Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State only 21 days away

To preview one of the most anticipated games for Notre Dame this century and the official start of the Marcus Freeman era, BlueandGold.com is counting down the days to the matchup against Ohio State on Sept. 3.

This daily series of 99 stories celebrates by the numbers some of the most notable names, dates, moments and memories related to the past and present of Notre Dame football. 

With 21 days remaining until kickoff, today we look back at Notre Dame’s 1921 college football season, when the Irish first (really) utilized the forward pass, at least according to prominent sportswriter Grantland Rice.

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If you think football is violent in 2022, 1892 football probably wasn’t your cup of tea.

In the late 1800s, college football was becoming more popular across the country among various universities. But attendees would not show up and see a 60-, 40- or even 20-yard pass. The forward pass was illegal until 1906, although a few teams broke those rules on occasion.

The 1905 college football season led to a massive change in those rules after 19 players died and 159 players were seriously injured that year, per the Chicago Tribune. But it took another 15 years for teams to design their offenses around the new tool. Under the tutelage of famed head coach Knute Rockne, the Irish were the first to do it.

“Notre Dame was the first team we know of to build its attack around a forward passing game rather than use a forward passing game as a mere aid to the running game,” Rice wrote in a December 1921 edition of American Golfer.

Fullback John Mohardt was the one responsible for Notre Dame’s passing attack, as the Irish star threw for 995 yards and nine passing touchdowns that season. He added 781 yards on the ground with 12 scores.

“Mohardt could throw the ball to within a foot or two of any given space,” Rice said.

The utilization of the forward pass put Notre Dame on the map, but it more broadly put the West on the map. The modern conferences were not established at the time, leading to an “East” versus “West” split and way of thinking in the sport. Notre Dame was a part of that western coalition, which was widely considered to be behind in talent, scheme and overall product when it came to football. The forward pass changed that line of thinking, catapulting those like the Irish into the limelight.

“This is the first time in football history that even the majority of eastern critics admit beyond any vast argument that the West has moved into the lead,” Rice said. “Why is this? In the first place, the West was the first section to go in thoroughly for the development of the forward pass.”

The Irish went 10-1 during that 1921 season, with the only loss coming at the hands of Iowa in an 10-7 defensive battle. The team from a tiny town in Northwest Indiana had yet to win a national title, but the use of the forward pass that season had a much greater impact on the sport than any championship ever could. And Rockne was just getting started.