1946 Army vs . Notre Dame football game The 1946 Army vs . Notre Dame football game was a regular season college football game played on November 9 , 1946 . Army ( the football program of the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York ) , then ranked Number 1 in the Associated Press college football poll , played the University of Notre Dame , of South Bend , Indiana , ranked Number 2 , at Yankee Stadium in New York City . This game is regarded as one of the 20th century Games of the Century . The teams . This matchup , with the national attention it got in the era before the service academies ceased to be major football powers , was usually played at a neutral site , often in New York City . Previous matchups . The 1924 game between the schools , a Notre Dame victory at the Polo Grounds , was the game at which sportswriter Grantland Rice christened the Fighting Irish backfield — quarterback Harry Stuhldreher , halfbacks Jim Crowley and Don Miller , and fullback Elmer Layden — the " Four Horsemen . " The 1928 edition , with Notre Dame trailing Army at halftime at Yankee Stadium , was the game in which Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne delivered his " Win one for the Gipper " speech , resulting in a comeback win for the Fighting Irish . The 1946 season . Both teams were undefeated going into the 1946 game at Yankee Stadium . Both teams averaged over 30 points per game . Army had a 25 - game winning streak , last losing to Notre Dame in 1943 ( 26 - 0 ) , but had won the last two contests between the schools by scores of 59 - 0 and 48 - 0 . Army had the defending Heisman Trophy winner , Doc Blanchard , also known as " Mr . Inside , " the man who would win it that year , Glenn Davis , also known as " Mr . Outside , " and one of the nation ' s top quarterbacks in Arnold Tucker . Notre Dame had the quarterback who would win the Heisman the next year , Johnny Lujack , and end Leon Hart of Notre Dame won the Heisman in 1949 ( the only time ever that a college football game had four Heisman Trophies winners . ) Both Tucker and Lujack were also outstanding defensive backs at a time when football players , college as well as professional , usually played both offense and defense . Notre Dame had defeated eventual 1947 Rose Bowl participant Illinois in Champaign - Urbana 26 - 6 to open the season . On October 26 , they won at # 17 Iowa 41 - 6 . The game leading up to this one was a 28 - 0 Irish defeat of Navy at Baltimore . Game summary . Despite the high - scoring and much - hyped offenses , the game ended in a scoreless tie , with each school ' s best chance at a scoring drive coming back - to - back : Tucker intercepting Lujack , and Lujack then making a touchdown - saving tackle on Blanchard a few plays later . Notre Dame ' s defense did something no other team had ever done — it held the famous " Touchdown Twins , " Blanchard and Davis , to a total of 79 yards . As an indication of how the defense of both teams dominated , seven linemen in that game were nominated for Lineman of the Week honors in the weekly Associated Press poll . Joe Steffy , an Army guard who helped shut down the Notre Dame running game , won the honor , followed closely by Notre Dame right tackle George Sullivan and freshman lineman Jim Martin , who helped stifle Army ' s running attack and dropped Davis on consecutive plays for losses totalling 17 yards . Both Notre Dame coach Leahy and Army coach Blaik called the game " a terrific battle of defenses . " Aftermath . Both teams would finish the season undefeated with this one tie , but it was Notre Dame that was awarded the National Championship by the Associated Press , with Army coming in second . Neither school accepted bowl bids in that era , and so neither put itself at risk of a loss that would have tarnished their National Championship bid . The Pacific Coast Conference and the Big Nine Conference , the forerunners of the Pac - 12 and Big Ten , signed the agreement to start with the 1947 Rose Bowl of matching their conference champions . The national sports writers wanted to match either Notre Dame or Army with # 4 and undefeated UCLA . Instead , # 5 Illinois was the first Midwestern team to go by the terms of the agreement and routed UCLA 45 - 14 . With Blanchard , Davis and Tucker having graduated , Army ' s unbeaten streak would be broken the next year , by Columbia University . Notre Dame would not lose until early in the 1950 season . Sporting News named the 1944 - 45 Army Cadets and the 1946 Fighting Irish the second and fifth greatest teams of the Twentieth Century respectively . This was only the sixth time that the number one ranked team faced the number two ranked team since the inception of the Associated Press Football Poll in 1936 . This would not happen again until the 1963 Rose Bowl .