The ArmyâÂÂNotre Dame football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Army Black Knights football team of the United States Military Academy and Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team of the University of Notre Dame. The rivalry dates back to 1913, when both teams were among the top college football programs in the United States.
The first ArmyâÂÂNotre Dame game in 1913 is generally regarded as the game that established the national reputation of the Fighting Irish. In that game, Notre Dame revolutionized the forward pass in a stunning 35âÂÂ13 victory. For years it was "The Game" on Notre Dame's schedule, played at Yankee Stadium in New York. During the 1940s, the rivalry with the Army Cadets reached its zenith. This was because both teams were extremely successful and met several times in key games (including one of the Games of the Century, a scoreless tie in 1946). In 1944, the Cadets administered the worst defeat in Notre Dame football history, crushing the Fighting Irish 59âÂÂ0. The following year, it was more of the same, a 48âÂÂ0 blitzkrieg. After meeting every year since 1919, the series went on a ten-year hiatus starting in 1947 and lasting until 1957. The game was played in South Bend for the first time and the Fighting Irish won 27âÂÂ7. Since then, there have been infrequent meetings over the past several decades, and Army's last win was in 1958.
Like Navy, due to the small capacity of Army's Michie Stadium, the Cadets played their home games at a neutral site, which for a number of years was Yankee Stadium and before that, the Polo Grounds. In 1957, the game was played in Philadelphia's Municipal (later John F. Kennedy Memorial) Stadium while in 1965, the teams met at the year-old Shea Stadium in Queens. They last met at the original Yankee Stadium in 1969; it was played at West Point in 1973, and the Fighting Irish rolled 62âÂÂ3 on their way to the national championship. In more recent times, games in which Army was the host have been played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Notre Dame leads the series . One of their latest matchups came in 2016, when the teams met for the 2016 Shamrock Series in the Alamodome in San Antonio; Notre Dame won easily, , and the Irish have won the last sixteen, the longest streak in the rivalry's history.
The 2024 Shamrock Series meeting at the new Yankee Stadium commemorated the Notre Dame's Four Horsemen backfield that led them to an upset win over Army at the Polo Grounds in 1924. Notre Dame wore special blue-gray uniforms, a nod to the blue-gray sky mentioned in Grantland Rice's 1924 "Four Horsemen" dispatch. Notre Dame again won easily, 49âÂÂ14.
It had been thirteen years since Army had beaten Notre Dame. In fact, the last time Army had scored against the Irish was in 1938. The Irish were the defending national champions, but lost many key players to graduation and the armed services. The Irish even lost head coach Frank Leahy to military service, and were now being led by Ed McKeever.
Notre Dame went into the game 5âÂÂ1 and ranked 5, coming off a 32âÂÂ13 loss to Navy. The Army squad was being led by Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard. The Cadets also had a quarterback named Doug Kenna, and a transfer from the University of Texas, sprinter Max Minor.
Army overwhelmed the Irish. Kenna opened the scoring with a run for touchdown. He wasn't done, as he played defense as well, intercepting an Irish pass, which led to a scoring run by Minor. Kenna then pulled a trifecta of sorts, when he passed for a third score. Davis, a late scratch as a starter, also intercepted a pass, and had two offensive runs for scores. By halftime, Army had a commanding 33âÂÂ0 lead.
Kenna added another scoring pass, and Davis another run for a score. Even Army's back-ups got into the act. Harold Tavzel, a second string tackle, intercepted a poorly thrown pass from the Irish quarterback, and jogged a few yards for a score. When the game was over, Army won 59âÂÂ0, handing the Irish the worst loss in the program's history. The Irish would recover, winning their last three games to finish 8âÂÂ2 and ranked 9 in the nation.
When asked by a reporter about the score, Army halfback Doc Blanchard said "If there was anyone to blame for the size of the margin, it was Notre Dame, which fired our desire to win with its long humiliation of Army teams."
Since 1936, when the AP Poll began being released continuously, Army and the Fighting Irish have met 5 times when both have been ranked in the top 5. The first instance came in 1943, with the most recent in 1958. Army holds a 3âÂÂ1âÂÂ1 record in these top-5 meetings. The 1945 and 1946 games were the only times the teams were the top two in the rankings.