1918 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1918 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
ConferenceIndependent
Record3–1–2
Head coach
Offensive schemeSingle-wing
Base defense7–2–2
CaptainLeonard Bahan
Home stadiumCartier Field
Seasons
← 1917
1919 →
1918 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Detroit Junior College     4 0 0
Central Michigan     1 0 0
Marquette     2 0 1
Heidelberg     5 1 0
St. Xavier     4 1 1
Notre Dame     3 1 2
Butler     2 1 1
Western State Normal (MI)     3 2 0
Saint Louis     3 2 1
Michigan Agricultural     4 3 0
Akron     2 2 1
St. Mary's (OH)     1 1 0
Toledo     1 1 0
Nebraska     2 3 1
Michigan State Normal     1 2 0
Iowa State Teachers     1 3 0
Wabash     1 3 0
Fairmount     1 4 0
Haskell     1 4 0
Lake Forest     0 1 0
Detroit     0 2 0

The 1918 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1918 college football season.

At age thirty, Knute Rockne made his head coaching debut on September 28 against Case (now Case Western Reserve) in Cleveland, Ohio.[1][2][3] This team included George Gipp, Hunk Anderson, and Curly Lambeau, founder and head coach of the NFL's Green Bay Packers.

The schedule was curtailed from its usual 9 games to 6 due to the outbreak of the worldwide influenza epidemic. Therefore, no games were played during the month of October.[4]

"On Oct. 11, Dr. Emil G. Freyermuth, the South Bend city health officer, issued an order forbidding all public gatherings until further notice. All schools, theaters, clubs, churches and other religious institutions were closed. Public funerals, meetings, dances and other events were canceled. The University of Notre Dame football team — led by coach Knute Rockne and including star player George Gipp — canceled several football games that month."

  1. ^ "This Day in History: Rockne Takes the Reins // Moments // 125 Football // University of Notre Dame".
  2. ^ "Notre Dame wins". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). September 29, 1918. p. 1, part 3.
  3. ^ "Notre Dame wins over Case, 26 to 6". Milwaukee Sentinel. September 29, 1918. p. 1, sports.
  4. ^ Fosmoe, Margaret (October 1, 2018). "A century ago this fall, Spanish flu struck South Bend area hard". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved December 27, 2018.