USD Football 1996

A POINllfSS W hen Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik dismissed it as just another game on the schedule, reporters could hardly suppress their laughter. In most quarters, the 1946

e 46 Army-Notre Dame classic had no scoring and plenty of drama.

showdown between unbeatens Army and Notre Dame-ranked first and second in the nation, respective ly-was heralded as "The Football Battle of the Century." If t his was just anoth– er game, then Superman was just another guy in blue tights. This transcended football. This was historic. "It is unlikely that America soon will have an athletic contest to match this year's Army-Notre

There was nothing boring about the scoreless tie between the Cadets and the Irish.

Dame game in general interest or demands for tickets," wrote Arch Ward of the

combined for 20 first downs, 10 turnovers .. .and zero points. Despite the scoreless outcome, the game was hailed as a riveting classic. Wrote Allison Danzig of The New York Times, "The battle was so fiercely waged and the lines and the backers-up rose up so nobly when their goal lines were endangered that the crowd never found the play lacking in excitement." Notre Dame mounted the game's only serious threat in the second quarter, marching 85 yards to the Army 4. Leahy, faced with a fourth-a nd-two situation, disdained a field-goal attempt and called for a sweep by Bill Gompers. The Cadets buried him a yard shy of the sticks. "All-America backs were merely members of the supporting cast," wrote Ward. "The real actors were up front along the scrimmage strip. It was there that plays perished." Along with the Cadets' hopes of a three-peat. Because Army failed to win that day, the national championship race was unresolved entering the final weekend of the season . And Notre Dame took full advantage. The Irish toppled USC 26-6 to finish 8-0-1 and depose the Cadets (9-0-1), who surren– dered their No. 1 ranking following a desultory 21-18 victory over Navy. a BOB FULTON is a freelance writer. His new book, The Summer Olympics: A Treasury of l egends and War, is now available.

Chicago Tribune. "Reporters who have covered the biggest heavyweight championship boxing shows, the World Series and the Olympic Games can recall nothing to approach this event." Army {7-0) had won 25 consecutive games and the last two nationa l championships, powered by ha lfback Glenn Davis and ful lback Felix "Doc" Blanchard, the so-called Touchdown Twins. Notre Dame (5-0) was blessed with limitless depth . Asked if the Irish had a weakness, Blaik offered the following tongue-in– cheek reply: "They don't seem to have a fourth quarterback." What they did have was more incentive to win than any Notre Dame team since Knute Rockne delivered his fabled "Win One for the Gipper" locker-room speech. The Irish were stil l smarting from humiliating 59-0 and 48-0 losses to Army in 1944 and 1945, when coach Frank Leahy and many of his top players were serving in the military. Retribution was on their minds. When the drama unfolded before 74,000 fans at Yankee Stadium on Nov. 9, Davis and Blanchard-one (Blanchard) a former Heisman winner, the other a future recipient-were smothered under a blanket of green and gold. The swarming Notre Dame defense defused the Cadets' two most explosive weapons, holding them to a paltry 80 yards rushing. In fact, both defenses were so dominant that the teams

BY BOB FULTON