Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1197084
18 FEBRUARY 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2 Bowls out of the 38 played in its history that Notre Dame did not permit a touchdown, after limiting Iowa State to three field goals. The first was the 28-3 victory over 12-0 Texas A&M in the 1993 Cotton Bowl. 5-4 Record of head coach Brian Kelly in bowl games, tying Lou Holtz — who also was 5-4 in his 11-year run from 1986-96 — for most wins by a Notre Dame coach in the postseason. A significant distinction is all nine of Holtz's appearances were in major bowls, where the five teams that were defeated had a combined record of 54-2 entering the contest. Kelly has not yet won a major or College Football Playoff game, which is the next step on the checklist. 6 Consecutive victories by Notre Dame to end the 2019 season — the lon- gest winning streak to cap a campaign since the seven straight by the 1992 unit that finished No. 4 in the country. 10 Iowa State was the 10th different school Notre Dame met for the first time ever on the football field in a bowl setting. The Irish are now 6-4 in such outings after the win. Notre Dame also defeated Stanford (1925 Rose), Alabama (1973 Sugar), Houston (1979 Cotton), West Virginia (1989 Fiesta) and Florida (1992 Sugar), with the victories against Stanford, Alabama and West Virginia clinching na- tional titles. It lost to Georgia (1981 Sugar), Texas A&M (1988 Cotton), Oregon State (2001 Fiesta) and North Carolina State (2003 Gator). Notre Dame now is 123-22-3 overall against first-time opponents. 11-2 This marks the first time ever Notre Dame finished with this record while playing a 13-game season. The Fighting Irish have been 7-6, 8-5, 9-4, 12-1 (2012 and 2018) since 2008, and 10-3 five times (1991, 2002, 2006, 2015 and 2017). 19-19 All-time bowl record for the Fighting Irish after defeating Iowa State. Notre Dame hasn't been above .500 since 2004 (13-12). At the end of 1993, the Irish were 13-6 in bowls, the highest postsea- son winning percentage (.684) in college football among teams with at least 15 appearances. 24 Consecutive victories by Notre Dame against an unranked opponent, joining Alabama as the lone teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision not to lose such a game since the start of the 2017 season. The school record since the advent of the Associated Press poll in 1936 is 29 straight from 1990-94, ending with a 30-11 loss at Boston College. 84 Yards on senior running back Tony Jones Jr.'s touchdown run on Notre Dame's first play on offense in the second half that expanded the lead to 27-6. It is the longest play from scrimmage in Notre Dame's 38-game bowl history, eclipsing the 81-yard touchdown pass from DeShone Kizer to Will Fuller in the 44-28 loss to Ohio State in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. The longest previous postseason scoring run was 50 yards by C.J. Prosise during the 31-28 triumph against LSU in the 2014 Music City Bowl. 85.0 Percent of field goals converted (17 of 20) by junior Jonathan Doerer this season after drilling all four of his attempts against the Cyclones. That is the sixth-best single-season percentage by a Fighting Irish kicker who attempted at least 15 field goals. 116 Points scored by Notre Dame this year off turnovers after scoring 10 more versus Iowa State in the first quarter by recovering two fumbles. Only Clemson had more (113) entering the game. The 28 turnovers generated by Notre Dame this year were the most in the 10-year Kelly era, and the Fighting Irish paced the nation in fumbles recovered this year with 19. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI 80 Sack yards allowed by Notre Dame's pass blocking this season, with five coming against Iowa State. The total is the fewest among the 65 Power Five teams in the nation. Over the final nine games, Book was sacked only once on a third-down pass attempt on just more than 80 pass attempts. PHOTO BY JAMES GILBERT