Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 27, 2020

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 27, 2020 23 3-35 Record for Boston College against teams ranked in the top five of the Associated Press poll at the time they played them, including the No. 2 Fighting Irish in 2020. At home, BC is 0-14 versus the top five. Two of the victories came at Notre Dame: 41-39 versus the 10-0 and No. 1 Irish in 1993, and 14-7 against the 8-0 and No. 4 edition in 2002. The first occurred in the 1941 Sugar Bowl when No. 5 Boston College defeated No. 4 Tennessee, 19-13. It was the last game for Frank Leahy as the Eagles' head coach before returning to his alma ma- ter and guiding four national titles and six unbeaten seasons at Notre Dame in 11 years. 4 Notre Dame is one of only four teams since 2018 to lose three or fewer games, and is fourth in winning percentage with its 31-3 mark (.912). The three teams ahead of it are 36-2 Clem- son (.947), 31-2 Alabama (.939) and 29-2 Ohio State (.935) — with both the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes having games canceled the Nov. 14 weekend and the Tigers idle. 8 Straight victories recorded by Notre Dame over Boston College since 2009, with head coach and Massachusetts native Brian Kelly 7-0, notably 4-0 at Alumni Stadium plus 1-0 in Fenway Park. Remarkably, prior to the run, the Eagles won six straight versus the Fighting Irish from 2001-08. 11 Times Notre Dame has started 8-0 since 1950, with 2020 the most recent. The oth- ers were 1964, 1966, 1970, 1973, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2002, 2012 and 2018. In each of those years but one (2002), the final game for the Fighting Irish had national title impli- cations, including the semifinal of the 2018 playoff that would have advanced it to the title game. 14 Wins in a row for Notre Dame, which will remain the longest currently in the country when it next plays at North Carolina on Nov. 27. It also now stands alone in third place for the third-longest winning streak by the Fighting Irish in the 70 years since 1950. In that span it has been surpassed only by the school-record 23 in 1988-89 and 17 in 1992-93. Until the win at Boston College, it had been tied at 13 with the 1973-74 and 2017- 18 squads. 17 Carries by freshman running back Chris Tyree for 74 yards. That was the most car- ries by a Fighting Irish freshman since Josh Adams had 18 for 168 yards in the 38-36 loss at Stanford in the 2015 regular season finale. Tyree's workload was increased because of injuries to sophomore Kyren Williams and junior C'Bo Flemister, both of whom were projected to be cleared for the North Carolina game Nov. 27, per Kelly. Tyree's previous high was 11 carries (for 103 yards) versus Florida State on Oct. 10. 31 Straight wins over unranked teams to ex- tend the school record in that category. Only Alabama has more among current Football Bowl Subdivision programs. 100 * Wins in Kelly's career at Notre Dame (100-37) with the victory against Bos- ton College. He is the third to reach the century mark for the Fighting Irish football team, joining Lou Holtz (100-30-2 from 1986-96) and Knute Rockne, who was 105-12-5 from 1918-30. From the NCAA's standpoint, though, he is at 79 because of 21 "vacated" wins in 2012-13, hence the asterisk. 195 Consecutive passes thrown by fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book without an interception, dating back to the season opener against Duke Sept. 12. That is the second-best streak ever at Notre Dame, behind Brady Quinn's 226 dur- ing his 2006 senior year. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI 15 Times a Notre Dame player has caught three touchdown passes in a game, with fifth-year senior BEN SKOWRONEK adding his name to the chart in the victory at Boston College. Last year, Chase Claypool snared four against Navy, tying the single-game standard set by Maurice Stovall against BYU in 2005. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS

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