Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com FEBRUARY 2019 19 1 Touchdown pass of more than 20 yards al- lowed by Notre Dame during the 12-0 regular season, a 27-yard tally by Northwestern Nov. 3. During the second quarter alone, Clemson notched two such scoring passes. Freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence connected with freshman wide receiver Justyn Ross for 52- and 42-yard touch- downs, and also found sophomore wideout Tee Higgins for a 19-yard score. 3 Points tallied by the Fighting Irish in the loss to Clemson, the fewest in their 37-game bowl history. The previous record was six, first in a 40-6 Orange Bowl loss to Nebraska on Jan. 1, 1973. That was matched in a 28-6 defeat to North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, 2003. The three points also matched the fewest in the nine-year Brian Kelly era, with the other occurring in a 10-3 setback at North Carolina State amidst a hurricane on Oct. 8, 2016. 8 Consecutive major bowl losses by Notre Dame since the 41-24 defeat to Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, 1995. The average mar- gin of loss in those setbacks has been 20.8 points. 13 Wins in a row achieved by the Fighting Irish since last January before it came to an end. This roll tied the 1973-74 teams for the third longest winning streak by the football pro- gram in the 69 years since 1950. At the top is the school-record 23 straight wins by the 1988-89 jug- gernauts, followed by 17 in a row by the 1992-93 editions. 18-19 Bowl record of Notre Dame after the defeat to Clemson. The Fight- ing Irish have not been above .500 in the postsea- son since Dec. 28, 2004, when they were 13-12 before losing 38-21 to Oregon State in the Insight Bowl. At the end of the 1993 season 25 years ago, Notre Dame was 13-6 in bowl games, the best winning percentage (.684) among any team that had participated in a minimum of 15 such games. This was the fifth time Notre Dame entered a ma- jor bowl with an unblemished record. The others were the 1925 Rose Bowl, 1973 Sugar Bowl and 1989 Fiesta Bowl — the Irish clinched the national title in all three with victories — and the 2013 BCS National Championship Game loss to Alabama. The Irish also are now 8-3 against unbeaten teams in postseason events. 68.15 Percent completion percentage junior quarterback Ian Book fin- ished with this year after a 17-of-34 performance for 160 yards. That was just enough to still set a new single-season school record, which Jimmy Clausen raised to 68.00 in 2009. Book finished 214 of 314, while Clausen was 289 of 425. 360 minutes played by Notre Dame in the six major bowls and or College Football Playoff since the turn of the century in 2000. The Fighting Irish have led a total of 2:57 in those out- ings. That was 7-0 in the first quarter of the 34-20 loss to Ohio State in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. 367 Points scored by senior kicker Justin Yoon during his four-year career af- ter converting his lone field goal attempt versus Clemson in his final game. That is the new career- scoring standard at the school, surpassing the 33-year mark of 320 held by 1982-85 running back Allen Pinkett. 995 Rushing yards by senior Dexter Wil- liams this season in only nine games after picking up 54 on 16 carries versus the Ti- gers. He just missed becoming the fourth different back in head coach Brian Kelly's nine seasons to eclipse the 1,000-yard barrier: Cierre Wood in 2011 (1,102), C.J. Prosise in 2015 (1,032) and Josh Adams in 2017 (1,430). BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI 18 Tackles recorded by junior safety ALOHI GILMAN, a single-game record in the five-year history of the Col- lege Football Playoff. Senior linebacker TE'VON CONEY reached 16, which was one short of his career-high 17 in last year's Citrus Bowl victory versus LSU. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA