World War II altered the norms of college football

While still in the midst of World War II, the 1944 college football season marched on, with Notre Dame tabbed as a pre-season favorite to defend its title as national champion.

 

The Fighting Irish had some holes to fill though, namely at quarterback. The two players who shared that position in 1943 were no longer with the team. Angelo Bertelli was a Marine and Johnny Lujack was in the Navy.

Frank Dancewicz (shown below), a junior, emerged as Notre Dame’s primary signal-caller for the 1944 gridiron campaign. Notre Dame posted an 8-2 record in 1944 to earn a No. 9 national ranking.

 

Dancewicz was back for a final year as Notre Dame quarterback in 1945. The Fighting Irish finished at 7-2-1, and once again ranked 9th in the final poll.

However, Dancewicz was 0-2 versus Army. The Black Knights beat the tar out of Notre Dame in 1944 (59-0) and again in 1945 (48-0), enroute to back-to-back Army national championships. 

Meanwhile, Notre Dame fans offered up prayers for their boys on the front lines of the war effort.

As a Marine, Bertelli advanced to the rank of second lieutenant. He was stationed for a time at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., but was eventually deployed to the Pacific.

Bertelli fought at the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. (He was nearly killed when a Japanese mortar shell landed 15 feet away from his position.)

 

Later in 1945, Bertelli was a member of the Marine battalion that invaded Sasebo Harbor, Japan, to secure Omura airfield. World War II ended with Bertelli stationed in Nagasaki, Japan.

After returning to the United States, Bertelli signed for the 1946 season with the Los Angeles Dons in the upstart All-America Football Conference. After several knee surgeries, he retired prior to the 1949 season.

He settled in Clifton, N.J., and founded Bertelli Enterprises, Inc., a retail liquor outlet. For much of two decades, Bertelli was the radio broadcast analyst for Princeton football games.

Lujack’s stint with the Navy involved two years of duty as a junior officer aboard a “Navy ship that prowled the English Channel in pursuit of German U-boats.”

Lujack made it back to Notre Dame in time for the 1946 football season and was re-inserted into the lineup as starting quarterback. He had a brilliant season; the Fighting Irish posted a record of 8-0-1. The tie came against Army (9-0-1).

In the Army-Notre Dame game, the two teams slogged it out for four quarters and proved nothing. The result was a 0-0 tie. Lujack made the outstanding play of the day – on defense.

“Army’s famed Doc Blanchard (1945 Heisman Trophy winner) had broken into the open field and had what seemed like a clear path to the end zone only to be taken down on a textbook tackle by Notre Dame’s Johnny Lujack,” wrote sports journalist Michael Weinreb.

 

The mid-season contest had been hyped as the “game of the century,” but it turned out to be the “birth of the argument,” Weinreb asserted.

 The Associated Press had Army ranked No. 1 and Notre Dame No. 2 all season long…until the final poll, when the sportswriters flipped the two teams.

“We were not awarded the national championship in 1946,” commented Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik. “It was voted to Notre Dame. This always seemed rather strange to me, particularly in view of the fact that we were still undefeated.”

 Amen to that. Weinreb and many college football fans contend that Notre Dame was “gifted” the mythical national championship in 1946…a practice that would be repeated.