Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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only the third Irish team in history to average at least 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing in the same regular season. They joined the 1977 national champs led by Joe Montana (231.9 rushing and 208.1 passing) and the No. 2 team in 1970 with Joe Theismann at the throttle (257.8 rushing and 252.7 passing). Their numbers dipped after their bowl games against No. 1 Texas teams, but the 200-200 figures were still achieved. However, the anemic 32-yard rushing production against Alabama dropped the overall figure by 13 yards and no longer put the 2012 team in that select company. Nevertheless, it was the highest single-season rushing output by Notre Dame since the 213.5 average during head coach Bob Davie's BCS season in 2000. That turned For The Record • Everett Golson's 131.01 passing efficiency rating placed him 62nd in the NCAA — but it was the second-best mark ever recorded by a Notre Dame sophomore quarterback in the traditional T-formation. Only Jimmy Clausen with a 132.49 rating during a 7-6 season in 2008 had a better passing rating among Notre Dame sophomore quarterbacks. Yet Clausen threw 17 interceptions that season compared to Golson's six, and Golson finished with 298 yards rushing while Clausen had minus-73. The 2,405 yards passing by Golson were the third most by an Irish sophomore, behind Clausen (3,172) and Brady Quinn in 2004 (2,586). • Senior Tyler Eifert's 140 receptions are the most ever in a career by a Notre Dame tight end, edging the 137 that three-time All-American Ken MacAfee Of all the sophomore quarterbacks to start (1974-77) had you also included his bowl games. But with the postseason included, MacAfee's 1,892 at Notre Dame, Everett Golson was in the top three in passing efficiency, passer rating and yards receiving still are more than Eifert's 1,840. • Senior Theo Riddick joined Raghib "Rocket" Ismail passing yards. photo by bill panzica (1988-90) as the only two players in school history to total at least 1,000 career yards in rushing, receiving and returns. Including his bowl games, Ismail had 1,122 yards rushing, 1,651 receiving and 1,758 on returns. Riddick' s final tally was 1,169 yards rushing (917 as a senior), 1,263 receiving and 1,050 on returns (849 on kick returns as a freshman). • Senior linebacker Manti Te'o wrapped up his career with 437 tackles, third on the all-time Notre Dame chart behind Bob Crable's 521 (1978-81) and Bob Golic's 479 (1975-78) — with the bowl games not included for Crable and Golic. — Lou Somogyi