Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1183432
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 16, 2019 23 1 Quarterback in Notre Dame history who completed four touchdown passes in a game while also rushing for more than 100 yards (139) in that same contest: Ian Book versus Duke. The closest prior to that was in 1999, when Jarious Jackson threw for two scores and ran for a third while rushing for 107 yards in a 34-30 comeback victory against Oklahoma. Book also joined Brady Quinn as the only two Notre Dame signal-callers to throw four or more touchdown passes in a game on four occasions. Quinn ac- complished it seven times during his career from 2003-06. 3.78 Points allowed by Notre Dame's defense in the first quarter of the nine games this season. The Duke game marked the fourth time the Irish have held the opponent scoreless in the opening 15 minutes. 9 Touchdown passes caught by Notre Dame tight ends this season after sophomore George Takacs made his first career catch on a leaping grab of a two-yard pass in the fourth quarter for the game's final tally. That is the most in a single season at Notre Dame, eclipsing the eight in both 2013 and 1991 (when including the bowl game). Junior Cole Kmet has five and sophomore Tommy Tremble three to go with Takacs' one scoring grab. 17 Ranking of Duke nationally in defensive efficiency coming into the game. Meanwhile, Notre Dame entered the contest having come up empty on 22 of its 27 possessions the past two games versus Virginia Tech and Michigan, with 15 of them a three-and-out series. The offense did an about-face against the Blue Devils with 38 points and 469 total yards, highlighted by 288 on the ground. 21 Consecutive victories by Notre Dame against unranked teams. On the surface, that might not sound like a big deal. However, only two teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision — Notre Dame and Alabama — have not lost to an unranked team since the start of the 2017 season. 46 Yards on fifth-year senior wide receiver Chris Finke's fourth-quarter punt return, the second longest of his career, that set up the final touchdown. The starting punt return man since the second half of the 2016 season, his longest return was 52 yards at Wake Forest in 2018. He also had a 41-yard return at Stanford in 2017. 139 Rushing yards by senior quarterback Ian Book on 12 carries. The rushing output is the fifth-highest in a game by a Notre Dame quar- terback, The top four are 217 by Brandon Wimbush (at Boston College in 2017, 21 attempts), 146 by Bill Etter (Navy in 1969, 11 attempts), 143 by DeShone Kizer (at Temple in 2015, 17 attempts) and 141 by Tony Rice (at Penn State in 1989, 28 attempts). BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI 2 Touchdowns allowed by Notre Dame's defense over the past two weeks, one apiece by Virginia Tech and Duke. It marked the first time since 2016 Notre Dame's defense did not permit more than one touchdown in back-to-back games. Yet during that 4-8 season it came in consecutive losses at North Carolina State (10-3) and then at home versus Stanford (17-10). The Wolfpack scored on a punt block during a hurri- cane, and one of Stanford's scores was an interception return. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN