 6-0 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, and went on to win the Southeastern Conference title. Southern Methodist (SMU) beat Texas, 20-0 at Ownby Stadium in Dallas, and went on to win the Southwest Conference title.

There were no scores in the other sports. The NHL hadn't yet started their season. The NBA hadn't yet started at all. Baseball was done until April. And the NFL waited until the next day, Sunday, to play.    

October 18, 1924: Red Grange & the Four Horsemen

This photo of Red Grange is colorized, but is otherwise real.

October 18, 1924: Two of the most iconic games in the history of college football are played.

Harold Edward Grange was born on June 13, 1903, in Forksville, in the mining country of Northeastern Pennsylvania -- 6 days before Lou Gehrig was born 200 miles to the southeast in East Harlem, Manhattan. He was born 15 days after entertainer Bob Hope, 5 days before early film singer Jeannette MacDonald, 9 days before Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell and bank robber John Dillinger, and 12 days before British writer George Orwell.

His father was the foreman on a lumber camp, and eventually moved the family to Wheaton, Illinois, about 30 miles west of Chicago, where 4 of his brothers lived, and he became that small city's Chief of Police. His son Harold, nicknamed Red because of his hair, got a job delivering ice, a hard job because ice is heavy. (A gallon of water weighs over 8 pounds. Now imagine it hard as a rock.) It made him strong, and he was fast, too. He was nicknamed "The Wheaton Iceman" well before "The Galloping Ghost." He made $37.50 a week -- about $548 in today's money.

Red lettered in football, baseball, basketball and track at Wheaton High School, all 4 years, 16 varsity letters. He was a State Champion in the high jump, the long jump and the 100-yard dash.

The school is now known as Wheaton Warrenville South High School, and also counts astronomer Edwin Hubble, journalist Bob Woodward, and the comedian brothers John and Jim Belushi among its alumni. The colors are orange and black -- not quite the same colors as Red would wear for the Illini and the Bears, but close. The school's stadium is named Red Grange Field.

In his 1st game at the University of Illinois, in Champaign in the east-central part of the State, on October 6, 1923, Grange scored 3 touchdowns against Nebraska, a very strong team at the time. Coached by Bob Zuppke, Illinois went 8-0, beating teams by an average score of 17-3. After a 9-6 win away to Iowa, they didn't allow a point for the rest of the season.

The Helms Athletic Foundation awarded Illinois the National Championship. This notoriety allowed Illinois to raise the money to build a new stadium, as a memorial to the school's alumni who had fallen in World War I a few years earlier.

On October 18, 1924, Red Grange led the Illini onto the field at Memorial Stadium in Champaign for its dedication game against the University of Michigan. A player now largely forgotten outside Michigan, Bennie Oosterbaan, led the Wolverines, who were favored to win the National Championship. (Michigan and Notre Dame did not play each other that season. They have not always played, occasionally feuding, and this was during one of the feuds.)

Grange returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. He ran 67 yards for a touchdown. He ran 56 yards for a touchdown. He ran 44 yards for a touchdown.

All this was accomplished in the 1st 12 minutes of the ballgame.

He later passed for another touchdown, and returned a kick for another. He accounted for 6 touchdowns in Illinois' 39-14 victory.

Keep in mind: Michigan was already the most honored college football program west of the Ivy League. In spite of the achievements of Knute Rockne and George Gipp, Notre Dame was not yet Notre Dame. But Michigan, under the guidance of legendary coach Fielding Yost (and, this season only, George Little), was already Michigan, which, despite their recent struggles to beat arch-rival Ohio State, remains the defining football school of that league.

*

Grange's performance is often called the best one-man game in college football history. But it wasn't even the most talked-about game played that day. There was another game that made this day, as far as college football was concerned, the peak of the "Roaring Twenties." Did I mention Notre Dame? Yes, yes, I did:

At the Polo Grounds in New York, the South Bend, Indiana-based University of Notre Dame beats Army -- the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York -- 13-7. The Fighting Irish were led by their 4-man backfield: Quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, left halfback Jim Crowley, right halfback Don Miller and fullback Elmer Layden. Layden scored a touchdown in the 2nd quarter, Crowley in the 3rd.

Army were favored to win, but there was precedent: Notre Dame had shocked them in 1913, with quarterback Gus Dorais and end Knute Rockne, for all intents and purposes, introducing the passing game to a wide audience, and making Notre Dame more than just what we would now call a "mid-major" Catholic school in the Midwest like DePaul or Marquette. Now, with Rockne as head coach, the Fighting Irish -- although Miller was of English descent, and Stuhldreher, German -- pulled off a much less surprising upset.

George Strickler, a Notre Dame student, was what we would now call a publicity director. At halftime, he mentioned Rudolph Valentino's 1921 silent film epic The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (although that term comes from the Bible's Book of Revelation), in the press box. The great syndicated sports columnist Grantland Rice, based out of the New York Herald Tribune, ran with it, and wrote this opening paragraph, the most famous piece of sportswriting ever:

Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore their names are Death, Destruction, Pestilence, and Famine. But those are aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Crowley, Miller and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.

They don't write 'em like that anymore: Not only was the 1920s, as Rice himself later billed it, the Golden Age of Sports, it was the golden age of sportswriting, with Rice joined by such men as Ring Lardner, Paul Gallico, Jimmy Cannon and Damon Runyon.

To further plant the idea of the Four Horsemen in people's minds, the 4 of them were posed on horseback, wearing full uniforms and holding footballs. From left to right: Miller, Layden, Crowley, Stuhldreher. A set of statues representing that photo is now at Notre Dame's Guglielmo Athletic Complex.

(As far as I know, nobody ever asked Red Grange to pose as a ghost, or with a man dressed as a ghost, or on a galloping horse.) 

Over the Horsemen's 3 seasons -- freshmen were not eligible to play varsity football at the time -- Notre Dame won 27 games and lost only 2, both away to Nebraska, plus a tie in an earlier game with Army. They won the 1924 National Championship, defeating Ernie Nevers' Stanford squad in the 1925 Rose Bowl, with Layden returning 2 interceptions for touchdowns. (Notre Dame would then refuse all bowl invitations until the 1969 season.)

None of the Four Horsemen was over 6 feet tall, and none was listed as weighing more than 162 pounds. But this was typical of football players of the Roaring Twenties. And no one today can question their toughness: In their 30 games together, they played in primitive protective equipment, played offense and defense, excelling on both sides, and played all 60 minutes, with no substitutions. The offensive line that protected them was nicknamed the "Seven Mules," to emphasize their crucial but less glamorous function.

(The Mules didn't become famous in their own right, with one exception: The center, Adam Walsh, would go on to coach the Cleveland Rams to the 1945 NFL Championship, and then become their 1st head coach in Los Angeles the following season.)

It was the Four Horsemen, and Rockne's subsequent publicity campaigns through the beginnings of mass media in the 1920s, that made Notre Dame iconic. Even George Gipp wasn't as famous in life as the 1928 Notre Dame-Army game, in which Rockne made up the "Win one for the Gipper" story, and the later film Knute Rockne, All-American, with Pat O'Brien as Rockne and young Ronald Reagan as Gipp, would make him in death.

*

Having made legends out of the Four Horsemen, Grantland Rice took pen in hand (or, more likely, tapped out on his typewriter), and wrote this about Grange:

A streak of fire, a breath of flame
Eluding all who reach and clutch;
A gray ghost thrown into the game
That rival hands may never touch;
A rubber bounding, blasting soul
Whose destination is the goal
Red Grange of Illinois!

Although Rice had called Grange "a gray ghost" (and he certainly appears as such in the few surviving film clips of him playing, all black and white, of course), Warren Brown, writing for the Chicago American, gave him the nickname "the Galloping Ghost."

A year later, on Halloween, October 31, 1925, Illinois traveled to Philadelphia to play the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field. The playing surface was a muddy mess, and few expected Grange to move well on it. He did, scoring 3 touchdowns and setting up the Illini's other touchdown, in a 24-2 win. Rice covered this game as well, and wrote:

There are two shapes now moving

Two ghosts that drift and glide

And which of them to tackle

Each rival must decide.

They shift with spectral swiftness

Across the swarded range

And one of them's a shadow

And one of them is Grange.

Runyon added, "This man Red Grange of Illinois is three or four men and a horse rolled into one for football purposes. He is Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, Al Jolson, Paavo Nurmi and Man o' War. Put them all together, they spell Grange."

Zuppke would later say, "An All-American consists of a fast back, weak opposition, and a poet in the press box." But he also said, "I will never have another Grange, but neither will anyone else. They can argue all they like about the greatest football player who ever lived, but I was satisfied I had him when I had Red Grange." A statue of Grange now stands outside Memorial Stadium -- essentially, the house than Zuppke and Grange built.

Grange's 77 became the 1st celebrated uniform number in American sports -- especially since Major League Baseball wouldn't have uniform numbers until 1929. When asked how he got the famous double-digit, he said, "The guy in front of me got 76, and the guy behind me got 78." It wasn't a choice, and it's not like Wheaton had uniform numbers at the time. (In case you're wondering about the Four Horsemen, I looked it up: Layden wore 5, Miller 16, Crowley 18 and Stuhldreher 32. And George Gipp wore 66.)

*

How did the Four Horsemen do in the pros? Not especially well. Pro football was then still frowned upon, as a backwater game at best, and as outright dishonorable at worst. Zuppke himself was of two minds about it: George Halas, who had helped Illinois gain a share of the 1918 Big Ten title (before going into the U.S. Navy and helping the Chicago-based Great Lakes Naval Training Center team win the 1919 Rose Bowl), remembered him lamenting that players graduated just as they were really learning how to play. But Zuppke also stopped speaking to Halas and Grange for many years after they turned pro, eventually reconciling with both of them.

The Horsemen only played 1 professional game together, at the end of the 1925 season, for the Waterbury Blues against a team from Adams, Massachusetts, at Hartford, Connecticut (about halfway between), and won 34-0. (Imagine Patrick Mahomes passing to Stefon Diggs, with Derrick Henry and Dalvin Cook in his backfield, and the other 7 players on his own team and the 11 on the other side being college players, and you'll get the idea of what it was like.) The Horsemen were paid $5,000 apiece -- about $78,000 in today's money, for a little over 2 hours' performance. Then as now, nice work if you can get it.

Stuhldreher, from the football-crazy town of Massillon, Ohio (also hometown of Yankee Legend Tommy Henrich), and Layden, from Davenport, Iowa (part of the "Quad Cities" that were then represented in the NFL by Illinois' Rock Island Independents), had a team built around them and named for them, the Brooklyn Horsemen. They played in the original American Football League in 1926. When that league folded, the Brooklyn Horsemen were absorbed into the NFL, which still needed the publicity, and played 3 games in that league's '26 season.

Stuhldreher ended his playing career after that season, and was named head coach at Villanova, and later at the University of Wisconsin, managing a decent record but no conference titles in 24 years. He then worked for U.S. Steel, and wrote a couple of books about football. He died in 1965, only 63 years old.

Layden went on to be the head coach at Pittsburgh's Duquesne University, getting them into the 1934
Festival of Palms Bowl, the forerunner of Miami's Orange Bowl. He then became head coach at Notre Dame, and in 1941 was offered the post of Commissioner of the NFL, serving 5 seasons and guiding them through the difficulties caused by the manpower shortage from the World War II draft. He then went into business in Chicago, and died in 1973, age 70.

Miller, from Defiance, Ohio, about halfway between Toledo and Fort Wayne (and the only 1 of the 4 from anywhere near South Bend), coached at Georgia Tech, and then practiced law. He was appointed a U.S. Attorney for the Cleveland area by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and died in 1979, age 77.

Crowley, from the football-crazy town of Green Bay, Wisconsin -- Packer co-founder Earl "Curly" Lambeau had played for Rockne at Notre Dame -- became an assistant coach at Georgia, and head coach at Michigan State and Fordham.

At Fordham, in The Bronx, he coached a team that challenged for the National Championship in 1937 and '38, with a line known as the Seven Blocks of Granite, including 2 future Pro Football Hall-of-Famers. Alex Wojciechowicz starred for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions. The other never played a down of pro ball, and is in the Hall as a coach: Vince Lombardi. (Longtime Giants owner Wellington Mara didn't play, but was also a student at Fordham at this time.)

Crowley enlisted in the Navy in World War II, and coached the Navy's renowned North Carolina Pre-Flight School team at Chapel Hill, with Paul "Bear" Bryant and Johnny Vaught, later to become coaching legends at Alabama and Mississippi, respectively, as assistant coaches.

Crowley then coached the Chicago Rockets of the All-America Football Conference, including receiving legend Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch. He later became chairman of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, and was the last survivor of the Four Horsemen, living until 1986, at the age of 83.

Grange played his last college game on November 21, 1925, a 14-9 Illinois win away to Ohio State. His collegiate obligation complete, he signed with Halas' Chicago Bears. At the time, this was legal: There was no NFL Draft, nor any rule preventing the signing. Five days after his college finale, he suited up for the Bears against the Chicago Cardinals at Wrigley Field (in its last season under the name Cubs Park) on Thanksgiving Day, resulting in a 0-0 tie.

The Bears went to New York to play the Giants on December 6, and the gate receipts from that full house at the Polo Grounds -- New Yorkers coming to see Grange, not the home team -- may have saved the Giant franchise, and possibly even the League. He would play in the NFL until 1934, helping the Bears win the NFL Championship in 1932 and 1933, teaming with Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski.

Grange became the template for the speedy halfback, Nagurski that for the big bruising fullback. Think of Grange's "descendants" as being Steve Van Buren, Doak Walker, Lenny Moore, Paul Hornung, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Christian McCaffrey; and Nagurski's as being Marion Motley, Tank Younger, Jim Brown, Jim Taylor, Larry Csonka, Franco Harris, John Riggins, Emmitt Smith, Terrell Davis, Jerome Bettis, Adrian Peterson and Derrick Henry.

Grange went on to become a broadcaster. In 1963, he was a charter inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He died on January 28, 1991, at the age of 87.

*

October 18, 1924 was a Saturday. The baseball season had ended 8 days earlier, with the Washington Senators beating the New York Giants in the World Series, the only World Championship that a Washington baseball team would win until 2019. There was no NBA yet. The NHL season didn't start until November 29.

Despite it being a Saturday, there was NFL action on the day. The Frankford Yellow Jackets beat the Columbus Tigers, 23-7 at Frankford Stadium in Northeast Philadelphia. The Jackets had to play on Saturdays because, until 1933, playing professional sports on Sundays was illegal in Pennsylvania.

The Tigers had been known as the Columbus Panhandles, and went out of business after the 1926 season. That year, the Yellow Jackets won the NFL Championship. But the Great Depression did them in, and they folded in 1931. Philadelphia returned to the NFL in 1933, with the Eagles, but there is no connection between them and the Jackets.

Among the other college games played that day:

* The University of Chicago beat Indiana, 23-0 at Stagg Field in Chicago.

* Purdue beat Northwestern, 7-3 at Northwestern Field in Evanston, Illinois.

* Ohio State beat Ohio Wesleyan, 10-0 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Iowa beat Lawrence University of Appleton, Wisconsin, 13-5 at Iowa Field in Iowa City.

* Minnesota and Wisconsin played to a 7-7 tie at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

* Nebraska beat Colgate, 35-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* USC beat Oregon Agricultural, 17-3 at Multnomah Stadium in Portland, Oregon. Oregon Agricultural would become Oregon State, and what's now Providence Park would be built on the site of Multnomah Stadium.

* Alabama beat Sewanee, of Sewanee, Tennessee, 14-0 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama.

* Georgia Tech beat Penn State, 15-13 at Grant Field in Atlanta.

* Southern Methodist University beat Texas, 10-6 at Armstrong Field, SMU's home, in Dallas.

* Harvard beat Holy Cross, 12-6 at Harvard Stadium in Boston.

* Yale and Dartmouth played to a tie, 14-14 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut.

* Among New York City teams, New York University beat their arch-rivals, City College of New York. NYU beat CCNY, 7-0 , at NYU's home field, Ohio Field in The Bronx.

* Columbia lost to Penn, 10-7 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* Fordham beat St. Stephen's College, 26-0 at Fordham Field in The Bronx. St. Stephen's, of Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, later became Bard College, and now compete in NCAA Division III.

* In New Jersey, Princeton beat Navy, 17-14 at Palmer Stadium.

* And Rutgers beat Cornell, 10-0 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York.

Also, Arsenal drew with Aston Villa, 1-1 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.