Notre Dame vs. SMU

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

1. Notre Dame’s biggest win1989: Notre Dame 59, SMU 6by 53 points
2. SMU’s biggest win1984: SMU 27, Notre Dame 20by 7 points
3. Upset1951: SMU 27, Notre Dame 20SMU had a 34% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
4. Ranked showdown1958: Notre Dame 14, SMU 6No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 17 SMU
5. Ranked showdown1984: SMU 27, Notre Dame 20No. 17 Notre Dame at No. 10 SMU

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Notre Dame’s side (Brennan 2–⁠1 against Woodward). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

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  1939 · The Daily Alaska empire, Oct 16, 1939

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  1949 · Evening star, Dec 4, 1949

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  1951 · Evening star, Oct 14, 1951

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  1953 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Dec 6, 1953

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  1954 · Evening star, Dec 6, 1954

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 earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game is listed as played on the field.

• Notre Dame vs. Navy98 meetings, Notre Dame 84–⁠13–⁠1
• Notre Dame vs. USC96 meetings, Notre Dame 53–⁠38–⁠5
• Notre Dame vs. Purdue90 meetings, Notre Dame 62–⁠26–⁠2
• Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh74 meetings, Notre Dame 52–⁠21–⁠1
• SMU vs. TCU103 meetings, SMU 42–⁠54–⁠7
• SMU vs. Rice91 meetings, SMU 49–⁠41–⁠1
• SMU vs. Baylor83 meetings, SMU 36–⁠40–⁠7
• SMU vs. Texas A&M81 meetings, SMU 29–⁠45–⁠7