READ MORE: 7 of the Fiercest Rivalries in College Football They finished a 12-0 season by defeating March Field before 50,000 fans in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and downing Second Air Force in Manhattan’s Polo Grounds six days later.

Just months after tying Texas in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day, the Ramblers routed the Longhorns, 42-6, in between shutouts of Rice and Southern Methodist. The Randolph Field Ramblers from San Antonio finished third in the rankings. The following season, service teams accounted for half the teams in the final Associated Press Top 20 poll-and that doesn’t include top-ranked Army and fourth-ranked Navy. Military Service Teams End Along With World War II But for one missed extra point, however, Iowa Pre-Flight would have been national champion. The Associated Press called the game the “sports surprise of the year.” Having defeated five top-10 teams, Notre Dame still finished the season atop the rankings. Captain David Hanrahan, Iowa Pre-Flight commandant, sent a note to his Great Lakes counterpart before the game: “We’ve softened them up for you, now it’s up to your boys.”īefore a crowd of 25,000 enlisted men inside a stadium built on a Great Lakes quadrangle, the sailors sank Notre Dame’s perfect season when Steve Lach, selected fourth in the 1942 NFL draft by the Chicago Cardinals, threw a last-minute, 46-yard touchdown pass to give the Bluejackets a dramatic 19-14 win. The only team standing between Notre Dame and an undefeated season was another service team-Great Lakes. (The extra point attempt failed.) Led by sophomore quarterback Johnny Lujack, who would win the Heisman Trophy in 1947, the Irish scored a late touchdown to win, 14-13, before 45,000 fans. A 20-point underdog, the Seahawks took a 13-7 lead in the fourth quarter on a touchdown pass. Notre Dame star Angelo Bertelli (back row at left) was among the players the Marines siphoned from college during World War II.įrom his barracks at Parris Island, Bertelli joined the millions listening to the nationwide radio broadcast of the showdown between the country’s best teams on November 20, 1943. Even greater success awaited the Seahawks the following year. The aspiring aviators of Iowa Pre-Flight defeated Kansas, 61-0, in their opener before beating Michigan and defending national champion Minnesota. In 1942, Georgia Pre-Flight toppled Auburn and Alabama, and the Great Lakes Bluejackets recorded six consecutive shutouts before tying Notre Dame to end the season. With rosters that included NFL players and All-Americans, the service teams often had size and speed advantages. Many of the collegiate teams that did play relied on freshmen too young to be drafted and those excused from military service because of medical conditions. After losing many of their top players to military service, more than 50 colleges dropped varsity football in 1942 and approximately 200 more-including Alabama, Michigan State and Stanford-followed suit in 1943. “We never knew from week to week what our lineup would be because someone was always being shipped out,” said Tony Hinkle, who had guided Butler University’s basketball team to a national championship before coaching the football team representing Chicago’s Naval Station Great Lakes.Ĭollege coaches faced different challenges.

While service team players endured practices in addition to the grueling physical conditioning that prepared them for battle, coaches dealt with constantly fluctuating rosters. In The United States Navy Pre-Flight School (University of North Carolina) Photographic Collection #P0027, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Paul 'Bear' Bryant (right), who became a legend at Alabama, was an assistant coach for the Georgia Pre-Flight Skycrackers and North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters.

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