Notre Dame at Wisconsin
November 8, 1924

In the weeks leading up to Notre Dame’s game at Wisconsin on Nov. 8, Notre Dame alums and fans from across the Midwest – and those simply wanting to see the “Four Horsemen” and their mates – made plans to get to Madison for the first meeting between the two schools since 1917. For weeks, ticket requests had been pouring into the Wisconsin athletic department. It was the deepest foray into the West on the Irish schedule and the best chance to see the team that had wowed the East.

“That the crowd at the Notre Dame game will be more evenly divided in support of the two teams than usual is the prediction of Paul F. Hunter director of ticket sales,” noted a Madison paper. Notre Dame was expected to fill the entire south half of the east stand with more than 5,000 seats in one block. In addition to the 5,000 tickets sent under registered mail to Notre Dame, several thousands more were sold to Irish followers from the Madison ticket office. Additional bleachers were being constructed, and a record crowd was expected.

“Green Bay is sending down 600 fans to cheer for Crowley,” one paper reported. From the Iron Range of Minnesota, a large group was making plans to travel and see Joe Bach play. And Iowans, proud of producing Notre Dame backs Elmer Layden and O’Boyle, sent in ticket requests by the hundreds. Wisconsin athletic officials were happy for the sudden wave of business, but realistic about what was drawing the fans’ attention.

In four previous tries, Notre Dame had not beaten Wisconsin; the Irish had not even scored a point. There were three one-sided shutout losses in 1900, 1904 and 1905, then the scoreless tie in 1917.

In Madison, it was a week of all sorts of gatherings. On Sunday, November 2, a crowd of several thousand massed at the train station to welcome home favorite son Sen. Robert “Fighting Bob” LaFollette, who was returning to his Maple Bluff home upon completion of his quixotic campaign for president under the Progressive Party banner. Tuesday’s election would return President Coolidge to office in a landslide victory over Democratic challenger John Davis. LaFollette would win his home state and garner 17 percent of the popular vote.

On Thursday, Madisonians got a rare treat when Lieut. Com. John Philip Sousa and his band performed two shows at the Parkway Theater. It was billed as “a tribute to the supremacy of Conn instruments” and hosted by Forbes-Meagher Music Company, the local agents for Conn instruments. A matinee offered tickets for 50 cents to $1.50; the evening show had seats up to $2.

Friday’s State Journal summed up the evening show: “Did you hear Sousa play ‘On, Wisconsin’ Thursday night? Is there anyone in town that couldn’t hear him? No tender prelude there; no soothing, haunting tones or charming melody. When the blare of brass as only Sousa can blare broke into the Badger fighting song, the roof girders looked uneasily at each other and began to doubt their ability to hang together.”

All day Friday in Madison, football fans arrived by train or automobile and jammed area hotels. Ten special trains carrying Notre Dame alumni and fans were expected from various points in the Midwest. It was reported that “the Wisconsin capital tonight has been brought to the fever point more because of the presence of the Fighting Irish than in hope of a Wisconsin victory.”

Five hundred Notre Dame students, chattering with enthusiasm and laden with “several tons of overcoats and ribbons” and a banner reading “Madison or Bust,” boarded the Student Special at 11:30 Friday night in South Bend. Crammed two and three to a sleeping berth, they eventually drifted off to sleep, but awoke to stories of “the brakemen’s wanderings of several hours wherein they combed the countryside in search of a new locomotive to replace the crippled engine which headed the caravan at the beginning of the trip.”

As fans filed into Camp Randall for the 2:00 game, it was obvious this would be a different crowd than the ones that typically filled the stadium. ND blankets and banners and Blue and Gold overwhelmed the Badger fans. The crisp fall weather was perfect for overcoats, with the occasional fur coat worn by Wisconsin coeds and others.

The teams battled to a 3-3 draw through the first quarter, then early in the second Stuhldreher took a Badger punt at his own 40, dodged tacklers and spun out of bounds on Wisconsin’s 34, a return of 26 yards.

The Badger backs, fighting to prevent the game from turning into a track meet, gave each other some quick encouragement. On first down, Don Miller raced around left end and planted the ball near the Wisconsin 20. Two plays later, following perfect interference from Crowley and Layden, Miller again went around left end, this time for the game’s first touchdown. Notre Dame students and alums let out a mighty roar, as Crowley’s kick made it 10-3, Irish. The track meet was on.

Wisconsin tried the field-position strategy of kicking off, but Rip Miller came up with the ball and brought it out to the ND 25. Two runs and a Wisconsin penalty advanced the ball to the Irish 40. Then Stuhldreher hit Miller with a pass to midfield. Miller broke free for 22 yards to the Badger 28. Two plays later, Stuhldreher spotted Crowley crossing over the middle, passed 10 yards to him, and Sleepy Jim took it the rest of the way for another score. He added the kick for a 17-3 halftime lead.

The Irish took the second-half kickoff and, after two penalties, were back at their 16-yard-line. From there, home-state star Crowley danced out of the shift, eluded tacklers and broke into the clear, racing 59 yards to the Wisconsin 25 before Doyle Harmon brought him down. Two plays later, Crowley made another 12 yards to the 8, and Layden plowed over from the 4 for another Irish touchdown. Notre Dame’s juggernaut was on display, 24-3.

As one account described, “the wild applause that greeted the performance would beggar description at this point in the game, partisanship was almost forgotten and the Badger supporters as well as their Irish delegation was unanimous in their praise for the Notre Dame scoring machine.”

The Badgers were demoralized by the onslaught but never quit. They held Notre Dame to force punts on the next two possessions and controlled the ball at midfield. Wisconsin attempted a pass, but Don Miller intercepted at his own 45 and blew through a maze of Badger defenders for 40 yards, to Wisconsin’s 15. Two plays later, Crowley followed Joe Bach’s block for 8-yards into the end zone. Layden’s kick made it 31-3.

The first team, except for Adam Walsh and Chuck Collins, left the field to wild cheering. The Irish attack was everything advertised. Several of the Notre Dame regulars went to shower, and it was said Crowley spent part of the fourth quarter in the stands with his mother, who had made the trip with the Green Bay contingent. “That Rockne would send his first team to the showers after a comfortable margin had been secured was cause for wonderment by the fans,” the News- Times observed. “Never before had the sporting populace witnessed such an exhibition as was today’s game.”

The remaining minutes belonged to the second and third units, including several Wisconsin natives, anxious to contribute to the victory. Beloit’s Doc Connell closed out the third quarter with a nifty 25-yard run and opened the fourth quarter with a 30-yard burst. Sophomore Red Hearden, another Green Bay East High graduate, entered the game and reeled off several decent runs. Yet another Wisconsin native, Appleton’s Jack Roach, closed out the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown scamper.

After the final 38-3 score was posted, the Notre Dame Band led the students on a march down the field and through the goal posts, where “hats were tossed up and over in token of the conquest.” A final chorus of the Victory March reverberated among the emptying stands. Then the parade continued toward downtown, where traffic was again stopped and car horns blared triumphantly.

Saturday night, the Crystal Room of the Loraine Hotel was packed for a banquet sponsored by the Knights of Columbus to honor Rockne and his team. Tributes came from Judge “Ikey” Karel, former Wisconsin football star; Badger basketball coach Doc Meanwell, a good friend of Rockne’s; and Notre Dame alums such as Warren Cartier and Willie “Red” Maher, the former Madison high school star who was an Irish teammate of the current players in 1922 and 1923. Rockne and Adam Walsh thanked the local KC Council and praised Wisconsin’s sportsmanship.

Excerpted from Loyal Sons: The Story of The Four Horsemen and Notre Dame Football’s 1924 Champions. Order an inscribed, autographed copy of the Special Centennial Commemorative Edition HERE.