# 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. Lattner held the Notre Dame record for all-purpose yards until Vagas Ferguson broke it in 1979.

## Schedule

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

## Roster (Asterisk * Denotes Offensive Starter)

* QB Ralph Gugliemi*
* QB Don Schaefer
* QB Tom Carey
* RB Neil Worden*
* RB Joe Heap*
* RB Dick Fitzgerald
* RB Johnny Lattner
* RB Tommy McHugh
* RB Dick Washington
* RB Dick Keller
* RB Nick Raich
* RB Bob Rigali
* RB Jim Bigelow
* RB Fran Paterra
* RB Armando Galardo
* RB Joe Markowski
* WR, DE Don Penza*
* WR Dan Shannon*
* WR Paul Matz
* WR Walter Cabral
* WR Don George
* WR Gene Kapish
* OL Art Hunter*
* OL Ray Lemek*
* OL Menil "Minnie" Mavraides*
* OL Jim Schrader*
* OL Frank Varrichione*
* OL Pat Bisceglia
* OL Jack Lee
* OL Sam Palumbo
* OL Dick Szymanski
* OL Joe Bush
* DE Joe Katchik
* DE Entee Shine

## Game Summaries
### Oklahoma

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Notre Dame | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
| Oklahoma | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
Don Penza blocked and recovered a kick to set up one touchdown and recovered a fumble that led to another Notre Dame score.

## Team players drafted into the NFL

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.
| Player | Position | Round | Pick | Franchise |
| Art Hunter | T | 1 | 3 | Green Bay Packers |
| Johnny Lattner | RB | 1 | 7 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Neil Worden | B | 1 | 9 | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Jim Schrader | C | 2 | 20 | Washington Redskins |
| Fran Paterra | B | 4 | 42 | Chicago Bears |
| Menil Mavraides | G | 4 | 45 | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Tommy McHugh | B | 6 | 62 | Chicago Cardinals |
| Joe Katchik | E | 10 | 118 | Los Angeles Rams |
| Sam Palumbo | G | 15 | 179 | San Francisco 49ers |
| Don Penza | E | 18 | 211 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Entee Shine | E | 27 | 322 | Los Angeles Rams |
| Joe Bush | G | 28 | 331 | Pittsburgh Steelers |

## Awards and Honors

* Johnny Lattner - Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Consensus All-American
* Art Hunter - Consensus All-American