Notre Dame Football: Looking back at the 1925 Rose Bowl

The Notre Dame football program has not been in the Rose Bowl since 1925, where the Four Horsemen dominated Stanford, 27-10.

It has been 95 years since the Notre Dame football team played in a Rose Bowl, and way back in 1925, the Irish were actually making their first bowl game appearance when they took on the Stanford Cardinal. In a matchup of two legendary coaches, Knute Rockne took his Notre Dame team west for the first time to take on Pop Warner and the Cardinal and rode his legendary Four Horsemen to the victory.

The Four Horsemen, consisting of quarterback Harry Stuhldreher and backs Elmer Layden, Jim Crowley, and Don Miller, had run all over their competition in 1925, as the Irish entered the bowl game with a perfect 9-0 record.

After going down 3-0 early, the Irish took over the game, forcing eight turnovers, three of which would be returned for scores. In the end, Notre Dame went west and dominated the Cardinal, posting a 27-10 victory, and in the process, would establish a yearly matchup with USC.

Elmer Layden finds the end zone three times

The biggest Horseman of them all in this one was Layden, who scored three times in the game, including returning two interceptions 70-or-more yards for a score. He also found the end zone on a short run, capping off his All-American Senior season in the biggest of ways. For his exploits, Layden was retroactively named Player of the Game along with Stanford star Ernie Nevers.

Notre Dame won that first Rose Bowl appearance, and have not been back since, but that will all change next week. They do not have the Four Horsemen this time around, but they do have some talented players that will certainly give everything they have for 60 minutes against Alabama in the College Football Playoff.

While it is not likely that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and this Irish defense will force eight turnovers when they take on Alabama in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day, getting a few turnovers would go a long way in keeping this game competitive. Many believe that this is going to be a blowout win for the Crimson Tide, and while that could be the case, this is a roster full of veteran players who will do everything they can to avoid that destiny.