Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/421584
UNDER THE DOME DaVaris Daniels: Will He Return Or Won't He? Notre Dame senior wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, who was not enrolled last spring because of poor academic grades and then not permitted to play this fall because of an academic fraud investigation, told Notre Dame's independent student-run newspaper, The Observer, that he remained undecided about return- ing for a fifth season in 2015. "I've changed my mind at least six times so far, and it's still going," he told staff writer Brian Hartnett the weekend of the Northwestern game. "I've still got a while before I've got to decide anything, so I'm not trying to rush." CHARTING THE IRISH TAXING TURNOVERS In the second game of the 2011 season, Notre Dame committed five turnovers in a 35-31 loss at Michigan after taking a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter. The defeat followed up a season-opening performance in which the Irish also turned it over five times in a 23-20 loss to South Florida. Following that loss at Michigan Sept. 10, 2011, Notre Dame went 40 straight games without four or more turnovers. Since then, however, the Irish have done so in three of the past seven contests — the 31-15 win against Syracuse Sept. 27, the 55-31 loss at Arizona State Nov. 8 and the 43-40 overtime loss to Northwestern Nov. 15. During the 40-game stretch beginning with a 31-13 win over Michigan State in 2011 and ending with the 30-14 win over Purdue Sept. 13, the Irish went 32-8 for a robust .800 winning percentage. Since the streak was snapped, Notre Dame has stumbled to a 4-3 mark. During the Brian Kelly era, the Irish are 5-7 when committing three turnovers. In all, Notre Dame is 7-12 (.368) during that time when committing three or more turnovers and 37-6 (.860) when coming in under that mark. Turnovers drastically drop any team's chance of winning, and in this case they have helped to turn a special season into a mediocre one. THE CORRELATION OF TURNOVERS TO LOSSES UNDER BRIAN KELLY Winning percentage during 40-game streak of 3 turnovers or less Winning percentage when committing 0 to 2 turnovers Winning percentage when committing 4 or more turnovers .800 ( 32-8 ) .860 ( 37-6 ) .368 ( 7-12 )