Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 7, 2020 7 UNDER THE DOME 1 On Oct. 26, Amy Coney Barrett — who finished No. 1 in her Notre Dame Law School graduating class of 1997 — officially was confirmed as the school's first Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in a 52-48 vote by the Senate. At Notre Dame, Barrett received the "Distinguished Professor of the Year" award three times. Upon the news of her confirmation, the Notre Dame Victory March was played that evening in the South Lawn of the White House. 2 Clemson's visit on Nov. 7 will be the second consecutive game at Notre Dame Stadium where the opponent will attempt to become only the fourth program in history to start 2-0 in the 90-year history of the edifice. Louisville was in town Oct. 17 after having won its first game at Notre Dame in 2014 (31-28), but this time the Irish prevailed with a hard-fought 12-7 win. Clemson's lone previous visit was in 1979 (see next column). Only three schools have won on their first two tries at Notre Dame Stadium: USC (1931 and 1933), Michigan (1942 and 1978), and Missouri (1972 and 1978). 22 Consecutive wins Notre Dame has had at home when it hosts No. 1-ranked Clemson on Nov. 7. Maybe not coincidentally, only Clemson has a longer active winning streak at home with 26. The Fighting Irish school record is 28 from 1942-50, and there will be only one more home game this season after facing the Tigers: Syracuse (Dec. 5). 39 Straight regular-season victories by Clemson (including three ACC Championship games) entering Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 7 — which eclipses the record 36 No. 1 Miami had prior to its 31-30 defeat on Oct. 15, 1988. On Oct. 15, 2005 USC entered Notre Dame Stadium with 27 wins in a row in both the regular season and bowl games, and prevailed in the closing seconds by a 34-31 count. 40:59 Time of possession for Notre Dame in the 45-3 victory at Pitt on Oct. 24. It was the most by any ACC team this sea- son, and the fifth-most in the Football Bowl Subdivision. None of Pitt's drives in its 19:01 lasted more than 2:31. The Fighting Irish also joined Northwestern as the only two FBS teams not to yield a touchdown that weekend. Finally, the 42-point victory was the largest by Notre Dame over a Power Five school since the 57-7 win at Stanford in 2003. 1979 Clemson's lone previous trip to Notre Dame Stadium, which came Nov. 17, on Senior Day. Notre Dame racked up 295 yards in the first half while taking a 10-0 lead at the intermission, but the Tigers ral- lied for a 16-10 victory under first-year head coach Danny Ford. At 31 years of age, Ford became the second-youngest coach ever to defeat the Fighting Irish in Notre Dame Stadium, behind 28-year-old Notre Dame graduate (and 1929-31 assistant coach) Jack Chevigny. In his first season at the University of Texas in 1934, Chevigny's Longhorns posted a 7-6 win at Notre Dame in the opener for new Irish head coach Elmer Layden. Chevigny died in 1945 at Iwo Jima during World War II. 5 , 451 OFFICIAL ATTENDANCE at the Notre Dame-Pitt game on Oct. 24 because of social distancing mandates imple- mented due to the coronavirus. Based on the Notre Dame football media guide, that is the lowest attendance at a Fighting Irish football game since the Oct. 21, 1922 home game versus DePauw in which the figure was listed at 5,000 in the 34-7 Notre Dame victory. It was also the lowest for a road game since the 5,000 listed at Indianapolis in a 16-3 win versus Indiana University on Oct. 26, 1919 — the first year that attendance figures were charted. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS