2010 Notre Dame Football Game Notes 1
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2010 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL GAME NOTES 1 Media Relations 112 Joyce Center 2010 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL Notre Dame, IN 46556 574-631-7516 GAME NOTES 574-631-7941 (fax) Primary Contact: Brian Hardin • [email protected] • Office - 574.631.9471 • Cell - 574.532.4134 UND.com Secondary Contact: Michael Bertsch • [email protected] • Office - 574.631.8642 • Cell - 574.532.4154 SITE (CAPACITY) RADIO Game #10 u Notre Dame Stadium (80,795); Notre Dame, Ind. u ISP Sports is the exclusive national rights-holder for Irish foot- Notre Dame (4-5) vs. No. 15 Utah (8-1) ball radio broadcasts. ISP manages, produces and syndicates the Irish TICKETS national football radio network. Notre Dame games will be broad- u Saturday is the 219th straight sellout at Notre Dame Stadium. cast by Don Criqui (play-by-play) and former Irish great Allen Pinkett Since 1966, every home game for the Irish has been a sellout except (analysis). This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio one - a 1973 Thanksgiving Day game vs. Air Force. Notre Dame has (channel 159) and XM Satellite Radio (channel 117). played in front of sellouts in 267 of its last 268 home games. u All Notre Dame home games may be heard in South Bend on DATE Sunny 101.5 FM and NewsTalk 960 WSBT-AM. u Saturday, November 13, 2010 TELEVISION u NBC national telecast with Tom Hammond (play-by-play), WEB SITES TIME Mike Mayock (analysis), Alex Flanagan (sideline), Rob Hyland (pro- u Notre Dame (und.com), Utah (utahutes.com) u 2:40 p.m. ET ducer) and Andy Rosenberg (director). POLLS u Utah enters this weekend's matchup ranked No. 15 in both the Countdown AP and USA Today Coaches' polls. Notre Dame is not ranked in either To Kickoff poll. 10 According to the NCAA, only 10 FBS schools have a tougher remaining schedule based on future opposition win-loss percentage. Notre Dame’s last three opponents have a combined record of 18-8 (.692). The Irish currently rank 12th according to the NCAA’s REAL-TIME STATS toughest schedule standings. (PAGE 6) u Live in-game statistics will be provided through CBS College 9 Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is seeking his ninth win as an FBS head coach following a bye week. Kelly’s teams are 8-1 in Sports Gametracker via und.com. the nine previous games that occurred from 2004-09 after a bye week. (PAGE 3) 8 Senior PK David Ruffer has totaled eight touchbacks this season on kickoffs, the most by an Irish kicker since 2006 when Ryan SERIES INFO Burkhart also tallied eight touchbacks. Notre Dame managed only three touchbacks in the last three years combined. (PAGES 10-11) u Notre Dame and Utah will meet on the gridiron for the first time 7 On the seventh play of the Tulsa game, junior QB Dayne Crist dashed 29 yards on what turned out to be his final play of the 2010 in the 122-year history of Irish football. The Utes are the 139th dif- season. That gallop pushed head coach Brian Kelly past 100,000 total yards of offense in his head coaching career. (Special thanks to ferent opponent in Notre Dame football history. The Irish have faced Don Thomas for the note) 69 of the other 120 teams currently competing at the FBS level 6 Only six FBS players are averaging more tackles per game than sophomore LB Manti Te’o (11.1). Of players that have also played (more on the series history on pages 36-37). nine games, Te’o ranks sixth in the nation in total tackles (100). (PAGE 24) What's 5 The Irish tied their season-best total of five sacks in a game vs. Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane entered the contest having allowed only Inside nine sacks in the previous seven games. Notre Dame has totaled at least four sacks in five different games this year. (PAGES 25) 4 Freshman QB Tommy Rees tossed four touchdown passes vs. Tulsa, the most ever by an Irish rookie. (PAGES 13-14) Irish Probable Starting Lineup .......................................................2 3 Junior WR Michael Floyd caught a career-high 11 passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns vs. Tulsa. It was his third career game National Rankings ...........................................................................3 with at least 10 receptions and he now ranks third in school history with 12 career 100-yard receiving games and 24 career receiving With A Victory / With A Defeat .....................................................3 touchdowns. (PAGE 18-20) Starter Sheet ............................................................................... 4-5 2 Saturday marks the second installment of the Alford Brothers Bowl. Tony serves as wide receivers coach for Notre Dame and his Notre Dame in the NFL ...................................................................5 younger brother Aaron is in his fourth year as an assistant coach at Utah. The two previous coached against each other in 2007 when Notre Dame & Senior Day ..............................................................5 Tony was at the University of Louisville. (PAGE 36) Notre Dame's Record When ...........................................................6 1 Notre Dame’s football program ranked first in the recently released NCAA Graduation Success Rate. The GSR tracks the percentage of Looking Back To Tulsa ................................................................ 7-8 student-athletes that earn a degree within six years. The Irish football program was tops in the FBS with a score of 96. (PAGE 9) Team Notes ............................................................................... 8-10 0 No placekicker in the FBS has a streak longer or equal to senior PK David Ruffer’s 18 consecutive made field goals. Ruffer is a Special Teams Notes ...............................................................10-11 perfect 18 of 18 in his career, including 13 of 13 this year. No other placekicker who has attempted at least nine field goals is still Irish Among NCAA Leaders ..........................................................16 perfect in 2010. (PAGE 5) Eye On Career Records .............................................................. 7-19 Offensive Notes .......................................................................12-23 2010 Notre Dame Notre Dame By The Numbers ......................................................21 Schedule Defensive Notes ......................................................................23-26 Sept. 4 Purdue (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. W, 23-12 Brian Kelly Notes ...........................................................................26 Sept. 11 Michigan (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. L, 24-28 Miscellaneous Notes ...............................................................26-28 Sept. 18 at Michigan State (ABC) East Lansing, Mich. L, 31-34 (ot) Individual Career Bests ...........................................................29-30 Sept. 25 No. 16 Stanford (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. L, 14-37 Honors/Awards .............................................................................31 Oct. 2 at Boston College (ABC) Chestnut Hill, Mass. W, 31-13 Media Information ........................................................................32 Oct. 9 Pittsburgh (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. W, 23-17 Depth Chart ...................................................................................33 Oct. 16 Western Michigan (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. W, 44-20 Alphabetical / Numerical Roster ............................................34-35 Oct. 23 vs. Navy (CBS) East Rutherford, N.J. (New Meadowlands) L, 17-35 Pronunciation Guide ....................................................................35 Oct. 30 Tulsa (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. L, 27-28 Series History vs. Utah ............................................................36-37 Nov. 13 Utah (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. 2:30 p.m. ET The Last Time..........................................................................38-40 Nov. 20 vs. Army (NBC) New York, N.Y. (Yankee Stadium) 7:00 p.m. ET Game Summaries ...................................................................41-49 Nov. 27 at USC (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2) Los Angeles, Calif. 5:00 p.m. PT Stats ........................................................................................50-74 2 2010 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL GAME NOTES Notre Dame WHAT TO WATCH FOR SATURDAY Probable Starting Lineup u Utah will become the 68th different team to visit Notre Dame Stadium (since its opening in 1930) when the Utes face the Irish this OFFENSE week. Notre Dame owns a 55-11-1 mark (.828) in games when the Pos. No. Player Notes opponent was making its first visit to the Stadium. WR 7 TJ Jones – Fr. First freshman WR in Notre Dame history to catch TD passes in first two games of season WR 81 John Goodman – Jr. Saw first significant action of 2010 against Stanford; five catches for 59 yards ON THIS DATE LT 70 Zack Martin – So. Did not play in 2009; has started each of the last nine weeks u Notre Dame has played five previous games in its history on LG 59 Chris Stewart – Sr. ND law student has made 31 career starts, the most of any current Irish offensive player Nov. 13. The Irish are 4-1-0 (.800) all-time on this date. The Irish C 52 Braxston Cave – Jr. Has played in 22 career games, all 12 in 2009, and started each of the last nine weeks were ranked in the top 25 entering each contest. RG 78 Trevor Robinson – Jr. Has played in 31 career games and made 23 starts, including 11 in 2009 at RG RT 75 Taylor Dever – Sr. Has started six games in 2010; missed Pittsburgh & WMU games with injury 1993 W (2) Florida State (1) 31-24 H WR 3 Michael Floyd – Jr. Ranks in top-15 among active WR in rec. yds/gm, catches/gm, yds/catch, rec. TDs and rec. yds 1982 L (13) Penn State (5) 14-24 H TE 80 Tyler Eifert – So. Made first career start against WMU; had four catches for 72 yards and first career TD 1976 W (18) Alabama (10) 21-18 H QB 13 Tommy Rees – Fr. First freshman to ever toss four TD in game; 334 yards passing 2nd most ever by Irish rookie QB 1948 W (2) Northwestern (8) 12-7 H RB 20 Cierre Wood – So. Rushed for career-best 94 yards on 11 carries and 39-yd TD against Western Michigan 1943 W (1) Northwestern (8) 25-6 A DEFENSE Nov. 13, 1993: No. 2 Notre Dame built a 21-7 halftime lead and Pos. No. Player Notes eventually held on down the stretch to best No. 1 Florida State, DE 90 Ethan Johnson – Jr. Second on Notre Dame with 5.0 sacks in 2010; leads all Irish players with 12.5 career sacks 31-24.