1953 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1953 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1953 college football season. Led by Frank Leahy in his 11th and final season as head coach, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 9–0–1. John Lattner won the Heisman Trophy although he did not even lead the Irish in passing, rushing, receiving or scoring.^[1] Lattner held the Notre Dame record for all-purpose yards until Vagas Ferguson broke it in 1979.

1953 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
National champion (various selectors)
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	9–0–1
Head coach	Frank Leahy (11th season)
Captain	Don Penza
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ← 1952 1954 →

1953 Midwestern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Notre Dame			–					9	–	0	–	1
Cincinnati			–					9	–	1	–	0
Carthage			–					8	–	1	–	0
Youngstown			–					7	–	1	–	0
John Carroll			–					7	–	2	–	0
Washington University			–					7	–	2	–	0
Rose Poly			–					6	–	2	–	0
Wabash			–					6	–	2	–	1
Marquette			–					6	–	3	–	1
Baldwin–Wallace			–					4	–	4	–	0
Drake			–					4	–	4	–	0
Wayne			–					3	–	4	–	1
Dayton			–					3	–	5	–	1
Xavier			–					2	–	7	–	1
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	at No. 6 Oklahoma	No. 1	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	W 28–21	59,500
October 3	at Purdue	No. 1	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 37–7	49,135
October 17	No. 15 Pittsburgh	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 23–14	57,998
October 24	No. 4 Georgia Tech	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 27–14	58,254	[2]
October 31	No. 20 Navy	No. 1	Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 38–7	58,154
November 7	at Penn	No. 1	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 28–20	69,071	[3]
November 14	at North Carolina	No. 1	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	W 34–14	43,000	[4]
November 21	No. 20 Iowa	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	T 14–14	56,478
November 28	at No. 20 USC	No. 2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	W 48–14	97,952
December 5	SMU	No. 2	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	W 40–14	55,522
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

• QB Ralph Gugliemi
• HB Johnny Lattner
• OE, DE Don Penza

Game summaries

Oklahoma

1 2 3 4 Total • Notre Dame 7 7 14 0 28 Oklahoma 7 7 0 7 21 Date: September 26 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma Game attendance: 59,500 Game weather: Sunny • 94 °F (34 °C)

Don Penza blocked and recovered a kick to set up one touchdown and recovered a fumble that led to another Notre Dame score.^[5]

Team players drafted into the NFL

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise

^[6]

Awards and honors

• John Lattner, Heisman Trophy

References

1. "1953 - 19th Award". Heisman Trophy. Archived from the original on July 1, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
2. "Notre Dame snips Georgia Tech string, 27–14". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. October 25, 1953. Retrieved October 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Smith, Red (November 8, 1953). "Notre Dame, Lattner Subdue Penn, 28-20". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "The Daily Tar Heel. (Chapel Hill, N.C.) 1946-current, November 15, 1953, Image 1". November 15, 1953. p. 1.
5. "Fighting Irish Roar Back to 28-21 Victory." Palm Beach Post. 1953 September 27 Retrieved 7 July 2013.
6. "1953 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com.