Football History Rewind Part 54

In this 54th edition of the Football History Rewind, we chat about one of the most famous back fields in college football history, the Four Horsemen and how they got their name.

1924 introduces a legendary quartet

While Red Grange was scoring in Illinois, another group not far away in Indiana was being introduced to the American public. The group was dubbed with a legendary nickname by Notre Dame publicist George Strickler after their performance reminded him of the Rudolph Valentino film, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Notre Dame’s legendary Four Horsemen were not pestilence, famine, destruction and death as in the film but were wreaking havoc on the grid iron under the persons of Stuhdreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. The group became the most famous backfield in football history, even to this day.

Quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, left halfback Jim Crowley, right halfback Don Miller, and fullback Elmer Layden became even more famous when popular newpaper journalist Grantland Rice took  Strickler's idea of the backs being compared with the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Notre Dame's 13–7 upset victory over a strong Army team, on October 18, 1924, was the time to use the term. Rice penned "the most famous football lead of all-time" as he started his sports article in a very gallant ballad-like prose that people loved! In the immortal words of Mr. Grantland Rice it went something like this:

"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore their names are Famine, Pestilence, Destruction, and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below."

Strikler then pushed the Horsemen to new levels when he got the players to pose on horseback and encouraged writers around the country to reference the fellas with the new moniker.

Photo is courtesy of Wikimdia Commons of The four horsemen of the football eclipse [sic] (Notre Dame backfield 1924), cropped.

Irish coach Knute Rockne used his talented fearsome foursome normally in this way. They would sit the bench at the beginning of the first and third quarters while bigger, heavier backs would pound the defensive line for a bit in order to soften and subdue the opposing interference. After the bludgeoning of the thundering Irish thumpers lightning would strike as the fleet footed smaller Four Horsemen would shred the weary defense with foot speed.

Rockne also established a strategy of having the backs hit the holes quickly lead by smaller, quicker players providing down field blocks on the defensive secondary. Previously the blocking was pointed by having big guys open holes at the line of scrimmage to get a back through and then it was up to the back by himself to get by the down field defenders.

Another important factor in the success of the Notre Dame rushing attack was the famous Notre Dame shift where the backs went from a T-formation to a Box formation prior to the snap. The box formation of the Irish made the offense very similar to the single wing. This style kept defenses off balance as they many times were unsure who was receiving the snap from center. The four Irish backs complicated matters by handing the ball off to each other and sometimes faking the hand offs. Defenses were off balance as by the time they reacted the runner was past them and in open field.

Knute Rockne was blessed with having the perfect talent for his offensive style of play from the line to the backs and all of the supporting players and that is why the Irish of 1924 will live on in fame and legend.

In fact the team was recognized as the consensus national champion team of college football, receiving retroactive national championship honors from the Berryman QPRS system, Billingsley Report, Boand System, Dickinson System, College Football Researchers Association, Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, National Championship Foundation, Poling System, and Jeff Sagarin.

The 1925 Rose Bowl was Notre Dame's last bowl appearance until the 1969 season. In that game it was a battle of legendary backfields as the Four Horsemen were on the Notre Dame sideline and Ernie Nevers was the star for Stanford.

That season the Fighting Irish played their home games at Cartier Field.

This is where we must leave off in this edition but fret not as there are plenty of more entries coming in this series soon. Please watch for Part 55 of  Football History Rewind in the coming days only here at PigskinDispatch.com where preservation of the gridiron is retold and with it is its historic past.

The banner photo is courtesy of Wikimdia Commons of The four horsemen of the football eclipse [sic] (Notre Dame backfield), cropped.

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet site National Football Foundation and the book Football A College History by Tom Perrin.