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| The Fainting Irish of Notre Dame |
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On Nov. 21, 1953, Notre Dame was on top of the polls and undefeated. The football season nearing its end. The Irish faced a tough road test when they took on the Iowa Hawkeyes. At the end of the day they would keep their unbeaten streak in tact, but add a little tarnish to the Golden Dome.
There was no reason to expect an easy win over Iowa. In 1951 the Irish had to rely on late game heroics of their star halfback, Johnny Lattner, to escape with a 20 - 20 tie. In 1953 the margin for error would be even slimmer as the Irish once again escaped with a tie.
Throughout the game Notre Dame seem to be in control. They out gained Iowa 358 to 198 yards, but in spite of their efforts, they could not gain the upper hand. A hard nosed performance by the Hawkeyes, combined with Irish mistakes, kept the outcome in doubt. |
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John Lattner
1953 Heisman Trophy winner |
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The Irish were moving the ball in the first quarter when Iowa defensive back Dusty Rice intercepted the ball. Iowa drove 72 yards behind the running of fullback, George ‘Pinky’ Broeder. Hawkeye halfback, Eddie Vincent, capped off the drive with a 12 yard run around left end, going into the endzone untouched. Iowa led the number one rated Irish 7 - 0.
Notre Dame continued to let success slip through their fingers. They missed an opportunity to score when Irish end Dan Prenza dropped a pass in the endzone. On the next play Iowa linebacker, Jerry Hilgenberg, deflected a pass which was intercepted, to end the Irish threat.
Late in the second quarter, a 41 yard punt return by Johnny Lattner had Notre Dame in business again. But once again it appeared that they would blow a golden opportunity to score. The Irish were out of time outs, and time was running out when their quarterback, Guglielmi, was sacked at the Iowa twelve yard line. |
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| Sometimes even the Irish have to make their own luck. With only two seconds left in the half, Notre Dame used a trick to gain more time. Frank Varrichione fainted, forcing the referee to stop the clock. That gave the Irish time to run one more play. Notre Dame scored with a touchdown pass to Dan Shannon. The half ended with Iowa and Notre Dame tied 7 - 7. |
In the second half, the game continued as it had in the first. The third quarter and much of the fourth was a stalemate. Then the Hawkeyes capitalized on a Notre Dame mistake. Iowa intercepted a pass on their own forty-eight yard line. With two good runs by ‘Pinky’ Broeder, the Hawkeyes drove to the Notre Dame four yard line. Then Iowa end, Frank Gilliam, made a falling catch in the endzone, to give the Hawkeyes the lead with only 2:06 left in the game.
The number one rated Irish had their backs against the wall. Their undefeated season was in jeopardy. Just as in 1951, they needed late game heroics from Johnny Lattner. He made three catches as he led the Irish down field. But as they neared the Iowa endzone they were quickly running out of time.
The solution to their predicament was the same as it had been in the first half. With just 6 seconds left on the clock, Frank Varrichione fainted one more time. The stalling tactic gave the Irish time for one more play. Guglielmi moved to his left and threw to his right, hitting Shannon for another Irish touchdown. Don Shaefers extra point tied the score at 14 - 14. |
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‘Fainting Frank’ Varrichione
Notre Dame’s light headed tackle |
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More than just the Iowa faithful were outraged, as Notre Dame left Iowa City with a 14 - 14 tie. Their unbeaten streak was still in tact but the Irish image took a hit. They were widely criticized in the press for their obvious stalling tactics. When the polls came out, a much larger percentage of eligible voters took the time to vote, and Notre Dame fell from the top spot. Iowa received sympathy form the voters. Previously ranked 20th, the Hawkeyes jumped over teams with better records all the way up to number 9.
Nowadays the quarterback can spike the ball to kill the clock, but that option wasn’t available in 1953. It was not uncommon for teams of that era to fake an injury in order to buy time at the end of a game. At Notre Dame it was part of the usual practice routine. Where faking an injury in the violent game of football will get the benefit of the doubt, pretending to faint seems a little less believable. For the number one team in the nation, to pull the same stunt twice in one game, before both of the teams only touchdowns, was taking it too far.
It didn’t help the Irish cause, that the previous year, Notre Dame had used a gimmick play to defeat Southern Cal. in a game that was shown nationally on TV. Notre Dame tricked the Trojans into jumping offsides to gain a new set of downs, enabling the Irish to score a crucial touchdown. The play became known as the ‘Sucker Shift.’ Two years in a row the Notre Dame administration felt the criticism from friend and foe alike. It had to sting when they were referred to as the ‘Fainting Irish of Notre Dame.’
That Frank Varrichione was only pretending to faint is not in question. In Steve Delsohn’s book, TALKING IRISH, The Oral History of Notre Dame Football, Varrichione openly admitted that he did. According to Varrichione: “Okay, so we work on it during the week. Then we come up against a real tough Iowa team, We need to stop the clock to score before the half. But nobody really hits me on the play before that. So I faint dead to the world. Naturally, everybody gets suspicious. But what other choice does the ref really have? So he blows his whistle.”
Ironically Varrichione’s well timed light headed episodes were not the only fainting incidents that Irish had to deal with in 1953. Notre Dame’s head coach Frank Leahy collapsed between halves of the Georgia Tech game. Unlike Varrichione, Leahy’s episode was real. At first it was believed that Leahy had had a heart attack and he was taken to the hospital. Reportedly his players were in players were in tears. |
Leahy’s condition turned out to be a severe pancreatic attack. He missed several games while he recuperated. At the end of the 1953 season Leahy retired. His health was cited as the reason his leaving, but many believe that the embarrassment of the ‘Sucker Shift’ and the ‘Fainting Irish’ incidents led to him being forced out by an image conscious administration.
Born August 27, 1907, in O’Neill, Nebraska, Frank Leahy was only 45 years old when he retired. His record as a head coach was impressive, 107 - 13 - 9. He had a winning percentage of .864, second only to Knute Rockne. He coached at Boston College 1939 - 40, before taking the helm at Notre Dame. He left to serve in the Navy for two years during World War II, and returned to Notre Dame 1946 - 53. From 1946 - 1950, the Irish enjoyed a 39 game unbeaten streak. During eleven seasons at Notre Dame, his teams went undefeated six times, and won four national titles. |
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| Frank Leahy |
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| For his part in the game against Iowa, Frank Varrichione earned a nickname that would stick with him forever. He earned All-American honors in 1954, and went on to play in the National Football League. He spent six years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and five years with the Los Angeles Rams, but in spite of a successful career in the pros, he will always be known as ‘Fainting Frank’ Varrichione. |
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