Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1313320
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DEC. 5, 2020 23 15 Games in a row won by the Fighting Irish, the longest current streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision and the third longest for the program in the 70 years since 1950. It is surpassed only by the school-record 23 in 1988-89 and 17 in 1992-93. Two more wins for an 11-0 finish to the regular season would tie the 1992-93 streak for second place since 1950. 19-2 All-time record by Notre Dame against North Carolina. That .905 winning percentage is the best by the Fighting Irish against any opponent it has faced a minimum of 20 times. At No. 2 is Navy at .855 (79-13-1) while Georgia Tech is No. 3 at .819 (29-6-1). The Tar Heels were 1-39 coming into the game against an Associated Press top-five ranked team. 24 Points allowed by Notre Dame in the fourth quarter during its 9-0 start. It is the fewest allowed by the Fighting Irish in a quarter this season. North Carolina entered the game outscoring the opposition 103-39 in the final 15 minutes, but lost that quarter 7-0 to the Fighting Irish. 85.3 Rushing yards allowed per game by Notre Dame after limiting North Carolina's prolific ground attack that had been averaging 233.5 yards per game to 87. That is on pace to be the best at the school since the 1973 national champs permitted 82.4. However, back then it was based only on regular-season data. If you included the 190 rushing yards by Alabama in 1973 Sugar Bowl, the figure would be 92.2. 237 Straight passes thrown by Book without an interception — break- ing the previous school record of 226 set by Brady Quinn in 2006. Book entered the contest with 204 and completed 23 of his 33 tosses versus the Tar Heels. It was the eighth consecutive contest in which he was not intercepted, dating back to the second quarter in the Sept. 12 opener against Duke. Since then, Book has gone 34 straight quarters without tossing a pick. 1947-49 Marked the last time — until now — that the Fighting Irish went undefeated and untied in November three straight years: 3-0 this year, 5-0 in 2019 and 4-0 in 2018 for a 12-0 total, high- lighted by this year's victory versus then-No. 1 Clemson Nov. 7. The 1947-49 crews were 11-0 — but did have a tie with USC in December 1948. The school record for most consecutive wins in November is 15 under Knute Rockne from 1919-22. Especially amazing is that in the five years from 2013-17, the Fighting Irish were 9-12 in November. 8,215 Career passing yards by Book after adding 279 more against North Carolina. That put him in second place on the all-time Fighting Irish chart, ahead of Jimmy Clausen's 8,148 from 2007-09. Out of reach is the 11,762 by Brady Quinn from 2003-06. With 48 yards rushing versus the Tar Heels, Book continues his ascent in that category as well with 1,445 total at Notre Dame. Only 1987-89 signal-caller Tony Rice with 2,049 — when including bowl games too, which weren't back then — is ahead of him there. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI 29-3 Record for fifth-year senior I A N B O O K as the starting quarterback, and this victory put him in a four-way tie for most career victories as Notre Dame's starter at the position. • Tom Clements was 29-5 (.853) from 1972-74, high- lighted by the 1973 national title. • Ron Powlus was 29-16-1 (.641) from 1994-97, missing only two starts at the end of 1995. • Brady Quinn was 29-17 (.630) from 2003-07, and he started each of the final 46 games of his career, a school record at the position. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS