Why Notre Dame-Army Makes Perfect Sense

OK. Call me a dinosaur, an out of touch retch looking to rekindle the good old days of college football. I really don't care. I'm thrilled that Army and Notre Dame will play at Yankee Stadium as early as next season.

An official announcement is expected to come Monday, with Army also announcing possible future dates at Yankee Stadium against Rutgers, Syracuse and perhaps another opponent.

This game will sell out and be one of the most hyped of the season. And if you think this game was just thrown in wily-nilly with Notre Dame seeking an easy win, then you have no sense of college football history.

And if you think this is just another way for Notre Dame to try to restore and enhance its national image, you are absolutely correct. Why not? What exactly is the downside for Notre Dame playing in the biggest city in the country? The Fighting Irish are smart to make a move like this. The game will be a home one for Notre Dame, meaning it will be on NBC, and Army won't get this kind of media coverage, well ... ever. 

I'm not gonna question the SEC and its brutal weekly encounters and I love the high-scoring battles the Big 12 provides each week, but if you think Florida or Alabama or LSU or Oklahoma or Texas wouldn't jump at a chance to play in New York City, you are wrong.

Bash the Fighting Irish all you want, just don't call them stupid.

The first college football game at new Yankee Stadium couldn't be anyone other than Notre Dame-Army.

Notre Dame became Notre Dame because of its series with Army. Think I'm kidding? For almost three decades, starting in the 1920s, this was the best rivalry in the country. Then as now, the Irish and Cadets were seeking big crowds and big paydays. Notre Dame Stadium held about 55,000 and Michie Stadium less than 20,000. They would get 75,000 to 80,000 at Yankee Stadium.

Knute Rockne's "Win one for the Gipper" speech. Yes that was Notre Dame beating an unbeaten Army team in 1928 at Yankee Stadium.

"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again." Yes that was Grantland Rice's famous lead when Notre Dame beat Army in 1924 at the Polo Grounds in New York.

The 1946 Army-Notre Dame game was the end of an era and came the same year the way the Rose Bowl, and indeed the BCS, is structured to this day.

It wasn't just your three yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust type of teams, either when No. 1 Army and No. 2 Notre Dame played to a scoreless tie at Yankee Stadium on Nov. 9, 1946. Both schools averaged more than 30 points. Army had a 25-game winning streak, last losing to Notre Dame in 1943. Tickets priced at less than $4 were fetching up to $250.

The Black Knights had dominated the previous two games, whipping the Irish 59-0 and 48-0 and had won back-to-back national championships. Army had the defending Heisman Trophy winner, "Mr. Inside" Doc Blanchard, and the back who would win the Heisman that year, "Mr. Outside" Glenn Davis. Notre Dame had quarterback Johnny Lujack, who would win the Heisman the next season and Leon Hart, the 1949 Heisman winner. Four Heisman Trophy winners in one game. Never done before, never done since.

Notre Dame limited the two Army backs to 79 yards and Lujack tackled Blanchard to help preserve a tie. No, it wasn't on an interception, Lujack, like many, played both offense and defense. The game was then known as the "Game of the Century."

 That same year, the Pacific Coast Conference, forerunner to the Pac-10, and the Big Nine Conference, which would become the Big Ten, had agreed to have their champions play in the 1947 Rose Bowl. Neither Army nor Notre Dame accepted bowl bids, perhaps the Fighting Irish, were smart in that move as well because they were awarded the national championship. Instead, No. 5 Illinois, which had lost to Notre Dame, crushed No. 4 UCLA 45-14 in the Rose Bowl.

After the tie, Notre Dame went undefeated for 33 games until 1950, producing two more national titles.  

So love or hate Notre Dame, its lore came mostly through its encounters with Army in New York City. Thanks to some insight those two again will produce one of the season's most-talked about games.

Tony Guadagnoli is the National College Football Examiner. Contact him at [e-mail]