The 1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1943 college football season. The Irish, coached by Frank Leahy, ended the season with 9 wins and 1 loss, winning the national championship.[1] The 1943 team became the fourth Irish team to win the national title and the first for Frank Leahy. Led by Notre Dame's first Heisman Trophy winner, Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame beat seven teams ranked in the top 13 and played seven of its ten games on the road.[2] Despite a season ending loss to Great Lakes, Notre Dame was awarded its first national title by the Associated Press.[3]
| 1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football | |
|---|---|
Consensus national champion | |
| Conference | Independent |
| Ranking | |
| AP | No. 1 |
| Record | 9–1 |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive scheme | T formation |
| Captain | Pat Filley |
| Home stadium | Notre Dame Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State Normal | – | 2 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DePauw | – | 5 | – | 0 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 Notre Dame | – | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (OH) | – | 7 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Michigan | – | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green | – | 5 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marquette | – | 3 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Michigan | – | 2 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio Wesleyan | – | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Xavier | – | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wayne | – | 0 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Schedule
edit| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 25 | at Pittsburgh | W 41–0 | 43,437 | |||
| October 2 | Georgia Tech | W 55–13 | 26,497–30,000 | [4] | ||
| October 9 | at No. 2 Michigan | No. 1 | W 35–12 | 86,408 | ||
| October 16 | at Wisconsin | No. 1 | W 51–0 | 16,235 | ||
| October 23 | Illinois | No. 1 |
| W 47–0 | 24,676 | |
| October 30 | vs. No. 3 Navy | No. 1 | W 33–6 | 77,900 | ||
| November 6 | vs. No. 3 Army | No. 1 | W 26–0 | 75,121 | ||
| November 13 | at No. 8 Northwestern | No. 1 | W 25–6 | 49,124 | ||
| November 20 | No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight | No. 1 |
| W 14–13 | 39,446 | |
| November 27 | at Great Lakes Navy | No. 1 |
| L 14–19 | 23,000 | |
| ||||||
Rankings
editNotre Dame was the wire-to-wire No. 1 in the season's AP poll and won the Dr. Henry L. Williams Trophy.
| Week | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Final |
| AP | 1 (53) | 1 (86) | 1 (98) | 1 (97) | 1 (97) | 1 (91) | 1 (87) | 1 (97) | 1 (86) |
Awards and honors
editAll-Americans
edit| Name | AP | UP | INS | COL | AA | SN | L | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angelo Bertelli, QB | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Creighton Miller, HB | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| John Yonakor, E | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| † Jim White, T | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Pat Filley, G | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Herb Coleman, C | 2 | ||||||||
| †denotes consensus selection Source:[1] | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b "2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: History and Records (pages 131-175)". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
- ^ "2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: 2007 Supplement (page 163)". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
- ^ "Past Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I FBS) National Champions (formerly called Division I-A)". ncaa.org. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
- ^ "Bertelli dazzles Tech for Irish, 53 to 13". The Chattanooga Times. October 3, 1943. Retrieved October 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Heisman Voting". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
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