Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DECEMBER 2018 25 5 Notre Dame holds all five trophies in its ri- valry games, a first at the end of a regular sea- son since the 2012 campaign that also resulted in a 12-0 ledger. The quintet is comprised of Purdue (Shillelagh Trophy), Michigan State (Megaphone), Boston College (Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl), Stan- ford (Legends Trophy) and USC (Jeweled Shille- lagh). The Fighting Irish also ended a school-record five-game losing streak in the final game of the regular season from 2013-17. 6-4-1 Record of Notre Dame when it enters the final game of the regular season at the Los Angeles Coliseum with an unbeaten re- cord. It won in 1930, 1947, 1966 and 1988 en route to national titles, and in 2012 and 2018 to complete a 12-0 regular season. The losses occurred in 1938, 1964, 1970 and 1980, while the tie was in 1948. 10 Notre Dame is projected to become the 10th different team invited to the four- team College Football Playoff that is in its fifth year. Alphabetically the other nine have been: Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington. 12-0 Record reached by Notre Dame for only the third time in history. The first came during the run to the most recent national title in 1988, while the 2012 crew also capped the regular season with a 12-0 ledger be- fore losing to Alabama in the BCS National Cham- pionship Game. Including the Citrus Bowl victory last Jan. 1 versus LSU, the 13-game winning streak is tied for the third longest at Notre Dame since 1950, behind the school-record 23 straight in 1988-89 and 17 consecutive in 1992-93. The 1973- 74 unit also won 13 in a row. 37 Completions by USC freshman quarter- back JT Daniels against the Irish, the most in any game ever by a Trojans signal-caller. It is the second most ever against Notre Dame. During a 27-17 loss to the Irish in 1989, Stanford's Steve Smith completed 39 passes in 68 attempts. Dan- iels' 16 completions (in 17 attempts) during the first quarter were the most by a Football Bowl Sub- division quarterback in a first quarter this season. 58 Career field goals converted by senior Justin Yoon after his 46-yard tally in the third quarter extended Notre Dame's lead to 17-10. That put him in sole possession of first play on the school chart, moving ahead of Kyle Brindza's 57 from 2011-14. Overall, Yoon is 58 of 72 for a .806 percentage, while Brindza was 57 of 81 (.704). The field goal also was Yoon's 16th in 20 attempts this year (.800), bettering his previous high of 15 (in 17 attempts) as a freshman in 2015. 105 Receiving yards by Notre Dame run- ning backs on only six catches, with senior Dexter Williams nabbing five for 54 yards and junior Tony Jones Jr. romping for 51 yards and a score on his lone catch to help put the victory away. Williams had only 50 receiving yards enter- ing the game versus USC. 1971 The last year where an undefeated Notre Dame team lost to a USC team that was under .500. The 5-0 Irish lost at home to 2-4 USC (28-14), the start of a 23-game unbeaten streak for the Trojans before losing two years later at Notre Dame while the Irish marched to a national title. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI 56.4 Percent of passes completed by junior quarterback IAN BOOK (22 of 39), mark- ing the first time in his eight starts this season that he was under 60 percent. His 70.4 percent mark for this season (197 of 280) is still on pace to break Jimmy Clausen's single-season school record of 68.0 in 2009 (289 of 425). With a 9-0 record as a starter (1-0 last year and 8-0 this season), Book is two College Football Playoff wins away from matching Bob Williams' school record for winning his first 11 games he started. Williams helped the Irish to the 1949 national title with a 10-0 mark, and won the first game in 1950 before experiencing his initial defeat. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA