1SJNBSZ$POUBDU#SJBO)BSEJO r 8PSL r $FMM r &NBJMCIBSEJO!OEFEV 4FDPOEBSZ$POUBDU.JDIBFM#FSUTDI r 8PSL r $FMM r &NBJMNCFSUTD!OEFEV 2012 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL NOTES 1 Countdown Game-8 What's To Kicko" #5/5 Notre Dame (7-0) vs. #8/7 Oklahoma (5-1) Inside 10 Senior TE Tyler Eifert recorded his 10th career touch- DATE Countdown to Kickoff ..................................... 1 down reception last week vs. BYU. Eifert is only the second Saturday, October 27, 2012 Night Games ................................................... 2 Notre Dame tight end to reach double-digits in TD recep- Top-10 Battles................................................. 3 tions, only trailing Ken MacAfee’s school record of 15 career TIME AP/Coaches Polls ............................................ 4 TD catches. (Page 31) 7:00 p.m. CT Remember 2002 ............................................. 4 9 It has been nine years since Notre Dame has rushed for BCS Standings/Harris Poll .............................. 5 more yards over a three-game span that it has collected in SITE (CAPACITY) With A Victory / With A Defeat ..................... 5 wins over Miami, Stanford and BYU. The 796 rushing yards Memorial Stadium (82,112); Norman, Okla. Notre Dame's Record When ........................... 6 are the most by the Irish in a three-game span since Notre Irish Probable Starting Lineup ....................... 7 Dame gained 804 yards on the ground in 2003 vs. Navy, BYU TELEVISION Irish Among National Leaders ........................ 8 and Stanford. (Page 26) ABC national telecast with Brent Musburger (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analysis), Heather Cox Team Notes ................................................. 4-9 8 Notre Dame has eight victories in nine games vs. (sideline), Bill Bonnell (producer) and Derek Mobley (director). Starter Sheet ................................................... 9 Oklahoma. No school that has played the Sooners more than Honors/Awards ............................................. 10 twice has a better win percentage than the .889 percentage RADIO Brian Kelly Notes ..................................... 10-11 posted by the Irish. (Page 35) IMG College Sports is the exclusive national rights-holder for Irish football radio broadcasts. IMG Eye On Career Records ............................ 11-23 7 Notre Dame has not allowed a rushing touchdown in College manages, produces and syndicates the Irish national football radio network. Notre Dame games Defensive Notes ...................................... 12-24 2012 and nine consecutive games dating back to 2011. Since will be broadcast by Don Criqui (play-by-play), former Irish great Allen Pinkett (analysis) and Jeff Jeffers Money Plays .................................................. 24 1996, the Irish are only the third team to not allow a rushing (sideline). This broadcast can be heard live on both SIRIUS and XM Satellite Radio (channel 129). Long Plays ..................................................... 25 TD in the first seven games of a season. No team since at least All games can be heard in South Bend on News & Sports Radio 96.1 FM & 960 AM WSBT. Notre Dame By The Numbers ...................... 26 1995 has gone eight games without allowing at least one Notre Dame in the NFL ................................. 27 rushing TD. (Page 12) TICKETS Inside ND Football/ND Football Replays ...... 28 6 The Irish rushing attack registered six runs of at least 15 Including Saturday's game with Oklahoma, Notre Dame has played before 273 capacity crowds Offensive Notes ....................................... 25-33 yards vs. BYU en route to 270 yards on the ground. It was the among its 450 road games (.607) since 1930. The Irish have played in front of sellout crowds in 250 of its Special Team Notes ............................... 33-34 second-most rushing yards allowed by BYU in its last 30 previous 292 games (.856) overall. ND-OU Head-to-Head Comparison ..............35 games. The Cougars entered the game with the No. 3 rush Notre Dame has played before 621 sellouts in 893 total games (.695) since 1930. Notre Dame-OU Series History ............... 35-37 defense in the FBS, allowing 67.9 yards per game. (Page 26) The Last Time.......................................... 38-41 5 Only five defenses are forcing three-and-out posses- WEB SITES Game Recaps .......................................... 42-43 sions on a more frequent basis than Notre Dame. Forty per- Notre Dame (UND.com), Oklahoma (SoonerSports.com) Alphabetical / Numerical Roster ............ 44-45 cent of drives against the Irish this year have been three plays Pronunciation Guide .................................... 45 or less. (Page 16) POLLS Depth Chart ................................................... 46 4 Notre Dame is 4-0 in games decided by seven points or Notre Dame is ranked No. 5 in this week's Associated Press and USA Today Coaches' polls. The Irish Individual Player Stats/Career Highs ..... 47-54 less this year. The four wins in a single-season by a TD or less remained No. 5 in the season's second BCS standings. Oklahoma is ranked No. 8 and No. 7, respectively, Game-by-Game Stats ............................. 55-58 is tied for fourth in school history. (Pages 6-7) by the AP and coaches. The Sooners are No. 8 in the current BCS standings. Scoring Drives ............................................... 59 3 Sophomore DE Stephon Tuitt ranks third in the FBS Team Stats .............................................. 60-74 with eight and a half sacks. The eight and a half sacks in REAL!TIME STATS seven games have him on pace to break Justin Tuck’s school Live in-game stats will be provided through CBS 2012 Notre Dame record of 13.5 sacks in 2003. (Pages 22-23) College Sports GameTracker via UND.com. Schedule 2 Notre Dame has rallied from halftime deficits in each of Date ND Rank Opponent (TV) Location Time its last two games and posted victories. The Irish had not SERIES INFO Sept. 1 RV/24 vs. Navy (CBS) Dublin, Ireland W, 50-10 recorded comebacks when trailing at the half in consecutive Notre Dame captured the last meeting in 1999. Sept. 8 22/22 Purdue (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. W, 20-17 weeks since Oct. 13 and Oct. 20, 1920. The prior eight games in the series occurred during the Sept. 15 20/19 at (10/10) Michigan State (ABC) East Lansing, Mich. W, 20-3 1 Only one player in the FBS has generated more turnovers 1950s and 1960s. The Irish hold a 8-1 series edge (4-1 Sept. 22 11/15 (18/17) Michigan (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. W, 13-6 than senior LB Manti Te’o. He is tied for the most intercep- at Notre Dame Stadium and 4-0 at Memorial Stadium). Oct. 6 9/10 vs. (RV/RV) Miami, Fla. (NBC) Chicago, Ill. W, 41-3 tions by a linebacker in the FBS (four) and has added two Top-ranked Notre Dame shutout out the 10th-ranked Oct. 13 7/7 (17/17) Stanford (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. W, 20-13 ot fumble recoveries. Te'o is the only FBS player to rank in the top Sooners, 38-0, in its last trip to Norman en route to the Oct. 20 5/5 BYU (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. W, 17-14 10 in both interceptions and fumble recoveries. (Page 20-21) 1966 national title. Oct. 27 5/5 at (8/7) Oklahoma (ABC) Norman, Okla. 7 p.m. CT 0 According to the NCAA’s strength of schedule rankings, The Sooners or Irish have entered its matchup Nov. 3 -/- Pittsburgh (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. 3:30 p.m. ET none of the remaining 11 unbeaten teams in the FBS have ranked among the top five in the AP poll in seven of the Nov. 10 -/- at Boston College (TBA) Chestnut Hill, Mass. TBA played a tougher schedule to this point in the season than 10 all-time meetings (including Saturday). Nov. 17 -/- Wake Forest (NBC) Notre Dame, Ind. 3:30 p.m. ET Notre Dame. (Page 8) Detailed series history is available on pages 35-37. Nov. 24 -/- at (10/8) USC (ABC/ESPN) Los Angeles, Calif. TBA 2 2012 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL NOTES ALL THE NIGHT MOVES The longest losing streak is nine under Bob Davie. Notre Dame is 6-8 (.429) at night in bowls, where it has a Notre Dame has at least four regular season night games on the The largest margin of defeat was 38-3 at USC on Nov. 29, 2008, six-game losing streak and has not won since the 39-28 conquest 2012 schedule, including Michigan State (Sept. 15), Michigan (Sept. eking out the Jan. 1, 1973 Orange Bowl to Nebraska (40-6) — of Florida in the 1992 Sugar Bowl. 22), Miami, Fla. (Oct. 6) and Oklahoma (Oct. 27). Start times for which would inspire the Irish to win the national title the next year Notre Dame has played more night games against Miami, Fla. games with Boston College and USC remain undetermined. under Ara Parseghian. (13) than any other foe. The Irish are 7-5-1 (.577) at night against Notre Dame played seven night games in 2011, including the The largest margin of victory at night was 57-7 at Stanford on the Hurricanes. Champs Sports Bowl against Florida State. The seven night games Nov. 29, 2004, when Tyrone Willingham poured it on his former Notre Dame and Oklahoma have never played a night contest. was a school record. employer. Here’s a look at Notre Dame head coach’s record at night: The Irish played their !rst night game, a 48-6 rout of Detroit, on Notre Dame’s night history can almost be divided into two Oct. 5, 1951 in Briggs Stadium. eras – the 35-year pre-Lou Holtz era from 1951-85, and the 25 Frank Leahy: 1-0 Terry Brennan: 1-1 Notre Dame has played 104 night games overall with a record years since Holtz took the reins in 1986. It was under Holtz that Joe Kuharich: 0-1 Ara Parseghian: 10-2-1 of 66-36-2 (.644), including 20-8-2 (.700) all-time on neutral !elds, multiple night games in a season became standard at Notre Dame.