Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 7, 2023 9 UNDER THE DOME .167 Winning percentage for Notre Dame (4-20) when playing as an Associated Press top-10 team against another AP top-10 team since 1994. Prior to that, the Fighting Irish were 14-3-1 (.806) in such games from 1988-93. 4 Consecutive night games — versus Ohio State Sept. 23, at Duke Sept. 30, at Louisville Oct. 7 and versus USC Oct. 14 — for Notre Dame for the first time in school history. The Irish played three night games in row four times previously, most recently in 2021. 6 Games played by the Fighting Irish this sea- son before the calendar turned to October — the first time in school history that has happened. 10.5 Million viewers on av- erage tuned in for the Ohio State-Notre Dame game Sept. 23 — NBC's most watched regular-season college football game since Nov. 13, 1993, when 22 million viewers watched the then- No. 2 Fighting Irish defeat then-No. 1 Florida State 31-24 in what was dubbed the "Game of the Century." Viewership for the ND-OSU game peaked at 14.3 million during the Buckeyes' game-winning drive. Excluding games on Labor Day weekend, Notre Dame vs. Ohio State was the most-watched primetime regular- season college football game on any network since 2018, per NBC. 14 Touchdown passes and 0 interceptions through five games for Notre Dame gradu- ate student quarterback SAM HARTMAN. That is the most scoring tosses without an interception to start the season for an Irish signal-caller in school history. The previous best was by Jimmy Clausen, who started the 2009 season with 9 touchdown passes before throwing his first pick. The best stretch in school history for touchdowns thrown without an interception, regardless of when it occurred during the season, is 22 by Brady Quinn in 2006. 30 Percent chance for Notre Dame to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff if it wins out, per ESPN's Allstate Playoff Predictor. It also gave the Irish a 6 percent chance to win the national title in that scenario. The Predictor projects the Irish to have at least a 60 percent chance to win each game left on their schedule, with the home game versus USC and the road tilt at Clemson com- ing in at that low mark. 40/1 Odds for Notre Dame to win the national championship on Sept. 25 per Bet- Online, just a week after it peaked at 16/1 prior to the loss to Ohio State. 52 Wins in Associated Press top-10 matchups for Notre Dame since the AP poll began in 1936, per research done by ESPN. That ranks fourth all time, behind Ohio State, Oklahoma and Alabama. MOST WINS IN AP TOP-10 MATCHUPS Rk. School Wins Wins Since 2000 1. Alabama 64 33 2. Oklahoma 59 20 3. Ohio State 59 30 4. Notre Dame 52 3 5. USC 46 14 6. Texas 37 6 7. Michigan 36 5 8. Florida State 35 10 9. Florida 34 17 10. Miami 33 11 11. Nebraska 33 1 12. Georgia 30 18 $577 Was the average ticket price for the Notre Dame- Ohio State game Sept. 23, per Vivid Seats. That was more than double the next-closest game ($258, Iowa at Penn State) in Week 4 of this college football season. The Irish and Buckeyes also represented the second-hottest ticket for a Notre Dame home game since 2009: Rk. Game (Date) Avg. Ticket Price 1. Georgia at Notre Dame (Sept. 9, 2017) $583 2. Ohio State at Notre Dame (Sept. 23, 2023) $577 3. Michigan at Notre Dame (Sept. 1, 2018) $533 4. Texas at Notre Dame (Sept. 5, 2015) $529 5. Boston College vs. Notre Dame* (Nov. 21, 2015) $409 * Shamrock Series at Fenway Park in Boston 1,571 Career rushing yards for junior run- ning back Audric Estimé — making him the 37th Fighting Irish ball carrier to eclipse the 1,500- yard mark. Heading into the matchup at Duke, he sat in 35th place on Notre Dame's all-time rushing yards list. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP