Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1179920
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 2, 2019 25 1 Turnover generated by Notre Dame's defense in its three October games. The one occurred during the 52-0 romp versus Bowling Green Oct. 5 on an interception by senior safety Jalen Elliott, but the Irish had zero in both the 30-27 win over USC Oct. 12 and then in the 45-14 loss to Michigan Oct. 26 — even though Michigan's 14 turnovers coming into the contest were 109th in the country. 6 Head coaches since the 20th century, at least to our knowledge, who have defeated Notre Dame at two different schools, with Michigan's Jim Har- baugh now joining that exclusive company. He also defeated the Fighting Irish in 2009 and 2010 at Stanford, and he was the starting quarterback for Michigan in 1985 and 1986 during two other victories. Howard Jones (Iowa and USC), Johnny Majors (Pitt and Tennessee), Dennis Erickson (Miami and Oregon State), Nick Saban (Michigan State and Alabama) and Todd Graham (Tulsa and Arizona State) are the other five to achieve the feat. 10 Straight defeats by Notre Dame against top-20 teams on their home turf, following this defeat to Michigan. The streak began with a 41-30 loss at No. 17 Michigan in 2013, and continued that season at No. 8 Stanford (27-20), in 2014 at No. 2 Florida State (31-27) and No. 11 Arizona State (55-31), in 2015 at No. 11 Clemson (24-22) and No. 13 Stanford (38-36), in 2016 at No. 12 USC (45-27), in 2017 at No. 7 Miami (41-8), and in 2019 at No. 3 Georgia (23-17) and at No. 19 Michigan (45-14). 20 Consecutive games Notre Dame had not allowed an opponent to score more than 30 points, which led the nation entering the Michigan game. The Wolverines not only tallied 45 to end the streak, but also continued their habit of prolific scoring against the Irish at home. With its fifth straight win at home against Notre Dame (and eighth in the last nine dating back to 1997), it marked the fifth straight time Michigan tallied at least 35 points at home versus Notre Dame, an average of 39.4 points per game in that span. 24-24 Although small consolation following the 45-14 fiasco in Ann Ar- bor, Notre Dame remains the lone offense in the 130-team Foot- ball Bowl Subdivision with a perfect scoring record in the red zone, tallying touch- downs on both of its opportunities at or inside Michigan's 20-yard line. Of those 24 chances, 21 have resulted in touchdowns for a remarkable .875 percentage. 93 Rushing yards by Notre Dame in its two defeats this year — 46 at Geor- gia on 14 carries and 47 at Michigan on 31 attempts. It was the sixth time in the Kelly era Notre Dame finished with less than 50 rushing yards. The Irish are 0-6 under Kelly when totaling less than 50 yards on the ground and 4-17 when the figure is less than 100. 1990 Marks the last year Notre Dame, ranked No. 8 entering this year's contest, won against the Wolverines as a top-10 team at the time of the game. The Irish were No. 11 during victories in 1993 and 2012 and 12 in 2018. As the No. 2-ranked team in 2006, Notre Dame lost 47-21 at home to Michigan. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI 16-16-1 Record Notre Dame and Michigan have against each other since the series was renewed on an almost annual basis since 1978. With the two schools not scheduled to meet in football again until 2033-34 — unless some unforeseen events occur before then — the 33-game modern series ended in a deadlock after a 34-year hiatus from 1944-77. Notre Dame's longest winning streak during that time was four (1987-90), while Michigan's was three (2009-11). Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly is 3-4 against the Wolverines. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL