1956 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1956 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
ConferenceIndependent
Record2–8
Head coach
CaptainJim Morse
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium
1956 Midwestern major college football independents records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Cincinnati – 4–5–0
Dayton – 4–6–0
Drake – 3–6–0
Notre Dame – 2–8–0
Marquette – 0–9–0

The 1956 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1956 college football season. In their third year under head coach Terry Brennan, the Fighting Irish compiled a 2–8 record and were outscored by a total of 289 to 130.[1][2] It was Notre Dame's first losing season since 1933 and is tied with the 1960 season as the worst winning percentage in program history.

Senior halfback Paul Hornung played on offense, defense, and special teams, leading the team in rushing (420 yards, 4.5-yard average), passing (917 yards, .532 percentage), scoring (56 points, 7 touchdowns, 14 PAT), punting (33 punts, 37.6-yard average), kickoff returns (16 returns for 496 yards), and passes broken up (7).[3] He won the Heisman Trophy and is the only player to receive the trophy while playing on a losing team.[4] Back Jim Morse led the team in receiving (20 catches for 442 yards) and was the team captain.

The team played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 22at SMUNo. 3
L 13–1961,000[5]
October 6IndianaNo. 17
W 20–658,372[6]
October 13PurdueNo. 18
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
L 14–2858,778[7]
October 20No. 2 Michigan State
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
L 14–4759,378[8]
October 27No. 2 Oklahoma
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
L 0–4060,128[9]
November 3at Navy
L 7–3357,773[10]
November 10at No. 20 Pittsburgh
L 13–2658,697[11]
November 17North Carolina
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 21–1456,793[12]
November 24at No. 3 Iowa
L 8–4856,632[13]
December 1at No. 17 USC
L 20–2864,538[14]

Awards and honors

Paul Hornung, Heisman Trophy[17]

1957 NFL draft

The following Notre Dame players were selected in the 1957 NFL draft.

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Paul HornungHB11Green Bay Packers
Ed SullivanC12135Green Bay Packers
Jim MorseHB13148Green Bay Packers
Byron BeamsT20232Los Angeles Rams

[18]

, ==Personnel==

Players

Coaching staff

[19]

References

  1. ↑ "1956 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  2. ↑ "1956 Notre Dame Football Review" (PDF). The Notre Dame Scholastic. December 7, 1956 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ 1956 Notre Dame Football Review, p. 35.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ "SMU's dazzle upsets Irish". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. September 23, 1956. Retrieved March 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Charles Bartlett (October 7, 1956). "Irish Win: Halt Indiana Surge in 3d Period, 20–6". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ↑ "Purdue rolls past "Green" Irish, 28–14". Rockford Morning Star. October 14, 1956. Retrieved July 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Notre Dame holds Michigan State even for half, then loses, 47–14". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. October 21, 1956. Retrieved July 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Oklahoma overpowers Notre Dame, 40 to 0". Victoria Advocate. October 28, 1956. Retrieved July 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Navy smothers Notre Dame, 33–7". The Flint Journal. November 4, 1956. Retrieved July 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Chester L. Smith (November 11, 1956). "58,697 Fans Kept On Edge by Passes, Long Scoring Runs". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, section 8. Retrieved May 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Notre Dame wins, 21 to 14". The Baltimore Sun. November 18, 1956. Retrieved January 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "56,632 see Iowans crush Notre Dame". Syracuse Herald-Journal. November 25, 1956. Retrieved July 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Spirited Irish fight hard but USC wins". The Montana Standard. December 2, 1956. Retrieved July 9, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Schedule/Results (1956 Notre Dame)". NCAA Statistics. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved July 9, 2026.
  16. ↑ "1956 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Heisman.com - Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on September 16, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2007.
  18. ↑ "1957 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  19. ↑ 1956 Notre Dame Football Review, pp. 28-29, 32-34.
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