Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529460
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 23, 2024 23 1st Career touchdown reception at Notre Dame — and the fifth of his career — for graduate student wide receiver Jayden Harrison. He made a nice grab on an 8-yard pass from senior quarterback Riley Leonard to put the Irish up 14-0 midway through the second quarter. 2 Penalties negated touchdowns of 70-plus yards for Notre Dame late in the second quar- ter. A personal foul (hands to the face) on senior center Pat Coogan erased a 78-yard scoring con- nection between Leonard and Harrison. Two plays later, an illegal formation infraction on the Irish wiped out a 73-yard run by sophomore wide re- ceiver Jordan Faison on a trick play off a fake punt. The Irish finished the game with 9 penalties for 89 yards. That is tied for their second-most penalties in a game and is their second-most penalty yards, behind only the 11 for 99 they had at Texas A&M in Week 1. 2 Missed field goals for the Fighting Irish by two different kickers, neither of which was graduate student Mitch Jeter. Sophomore Marcello Diomede missed a 54-yarder at the end of the first half and junior Zac Yoakam missed a 36-yarder in the fourth quarter, and the Irish are now just 8 of 15 (53.3 percent) on field goals this season. 5 Takeaways for the Fighting Irish against the Cavaliers in the first half, which led to 28 Notre Dame points. The last time Virginia commit- ted 5 turnovers in a game was in its 35-20 loss at Notre Dame on Sept. 28, 2019. Notre Dame now has 25 takeaways this season, tied for the most in the FBS with James Madison. 8.3 Percent conversion rate (1 of 12) for the Notre Dame offense on third down against Virginia. The last time the Irish converted only 1 third down was in its 66-14 win over New Mexico on Sept. 14, 2019. The Irish's average distance to-go on third downs against the Cavaliers was 10.5 yards, leading to that 1-of-12 effort. 12 Rushing touchdowns of 20 or more yards – including five of 50 or more yards — for the Fighting Irish through 10 games this sea- son after sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love's 76-yarder in the third quarter against the Cavaliers. Notre Dame is one of two schools — Alabama is the other — with three players that have three or more rushing scores of 20 or more yards. Love now has six, Leonard has three and junior running back Jadarian Price has three. 63 Games played in a Fighting Irish uniform for graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser — a new school record. He surpassed Houston Griffith (62 games from 2018-22) for the most game appearances in program history. 137 Yards rushing — a new career best — for Love. It was his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and his career. He also scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, his 10th straight contest with at least one of those. It is tied for the second-longest in school history and matches Autry Denson's season start of 10 straight in 1998 for the best such streak to start a year. As a team, the Irish finished with 38 carries for 234 yards — their third consecutive game with at least 200 yards rushing. Notre Dame now has five games with at least 200 yards on the ground, and also missed hitting that mark by just 2 yards in the season-opening win at Texas A&M Aug. 31. 179-21 Scoring margin for Notre Dame in its last four Senior Day games, an average score of 45-5. The Irish have won eight straight Senior Day contests by a combined margin of 306-62 (an average score of 38-7). The last loss for the Irish on Senior Day was a 34-31 setback against Virginia Tech in 2016. 300 Yards of total offense and 4.4 yards per play for Virginia — both of which rep- resented the second worst output of the season for the 5-5 Cavaliers. BY THE NUMBERS BY STEVE DOWNEY 11 Different players had at least 1 recep- tion for the Fighting Irish, with senior tight end MITCHELL EVANS leading way. Evans had 4 catches for 34 yards and 1 touchdown. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER