1954 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1954 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	9–1
Head coach	Terry Brennan (1st season)
Captains	Paul Matz Dan Shannon
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium

1954 Midwestern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Omaha			–					10	–	0	–	0
No. 4 Notre Dame			–					9	–	1	–	0
Wabash			–					7	–	1	–	1
Cincinnati			–					8	–	2	–	0
Youngstown			–					7	–	2	–	0
Washington University			–					6	–	3	–	0
Carthage			–					5	–	3	–	0
Dayton			–					5	–	5	–	0
Marquette			–					3	–	5	–	1
Wayne			–					3	–	5	–	1
John Carroll			–					3	–	5	–	0
Rose Poly			–					2	–	5	–	0
Drake			–					2	–	7	–	0
Xavier			–					2	–	8	–	0
Baldwin–Wallace			–					1	–	8	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1954 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1954 college football season. Led by first-year head coach Terry Brennan, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 9–1.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 25	No. 4 Texas	No. 2	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	W 21–0	57,594	[1]
October 2	No. 19 Purdue	No. 1	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	L 14–27	58,250
October 9	at Pittsburgh	No. 8	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	W 33–0	60,114
October 16	Michigan State	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 20–19	57,238
October 30	vs. No. 15 Navy	No. 6	Memorial Stadium Baltimore, MD (rivalry)	W 6–0	60,000
November 6	at Penn	No. 5	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 42–7	61,189	[2]
November 13	North Carolina	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 42–13	55,410	[3]
November 20	at No. 19 Iowa	No. 4	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 34–18	56,576
November 27	No. 17 USC	No. 4	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 23–17	56,438
December 4	at SMU	No. 4	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	W 26–14	75,501
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Team players drafted into the NFL

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player

Position

Round

Pick

Franchise

^[4]

References

1. "Guglielmi leads Notre Dame to 21–0 win over game Texas". The Pantagraph. September 26, 1954. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Trimble, Joe (November 7, 1954). "Irish Avalanche Buries Winless Quakers, 42-7". Sunday News. New York, N.Y. p. 101 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Notre Dame wins, 42–13; 6th victory". Chicago Tribune. November 14, 1954. Retrieved January 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Reference at www.pro-football-reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2018.