1953 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
National champion (various selectors)
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 2
Record9–0–1
Head coach
CaptainDon Penza
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
1953 Midwestern college football independents records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 2 Notre Dame   –  9 –0 –1
Cincinnati   –  9 –1 –0
Carthage   –  8 –1 –0
Youngstown   –  7 –1 –0
John Carroll   –  7 –2 –0
Washington University   –  7 –2 –0
Rose Poly   –  6 –2 –0
Wabash   –  6 –2 –1
Marquette   –  6 –3 –1
Baldwin–Wallace   –  4 –4 –0
Drake   –  4 –4 –0
Wayne   –  3 –4 –1
Dayton   –  3 –5 –1
Xavier   –  2 –7 –1
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1953 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1953 college football season. Led by Frank Leahy in his 11th and final season as head coach, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 9–0–1. John Lattner won the Heisman Trophy although he did not even lead the Irish in passing, rushing, receiving or scoring.[1] Lattner held the Notre Dame record for all-purpose yards until Vagas Ferguson broke it in 1979.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 26at No. 6 OklahomaNo. 1
W 28–2159,500
October 3at PurdueNo. 1
W 37–749,135
October 17No. 15 PittsburghNo. 1
W 23–1457,998
October 24No. 4 Georgia TechNo. 1
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 27–1458,254[2]
October 31No. 20 NavyNo. 1Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)W 38–758,154
November 7at PennNo. 1
W 28–2069,071[3]
November 14at North CarolinaNo. 1
W 34–1443,000[4]
November 21No. 20 IowaNo. 1
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
T 14–1456,478
November 28at No. 20 USCNo. 2
W 48–1497,952
December 5SMUNo. 2
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
W 40–1455,522
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

  • QB Ralph Gugliemi
  • HB Johnny Lattner
  • OE, DE Don Penza

Game summaries

Oklahoma

1 234Total
• Notre Dame 7 7140 28
Oklahoma 7 707 21

Don Penza blocked and recovered a kick to set up one touchdown and recovered a fumble that led to another Notre Dame score.[5]

Team players drafted into the NFL

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

PlayerPositionRoundPickFranchise

[6]

Awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ "1953 - 19th Award". Heisman Trophy. Archived from the original on July 1, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Notre Dame snips Georgia Tech string, 27–14". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. October 25, 1953. Retrieved October 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Smith, Red (November 8, 1953). "Notre Dame, Lattner Subdue Penn, 28-20". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "The Daily Tar Heel. (Chapel Hill, N.C.) 1946-current, November 15, 1953, Image 1". November 15, 1953. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "Fighting Irish Roar Back to 28-21 Victory." Palm Beach Post. 1953 September 27 Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "1953 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com.


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