Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 9, 2023 25 2-0 Record for Notre Dame at the earliest point in the calendar year (Sept. 2) in school history. It bests the 2-0 start achieved in 2014 that featured wins over Rice (48-17) Aug. 30 and Michigan (31-0) Sept. 6. It also is the earliest Notre Dame has played two games in program history (in 1999 the Irish were 1-1 on Sept. 4). The matchup with Tennessee State was not the earliest home game in school history — the Irish played Temple on Aug. 31, 2013. 6 Points allowed by Notre Dame in the first two games this season, the fewest since the 1996 squad permitted just seven points during its 2-0 start (14-7 over Vanderbilt and 35-0 over Purdue). 27-0-1 Record for the Fighting Irish against current members of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), with the win against Tennessee State. Twenty-seven of those games took place prior to NCAA splitting its football divisions in 1978. Notre Dame went 8-0 against Drake from 1926-37, 5-0 versus South Dakota from 1913-17, 5-0-1 against Penn from 1930-55, 3-0 versus Butler from 1911-23, 2-0 against Dartmouth from 1944-46, 2-0 versus Princeton from 1923-24, and is 1-0 against Valparaiso (1920) and Tennessee State (2023). 28 Points scored in the second quarter by the Fighting Irish. It was their most in a single quarter since they tallied 24 in the second quarter against Navy in a 52-20 win on Nov. 16, 2019. It is the most in any quarter since the Irish tallied 31 points in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin in a 41-13 victory on Sept. 25, 2021. The school record is 40 points scored versus Pittsburgh in the second quarter of 60-6 triumph on Nov. 16, 1996. 50 -Yard run by junior running back Audric Estimé in the second quarter — the longest of his career, topping the previous high 46 set ver- sus BYU last season. It was the longest by an Irish ball carrier since Logan Diggs' 51-yard run against Boston College last year. 55 Yards for Tennessee State on its first drive of the game, which covered 15 plays (3.7 yards per play) and resulted in a field goal. The rest of the game, the Tigers managed on only 101 yards on 43 plays (2.3 yards per play) and did not score again. 67 Passing yards for Tennessee State against Notre Dame, a week after the Irish al- lowed only 43 versus Navy. It marks the first time the Irish have given up less than 67 yards pass- ing in consecutive games since 2016, when they yielded 48 to Navy on Nov. 5 and 13 versus Army on Nov. 12. +92 Point differential (98-6) for the Fight- ing Irish is its biggest in their first two game of a season in 91 years. In 1932, Notre Dame outscored its first two foes by 135 points, winning 73-0 over Haskell and 62-0 versus Drake. 304 Yards from scrimmage combined by Notre Dame's "five-headed monster" at running back — junior Audric Estimé, sopho- mores Gi'Bran Payne and Jadarian Price, freshman Jeremiyah Love and graduate student Devyn Ford (who had only 1 touch before getting injured). That quintet accounted for 197 of the Irish's 221 yards and 2 of the 3 touchdowns on the ground, and caught 6 passes for 107 yards and 2 scores. 1975 Was the last year in which Notre Dame held its first two opponents of the season without a touchdown, before this year's squad limited both Navy and Tennessee State to just a field goal. The '75 team opened its season by beating Boston College 17-3 and Purdue 17-0. BY THE NUMBERS BY STEVE DOWNEY 8 Different players scored the Fighting Irish's eight touchdowns: freshman running back Jeremiyah Love (36-yard run), graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman (5- yard run), senior wide receiver Chris Tyree (24-yard reception), junior running back Audric Estimé (5-yard run), sophomore tight end Holden Staes (4-yard reception), sophomore running back Jadar- ian Price (40-yard reception), se- nior cornerback CLARENCE LEWIS (33-yard interception return) and sophomore running back Gi'Bran Payne (42-yard reception). PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER