User:Murphanian777/Notre Dame Reserves

Varsity Reserves
The Varsity reserves of Notre Dame were the second longest running non-varsity team at the University. Originally known as the anti-specials (the varsity were known as the specials), the reserves began play against the Varsity in the spring of 1888. In their preliminary years, the difference between the reserves and the varsity was at times uncertain, and there were at least two contests credited to the varsity that were in fact composed of Varsity reserve players. They were a 56–0 victory over South Bend High School in 1891 and a 20–0 win against Northwestern Law in 1895.

Anti-specials
The specials football team was formed around March 17, 1888, and elected Henry Luhn as their first captain. The specials were organized as Notre Dame's first Varsity-level football team, composed of the best players from the teams of Captains Fehr and Houck. While this specials team is recognized today as Varsity, they were technically still a Notre Dame club football team. To practice against this specials team, the anti-specials were established. The anti-specials were the first incarnation of Notre Dame's secondary, or reserves team. Ed Coady was named as captain before the first contest against the specials.

Anti-specials
A Notre Dame "Versity" was first mentioned in the November 20 contest against the anti-specials. They were composed of the same members that made up the specials, and were essentially the same team.

Anti-specials
An Anti-specials football team was formed for the 1889 season around late October.

Varsity reserves
In a November 28 edition of the Scholastic, the magazine describes a football game between Notre Dame players "outside the varsity" and South Bend High School. Considering that the reserves were composed of varsity players that did not serve on the first team (which for the 1891 season did not exist), an argument could be made that the Notre Dame "reserves" that defeated the high schoolers was in reality a varsity contest. The result of this would be revisions to the record and statistic books of University football. Cartier, a member of Sorin hall, scored six touchdowns during the contest. This would be tied for second in touchdowns in a single contest, joining Ian Book, Bill Downs, Brady Quinn, Everett Golson, and Deshone Kizer. He also scored 18 extra points (some of which may have been field goals that only counted as an extra point), and scored a total of 60 points in the contest. This single-game score by Cartier would far surpass the current record of 37 points set by Art Smith against Loyola (IL) in 1911. An article in the Chicago Tribune corroborated the game score, while a more thorough article in the South Bend tribune lists the score as 80 to 0 Notre Dame victory.

Secondary/Anti-Specials
This "picked team" game may have been considered an intramural contest, because the origin of the opponent is unknown. Pat Coady served as the captain of the "anti's" for their practice game against the picked team, while Flannigan captained against South Bend High School. The high school game is mis-credited to the Varsity eleven of Notre Dame. The team that faced off against the De La Salle school of Chicago was described as a picked eleven, but was chiefly composed of Varsity and secondary players.

Scrubs
Although the full score is unknown, an article in the Scholastic reports that the Varsity team "scored at will". The Scrub and Varsity teams probably played many practice games, of which only a few were ever mentioned or recorded.

"Candidates for Varsity"
The second game to be miscredited to Notre Dame's Varsity football team, the eleven that played against Northwestern Law on October 19 was not a Varsity aggregation, but rather composed of candidates for the Varsity team. Therefore, they acted more so as reserves/seconds than an established first eleven.

Scrubs
The varsity scrub team of 1897 was coached by Mr. McDonald.

Anti-Specials/Scrubs
The varsity and scrub teams played periodically during the season.

Reserves
The reserves and the varsity were reported to have undergone almost daily scrimmages against one other.

Reserves
The Reserves were coached by Frank Longman along with the varsity team in 1909.

Freshman/reserves team
The freshmen of 1918 were coached by Father McNamara. For the first time since the establishment of the program in 1913, the freshmen were able to defeat the varsity in a recorded contest, doing so on October 12 at Cartier field. However, Knute Rockne forbade his two best players, fullback George Gipp and quarterback Leonard Bahan, from entering the contest for fear of injuring them. In their second game against the varsity team, Gipp and Bahan played for the freshman squad in an attempt to even the game, with even Rockne joining the frosh against their varsity opponents. The game ended in a 7–7 tie.

Reserves
The Reserves team that played against the Congerville aggregation was reported to be composed of players from Notre Dame's fifth and sixth teams. The Flyers had been a founding member of the American Professional Football Association (later known as the NFL), and played in their inaugural 1920 and subsequent 1921 seasons. The team that played against the Kokomo American Legion on November 23 was almost entirely composed of different Notre Dame football players. Kokomo finished the 1924 season with a 8–1–1 and was billed as the 1924 semi-pro champion in football. In a post-season review of Notre Dame's various football teams for the season, the article credits the reserves with the games against St. Viator, American Legion of Kokomo, and DePaul, but had no mention of the contest against the Congerville Flyers. The reserves compiled a 3–1 record, and outscored their opponents by a total of 123 to 12 or 18

Reserves
The varsity reserves of 1925 compiled a 3–2 record against one of the most diverse schedules in the history of non-varsity football at the University of Notre Dame. The reserves became the first known non-varsity football team to travel outside the Midwest when they accompanied the varsity to Georgia, where they were defeated by the semi-professional military team of Fort Benning.

Reserves (B team)
The Reserves of 1928, composed mostly of Sophomore students, compiled a 4–5–1 record, although the contests against St. Viator and Kalamazoo were not mentioned in the University's annual Football Review. The reserves split into two groups on many occasions during the season to play two different opponents on the same day.

Reserves (B team)
The reserves of 1929 compiled a 8–2–1 record under coach Bill Jones.

Reserves (B team)
The 1930 reserves football team (nicknamed the Hamburgers by Knute Rockne) compiled a 7–1 record against other collegiate teams and outscored their opponents by a total of 227 to 46. The game against the Freshman of Notre Dame may have been the Varsity squad, or a combination of the reserves and varsity.

Reserves (B team)
The reserve teams of 1931, known colloquially as the "hamburgers", compiled a 3–3–2 record against major college B teams and minor college varsities, and additionally lost in the annual freshman-varsity contest at the beginning of the season, which was played for the benefit of the Knute Rockne memorial field house. The reserves were coached by Art Parisien for their contest against Dayton.

Reserves (B team)
The reserves of 1932 were coached by Jack Cline, George Kozak, and Tommy Yarr. They compiled a 0–4–1 record. The loss to Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, was the longest distance a Notre Dame reserve team had ever travelled to meet an opponent.

Reserves (B team)
A full schedule for the reserves was released around October 6. They compiled a 1–1–1 record against off-campus opponents.

Reserves (B team)
The reserves of 1934 compiled a 1–0 record under head coach William (Bill) Cerney.

Reserves (B team)
The reserves were coached by Bill Cerney and compiled a 3–2 record. Their schedule was released on October 5.

Reserves (B team)
The reserves were coached by Bill Cerney for the 1936 season. A tentative four-game schedule was released on September 25.

Reserves (B team)
The 1937 reserves team were coached by Jake Kline. They compiled a 3–1–1 record, defeating Northwestern and Purple B (twice), tying Illinois B and losing to their traditional first-game opponent Niagara University.

Reserves (B team)
For the 1938 season, Elmer Layden secured a four game season for the reserves, and finished with a 3–0–1 record. It was their first undefeated season since 1927, when the B team completed a perfect 3–0 record. They were coached by Bill Cerney while at the University and Jake Kline while away at games. Bill Cerney had gained notoriety for becoming one of the only coaches in the country to never see their team play a game, as Mr. Cerney was also a top scout and had a responsibility to watch all of the varsity opponents on Saturdays.

Reserves (B team)
The Irish B team, composed of sixty men, announced a four game schedule on September 27, consisting of B teams from Northwestern, Illinois, and Purdue, and the varsity of St. Francis College. They were coached by Bill Cerney.

Reserves (B team)
The reserves were coached by Bill Cerney and Jake Kline. The reserves scrimmaged against the varsity three times every two weeks. They played just a single away game, a 7–0 victory over St. Benedict's college in front of thirty-five thousand fans. The 1940 team was captained by Tom Liston Jr.

Reserves (B team)
The win over purdue's B team was played on the same day that the Purdue Varsity ended Notre Dame's 39-game unbeaten streak that began in early 1946.

Reserves (B team)
The 1951 B team finished with a record of 0–2–1 under head coaches Bob Lally and Dick Cotter.