1938 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

1938 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

National champion (Dickinson)

Conference| Independent
Ranking
AP| No. 5
Record| 8–1
Head coach|

* Elmer Layden (5th season)

Captain| Jim McGoldrick
Home stadium| Notre Dame Stadium

Seasons

← 1937

1939 →

1938 Midwestern college football independents records

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| Conf. |  |  | Overall

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Team | W |   | L |   | T |  |  | W |   | L |   | T
No. 5 Notre Dame |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 8  | – | 1  | – | 0
Central Michigan |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 7  | – | 1  | – | 0
Michigan State Normal |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 6  | – | 1  | – | 1
Xavier |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 7  | – | 2  | – | 0
Akron |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 6  | – | 3  | – | 0
Michigan State |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 6  | – | 3  | – | 0
Detroit Tech |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 6  | – | 3  | – | 0
Detroit |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 6  | – | 4  | – | 0
Western State Teachers |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 4  | – | 3  | – | 0
Cincinnati |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 4  | – | 5  | – | 0
Haskell |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 2  | – | 6  | – | 0
Wayne |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 2  | – | 6  | – | 0
DePaul |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 2  | – | 7  | – | 0
Michigan Tech |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 1  | – | 5  | – | 0
Marquette |   |  | – |  |   |  |  | 1  | – | 7  | – | 0
Rankings from AP poll

The 1938 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1938 college football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Elmer Layden, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 8–1.

Notre Dame was awarded the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy for the season, emblematic of their selection as national champions by the Dickinson System.[1] The Irish topped the AP poll until their loss to USC in their last game of the season. Notre Dame does not claim a national championship for this season.[2]

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Opponent| Rank| Site| Result| Attendance| Source

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October 1| Kansas| |

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN

| W 52–0| 25,615|
October 8| at Georgia Tech| |

* Grant Field
* Atlanta, GA (rivalry)

| W 14–6| 26,533| [3]
October 15| Illinois| |

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN

| W 14–6| 29,142|
October 22| No. 13 Carnegie Tech| No. 5|

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN

| W 7–0| 25,934|
October 29| vs. Army| No. 7|

* Yankee Stadium
* Bronx, NY (rivalry)

| W 19–7| 76,338|
November 5| vs. Navy| No. 4|

* Municipal Stadium
* Baltimore, MD (rivalry)

| W 15–0| 58,271|
November 12| No. 12 Minnesota| No. 2|

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN

| W 19–0| 55,245|
November 19| at No. 16 Northwestern| No. 1|

* Dyche Stadium
* Evanston, IL (rivalry)

| W 9–7| 46,348|
December 3| at No. 8 USC| No. 1|

* Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
* Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)

| L 0–13| 97,146|

* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
* Source: [4]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Written at Chicago. "Irish Are Rated at Top by Dickinson". Fort Worth Star. Fort Worth. Associated Press. December 6, 1938. Retrieved August 17, 2022. "Notre Dame will receive the Knute Rockne trophy"
2. ^ Bertsch, Michael; Masters, Chris; Torbin, Leigh (2014). Notre Dame Football 2014 Media Guide. University of Notre Dame. pp. 2, 157. Archived from the original on April 30, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
3. ^ "Irish turn back Georgia Tech in 14–6 battle". Chicago Tribune. October 9, 1938. Retrieved September 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ "1938 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results | College Football at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2015.

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* e

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
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

National championship seasons in bold

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College football national champions (poll era)

1936–1949|

* 1936: Minnesota (AP)
* 1937: Pittsburgh
* 1938: TCU
* 1939: Texas A&M
* 1940: Minnesota
* 1941: Minnesota
* 1942: Ohio State
* 1943: Notre Dame
* 1944: Army
* 1945: Army (AP) / Oklahoma A&M (AFCA)
* 1946: Notre Dame
* 1947: Notre Dame
* 1948: Michigan
* 1949: Notre Dame

1950s|

* 1950: Oklahoma (AP, Coaches)
* 1951: Tennessee
* 1952: Michigan State
* 1953: Maryland
* 1954: Ohio State (AP) / UCLA (FWAA, Coaches)
* 1955: Oklahoma
* 1956: Oklahoma
* 1957: Auburn (AP) / Ohio State (Coaches, FWAA)
* 1958: LSU (AP, Coaches) / Iowa (FWAA)
* 1959: Syracuse (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF)

1960s|

* 1960: Minnesota (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ole Miss (FWAA)
* 1961: Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) / Ohio State (FWAA)
* 1962: USC
* 1963: Texas
* 1964: Alabama (AP, Coaches) / Arkansas (FWAA) / Notre Dame (NFF)
* 1965: Alabama (AP, FWAA) / Michigan State (Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
* 1966: Notre Dame (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) / Michigan State (NFF)
* 1967: USC
* 1968: Ohio State
* 1969: Texas

1970s|

* 1970: Nebraska (AP, FWAA) / Texas (NFF, Coaches) / Ohio State (NFF)
* 1971: Nebraska
* 1972: USC
* 1973: Notre Dame (AP, FWAA, NFF) / Alabama (Coaches)
* 1974: Oklahoma (AP) / USC (FWAA, NFF, Coaches)
* 1975: Oklahoma
* 1976: Pittsburgh
* 1977: Notre Dame
* 1978: Alabama (AP, FWAA, NFF) / USC (Coaches)
* 1979: Alabama

1980–1991|

* 1980: Georgia
* 1981: Clemson
* 1982: Penn State
* 1983: Miami (FL)
* 1984: BYU
* 1985: Oklahoma
* 1986: Penn State
* 1987: Miami (FL)
* 1988: Notre Dame
* 1989: Miami (FL)
* 1990: Colorado (AP, FWAA, NFF, USAT/CNN) / Georgia Tech (Coaches)
* 1991: Miami (FL) (AP) / Washington (Coaches, FWAA, UPI/NFF)

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