The "Fainting Irish" and the end of Leahy, 1953–1954

1953 – 1954

The game: November 21, 1953, at Notre Dame Stadium: No. 1 Notre Dame against No. 20 Iowa. Twice, out of timeouts in the dying seconds of a half, a Notre Dame tackle went down with a feigned injury to stop the clock — Frank Varrichione in the first half, Art Hunter with six seconds left and the ball at the Iowa 9 — and each time, on the next play, Ralph Guglielmi threw a touchdown pass to Dan Shannon. Don Schaefer's extra point saved a 14–14 tie.

The practice and the consequence: Feigning injury was then a widely used ploy; Notre Dame used it twice, with game-deciding effect, in a single game, and the "Fainting Irish" label stuck to the team. Notre Dame dropped to No. 2 behind Maryland in both polls, and Maryland took the consensus championship. The NCAA then changed its rules to prohibit using injuries to stop the clock at the end of halves.

The season's accounting: The 1953 team finished 9–0–1, the nation's only unbeaten team. Ten selectors outside the AP and the UPI named Notre Dame champion — a title the university does not count, by its policy of recognizing only AP and Coaches' Poll championships after 1936. Johnny Lattner won the 1953 Heisman Trophy.

The collapse and the resignation: A month before the Iowa game, on October 24, 1953, during a 27–14 win over No. 4 Georgia Tech that ended Tech's 31-game unbeaten streak, Leahy collapsed at halftime, was given last rites by a priest in the locker room, and was hospitalized; the diagnosis was nervous tension and pancreatitis. He resigned on January 31, 1954, with two years left on his contract. The stated reason was doctors' orders on his health; Leahy later said he left because he felt he was no longer wanted. Both stand in the record, and both stand here.

Sources:

1. The 1953 Iowa game record — the two feigned injuries and the men involved, the two touchdown passes, the extra point, the poll drop and the rule change.
2. The 1953 season record — the 9–0–1 finish, the ten outside selectors, the university's recognition policy; Lattner's Heisman.
3. Leahy biographical record — the Georgia Tech collapse, the last rites, the diagnosis, the January 31, 1954 resignation and its two stated reasons.