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Home , Billy Vessels, Buck McPhail, Bud Wilkinson, Creighton Miller, Emil Sitko, Frank Carideo

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VOL. XXII, NO. IllI AUGUST 2009 NOTRE DAME'S GREATEST BACKFIELD

By Dr. Bernie Kish University ofKansas

Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. The Four Horsemen. The most storied and recognizable backfield in the history ofcollege football. And most people would argue, Notre Dame's best quartet of backs.

The Irish, however, have had other outstanding backfields. 's final team, his 1930 national champions, featured , Marchy Schwartz, Marty Brill and . 's powerhouses ofthe 1940s produced the 1943 group ofAngelo Bertelli, , Julie Rykovich and - and the 1947 aggregation ofJohnny Lujack, , and Pep Panelli. What about 's 1966 national championship quartet ofTerry Hanratty, , and ? And, finally, supporters might point to the 1992 threesome of , and . These five backfields produced 12 ft.Jl-Amencans and six Hall ofFamers - Carideo, Schwartz, Bertelli, Miller, Lujack and Sitko.

Most serious students of the game, however, will tell you that Notre Dame's best backfield came from Leahy's last team, his 1953 squad - , halfbacks and , and fullback . In fact, one ofthe Horsemen, , told Joe Doyle, the dean ofNotre Dame football historians, during the 1953 season: "This is without a doubt, Notre Dame's best backfield - much better than we (the Horsemen) were."

All four players were great all-around athletes. Guglielmi not only was a superb passer, but an excellent runner and top-notch . Heap, the fastest ofthe group, excelled not only as a runner, but also as a pass receiver and a kick returner. Lattner did everything - ran, passed, caught passes, punted, returned kicks and intercepted passes. Worden, nicknamed "The Bull" for his 19-inch neck, was "one of the toughest guys ever to wear a Notre Dame uniform" according to Doyle.

Guglielmi and Heap were juniors in 1953 and Lattner and Worden were seniors. They played together as a unit the entire 1952 season and often during the 1951 campaign. During those three seasons, Leahy's team had a sterling 23-4-3 record and the Irish were ranked third in 1952 and second in 1953. The only blemish on the 1953 record was a 14-14 tie with , which cost the Irish the national championship. Leahy called the 1953 team his "greatest ever." Not only was the backfield of all-star caliber, but the line was a stellar group as well. Dan Shannon, , Ray Lemek, , Minnie Mavraides, and team captain Don Penza rank with the best lines in Notre Dame's illustrious history. Heap, recalling his teammates, said, "They were beautiful. They made it easy for us."

The greatness ofLeahy's backfield quartet was clearly visible in the honors earned. Lattner, a two-time PAGE 2

All-American, won the in 1953 and the in 1952 and 1953. A year later, Guglielmi was named All-America and finished fourth in the Heisman voting. Both Lattner and Guglielmi are enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. All four players were first round draft picks - Lattner with and Worden with Philadelphia in 1954, then Guglielmi and Heap, a year later, by Washington and the .

The always modest Lattner commented, "Any of the four of us could have won the Heisman Trophy." Lattner, in fact, did not lead the Irish in rushing, scoring, passing or receiving that year. Worden, Guglielmi and Heap earned those honors.

Let's take a closer look at each of these four unforgettable players. Guglielmi, an outstanding high school athlete from Columbus, , was all-city in both football and basketball and had his choice of many schools. wanted him to stay home and play for the Buckeyes. Paul "Bear" Bryant offered him a scholarship at . However, as "Gugs" noted, "Once Frank Leahy visited and talked with my mother, there was no question where 1 was going ... Notre Dame."

As an 18-year-old freshman, the 6-0, 185-pound Guglielmi., far down.. on ,th~,.depth chart behind and Tom Carey, was thinking about returning to Columbus. "1 wasn't playing much and was a bit homesick - my girlfriend was back there - so 1 decided to talk with coach Leahy. 1 told him 1 felt 1 could help the team by playing more. So coach said, ,All right, you will quarterback the twos and fours against the ones and threes in scrimmage tomorrow.' Fortunately 1 played pretty well - we beat the first team." The next game was against North Carolina and during pregame warm-ups, Leahy told Guglielmi he was starting at quarterback. It was the beginning ofa Hall ofFame career.

Guglielmi earned four monograms at Notre Dame, playing in 40 games, starting 34 ofthem and leading the Irish to a 27-4-3 record. He broke into the national limelight in the fmal game of the 1951 season against the Trojans of Southern California by leading the Irish to a come-back 19-12 win. Guglielmi's position coach his sophomore and junior years was the legendary Lujack. Lujack praised Guglielmi's all-around skills as a passer and runner but noted he "was without peer in handling the ball on the option, the essence ofSplit-T football."

At the conclusion of his Notre Dame career, Guglielmi set the record for the most consecutive games completing a pass - 34; broke Bertelli's career passing record with 3,073 yards; broke ' career completion record with 209 completions and ranked second to in career offensive yardage with 3,285. PAGE 3

Heap came to Notre Dame from Abita Springs, LA. An outstanding high school athlete at Holy Cross High School in , he won four letters in football and three in track and field and earned all­ state honors as a fullback. Heap remembered he had many opportunities for college, but "my dad wanted me to go to a Catholic school. I thought about Loyola in New Orleans where I could have run track, but I wanted to play football. And, Notre Dame, ofcourse was the top football school in the country."

Heap had many outstanding games, but one that popped into mind first when discussing his Notre Dame career was the 28-21 win over Oklahoma in Norman in the 1953 season opener. "It was a hard fought game...a team win...and I felt good that I helped by catching two passes from Guglielmi for ." Heap, like his three backfield mates, was a terrific all-around player. He led the team in pass receiving for three years and finished his career as the leading Irish receiver with 78 catches. His 94-yard return against USC in the Coliseum in 1953 and the 92-yarder versus Pitt in 1952 remain as Notre Dame highlight film material. Commenting on Heap, Leahy once said: "Joe Heap could run, pass, kick, receive passes and run back kickoffs better than anyone I ever coached."

Lattner was another outstanding prep player vvh.Q" matriculatecl.. to :No..!re Dame. Just like his thtee backfield mates, Lattner was a multi-sport high school athlete. He captained the Fenwick High basketball team and led it in scoring, won several track meets in the 100­ and 220-yard dashes and earned all-state honors in football twice. Leahy called Lattner the "best all-around player we have had since ." Others compared his skills to those of the legendary Gipp. The rangy 6-1, 190-pound Chicagoan played in 30 games as a three-year starter, averaged more than 40 minutes a game, gained more than 1,700 yards rushing, scored 20 touchdowns and had 13 .

Lattner, although a model of consistency, saved his best for big games. None were bigger than Notre Dame's back-to-back wins over 's Oklahomajuggemaughts of 1952 and 1953. The '52 Sooners featured the best backfield in their storied history: , Buddy Leake, Buck McPhail and '52 Heisman winner . The Irish prevailed 27-20 in the 1952 game in South Bend. Recalling that contest, Lattner said, "Oklahoma was an outstanding team. If we played them 10 times, they probably would have won nine. Their backfield taught us a lot about running the Split-T that we applied for the rest of 1952 and all of 1953." In the 1953 season opener in Norman, Lattner's ofa Leake aerial at the Irish 32 yard line with less than two minutes to play preserved a 28­ 21 win over the Sooners.

Neil Worden's brilliant Notre Dame career began in grand style. The hard-running sophomore fullback PAGE 4 from Milwaukee, Wis., scored four touchdowns - all in the second quarter - in the 1951 opening game 48-6 rout of Indiana. Worden started every game for the next three years. "The Bull" left Notre Dame as its all-time scoring leader with 29 touchdowns, and more than 2,000 yards rushing. According to Doyle, Worden never played a subpar game. His senior year, however, was particularly outstanding. He led the Irish in rushing with 859 yards (a 5.9-yard average) and in scoring with 11 touchdowns, three ofthem in the season finale against SMU. He returned eight kickoffs for 164 yards and turned in a strong performance at .

Not surprisingly, Worden excelled as a blocker, leading the way for the slashing Lattner and the speedy Heap. Lattner said, ''Neil never missed a block for us, and Ralph's ballhandling and Neil's blocking made our Split-T offense a success." Worden was also one ofthe fastest and quickest fullbacks to wear the Notre Dame uniform. At least a dozen of his career runs were over 20 yards, including a 52-yard score against North Carolina and a 55-yard run at USC in 1953.

Worden wasn't the only outstanding fullback in America in the early 1950s to hail from Wisconsin. In 1951, visited Notre Dame and Worden was assigned as his player host for the weekend. Being familiar with "the Horse's" reputation as a bruising ballcarrier, Worden discouraged Ameche from choosing Notre Dame and competing with him for the fullback position. "I told him there were no girls here, that the academics were very demanding and that coach Leahy was a taskmaster," said a smiling Worden. Ameche decided to stay home and attend Wisconsin where he won the Heisman in 1954.

Leahy's 1953 "Boys of Autumn" backfield members enjoyed the same success in life they did on the gridiron. Guglielmi owned several businesses and is now retired in suburban Washington D.C. Heap had a wonderful career with Shell Oil Company back home in New Orleans. A former restaurant owner in Chicago, Lattner is an executive with a business forms company in his hometown. Worden is a retired steel industry executive and lives in nearby City, Indiana. More importantly, all of them are genuinely nice guys and exemplary ambassadors for Notre Dame.