Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/396685
UNDER THE DOME Personnel Notes Throughout Brian Kelly's five seasons at Notre Dame, the Stanford game served as his gauge of measuring the toughness and physicality of the Irish. The Cardinal is as physical a football operation as it comes, but Kelly said he came away quietly encouraged, not just because of the 17‑14 win but also because of the vacancy in the training room the ensuing days. "I can just tell you in the first couple years here, it was a hot tub/Jacuzzi kind of Monday for us [after playing Stanford]," Kelly said. "It was a bruising kind of game. We weren't that kind of football team [Monday after Stanford]. It was CHARTING THE IRISH RUNNING OVER OPPONENTS Since Brian Kelly took over the program prior to the 2010 season, it's been pretty simple: Notre Dame wins when it runs the ball more than 30 times and it fails to do so when running 30 times or fewer. Through the first 57 games of the Kelly era, which includes the first five games of 2014, the Irish are 39-4 when running the ball more than 30 times. That includes a current 25-game winning streak in such contests, with the 18-14 loss to Florida State in the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl marking the last time Notre Dame has lost in such circumstances. That 2011 season included three losses when Notre Dame reached the 31-carry mark: a 31-17 home loss to USC, a 28-14 loss at Stanford and the defeat to the Seminoles. Since the beginning of the 2010 season, Notre Dame is 3-11 when failing to rush more than 30 times, which includes all four defeats in the 2013 season. The three victories include the 38-0 shutout of Wake Forest in 2012, a 59-33 blowout of Air Force in 2011 when the Irish rushed for 266 yards on 29 carries and the 28-3 win against Utah in 2010. Through the first five games of 2014, Notre Dame ranked 78th in the country with 152.8 rushing yards per game. The Irish, however, reached the 31-carry mark in each of those contests. In three of the 57 games, Notre Dame did not even reach the 20-rush mark, all of which were losses: 14 carries in the 31-17 defeat to USC in 2011, 19 carries in the 42-14 loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game following the 2012 season and 19 rushes in the 41-30 loss at Michigan in 2013. 1. Under Brian Kelly, Notre Dame's winning percentage when running the ball more than 30 times: 39-4 record for a .907 winning percentage 2. Under Brian Kelly, Notre Dame's winning percentage when running the ball 30 times or fewer: 3-11 record for a .214 winning percentage 3‑11, .214 W% 39‑4, .907 W%