SMU at Notre Dame
Saturday, October 14, 1939 Share
Notre Dame beat SMU 20–19. It was their second meeting; after it, Notre Dame led the series 2–0.
FinalAttendance 29,730
In the newspapers

The Daily Alaska empire, October 16, 1939, page 5 (results column)
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FoorBALL SCORES The following arc final scores of football games played in various parts of the Nation last Saturday afternoon Oregon 6; California 0. University of Washington 0; Washington State 6. U.CLA. IA; Stanford IA. tie. Oregon State IA; University of Portland 12. Illinois 0; Southern California 26. Idaho 0; Gonzaga 19. Carnegie Tech 21; Case O. Iowa T; Michigan 27 Ohio Wesleyan 12; Ohio 2. Brown 0; Colgate 10. Duke 13; Pitt IA. Cornell 20; Princeton T. Penn 6; Yale o. Army 6; Columbia g. tie. Dartmouth c; Navy o, tie. Northwestern 0; Ohio State IS. Texas Christian II; Temple 13. Fordham 0; Tulane ‘. Nebraska 10; Iowa State ‘. Purdue 13; Minnesota 13, tie. Southern Methodist 19; Notre Dame 20 Harvard 61; Chicago 0. New York U. ‘; North Caro- lima IA. Marquette IT; Michigan State IA. Lehigh T; Penn State 49. Western Reserve 19; Boston U, IA. Detroit 13; Catholic U. IA. Colorado o; Kansas State 20. Holy Cross 13; Georgia 0. Georgetown 13; Syracuse 13, tie. Valparaiso 13; Indiana State 12. Coast Guard Academy T; Nor wich IT.

The Nome nugget, Alaska, October 16, 1939, page 1 (results column)
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Football Scores Oct. IA Duke Thirteen-Pitt 14 Cornell 20-Princeton 2 Penn 6-Yale 0 Army 6-Columbia 6 Tie Dartmouth 0-Navy 0 Tie Northwestern 0-Ohio State 13 Texas Christian 1l-Temple 13 Fordham 0-Tulane 2 Nebraska 10-IoWa State 2 Purdue 13-Minesota 13 Tie Southern Methodist 19-- Notre Dame 20 Harvard 61-Chicago 0 Oregon 6-California0 Washington 0-Wash. State 6 UCLA 14-Stanford IA Tie Oregon State 14-U of Portland 12 Illinois 0-Southern Cal 26
Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The text is the machine reading of the page, mistakes and all.
On the newsreel
- “IRISH” TOP S.M.U13,000 football fans are the So. Methodist "Mustangs" lose a thrilling game in the final seconds of plays, 20-19
Universal Newsreel, National Archives (catalog record). Story titles and words as Universal’s release sheet gives them; the films themselves may still be under copyright, so we link to the record rather than show them.
Before kickoff
Our ratings going in
Our ratings (scores only)
Notre Dame 72% to win. Elo’s favorite won.
The series
Every SMU–Notre Dame gameNotre Dame leads 10–3 in 13 meetings, counting the 11 since this game.
| 1989 | Notre Dame 59, SMU 6 | |
| 1986 | Notre Dame 61, SMU 29 | |
| 1984 | SMU 27, Notre Dame 20 | Aloha Bowl |
| 1958 | Notre Dame 14, SMU 6 | |
| 1957 | Notre Dame 54, SMU 21 | |
| 1956 | SMU 19, Notre Dame 13 |
Around this game
SMU
- Next gamevs. MarquetteOct. 21, 1939
- SeasonSMU in 1939
- ProgramSMU history and records
Notre Dame
- Next gamevs. NavyOct. 21, 1939
- SeasonNotre Dame in 1939
- ProgramNotre Dame history and records

