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1946
The billing: November 9, 1946: No. 1 Army against No. 2 Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium, before about 74,000. It ended 0–0 — "Much Ado About Nothing-Nothing," in the headline the record kept.
The numbers: Nearly even. Notre Dame gained 219 yards — 167 rushing, 52 passing — to Army's 224, split 172 and 52. First downs went 10 to 9 for Notre Dame.
The three plays the record keeps: Johnny Lujack's open-field, touchdown-saving tackle of Doc Blanchard at the Notre Dame 36 in the third quarter. Terry Brennan's interception of a Glenn Davis halfback pass inside the Notre Dame 10. And Notre Dame's best drive dying at the Army 3-yard line — the 4, in some accounts — when Bill Gompers was stopped on fourth-and-1, Leahy having declined to try a field goal as an admission of defeat.
The cost: Lujack played all sixty minutes on an injured ankle, and threw three interceptions, every one of them to Army's Arnold Tucker.
The field: Three consecutive Heisman Trophy winners played in the game: Blanchard, the 1945 winner; Davis, the 1946 winner; and Lujack, who would win it in 1947.
The outcome: Notre Dame won the 1946 championship in the final polls; its team allowed 24 points all season. Army's coach, Red Blaik, delivered his later verdict on the tie to Brennan and the sportswriter Red Smith: "You're right, we both screwed up."
Sources:
- The 1946 Army game record — the date, venue and crowd; the 0–0 score and the headline; the yardage and first-down lines; the three plays; Lujack's sixty minutes and three interceptions.
- The 1946 season record — the final-poll championship; the 24 points allowed; Blaik's verdict as carried in the Brennan account.