Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 18, 2021 9 UNDER THE DOME 2 National awards for graduate student quarterback Jack Coan following his impressive debut for the Fighting Irish at Florida State Sept. 5. Coan set new career highs in passing yards (366) and touchdown tosses (four), plus tied a personal best for completions (26), while leading the Irish to a 41-38 overtime win over the Seminoles. His 366 passing yards ranked fifth nation- ally for Week 1, and he was the only quarterback in the top five who played in a true road game. His efforts earned him a spot on the Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8 List, plus he was named one of the Manning Award Stars of the week. 3 Schools ranked in the top 20 for all-time wins in both NCAA football and men's basketball: Texas, Notre Dame and West Virginia. As of Sept. 10, the Longhorns were No. 4 in football victories with 924, followed by the Irish at No. 5 with 919 and the Mountaineers at No. 15 with 761. In men's basketball, the Irish were No. 8 with 1,915 victories, fol- lowed by Texas at No. 17 with 1,828 and West Virginia at No. 20 with 1,811. 7 Years since Notre Dame last won a game on the final play of the contest, before gradu- ate st u d e nt k i c ke r JONATHAN DOERER booted through a 41-yard field goal for a 41-38 overtime win at Florida State Sept. 5. The last time that happened was in December 2014 when the Irish defeated LSU in the Music City Bowl on a 32-yard Kyle Brindza field goal as time expired. 7.75 Million viewers and 4.15 rating was the aver- age for Notre Dame and Florida State's season- opening primetime matchup on ABC Sept. 5, which ranked second nationally during Labor Day weekend per Sports- MediaWatch.com. Only the Georgia-Clemson primetime matchup on ABC Sept. 4 was higher, with an average of 8.86 million viewers and a 4.6 rating. The thrilling 41-38 overtime win for the Irish over the Seminoles was up 38 percent in ratings and 42 percent in viewership from 2019 — the last Labor Day weekend Sunday night game between Houston and Oklahoma (3.0 rating and 5.44 million viewers in average). The Notre Dame-FSU game peaked with 9.5 million view- ers, which trails only Notre Dame-Texas in 2016 (10.95 million) as the most-watched game on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend — with the caveat that there have not been very many. 21 Percent chance for Notre Dame to make the Col- lege Football Playoff following the opening week- end of NCAA games, according to ESPN.com's Playoff Predic- tor. That ranked sixth nationally, behind Alabama (86 percent), Ohio State (67), Oklahoma (54), Clemson (48) and Georgia (46). 64 Consecutive weeks appearing the Associated Press Top 25 for Notre Dame, following the poll released Sept. 7. That streak dates back to 2017 and is the fourth longest in Irish history. Notre Dame appeared in 124 straight AP polls from 1987-94, and also had streaks of 97 (1969-75) and 75 (1942-50). The Irish boast the fourth-best active streak in the nation, though it must be noted that the Big Ten's and the Pac-12's initial decision to opt out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to their programs not being included in the initial AP polls that season. As a result, Alabama (215 weeks from 2008-21), Clemson (104 from 2014-21) and Georgia (68 from 2017-21) are the only schools ahead of Notre Dame. 164 Receiving yards by Kyle Rudolph against Michi- gan in 2010 stands as the single-game record for Fighting Irish tight ends. Sophomore tight end Mi- chael Mayer racked up 120 yards on nine catches in his 2021 debut. That yardage total was the most for an Irish tight end since Rudolph's record-setting day and ranks as the fifth-best single-game perfor- mance for his position. .872 Winning percentage for Notre Dame since the start of the 2018 campaign (34-5 record) after its season-opening win at Florida State. That ranks fourth among all teams that have made an appearance in the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014. Among those teams, the Irish are one of just four that have totaled five or fewer losses (Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State are the others). ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY BY ELLIOT P. FINEBLOOM/COURTESY FSU PHOTO