1931 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1931 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1931 college football season, led by first-year head coach Hunk Anderson.

1931 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–2–1
Head coach	Hunk Anderson (1st season)
Captain	Tommy Yarr
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
Seasons ← 1930 1932 →

1931 Midwestern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Wilberforce			–					8	–	0	–	0
Marquette			–					8	–	1	–	0
Saint Louis			–					8	–	1	–	0
Detroit			–					7	–	2	–	1
Western State Teachers (MI)			–					5	–	2	–	0
No. 11 Notre Dame			–					6	–	2	–	1
DePaul			–					6	–	3	–	0
Michigan State			–					5	–	3	–	1
Haskell			–					6	–	4	–	0
Michigan Tech			–					3	–	2	–	0
Michigan State Normal			–					3	–	2	–	1
Central State (MI)			–					4	–	3	–	0
John Carroll			–					4	–	4	–	2
Wittenberg			–					3	–	3	–	3
Kent State			–					3	–	4	–	0
Rankings from Dickinson System

Following the death of head coach Knute Rockne in a plane crash on March 31,^[1][2][3] line coach Anderson was promoted on April 10.^[4][5][6]

Notre Dame entered the season on a 19-game winning streak and opened with a road win, but then had a scoreless tie with Northwestern in the second game, played at Soldier Field in Chicago.^[7] Five straight wins followed and the unbeaten string extended to 26 games, until visiting USC won by two points;^[8] the Trojans were the last team to defeat Notre Dame, three years earlier in 1928.^[9] The next week, Army shut out the Irish 12–0 at Yankee Stadium to conclude the season.^[10]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 3	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	W 25–0	12,098–18,000	[11]
October 10	vs. Northwestern	Soldier Field Chicago, IL (rivalry)	T 0–0	65,000	[7]
October 17	Drake	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	W 63–0	23,835	[12]
October 24	Pittsburgh	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 25–12	37,394–42,000	[13]
October 31	at Carnegie Tech	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 19–0	42,271	[14]
November 7	Penn	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	W 49–0	39,173
November 14	vs. Navy	Municipal Stadium Baltimore, MD (rivalry)	W 20–0	56,861
November 21	USC	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	L 14–16	50,731	[15][8][9]
November 28	vs. Army	Yankee Stadium Bronx, NY (rivalry)	L 0–12	78,559	[10]

^[16]

References

1. "Report Knute Rockne killed in plane crash". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. March 31, 1931. p. 1.
2. "Rockne's tragic death". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 1, 1931. p. 1A.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
3. "Sorrow shrouds Notre Dame faculty and students with passing of Knute Rockne". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. April 1, 1931. p. 16.
4. "'Hunk' Anderson named Notre Dame coach". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 11, 1931. p. 23.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. "Anderson named Rockne successor for year". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. April 11, 1931. p. 9.
6. "Hunk Anderson lacking wizardry of psychology, but is man of action". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 12, 1931. p. 3C.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
7. McIntyre, Ronald (October 11, 1931). "Wildcats and Irish engage in punt duel". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1C.
8. McIntyre, Ronald (November 22, 1931). "Trojans halt Irish victory march". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1C.
9. Smith, Chester L. (November 22, 1931). "Notre Dame loses to U.S.C., 16-14, in breath-taking tilt". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1.
10. Gould, Alan (November 29, 1931). "Army whips Irish grid eleven, 12-0, in surprise upset". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. p. 1C.
11. "Notre Dame shows usual power in running over Indiana, 25–0". The Atlanta Constitution. October 4, 1931. Retrieved June 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Irish run wild and win, 63 to 0". The Atlanta Constitution. October 18, 1931. Retrieved June 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Ledden, Jack (October 25, 1931). "42,000 Watch Schwartz Put Enemy To Rout". The South Bend Tribune. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Smith, Chester L. (November 1, 1931). "52,000 see Notre Dame beat Tech". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1.
15. Braven Dyer (November 22, 1931). "Stirring Trojan Rally Upsets Irish, 16 to 14". The Los Angeles Times. pp. 1, VI-a-1 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "1931 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results | College Football at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2015.