Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 12, 2018 25 0 Penalties recorded by Northwestern, which did enter the contest No. 1 in the country with fewest infractions per game at 3.25. Notre Dame was whistled for eight for 58 yards by the Atlantic Coast Conference crew. 0-13 Record by Northwestern in its his- tory when it played a top-five Notre Dame team since the start of the Associated Press poll in 1936. The Fighting Irish now have an all- time 38-9-2 advantage in the series while also snapping a two-game losing streak to the Wildcats (1995 and 2014, both at Notre Dame Stadium). Northwestern did defeat two top-10 ranked Notre Dame teams: 1961 (No. 8) and 1995 (No. 9). 8 Notre Dame teams in the 69 football seasons since 1950 to record a 9-0 start. The others were 1964, 1970, 1973, 1988, 1989, 1993 and 2012. Each one of those teams on the final day or game had an opportunity to win the national title. The 1973 and 1988 squads were consensus champs, the 1964 unit shared the title with Ala- bama and Arkansas, the 1970 crew finished No. 2 after defeating No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl, the 1989 outfit placed No. 2 after toppling No. 1 Colorado in the Orange Bowl, the 1993 edition came in at No. 2 despite defeating No. 1 Florida State in the regular season, and the No. 1-ranked 2012 team fell to Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game. 10 Straight Notre Dame wins, dating back to the Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl. That is the pro- gram's second-longest winning streak in the past 25 years from 1994-2018, behind only the 12-0 start in 2012. No other Fighting Irish teams since 1994 have won more than eight in a row. 86.5 Yards averaged on Notre Dame's four touchdown drives against North- western. The scoring marches covered 79, 80, 98 and 89 yards, with the latter three occurring in the second half. Overall, through nine games, the Irish have recorded 29 touchdown drives that covered a minimum of 70 yards. 130 Receiving yards by junior wide receiver Chase Claypool on eight catches. It marked the second time in his career that he sur- passed the century mark in a game. Interestingly, both came in the ninth game of the season. Last year in the ninth game, versus Wake Forest in a 48-37 victory, he nabbed nine passes for 180 yards. 399 Yards of total offense by junior quar- terback Ian Book, 343 through the air and 56 rushing. That was the highest total offense output in a game by a Notre Dame signal-caller since DeShone Kizer amassed 472 (471 passing and one rushing) during a 50-33 victory versus Syracuse on Oct. 1, 2016. Book has passed for at least 260 yards in all six starts this year. The only other Irish quarterback to post at least six games in a row with a minimum of 260 yards through the air was Brady Quinn, who did it in the final 10 contests in 2005. 1962 Throwback uniforms worn by North- western, which marked the last time the Wildcats defeated Notre Dame at home. They are 0-6 versus the Irish on their home turf since then. On Oct. 27, 1962, head coach Ara Parseghian's Wildcats crushed the Irish 35-6 to improve to 6-0 and move to No. 1 the following week in the Associ- ated Press poll. The Cuban Missile Crisis also was that weekend in which nuclear holocaust was an utmost concern. Two years later, Parseghian would begin his legendary career at Notre Dame. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI 5 Consecutive games senior wide receiver MILES BOYKIN has snared a touchdown reception from junior quarterback Ian Book. It is the first time since 2014 an Irish player grabbed a score in five straight, when sophomore Will Fuller had six such contests from games six through 11. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA