1931 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

1931 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

Conference| Independent
Record| 6–2–1
Head coach|

* Hunk Anderson (1st season)

Captain| Tommy Yarr
Home stadium| Notre Dame Stadium

Seasons

← 1930

1932 →

1931 Midwestern college football independents records

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| Conf. |  |  | Overall

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Team | W |   | L |   | T |  |  | W |   | L |   | T
Wilberforce |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 8  | – | 0  | – | 0
Marquette |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 8  | – | 1  | – | 0
Saint Louis |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 8  | – | 1  | – | 0
Detroit |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 7  | – | 2  | – | 1
Western State Teachers |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 5  | – | 2  | – | 0
No. 11 Notre Dame |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 6  | – | 2  | – | 1
DePaul |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 6  | – | 3  | – | 0
Michigan State |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 5  | – | 3  | – | 1
Haskell |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 6  | – | 4  | – | 0
Michigan Tech |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 3  | – | 2  | – | 0
Michigan State Normal |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 3  | – | 2  | – | 1
Central State (MI) |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 4  | – | 3  | – | 0
John Carroll |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 4  | – | 4  | – | 2
Wittenberg |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 3  | – | 3  | – | 3
Kent State |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 3  | – | 4  | – | 0
Rankings from Dickinson System

The 1931 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1931 college football season, led by first-year head coach Hunk Anderson.

Following the death of head coach Knute Rockne in a plane crash on March 31,[1][2][3] line coach Anderson was promoted on April 10.[4][5][6]

Notre Dame entered the season on a 19-game winning streak and opened with a road win, but then had a scoreless tie with Northwestern in the second game, played at Soldier Field in Chicago.[7] Five straight wins followed and the unbeaten string extended to 26 games, until visiting USC won by two points;[8] the Trojans were the last team to defeat Notre Dame, three years earlier in 1928.[9] The next week, Army shut out the Irish 12–0 at Yankee Stadium to conclude the season.[10]

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Opponent| Site| Result| Attendance| Source

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October 3| at Indiana|

* Memorial Stadium
* Bloomington, IN

| W 25–0| 12,098–18,000| [11]
October 10| vs. Northwestern|

* Soldier Field
* Chicago, IL (rivalry)

| T 0–0| 65,000| [7]
October 17| Drake|

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN

| W 63–0| 23,835| [12]
October 24| Pittsburgh|

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)

| W 25–12| 37,394–42,000| [13]
October 31| at Carnegie Tech|

* Pitt Stadium
* Pittsburgh, PA

| W 19–0| 42,271| [14]
November 7| Penn|

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN

| W 49–0| 39,173|
November 14| vs. Navy|

* Municipal Stadium
* Baltimore, MD (rivalry)

| W 20–0| 56,861|
November 21| USC|

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)

| L 14–16| 50,731| [15][8][9]
November 28| vs. Army|

* Yankee Stadium
* Bronx, NY (rivalry)

| L 0–12| 78,559| [10]

[16]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Report Knute Rockne killed in plane crash". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. March 31, 1931. p. 1.
2. ^ "Rockne's tragic death". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 1, 1931. p. 1A.[permanent dead link]
3. ^ "Sorrow shrouds Notre Dame faculty and students with passing of Knute Rockne". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. April 1, 1931. p. 16.
4. ^ "'Hunk' Anderson named Notre Dame coach". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 11, 1931. p. 23.[permanent dead link]
5. ^ "Anderson named Rockne successor for year". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. April 11, 1931. p. 9.
6. ^ "Hunk Anderson lacking wizardry of psychology, but is man of action". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 12, 1931. p. 3C.[permanent dead link]
7. ^ a b McIntyre, Ronald (October 11, 1931). "Wildcats and Irish engage in punt duel". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1C.
8. ^ a b McIntyre, Ronald (November 22, 1931). "Trojans halt Irish victory march". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1C.
9. ^ a b Smith, Chester L. (November 22, 1931). "Notre Dame loses to U.S.C., 16-14, in breath-taking tilt". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1.
10. ^ a b Gould, Alan (November 29, 1931). "Army whips Irish grid eleven, 12-0, in surprise upset". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. p. 1C.
11. ^ "Notre Dame shows usual power in running over Indiana, 25–0". The Atlanta Constitution. October 4, 1931. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
12. ^ "Irish run wild and win, 63 to 0". The Atlanta Constitution. October 18, 1931. Retrieved June 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
13. ^ Ledden, Jack (October 25, 1931). "42,000 Watch Schwartz Put Enemy To Rout". The South Bend Tribune. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
14. ^ Smith, Chester L. (November 1, 1931). "52,000 see Notre Dame beat Tech". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1.
15. ^ Braven Dyer (November 22, 1931). "Stirring Trojan Rally Upsets Irish, 16 to 14". The Los Angeles Times. pp. 1, VI-a-1 – via Newspapers.com.
16. ^ "1931 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results | College Football at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2015.

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

Venues|

* Brownson Hall field (1892?–1899)
* Cartier Field (1899–1928)
* Soldier Field (1929)
* Notre Dame Stadium (1930–present)

Bowls and rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Emerald Isle Classic
* Army
* Boston College
* Michigan
* Michigan State
* Navy
* Northwestern
* Pittsburgh
* Purdue
* Stanford
* USC

Culture and lore|

* History
* Band of the Fighting Irish
* Irish Guard
* Notre Dame Box
* Notre Dame Leprechaun
* "Notre Dame, Our Mother"
* "Notre Dame Victory March"
* Play Like a Champion Today
* Subway Alumni
* T formation
* Tall Grass Game
* 1946 "Game of the Century"
* 1966 "Game of the Century"
* Catholics vs. Convicts
* 30 for 30 film
* 1993 "Game of the Century"
* Bush Push
* Navy ends the drought
* Death of Lizzy Seeberg
* 2020 ACC Championship Game
* The Spirit of Notre Dame
* Knute Rockne, All American
* Notre Dame Football on NBC
* Rudy

People|

* Head coaches
* Starting quarterbacks
* Four Horsemen
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders
* Team captains

Seasons|

* 1887
* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
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* 1957
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* 1960
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National championship seasons in bold

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*[v]: View this template
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*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[No.]: Number