1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Consensus national champion
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
APNo. 1
Record9–1
Head coach
Offensive schemeT formation
CaptainPat Filley
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
Seasons
← 1942
1944 →
1943 Midwestern college football independents records
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

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]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 25at Pittsburgh
W 41–043,437
October 2Georgia Tech
W 55–1326,497–30,000[4]
October 9at No. 2 MichiganNo. 1
W 35–1286,408
October 16at WisconsinNo. 1
W 51–016,235
October 23IllinoisNo. 1
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
W 47–024,676
October 30vs. No. 3 NavyNo. 1
W 33–677,900
November 6vs. No. 3 ArmyNo. 1
W 26–075,121
November 13at No. 8 NorthwesternNo. 1
W 25–649,124
November 20No. 2 Iowa Pre-FlightNo. 1
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
W 14–1339,446
November 27at Great Lakes NavyNo. 1
L 14–1923,000
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1943 NCAA football rankings

Notre Dame was the wire-to-wire No. 1 in the season's AP poll and won the Dr. Henry L. Williams Trophy.

Ranking movements
Legend: ( ) = First-place votes
Week
Poll12345678Final
AP1 (53)1 (86)1 (98)1 (97)1 (97)1 (91)1 (87)1 (97)1 (86)

Awards and honors

All-Americans

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

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "2007 Notre Dame Media Guide: 2007 Supplement (page 163)". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "Bertelli dazzles Tech for Irish, 53 to 13". The Chattanooga Times. October 3, 1943. Retrieved October 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Heisman Voting". und.cstv.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2009.


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