Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
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12 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW UNDER THE DOME 9 Victories in a row by Notre Dame in the month of November after finishing 5-0 last season and 4-0 in 2018. In the previ- ous five years from 2013-17, the Fight- ing Irish were 9-12 in November. Last year marked the first 5-0 Novem- ber for Notre Dame since 1930, which resulted in a national title for Knute Rockne's final team. The unbeaten back-to-back Novem- bers were the first by the program since 1972 (3-0) and 1973 (3-0) — although the 1972 team did lose the regular- season finale at No. 1 USC on Dec. 2 (45-23). The current nine-game winning streak in the month of November actually is the longest since the nine in a row from 1972-74. The school record is 16 from 1946-50, which began after the score- less tie with No. 1 Army in 1946 and ended with a tie versus Iowa in 1950. Notre Dame has not had three straight unbeaten Novembers since 1947-49. (The 1948 tie at USC was in December.) The longest November/December regular-season winning streak since the current one was 10 consecutive from 1953-55. BY THE NUMBERS NFL Stadiums, current or former, Notre Dame is scheduled to play in this season, which would be a single-season school record if it comes to fruition: BANK OF AMERICA STADIUM in Charlotte, N.C. (versus Wake Forest Sept. 26); Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. (versus Wisconsin Oct. 3); Heinz Field in Pittsburgh (versus Pitt Oct. 17); Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (versus Georgia Tech Nov. 14); and the Los Angeles Coliseum (versus USC, Nov. 28). Such games in the current climate also could be moved elsewhere. 37.6 Scoring average per game by Notre Dame during the 7-2-1 finish in 1968. That remains the single-season school record 52 years later despite the proliferation of more points on the board across college football. Last year's four College Football Playoff teams each ranked among the top six in the country, with national champ LSU No. 1 at 48.4. Ohio State (46.9), Clem- son (43.9) and Oklahoma (42.1) all were above 40. Notre Dame's 36.7 scoring average last season was the best in head coach Brian Kelly's 10 seasons, eclipsing the 34.2 figures in 2015 and 2017, and tied for the fourth highest ever. 129 Games coached by BRIAN KELLY at Notre Dame entering the 2020 season. It is expected he will set the record at some point this year because the lone figure who has been the head coach for more games with the Fighting Irish was LOU HOLTZ with 132 (100-30-2) from 1986-96. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND PHOTO FROM THE CAROL M. HIGHSMITH ARCHIVE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION. 5