The 1946 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team that represented the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

as an independent during the

1946 college football season The 1946 college football season was the 78th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Co ...

. In their fourth year under head coach

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to 1940 and at ...

, the Irish compiled an 8–0–1 and were ranked No. 1 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

. The season also produced the

1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game The 1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game was a regular season college football game played on November 9, 1946. Army (the football program of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York), then ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press c ...

, a scoreless tie between undefeated teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2. The 1946 Notre Dame team dominated both on defense and offense, ranking first nationally in total offense (441.3 yards per game), rushing offense (340.1 yards per game), and total defense (allowing 141.7 yards per game). Despite ranking as the nation's top rushing offense, no Notre Dame player ranked among the national rushing leaders, as multiple backs shared the rushing load, including Emil Sitko (54 carries, 346 yards),

Terry Brennan Terence Patrick Brennan (June 11, 1928 – September 7, 2021) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame from 1954 to 1958, compiling a record of 32–18. Early life ...

(74 carries, 329 yards), Jim Mello (61 carries, 307 yards),

Bill Gompers William George Gompers (March 20, 1928 – May 3, 2019) was an American football halfback who played for the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame, having previously attended Wheeling Central Catholic High Scho ...

(51 carries, 279 yards), and John Panelli (58 carries, 265 yards). Two Notre Dame players, quarterback

Johnny Lujack John Christopher Lujack (pronounced Lu' jack; born January 4, 1925) is a former American football quarterback and defensive back who won the 1947 Heisman Trophy; he is currently the oldest living recipient of the Heisman Trophy. Lujack played c ...

and tackle George Connor, were consensus first-team picks for the 1946 All-America college football team. Center George Strohmeyer and guard John Mastrangelo also received first-team All-America honors from multiple selectors. From 1946 to 1949, Notre Dame compiled a 36-0-2 record and claims three

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

s. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' rated these Notre Dame teams as the second best sports dynasty (professional or collegiate) of the 20th century and second greatest college football dynasty.

Schedule

Post-season

Award winners

* George Connor -

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Am ...

All-Americans: College Football Hall of Fame Inductees: Notre Dame leads all universities in players inducted.

1947 NFL draft

The 1947 NFL Draft was held on December 16, 1946. The following Fighting Irish were selected.

References

Notre Dame Notre Dame Fighting Irish football seasons College football national champions College football undefeated seasons Notre Dame Fighting Irish football {{collegefootball-1940s-season-stub