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Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State is only 48 days away

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•07/17/22•

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notre dame frank leahy
Former Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy nearly won four national titles in a row from 1946-49. (Photo by Francis Miller/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)

To preview one of the most anticipated games for Notre Dame this century and the official start of the Marcus Freeman era, BlueandGold.com is counting down the days to the matchup against Ohio State on Sept. 3.

This daily series of 99 stories celebrates by the numbers some of the most notable names, dates, moments and memories related to the past and present of Notre Dame football. 

With 48 days remaining until kickoff, we look back at the 1948 season and what could have been.

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Going for a three-peat

The best four-year stretch in Notre Dame football history, without question, was when Frank Leahy returned from World War II to reassume his post as the Fighting Irish’s head coach.

Notre Dame went 36-0-2 from 1946-49. The Irish won three national titles during that span. The only year they did not finish atop the AP Poll was 1948 when they finished second. It would have been an unprecedented four national championships in a row for Leahy had his Irish not tied USC 14-14 in a game in which Notre Dame was favored to win by 28 points.

Notre Dame quite literally fumbled the game, and a national, away.

The Irish lost six fumbles in front of 100,571 fans at the LA Coliseum. Even with the turnovers, Notre Dame had the ball as time expired. According to “Talking Irish: the Oral History of Notre Dame football,” Irish thought his team had a lead when the game was tied. He ordered the offense to run out the clock. By the time he realized he was mistaken, it was too late. The game ended, and so did the Irish’s national title streak. Michigan won it all with a 9-0-1 record.

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Things might have been different had quarterback Frank Tripucka, Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack‘s backup of two years, not gotten injured just before halftime. It was an injury that changed the trajectory of the game and of Tripucka’s football career.

“See, I got hit in the spine,” Tripucka said in “Talking Irish.” “And I couldn’t feel my legs after it happened. They felt like they were gone. So I thought I would be crippled. I mean, because of the spinal cord and all the horror stories.”

Tripucka spent all of December in a Los Angeles hospital. He fully recovered in what was described as a medical miracle. Had the tip of a broken rib bone cut into his spinal column, Tripucka would have been paralyzed for life. It didn’t, and he went on to play 15 years of professional football.

Seven of Notre Dame’s nine wins in 1948 came by at least two touchdowns. Five of the victories came by at least 30 points. Notre Dame only played one ranked team, No. 8 Northwestern, and the Irish won 12-7 in South Bend. It’s a year Tripucka would never forget, even if it ended in physical and mental turmoil.

“Although I was sorry, of course, that we blew the national championship that season, I had the greatest time of my life at Notre Dame,” Tripucka said in “Talking Irish.” “I mean, here it is fifty years later. And i still get he shivers when I step on that campus.”

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