1951 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 13
Record7–2–1
Head coach
CaptainJim Mutscheller
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
Seasons
← 1950
1952 →
1951 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Michigan State   –   9 – 0 – 0
Xavier   –   9 – 0 – 1
Wabash   –   7 – 0 – 1
No. 13 Notre Dame   –   7 – 2 – 1
Dayton   –   7 – 3 – 0
Toledo   –   6 – 4 – 0
Washington University   –   5 – 4 – 0
Wayne   –   5 – 4 – 0
Bowling Green   –   4 – 4 – 1
Marquette   –   4 – 6 – 1
Baldwin–Wallace   –   3 – 5 – 0
John Carroll   –   3 – 6 – 0
Rose Poly   –   2 – 5 – 0
Youngstown   –   2 – 6 – 1
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1951 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1951 college football season. Led by ninth-year head coach Frank Leahy, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 7–2–1.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 29IndianaNo. 14
W 48–655,790
October 5at DetroitNo. 5
W 40–652,331[1]
October 13SMUNo. 5
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
L 20–2758,240
October 20at Pittsburgh
W 33–060,127
October 27PurdueNo. 15
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 30–957,890
November 3vs. NavyNo. 13
W 19–044,237
November 10at No. 5 Michigan StateNo. 11
L 0–3551,296[2]
November 17at North Carolina
W 12–744,000–45,500[3]
November 24Iowa
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
T 20–2040,685
December 1at No. 20 USC
W 19–1255,783
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Team players drafted into the NFL

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

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Bob Toneff Tackle 2 22 San Francisco 49ers
John Petitbon Halfback 7 74 New York Yanks
Chet Ostrowski Defensive End 10 115 Washington Redskins
Jim Mutscheller Defensive End 12 134 New York Yanks
Dave Flood Defensive Back 13 150 Pittsburgh Steelers
Paul Burns Guard 16 191 New York Giants
Billy Barrett Halfback 28 327 Green Bay Packers

[4]

References

  1. ^ Dick Peters (October 6, 1951). "52,371 See Irish Sweep Past U-D, 40-6". Detroit Free Press. pp. 14, 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ George S. Alderton (November 11, 1951). "Rout of Notre Dame Bolsters M.S.C. Bid for National Title: Near-Record Crowd Sees Stunned Irish Humbled by State". Lansing State Journal. pp. 1, IV-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Notre Dame edges Tar Heels". Asheville Citizen-Times. November 18, 1951. Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Reference at www.pro-football-reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2018.


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