1920 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1920 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1920 college football season. In their third year under head coach Knute Rockne, the team compiled a perfect 9–0 record and outscored opponents by a total of 251 to 44.^[1][2]

1920 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
National champion (Billingsley) Co-national champion (Davis)
Conference	Independent
Record	9–0
Head coach	Knute Rockne (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Single-wing
Base defense	7–2–2
Captain	Frank Coughlin
Home stadium	Cartier Field
Uniform
Seasons ← 1919 1921 →

1920 Midwestern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Notre Dame			–					9	–	0	–	0
Michigan Mines			–					2	–	0	–	0
Butler			–					7	–	1	–	0
St. Xavier			–					7	–	1	–	0
Detroit			–					8	–	2	–	0
Marquette			–					7	–	2	–	0
Haskell			–					7	–	2	–	1
St. Ignatius (OH)			–					4	–	2	–	0
Iowa State Teachers			–					4	–	2	–	1
South Dakota State			–					4	–	2	–	1
Indiana State			–					3	–	2	–	0
Valparaiso			–					5	–	3	–	0
Nebraska			–					5	–	3	–	1
Central Michigan			–					4	–	3	–	1
Akron			–					4	–	4	–	0
Wabash			–					3	–	4	–	0
Western State Normal			–					3	–	4	–	0
North Dakota Agricultural			–					2	–	3	–	1
Michigan Agricultural			–					4	–	6	–	0
Earlham			–					2	–	3	–	0
Northern Illinois State			–					3	–	5	–	0
Dayton			–					2	–	4	–	0
Kent State			–					1	–	2	–	0
Saint Louis			–					3	–	6	–	0
Bowling Green			–					1	–	4	–	0
Toledo			–					0	–	3	–	0

There was no contemporaneous system in 1919 for determining a national champion. However, Notre Dame was retroactively named as the national champion by the Billingsley Report and as a co-national champion by Parke H. Davis.^[3]

Senior halfback George Gipp was a consensus pick on the 1920 All-America college football team.^[4] He died on December 14, 1920, due to a streptococcal throat infection and pneumonia.^[5] Other Notre Dame players who received 1920 All-America honors included: ends Eddie Anderson (first-team from United Press) and Roger Kiley (first-team from International News Service); and tackle Frank Coughlin (second-team from International News Service and Walter Eckersall).

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 2		Kalamazoo	Cartier Field Notre Dame, IN	W 39–0	5,000	[6]
October 9	2:15 p.m.	Western State Normal	Cartier Field Notre Dame, IN	W 42–0	3,500	[7][8][9]
October 16		at Nebraska	Nebraska Field Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	W 16–7	8,000–10,000	[10]
October 23		Valparaiso	Cartier Field Notre Dame, IN	W 28–3	8,000–10,000	[11][12]
October 30		at Army	The Plain West Point, NY (rivalry)	W 27–17	10,000	[13]
November 6		Purdue	Cartier Field Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 28–0	12,210
November 13		vs. Indiana	Washington Park Indianapolis, IN	W 13–10	14,000	[14][15]
November 20		at Northwestern	Northwestern Field Evanston, IL (rivalry)	W 33–7	20,000	[16]
November 25		at Michigan Agricultural	Old College Field East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	W 25–0	8,000	[17]
All times are in Central time

^[2]

Personnel

Players

• Eddie Anderson, end
• Hunk Anderson
• Norman Barry
• Joe Brandy, quarterback
• Glen Carberry
• Paul Castner
• Fod Cotton
• Danny Coughlin, halfback
• Frank Coughlin, captain
• Edward DeGree
• James Dooley
• Art Garvey
• George Gipp, halfback
• Chet Grant
• Daniel Grant
• Dave Hayes, end
• Cy Kasper
• Roger Kiley, end
• Fred Larson
• Harry Mehre
• John Mohardt, halfback
• Eugene Oberst
• Bob Phelan
• Si Seyfrit
• Buck Shaw
• Maurice J. "Clipper" Smith, guard
• Frank Thomas
• William Voss
• Earl Walsh
• Chet A. Wynne, fullback

^[2]

Coaching staff

• Knute Rockne, head coach
• Walter Halas, assistant coach^[2]
• Maurice Starrett, student manager^[2]