SWC75
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1947
When the regular season ended in 1947, there were no less than six undefeated teams. Kansas had two ties and was ranked #12, then lost 14-20 to Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Bye-bye. Pennsylvania was 7-0-1, (and had Chuck Bednarik). But the best ranking they could get was #7. #3 ranked SMU had Doak Walker and Kyle Rote but was tied 19-19 by Texas Christian in the final regular season game and again by Penn State in the Cotton Bowl, 13-13. Penn State had their greatest team to date, going 9-0-0 in the regular season, outscoring its opponents 319-27, including poor Syracuse 40-0, in a game where the Lions set a still standing NCAA record for defense by throwing us for a net -47 yards in losses, (we had 60 yards passing and -107 yards rushing, which must have included bunch of sacks). They also set a still standing NCAA record by giving up an average of 17.0 yards per game rushing for the season. The #2 team all-time in that regard is the 1959 Syracuse team with 19.3. If they’d beaten SMU in the Cotton Bowl they would have joined the party for the 1947 title but they didn’t and they aren’t.
1947 is all about two great teams, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and the Michigan Wolverines, both of whom may have had their all-time best teams. The Irish were in the midst of their four year undefeated streak, fueled by players Frank Leahy had coached in service ball. This, (along with the 1946 team) was the team Paul Zimmerman, (Dr. Z) of Sports Illustrated declared to be the greatest college teams ever because the number of players who played pro ball:
THE GOLDEN BOYS AFTER WORLD WAR II, NOTRE DAME FIELDED THE GREATEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM IN HISTORY, BUT WHICH UNBEATEN IRISH JUGGERNAUT WAS IT: THE '46 OR THE '47 SQUAD?
But they weren’t the only great team of the era. Army remained a powerhouse, although this was their weakest team of the era with 2 losses and 2 ties, ending a 32 game unbeaten streak (but beginning a 29 game unbeaten streak). The third dynasty of the era was at Michigan, where they fielded a top ten team every year of the decade, something that wouldn’t be done again until the Florida State teams of the 1990’s. But they really got going late in the 1946 season winning their last four games by a combined 162-19, including a 58-6 clobbering of arch-rival Ohio State. Their buzz saw kept running through the 1947 and 1948 seasons and into the 1949 season, a 25 game winning streak with an average margin of victory of 34-5 in the most prestigious conference in the country. The streak was finally ended by Army in a 21-7 victory in the Big House, one of the military academy’s greatest victories.
The Wolverines were famous for two things: running the old-fashioned single wing to perfection with four multi-talented backs. quarterback Howard Yerges, wingback Bump Elliott, (who would go on to coach Michigan’s 1965 Rose Bowl champions), tailback Bob Chappuis and fullback Jack Weisenbarger. The press called them the “Mad Magicians”. They were also famous for playing separate offensive and defensive platoons. For decades players had played both ways, not because of rules that said they had to but because it seemed like the natural thing to do. But bespectacled coach Fritz Crisler decided to use liberalized substitution rules and the depth the “double class” situation, (players who would normally have been in college in the late 40’s + the war veterans who would have been in college in the early 40’s), gave him to put his best offensive players on offense and his best defenders on defense. They not only out-performed the opposition. They wore them down. Later the NCAA would try to forcibly return schools to one platoon football by rolling the rules back, (if you left the game in a quarter, you could not come back in until the next quarter: teams went to two-way units that alternated, the 2nd team relieving the first team just before the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters), but gave up on that after a decade and everybody started playing football Crisler’s way. His Michigan teams were, in this respect, the first modern football teams, even if their formation, as effective as it was, was a bit old fashioned.
Crisler was so impressed by his 1947 team that he decided to retire after the Rose Bowl “because this was the greatest team he had ever coached. He said that he would forever set us as the standard and added that that would be unfair”, (per tackle Alvin Wistert). Terry Brennan, Notre Dame halfback, musing years later on a proposal at the time for a charity game between the two powerhouses, is quoted in the Zimmerman article: “"It would have been interesting. Two distinct systems, our T formation versus their single wing, one unit against Michigan's offensive and defensive platoons. I often wondered how we'd have done under that system. Maybe we'd have been even better."
The 1947 season was a case of “me and my Shadow”. The first poll was October 6th. Notre Dame was #1, having won their only game to that point, (seasons started later back then as did the school year), against Pittsburgh 40-6. Michigan had won two games over Michigan State 55-0 and Stanford 49-13 and was ranked #2. They would remain #1 and #2 the rest of the regular season but the positons would change.
- That week the Irish beat Purdue 22-7 but the Wolverines annihilated Pitt 69-0. That was their M.O.: beat team Notre Dame played by more than Notre Dame beat them. It worked. ND had had 52 first place votes in the first poll to 29 for the Wolves. Michigan had 93 first place votes in the second poll to 23 for the Irish and was now in first place.
- Then Michigan devoured Northwestern 49-21 while Notre Dame steam-rolled Nebraska 31-0. Michigan retained the #1 slot 147-21.
- The Wolverines then had a close game, 13-6 over Minnesota while ND blanked Iowa 21-0. They took over the #1 spot, barely, 78-69.
- Then they dominated Navy 27-0 while Michigan scrapped by #11 Illinois 14-7. Notre Dame’s lead increased to 106-56.
- Notre Dame crushed Army 27-7 in South Bend, ending the series for that era. Michigan blanked Indiana 35-0. The Irish lead grew to 117-34.
- ND then slipped by Northwestern 26-19, a team Michigan had beaten by 4 touchdowns. The Wolverines chewed up #9 Wisconsin 40-6 and moved back into the #1 slot, 140-87.
- Then they beat arch-rival Ohio State 21-0 while Notre Dame crushed Tulane 59-6. You wouldn’t think that would reverse the rankings but it did. Notre Dame was back on top 97-81.
- Michigan was done for the regular season and Notre Dame had a bye week. Then the Irish took on #3 Southern California, 7-0-1, (186-27: 23-3 per game). It was the game of the year in college football: a famous rivalry between undefeated teams with a national championship on the line. And it wasn’t close:
In “The Glamor Game “ by Bill Cromartie and Jody Brown, the authors write that after the Sitko run “The glaze-eyed Trojans were nothing more than a defenseless punching bag”. Arch Ward of the Chicago tribune wrote “From that moment the excitement of close and uncertain combat was missing…This was a battle of a good against a great team. The Irish substituted one after another in an effort to hold down the score but the reserves moved with the precision of the regulars.” Braven Dyer of the Los Angeles Times reported “Sitko’s mad dash so fired Frank Leahy’s magnificent squad that nothing the Trojans could do thereafter made any difference. This to me is the greatest Notre Dame team ever to play against Southern California.” Notre Dame out-rushed the Trojans 397-118 and out-gained them 461-173 overall. They completed 6 of 9 passes while USC misfired on 20 of their 29 attempts. Notre Dame had surely put a seal on their third national championship in five years and the final regular season poll acknowledged that, 107-25.
The ball was in Michigan’s court. The Wolverines were scheduled to play the Trojans in the 1/1/48 Rose Bowl, the second year of the Big Ten-Pacific Coast League contract. They were determined to prove that they were even better than Notre Dame and they did, at least on the scoreboard:
1948 Rose Bowl: Michigan 49 USC 0
Michigan out-gained USC 491-133. They had a more balanced attack, rushing for 219 yards and passing for 272. They completed 17 for 27 passes, the Trojans 6 of 11. When the Wolverines scored early in the fourth to go up 35-0, placekicker Jim Brieske heard someone on the bench say “That ought to take care of the Irish.” Per “Big Bowl Football” by Fred Russell and George Leonard, “Southern California was served up as a guinea pig to determine whether Notre Dame or Michigan deserved the national championship. That’s how most fans regarded the game.“ Bill Corum of the New York Journal American wrote: “I hate to see my old pal, Frank Leahy, sitting on a park bench in the snow but let’s face it, Frankie, chum. In the public mind, this 49-0 trouncing of Southern Cal is going to make Michigan the top college team of 1947.”
For the first time ever, the Associated Press decide to run a poll of the sportswriters after the bowls, simply asking whether Notre Dame or Michigan should be #1 and this time Michigan won, 266-119. But AP insisted this was an “unofficial” poll and by most references, Notre Dame went into the books as the 1947 national champion based on the last regular season poll. The problem with that is that all the polls are “unofficial” as regards the national championship. Why should the post bowl poll be ignored if it accurately reflected the views of the writers?
Michigan won that final poll because they won every comparative score with Notre Dame: Pittsburgh 69-0 vs. 40-6; Northwestern 49-21 vs. 26-19 and Southern California 49-0 to 38-7. Comparative scores can certainly be deceiving but that’s three of them. One thing to think about: Notre Dame, per the above report, tried to hold down the score vs. USC while Michigan, looking to trump the Irish, wanted to roll it up.
Of the NCAA recognized selectors, 11 of them chose Michigan: Berryman, Billingsley, Boand, DeVold, Dunkel, Football Research, Helms, Houlgate, Litkenhous, National Championship Foundation and Poling. Notre Dame was recognized, ‘officially’ by AP, Helms, (who declared them co-champions) and Williamson.
The non-NCAA selectors, Time Travel, Dolphin and Wilson have Michigan #1. Ray Waits has Notre Dame. Taylor makes them co-champs. Howell, Sorenson and Square Gear all have Texas (10-1 with the loss to SMU) #1. Howell, who tends to downgrade Midwestern teams for unknown reasons, has SMU #2. Square Gear has Michigan #2, then SMU and Pennsylvania with Notre Dame #5. But all three had Michigan rated above Notre Dame.
Author Robert Leckie of “The Story of Football” recognizes Notre Dame as #1 because the post bowl poll was “unofficial” but Bill Libby of “Champions of College Football” admits “Michigan may have been better.”
Richard Vautravers says “This year there was unprecedented clamor for a post-season game between #1 Notre Dame and #2 Michigan for the national championship. But all outside proposals came to nothing, as Michigan coach Fritz Crisler had no interest in such a game…Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy was all for it,”
Vautravers recognizes the post-bowl poll:
Fixing the 1947 AP Poll
He, too thinks Texas might actually have been the best team of 1947: “They played seven teams that are ranked in the fixed AP poll top 25 for 1947, while Michigan and Notre Dame each played just 2. Texas' opponents were 69-38-8, while Michigan's were 41-45-5 and Notre Dame's were 29-46-7”. They lost by one point, 13-14 to SMU in a battle of Bobby Layne vs. his future Detroit Lions teammate Doak Walker, (the Lions would also get Notre Dame’s Leon Hart). He would have chosen Texas but acknowledges that “The AP poll would never have voted them #1 over Notre Dame or Michigan regardless of what they accomplished.” Richard tells us that “54 of the voting writers actually saw both teams, (Notre Dame and Michgian), play, and they voted for Michigan by a count of 33-17-4.” And “The huge reversal of the post-bowl poll was an excellent illustration of exactly why the AP didn't want to do post-bowl polls in the first place: it was a gargantuan disadvantage to teams that did not play in bowl games, such as the media's one true love, Notre Dame.”
1947 College Football National Championship
If Vautravers was going to include Texas in the mix, why not include SMU, who was undefeated and beat them? Why not include Penn State who was undefeated and tied SMU? He’s said in other articles that playing a tougher schedule doesn’t necessarily mean you have a better team- just that you’ve played better teams. In the end, he decided “I'm afraid I have to go with the majority, then and now, and presume that Texas would have had a lot of trouble keeping up with Michigan and Notre Dame.” He thinks the greater depth of the northern schools would have been the difference. He winds up naming the Irish and Wolverines co-champions but admits “Michigan played the tougher schedule, and they crushed all 3 common opponents better than Notre Dame did, so they are probably the best choice.“
Notre Dame played 9 teams, all major college and out-scored them 291-52, (32-6). Three teams had winning records. Two were ranked: #11 ranked Army , (who they beat 27-7) and poor #8 ranked USC (38-7). Their PDR was 1.78: they were the best team three of their opponents played. They finished 3rd nationally in scoring (32 ppg), second in total offense ( 409 ypg), 4th in rushing (273 ypg), 8th in total defense (168 ypg), 6th in pass defense (56 ypg) and 4th in scoring defense (6 ypg)
Michigan played 10 teams, all major college and out-scored them 394-53 (39-5). Six teams had winning records but only one was ranked: #8 USC who they beat 49-0. Their PDR was 1.40: they were the best team 6 of their opponents played. They led the nation in scoring (38 ppg) and total offense (413 ypg) and in passing, (yes, with 4 guys in the backfield!) with 174 ypg. They ran for 239 yards a game, (totals rounded off). They were 5th in scoring defense (6 ppg).
Let’s look at the rosters:
Notre Dame had Johnny Lujack, who won the Heisman Trophy with 742 votes over Michigan’s Bob Chappuis who had 555. The next year Emil Sitko finished 7th with 73 votes and 8th the year after that with 79. Leon Hart won the trophy in 1949 with 995 votes, a huge margin over second place Charlie Choo Choo Justice of UNC, who had only 272.
The College Hall of Fame holds Notre Dame’s ends Leon Hart and “Jungle” Jim Martin, tackles George Connor and Zygmont "Ziggy" Czarobski, guard Bill “Moose” Fischer, halfback Emil Sitko and quarterback Johnny Lujack. That’s’ 7 Hall of Famers in one 11 man line-up. Michigan could claim only its two halfbacks, Bob Chappuis and Bump Elliott.
Notre Dame’s 1947 consensus All-Americans were Johnny Lujack, George Connor and Bill Fischer. Fischer would also be on the 1948 team, along with Emil Sitko and Leon Hart. Michigan only had Bob Chappuis although tackle Alvin Wistert and end Dick Rifenberg would make the team in 1948.
This list, (click on the empty space above the years)
Notre Dame Players/Alumni | Pro-Football-Reference.com
shows that 18 Notre Dame players began their pro careers in 1948, including Lujack and Connor. 9 of the players were backs and 9 were linemen and they played a total of 47 years of pro football. Nine more players began their careers in 1949. They include 3 backs and 6 more linemen whose careers lasted 44 years. Eleven more players started their careers in 1950. Six were backs and 5 were linemen and they played for a combined 59 seasons. Freshmen eligibility ended after the 1946 season so no player who played in 1947 played in the 1950 season or started his pro career in 1951. Still, that means the 1947 team had 38 future pros, 18 backs and 20 linemen, who played for a total of 150 seasons, an average of 4 years per player.
George Connor played 8 years for George Halas in Chicago and was All-Pro 5 times. He became one of the first modern middle linebackers and was elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame to go with his plaque in the collegiate version. Bill McPeak played nine years as an defensive end for the Steelers and late became head coach of the Redskins. Frank Tripuka played for 7 teams in 15 season in the NFL, the CFL and the AFL. He was the first ever quarterback of the Denver Broncos. He’s now known for his basketball-playing sons, Tracy and Kelly Tripuka, (the latter played for Notre Dame). Leon Hart played both ways for the Detroit Lions, catching 174 passes in 8 years as a tight end and scoring 31 TDs, 5 as a runner. He played on 3 national collegiate championship teams and 3 NFL champions as well. Jim Martin played for four NFL teams in a 15 year career but mostly for the Lions from 1951-61. He has the same championship rings Hart has and was the “other” end in both college and the pros. (Art Donovan is on Notre Dame’s list but he didn’t actually play on the 1947 team. He originally went to Notre Dame but then joined the Marines and matriculated at Boston College after the war. How did Leahy miss him?)
Johnny Lujack played four years for the Bears, first as a defensive back, (8 interceptions for 131 yards) and kicker, (44 of 46 extra points). The next year he took over at QB, (beating out Bobby Layne, who was traded to the Lions) and led the league in attempts, completions, yards, TDs and interceptions, including a 468 yards, 6TD game. He even starred in a radio program “The Adventures of Johnny Lujack”. In 1950 he set a record for most rushing TDs by a quarterback with 11 and scored 109 points. Then he abruptly retired. In the book “The Game Before Money” by Jackson Michael, it explains why: “Pro football salaries were nothing like they are today, and past players’ values and attitudes contrast with those of many of today’s stars. Lujack retired after playing out the four years of his first contract, leaving what might have been a legendary career on the table. “I had the chance to become the quarterback coach at Notre Dame under [Head Coach Frank] Leahy’s last two years, 1952 and 1953. I felt that was a good way to repay Notre Dame and Leahy for giving me a scholarship,” Lujack states.” Frank Leahy wanted Lujack to replace him when he retired in 1953 but Terry Brennan got the job. Lujack went into auto sales, owning a Chevrolet dealership, and sports broadcasting. He teamed with Chris Schenkel to broadcast the Giant’s games form 1958-61. But when Ford became the sponsor, he was dropped and replaced with the recently retired Pat Summerall, which started his long career. Johnny is still with us at age 92, the oldest living Heisman trophy winner.
The Adventures of Johnny Lujack
Michigan, Michigan Players/Alumni | Pro-Football-Reference.com
had 6 players start their pro careers in 1948: 2 backs and 4 linemen whose careers lasted 23 years. In 1949 it was 3 players, a back and 2 linemen who played for 7 seasons. In 1950 it was Dick Reifenburg, end, who played one year. That’s 10 players, 3 backs and 7 linemen who played for 31 seasons. Included are Bob Mann, who caught 66 passes for the 1949 Lions and 208 in 7 seasons. He’s in the Packers hall of Fame but not in Canton. Len Ford is. He was a defensive end of the champion Cleveland Browns teams of the 1950’s that played in the NFL title game 7 times and won it 3 times.
Bump, (his real name was “Chalmers”) and Pete Elliot later became head coaches and won the 1964 and 1965 Rose Bowls, first Pete for Illinois and then Bump for Michigan. Before that they appeared on What’s My Line? together:
Coaches Chalmers "Bump" and Peter Elliott on "What's My Line," December 1961
Notre Dame has the star power and unbelievable depth but Michigan actually out-performed them against three common opponents and did the same in over-all statistics while winning the country’s toughest league and innovating to produce the first really modern team while making the old single wing sing. But they also had the advantage of knowing Notre Dame’s scores against Pittsburgh and USC, games where the Irish might have tapped the breaks a bit at the end, and the Wolverines thus knew what victory margins they had to exceed to make their case.
So….who is #1 for 1947?
When the regular season ended in 1947, there were no less than six undefeated teams. Kansas had two ties and was ranked #12, then lost 14-20 to Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Bye-bye. Pennsylvania was 7-0-1, (and had Chuck Bednarik). But the best ranking they could get was #7. #3 ranked SMU had Doak Walker and Kyle Rote but was tied 19-19 by Texas Christian in the final regular season game and again by Penn State in the Cotton Bowl, 13-13. Penn State had their greatest team to date, going 9-0-0 in the regular season, outscoring its opponents 319-27, including poor Syracuse 40-0, in a game where the Lions set a still standing NCAA record for defense by throwing us for a net -47 yards in losses, (we had 60 yards passing and -107 yards rushing, which must have included bunch of sacks). They also set a still standing NCAA record by giving up an average of 17.0 yards per game rushing for the season. The #2 team all-time in that regard is the 1959 Syracuse team with 19.3. If they’d beaten SMU in the Cotton Bowl they would have joined the party for the 1947 title but they didn’t and they aren’t.
1947 is all about two great teams, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and the Michigan Wolverines, both of whom may have had their all-time best teams. The Irish were in the midst of their four year undefeated streak, fueled by players Frank Leahy had coached in service ball. This, (along with the 1946 team) was the team Paul Zimmerman, (Dr. Z) of Sports Illustrated declared to be the greatest college teams ever because the number of players who played pro ball:
THE GOLDEN BOYS AFTER WORLD WAR II, NOTRE DAME FIELDED THE GREATEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM IN HISTORY, BUT WHICH UNBEATEN IRISH JUGGERNAUT WAS IT: THE '46 OR THE '47 SQUAD?
But they weren’t the only great team of the era. Army remained a powerhouse, although this was their weakest team of the era with 2 losses and 2 ties, ending a 32 game unbeaten streak (but beginning a 29 game unbeaten streak). The third dynasty of the era was at Michigan, where they fielded a top ten team every year of the decade, something that wouldn’t be done again until the Florida State teams of the 1990’s. But they really got going late in the 1946 season winning their last four games by a combined 162-19, including a 58-6 clobbering of arch-rival Ohio State. Their buzz saw kept running through the 1947 and 1948 seasons and into the 1949 season, a 25 game winning streak with an average margin of victory of 34-5 in the most prestigious conference in the country. The streak was finally ended by Army in a 21-7 victory in the Big House, one of the military academy’s greatest victories.
The Wolverines were famous for two things: running the old-fashioned single wing to perfection with four multi-talented backs. quarterback Howard Yerges, wingback Bump Elliott, (who would go on to coach Michigan’s 1965 Rose Bowl champions), tailback Bob Chappuis and fullback Jack Weisenbarger. The press called them the “Mad Magicians”. They were also famous for playing separate offensive and defensive platoons. For decades players had played both ways, not because of rules that said they had to but because it seemed like the natural thing to do. But bespectacled coach Fritz Crisler decided to use liberalized substitution rules and the depth the “double class” situation, (players who would normally have been in college in the late 40’s + the war veterans who would have been in college in the early 40’s), gave him to put his best offensive players on offense and his best defenders on defense. They not only out-performed the opposition. They wore them down. Later the NCAA would try to forcibly return schools to one platoon football by rolling the rules back, (if you left the game in a quarter, you could not come back in until the next quarter: teams went to two-way units that alternated, the 2nd team relieving the first team just before the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters), but gave up on that after a decade and everybody started playing football Crisler’s way. His Michigan teams were, in this respect, the first modern football teams, even if their formation, as effective as it was, was a bit old fashioned.
Crisler was so impressed by his 1947 team that he decided to retire after the Rose Bowl “because this was the greatest team he had ever coached. He said that he would forever set us as the standard and added that that would be unfair”, (per tackle Alvin Wistert). Terry Brennan, Notre Dame halfback, musing years later on a proposal at the time for a charity game between the two powerhouses, is quoted in the Zimmerman article: “"It would have been interesting. Two distinct systems, our T formation versus their single wing, one unit against Michigan's offensive and defensive platoons. I often wondered how we'd have done under that system. Maybe we'd have been even better."
The 1947 season was a case of “me and my Shadow”. The first poll was October 6th. Notre Dame was #1, having won their only game to that point, (seasons started later back then as did the school year), against Pittsburgh 40-6. Michigan had won two games over Michigan State 55-0 and Stanford 49-13 and was ranked #2. They would remain #1 and #2 the rest of the regular season but the positons would change.
- That week the Irish beat Purdue 22-7 but the Wolverines annihilated Pitt 69-0. That was their M.O.: beat team Notre Dame played by more than Notre Dame beat them. It worked. ND had had 52 first place votes in the first poll to 29 for the Wolves. Michigan had 93 first place votes in the second poll to 23 for the Irish and was now in first place.
- Then Michigan devoured Northwestern 49-21 while Notre Dame steam-rolled Nebraska 31-0. Michigan retained the #1 slot 147-21.
- The Wolverines then had a close game, 13-6 over Minnesota while ND blanked Iowa 21-0. They took over the #1 spot, barely, 78-69.
- Then they dominated Navy 27-0 while Michigan scrapped by #11 Illinois 14-7. Notre Dame’s lead increased to 106-56.
- Notre Dame crushed Army 27-7 in South Bend, ending the series for that era. Michigan blanked Indiana 35-0. The Irish lead grew to 117-34.
- ND then slipped by Northwestern 26-19, a team Michigan had beaten by 4 touchdowns. The Wolverines chewed up #9 Wisconsin 40-6 and moved back into the #1 slot, 140-87.
- Then they beat arch-rival Ohio State 21-0 while Notre Dame crushed Tulane 59-6. You wouldn’t think that would reverse the rankings but it did. Notre Dame was back on top 97-81.
- Michigan was done for the regular season and Notre Dame had a bye week. Then the Irish took on #3 Southern California, 7-0-1, (186-27: 23-3 per game). It was the game of the year in college football: a famous rivalry between undefeated teams with a national championship on the line. And it wasn’t close:
In “The Glamor Game “ by Bill Cromartie and Jody Brown, the authors write that after the Sitko run “The glaze-eyed Trojans were nothing more than a defenseless punching bag”. Arch Ward of the Chicago tribune wrote “From that moment the excitement of close and uncertain combat was missing…This was a battle of a good against a great team. The Irish substituted one after another in an effort to hold down the score but the reserves moved with the precision of the regulars.” Braven Dyer of the Los Angeles Times reported “Sitko’s mad dash so fired Frank Leahy’s magnificent squad that nothing the Trojans could do thereafter made any difference. This to me is the greatest Notre Dame team ever to play against Southern California.” Notre Dame out-rushed the Trojans 397-118 and out-gained them 461-173 overall. They completed 6 of 9 passes while USC misfired on 20 of their 29 attempts. Notre Dame had surely put a seal on their third national championship in five years and the final regular season poll acknowledged that, 107-25.
The ball was in Michigan’s court. The Wolverines were scheduled to play the Trojans in the 1/1/48 Rose Bowl, the second year of the Big Ten-Pacific Coast League contract. They were determined to prove that they were even better than Notre Dame and they did, at least on the scoreboard:
1948 Rose Bowl: Michigan 49 USC 0
Michigan out-gained USC 491-133. They had a more balanced attack, rushing for 219 yards and passing for 272. They completed 17 for 27 passes, the Trojans 6 of 11. When the Wolverines scored early in the fourth to go up 35-0, placekicker Jim Brieske heard someone on the bench say “That ought to take care of the Irish.” Per “Big Bowl Football” by Fred Russell and George Leonard, “Southern California was served up as a guinea pig to determine whether Notre Dame or Michigan deserved the national championship. That’s how most fans regarded the game.“ Bill Corum of the New York Journal American wrote: “I hate to see my old pal, Frank Leahy, sitting on a park bench in the snow but let’s face it, Frankie, chum. In the public mind, this 49-0 trouncing of Southern Cal is going to make Michigan the top college team of 1947.”
For the first time ever, the Associated Press decide to run a poll of the sportswriters after the bowls, simply asking whether Notre Dame or Michigan should be #1 and this time Michigan won, 266-119. But AP insisted this was an “unofficial” poll and by most references, Notre Dame went into the books as the 1947 national champion based on the last regular season poll. The problem with that is that all the polls are “unofficial” as regards the national championship. Why should the post bowl poll be ignored if it accurately reflected the views of the writers?
Michigan won that final poll because they won every comparative score with Notre Dame: Pittsburgh 69-0 vs. 40-6; Northwestern 49-21 vs. 26-19 and Southern California 49-0 to 38-7. Comparative scores can certainly be deceiving but that’s three of them. One thing to think about: Notre Dame, per the above report, tried to hold down the score vs. USC while Michigan, looking to trump the Irish, wanted to roll it up.
Of the NCAA recognized selectors, 11 of them chose Michigan: Berryman, Billingsley, Boand, DeVold, Dunkel, Football Research, Helms, Houlgate, Litkenhous, National Championship Foundation and Poling. Notre Dame was recognized, ‘officially’ by AP, Helms, (who declared them co-champions) and Williamson.
The non-NCAA selectors, Time Travel, Dolphin and Wilson have Michigan #1. Ray Waits has Notre Dame. Taylor makes them co-champs. Howell, Sorenson and Square Gear all have Texas (10-1 with the loss to SMU) #1. Howell, who tends to downgrade Midwestern teams for unknown reasons, has SMU #2. Square Gear has Michigan #2, then SMU and Pennsylvania with Notre Dame #5. But all three had Michigan rated above Notre Dame.
Author Robert Leckie of “The Story of Football” recognizes Notre Dame as #1 because the post bowl poll was “unofficial” but Bill Libby of “Champions of College Football” admits “Michigan may have been better.”
Richard Vautravers says “This year there was unprecedented clamor for a post-season game between #1 Notre Dame and #2 Michigan for the national championship. But all outside proposals came to nothing, as Michigan coach Fritz Crisler had no interest in such a game…Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy was all for it,”
Vautravers recognizes the post-bowl poll:
Fixing the 1947 AP Poll
He, too thinks Texas might actually have been the best team of 1947: “They played seven teams that are ranked in the fixed AP poll top 25 for 1947, while Michigan and Notre Dame each played just 2. Texas' opponents were 69-38-8, while Michigan's were 41-45-5 and Notre Dame's were 29-46-7”. They lost by one point, 13-14 to SMU in a battle of Bobby Layne vs. his future Detroit Lions teammate Doak Walker, (the Lions would also get Notre Dame’s Leon Hart). He would have chosen Texas but acknowledges that “The AP poll would never have voted them #1 over Notre Dame or Michigan regardless of what they accomplished.” Richard tells us that “54 of the voting writers actually saw both teams, (Notre Dame and Michgian), play, and they voted for Michigan by a count of 33-17-4.” And “The huge reversal of the post-bowl poll was an excellent illustration of exactly why the AP didn't want to do post-bowl polls in the first place: it was a gargantuan disadvantage to teams that did not play in bowl games, such as the media's one true love, Notre Dame.”
1947 College Football National Championship
If Vautravers was going to include Texas in the mix, why not include SMU, who was undefeated and beat them? Why not include Penn State who was undefeated and tied SMU? He’s said in other articles that playing a tougher schedule doesn’t necessarily mean you have a better team- just that you’ve played better teams. In the end, he decided “I'm afraid I have to go with the majority, then and now, and presume that Texas would have had a lot of trouble keeping up with Michigan and Notre Dame.” He thinks the greater depth of the northern schools would have been the difference. He winds up naming the Irish and Wolverines co-champions but admits “Michigan played the tougher schedule, and they crushed all 3 common opponents better than Notre Dame did, so they are probably the best choice.“
Notre Dame played 9 teams, all major college and out-scored them 291-52, (32-6). Three teams had winning records. Two were ranked: #11 ranked Army , (who they beat 27-7) and poor #8 ranked USC (38-7). Their PDR was 1.78: they were the best team three of their opponents played. They finished 3rd nationally in scoring (32 ppg), second in total offense ( 409 ypg), 4th in rushing (273 ypg), 8th in total defense (168 ypg), 6th in pass defense (56 ypg) and 4th in scoring defense (6 ypg)
Michigan played 10 teams, all major college and out-scored them 394-53 (39-5). Six teams had winning records but only one was ranked: #8 USC who they beat 49-0. Their PDR was 1.40: they were the best team 6 of their opponents played. They led the nation in scoring (38 ppg) and total offense (413 ypg) and in passing, (yes, with 4 guys in the backfield!) with 174 ypg. They ran for 239 yards a game, (totals rounded off). They were 5th in scoring defense (6 ppg).
Let’s look at the rosters:
Notre Dame had Johnny Lujack, who won the Heisman Trophy with 742 votes over Michigan’s Bob Chappuis who had 555. The next year Emil Sitko finished 7th with 73 votes and 8th the year after that with 79. Leon Hart won the trophy in 1949 with 995 votes, a huge margin over second place Charlie Choo Choo Justice of UNC, who had only 272.
The College Hall of Fame holds Notre Dame’s ends Leon Hart and “Jungle” Jim Martin, tackles George Connor and Zygmont "Ziggy" Czarobski, guard Bill “Moose” Fischer, halfback Emil Sitko and quarterback Johnny Lujack. That’s’ 7 Hall of Famers in one 11 man line-up. Michigan could claim only its two halfbacks, Bob Chappuis and Bump Elliott.
Notre Dame’s 1947 consensus All-Americans were Johnny Lujack, George Connor and Bill Fischer. Fischer would also be on the 1948 team, along with Emil Sitko and Leon Hart. Michigan only had Bob Chappuis although tackle Alvin Wistert and end Dick Rifenberg would make the team in 1948.
This list, (click on the empty space above the years)
Notre Dame Players/Alumni | Pro-Football-Reference.com
shows that 18 Notre Dame players began their pro careers in 1948, including Lujack and Connor. 9 of the players were backs and 9 were linemen and they played a total of 47 years of pro football. Nine more players began their careers in 1949. They include 3 backs and 6 more linemen whose careers lasted 44 years. Eleven more players started their careers in 1950. Six were backs and 5 were linemen and they played for a combined 59 seasons. Freshmen eligibility ended after the 1946 season so no player who played in 1947 played in the 1950 season or started his pro career in 1951. Still, that means the 1947 team had 38 future pros, 18 backs and 20 linemen, who played for a total of 150 seasons, an average of 4 years per player.
George Connor played 8 years for George Halas in Chicago and was All-Pro 5 times. He became one of the first modern middle linebackers and was elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame to go with his plaque in the collegiate version. Bill McPeak played nine years as an defensive end for the Steelers and late became head coach of the Redskins. Frank Tripuka played for 7 teams in 15 season in the NFL, the CFL and the AFL. He was the first ever quarterback of the Denver Broncos. He’s now known for his basketball-playing sons, Tracy and Kelly Tripuka, (the latter played for Notre Dame). Leon Hart played both ways for the Detroit Lions, catching 174 passes in 8 years as a tight end and scoring 31 TDs, 5 as a runner. He played on 3 national collegiate championship teams and 3 NFL champions as well. Jim Martin played for four NFL teams in a 15 year career but mostly for the Lions from 1951-61. He has the same championship rings Hart has and was the “other” end in both college and the pros. (Art Donovan is on Notre Dame’s list but he didn’t actually play on the 1947 team. He originally went to Notre Dame but then joined the Marines and matriculated at Boston College after the war. How did Leahy miss him?)
Johnny Lujack played four years for the Bears, first as a defensive back, (8 interceptions for 131 yards) and kicker, (44 of 46 extra points). The next year he took over at QB, (beating out Bobby Layne, who was traded to the Lions) and led the league in attempts, completions, yards, TDs and interceptions, including a 468 yards, 6TD game. He even starred in a radio program “The Adventures of Johnny Lujack”. In 1950 he set a record for most rushing TDs by a quarterback with 11 and scored 109 points. Then he abruptly retired. In the book “The Game Before Money” by Jackson Michael, it explains why: “Pro football salaries were nothing like they are today, and past players’ values and attitudes contrast with those of many of today’s stars. Lujack retired after playing out the four years of his first contract, leaving what might have been a legendary career on the table. “I had the chance to become the quarterback coach at Notre Dame under [Head Coach Frank] Leahy’s last two years, 1952 and 1953. I felt that was a good way to repay Notre Dame and Leahy for giving me a scholarship,” Lujack states.” Frank Leahy wanted Lujack to replace him when he retired in 1953 but Terry Brennan got the job. Lujack went into auto sales, owning a Chevrolet dealership, and sports broadcasting. He teamed with Chris Schenkel to broadcast the Giant’s games form 1958-61. But when Ford became the sponsor, he was dropped and replaced with the recently retired Pat Summerall, which started his long career. Johnny is still with us at age 92, the oldest living Heisman trophy winner.
The Adventures of Johnny Lujack
Michigan, Michigan Players/Alumni | Pro-Football-Reference.com
had 6 players start their pro careers in 1948: 2 backs and 4 linemen whose careers lasted 23 years. In 1949 it was 3 players, a back and 2 linemen who played for 7 seasons. In 1950 it was Dick Reifenburg, end, who played one year. That’s 10 players, 3 backs and 7 linemen who played for 31 seasons. Included are Bob Mann, who caught 66 passes for the 1949 Lions and 208 in 7 seasons. He’s in the Packers hall of Fame but not in Canton. Len Ford is. He was a defensive end of the champion Cleveland Browns teams of the 1950’s that played in the NFL title game 7 times and won it 3 times.
Bump, (his real name was “Chalmers”) and Pete Elliot later became head coaches and won the 1964 and 1965 Rose Bowls, first Pete for Illinois and then Bump for Michigan. Before that they appeared on What’s My Line? together:
Coaches Chalmers "Bump" and Peter Elliott on "What's My Line," December 1961
Notre Dame has the star power and unbelievable depth but Michigan actually out-performed them against three common opponents and did the same in over-all statistics while winning the country’s toughest league and innovating to produce the first really modern team while making the old single wing sing. But they also had the advantage of knowing Notre Dame’s scores against Pittsburgh and USC, games where the Irish might have tapped the breaks a bit at the end, and the Wolverines thus knew what victory margins they had to exceed to make their case.
So….who is #1 for 1947?