GEORGE GIPP

   NOTRE DAME VS ARMY  

OCTOBER 30, 1920

The annals of college football history are littered with tales of legendary games, teams, and players, and standing among the tallest of the sport’s mythical characters is halfback George Gipp of Notre Dame. Perhaps no single player has come down through the years as the subject of more fictional tales than Gipp.

There is no getting around the fact that George Gipp was one of the country’s most talented backfield men during the college football seasons of 1919 and 1920. An all-around athlete (6’2″ and 185 pounds) good enough to play professional baseball, he could also hold his own in track and basketball, not to mention the non-sport of billiards. 

Gipp’s problem was that he rebelled at almost all forms of discipline, and was never very serious about his training and conditioning. Yet, in two outstanding seasons of football Gipp established his reputation as a versatile and rugged tailback. With sprinter-class speed, he was a hard runner and an accurate forward passer, while also excelling as a punter and drop-kicker.

Notre Dame and Army were both carrying unbeaten records in 1920, as Coach Knute Rockne led the Irish to New York’s West Point for their showdown. For many gridiron observers this also shaped up as a matchup between Gipp and Army’s outstanding fullback Walter French.

Trouble plagued Notre Dame early in the first quarter as a lost fumble snuffed off a nice offensive series. Two plays later French broke off a 40-yard gallop, and Army was shortly in the end zone for a 7-0 lead. Gipp then returned the following kickoff 28 yards to get the Irish  rolling, and he and John Mohardt combined to lead the march with their slashing runs up the middle and around the ends. A few plays into the drive Gipp swept around right end and rambled 25 yards, before French could drag him down at the Army 40. After recovering a teammate’s fumble Gipp completed a short pass to Mohardt, and then rifled a strike to end Roger Kiley for a 20-yard gain to Army’s five yard line. On the next play Mohardt blasted in for the touchdown, and it was deadlocked at 7-7.

In the second quarter Army was backed up inside its 10 yard line, and French’s booming punt out of the end zone was returned 27 yards by Gipp to the Cadets’ 38. Two plays later Notre Dame’s legend-to-be connected with a pass to Kiley who was at the 30, and the rugged end then romped all the way to the end zone to cap off the 36-yard scoring play. When Gipp tacked on his second extra point of the day, the Irish were on top 14-7.

The next time Notre Dame had the football Gipp boomed a punt out of his end zone, only to see French of the Cadets come up with a dazzling 60-yard return for a touchdown that tied the score at 14-14. The Army star soon added a 31-yard field goal to give the Cadets a 17-14 lead at halftime. But early in the third quarter Gipp broke off his second long run of the half — this one for 25 yards. He then rifled a pass completion to Mohardt for a gain of 23, slashed inside the tackles for a pair of 10-yard gains, and completed two short passes to set up a 15-yard touchdown run by Mohardt that gave Notre Dame the lead again.

With the game in the fourth quarter, Army’s offense was held in check and Gipp then made a twisting 48-yard punt return to the Cadet 45. Two plays later he connected with a pass to Frank Coughlin for a gain to the 20 yard line, and on the next play Chet Wynne burst up the middle for the touchdown that capped off Notre Dame’s 27-17 victory. George Gipp’s play against Army made a major impression on New York sportswriters, as the Irish halfback logged 332 all-purpose yards for the day — 124 rushing, 96 passing, and 112 yards in  kick returns.