# 1949 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 1949 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1949 college football season. The Irish, coached by Frank Leahy, ended the season with 10 wins and no losses, winning the national championship. The 1949 team became the seventh Irish team to win the national title and the third in four years. Led by Heisman winner Leon Hart, the Irish outscored their opponents 360–86. The 1949 team is the last team in what is considered to be the Notre Dame Football dynasty, a stretch of games in which Notre Dame went 36–0–2 and won three national championships and two Heisman Trophies. The Irish squad was cited by Sports Illustrated as the part of the second-best sports dynasty (professional or collegiate) of the 20th century and second greatest college football dynasty.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 24 | Indiana | | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN | W 49–6 | 53,844 |
| October 1 | at Washington | | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | W 27–7 | 41,500 |
| October 8 | at Purdue | No. 2 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN (rivalry) | W 35–12 | 52,000 |
| October 15 | No. 4 Tulane | No. 1 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN | W 46–7 | 58,196 |
| October 29 | vs. Navy | No. 1 | Memorial StadiumBaltimore, MD (rivalry) | W 40–0 | 62,000 |
| November 5 | at No. 10 Michigan State | No. 1 | Macklin StadiumEast Lansing, MI (rivalry) | W 34–21 | 51,277 |
| November 12 | vs. North Carolina | No. 1 | Yankee StadiumBronx, NY (rivalry) | W 42–6 | 67,000 |
| November 19 | Iowa | No. 1 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN | W 28–7 | 56,790 |
| November 26 | No. 17 USC | No. 1 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (rivalry) | W 32–0 | 57,214 |
| December 3 | at SMU | No. 1 | Cotton BowlDallas, TX | W 27–20 | 75,457 |
| Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game |||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Final |
| AP | 2 (15) | 1 (67) | 1 (146) | 1 (120) | 1 (133) | 1 (137) | 1 (140) | 1 (113) | 1 (172) |

## Personnel
### Depth chart

| POS | Name | Name | Name | Name |
| QB | Bob Williams | John Mazur | Bill Whiteside | |
| LHB | Frank Spaniel | Ernie Zalejski | Bill Gay | Leo McKillip |
| RHB | Larry Coutre | Billy Barrett | Dick Cotter | |
| FB | Emil Sitko | Jack Landry | Del Gander | |
| LE | Bill Wightkin | Jim Mutscheller | Doug Waybright | |
| LT | Jim Martin | Al Zmijewski | John Zancha | |
| LG | Frank Johnson | Paul Burns | Art Perry | |
| C | Walt Grothaus | Jim Hamby | | |
| RG | Bob Lally | Fred Wallner | Bill Higgins | |
| RT | Ralph McGehee | Gus Cifelli | John Nusskern | |
| RE | Leon Hart | Ray Espenan | Chet Ostrowski | |

### Coaching staff

Head coach: Frank Leahy
Assistants: Bernie Crimmins (first assistant / backfield), John F. Druze (chief scout), Bill Earley (backfield), Joe McArdle (guards), Robert McBride (tackles), Fred Miller (volunteer assistant), Benjamin Sheridan (freshmen)

## Postseason
### Award winners

* Leon Hart - Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award
Heisman voting:
    Leon Hart, 1st
    Bob Williams, 5th
    Emil Sitko, 8th
All-Americans:
| Name | AP | UP | NEA | INS | COL | AA | SN | L |
| † Emil Sitko, FB | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| † Leon Hart, E | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bob Williams, QB | 2 | 1 | | | | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Jim Martin, T | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | | 2 | 2 |
| †denotes unanimous selection Source: |||||||||
College Football Hall of Fame Inductees:
| Name | Position | Year Inducted |
| Jerry Groom | Center | 1994 |
| Leon Hart | End | 1973 |
| Frank Leahy | Coach | 1970 |
| Jim Martin | End/Tackle | 1995 |
| Emil "Red" Sitko | Halfback/Fullback | 1984 |
| Bob Williams | Quarterback | 1988 |
Notre Dame leads all universities in players inducted.

### 1950 NFL Draft

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.
| Player | Position | Round | Pick | Franchise |
| Leon Hart | End | 1 | 1 | Detroit Lions |
| Jim Martin | Guard | 2 | 26 | Cleveland Browns |
| Larry Coutre | Halfback | 4 | 43 | Green Bay Packers |
| Mike Swistowicz | Halfback | 5 | 55 | New York Yanks |
| Frank Spaniel | Halfback | 5 | 58 | Washington Redskins |
| Ernie Zalejski | Defensive Back | 5 | 62 | Chicago Bears |