#2 Notre Dame vs. #1 Army - 1946

[ramaprabajati]

Did I hear this correctly? $200 for a football ticket in 1946???? Isn't that like $20,000 of today's money?

[parkman35]

Can't believe that Army wasn't on the ND schedule this season...

[KWCline91]

They should've decided on first downs! ND had more

[hailhopes]

just kick the FG game over

[VampireYoshi]

Anyone who ridicules Notre Dame putting any of the service academies on its schedule doesn't know much about college football, in either history or meaning. Scheduling a Div II-A "cupcake" team is one thing; Appalachian State vs. Michigan comes to mind, eh? But Army/Navy/Air Force are quite simply "just OK football teams" composed of young men who are UNQUESTIONABLY able to kick your ass in real life. They don't dominate in football because they are supposed to dominate the battlefield.

[1RadicalDreamer]

THIS IS COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!!

[MrSnackization]

Did anyone else see the random newspaper flying across the field at 3:29

[dnzg66]

I love football from this era, as well as the pre-WWII stuff. Two-way players (I hate unlimited substitution), big defensive battles, relatively little passing, no overtime, big crowds on frozen days. This is what football was all about.

The modern game is tame by comparison. How many major plays did Lujack feature in, both offensively and defensively?

[andrewr62]

@dnzg66 Football would have never become as popular if the game didn't open up. Passing in my opinion

is what brought football to where it is today. Honestly I believe the invention of the face mask made football

a much harder hitting game today. That and bigger players. Linebackers at 250 today just didn't exist back in those days. Along with African Americans. I appreciate the game for what it was but love what it became.

[WPA82nd]

I wish that we still had ties and only 1 ot. I love the old low scoring hard-hitting way that football used to be played.

[1400deadwood]

This video makes me wish we could have single unit football again.

[gparshal]

How long was that Lujack punt toward the end of the game? I don't think punters are going that far today.

[cougarbart]

wow they sucked back then

[Irishfanism]

@cougarbart I think you better look again my friend,the Irish were undefeated in 1946,47,48,and 49! They national champions in 46,47,and 49 and had a record of 36-0-2 in those 4 year's! I think you need to study your football history!!!

[gamelvr1]

@cougarbart You are an idiot. This was a battle of the titans you retard. Army was the two time defending national champion. They had both the previous year's heisman winner, and that years'. They were #1 and #2 in the country going into this game. No intelligent person would say these two titans sucked

[dpinzow]

This was played at Yankee Stadium...people think of Army football as a joke but back then they were untouchable...ND played one of the greatest games in their history just to stalemate Army

[slydawg221]

how do you tell which team is which?

[WhiteCamry]

Army wore black jerseys; ND wore blue, so they appear to wear gray here.

[KaraLarson26]

did anyone else notice during the first part of this video that they were playing the navy's fight song "anchor's away" not the army's fight song; especially since its army vs notre dame not navy? wondered how they missed that when making this video.

[weaves007]

wait so it was a tie? no ot

[RocketShark]

Yup. College Football OT wasn't implemented until 1996.

[tangwich1]

bring back ties. overtimes have ruined college football

[slydawg221]

i like overtime, i think it makes the game more exciting. i remember a game between west virginia and pittsburgh, i think it was in 1997. it went into a 4th overtime. i was on the edge of my seat.

[gamelvr1]

@weaves007 OT didn't even exist in the pros until the 50s, and college until 1996 you idiot

[starVol]

Tennessee Vols used to play Army on a fairly regular basis, but the Vols terminated the Army series back in the eighties. Vols first played Army back in the 1960's when Army was still competitive with the powers in College football. This series with Army and Notre Dame is a traditional rival.

[redvsblueownzall]

That's funny. People paid 200 dollars to see a 0-0 game. It might be an interesting defensive battle, but those low-scoring games drive me crazy.

[1400deadwood]

"fans would gripe about how "boring" two-way football is compared to unlimited substitution"

I watch Australian rugby on bigpond network (I'll send you the url in a PM). Trust me, Brother -- two way football is NOT boring! The championship will be played today and I eagerly look forward to seeing it.

BRING BACK SINGLE UNIT FOOTBALL!!!

[1400deadwood]

You guys who have posted comments on this video affirm what I have been saying for years: SINGLE UNIT FOOTBALL IS KING!!!

How I wish I could go back in time - this game is one event I definitely would love to see!

[battenwood]

That would make purists like me happy but most fans would gripe about how "boring" two-way football is compared to unlimited substitution.

[hrobbins]

Yeah I was there! Naw J/k! All joking aside, players where a tough bunch back then.

[mcoltrane5]

No prima-donna quarterbacks in these days. Johnny Lujack and Arnold Tucker both played defensive back as well, and were known for their vicious hitting.

[PhillipCreeper]

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing. They really should have had a co-national championship that year with those two teams. Too bad also they didn't have the OT format we have today.

[RocketShark]

I'm almost inclined to agree with you. Without the tangible factor of a win to consider, voters instead saw that ND was at least in a position to put points up on the board and that Army had a tougher time against the same Navy team the Irish shut out 28-0. Plus, I think voters were reluctant to name any team as a 3-peat national champion. But I agree, if head-to-head competition matters, Notre Dame and Army were both the best teams that year.

[mcoltrane5]

Well actually, Army drove down to the 15 yard line on one drive, but the video didn't mention that for some reason. They didn't try a field goal, either. The best thing would have been for them to share, but there was no coaches poll back then, so only the AP could choose one.

[dabbott14]

There was only one perfect team in 1946, and it wasn't Notre Dame or Army....

[devinesp]

on that first half ND drive why didn't they kick a FG?

[RocketShark]

Coach Leahy wouldn't have it. Too competitive and felt field goals were akin to the offense copping out.

But years later in the locker room, he said out of the blue, "if we'd only kicked a field goal!"

[ChargersLVII]

Classic Frank Leahy, right there.

[GeorgeVreelandHill]

I would love to see the complete game. Army was the team to beat back then. Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard were two of the best backs to ever play the game, and Army had crushed ND in the past. ND wanted to show the world that it was as good as Army. The stage was set. The game lived up to every expectation. It was The Game of the Century! My dad loved the Army team. He often spoke of how they beat Notre Dame. I miss and love you dad. George V. Hill (1931 - 2007) George Vreeland Hill

[Speyrer88]

Simply amazing stuff. Thanks!

[bjdon99]

Football was just a different game back then. Smaller players, much more running, T-formation most of the time with 3 in the backfield and no receivers wide. Just different.

[battenwood]

It took 2-platoon football to really open the game up. When players had to go both ways (before the mid-'60's), power football was typical.

[goten1214]

Who produced this?! I didn't think footage existed of this game!

[RocketShark]

This was produced by Golden Dome Productions, which doesn't exist any more. Members of the 1946, 47, 48, and 1949 teams -- led by Leon Hart -- pooled together resources and organized the effort to track down game footage from this era to put on video. You can sometimes find the videos on eBay. "The Golden Era" is the most commonly used title.

[goten1214]

Do you know if they have a complete game anywhere? I'd pay high dollar for it haha.

[RocketShark]

I'd bet not. Finding enough clips to create the video set was said to be quite an undertaking.

But for this game, you never know because it was so popular.

[weeezerguy812]

Lujack was a dog