Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the score tied at 28 and 11:56 left in the game. It's the most blocked kicks in a season by the Irish since 2006, when they also had six. 15 Touchdown catches by sophomore wide- out WILL FULLER this season after his second-quarter score versus the Tigers. That tied the single-season Notre Dame record shared by Jeff Samardzija (2005), Rhema McKnight (2006) and Golden Tate (2009). 16-0 Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's record when the Fighting Irish don't commit a turnover in the game. He is 29-20 other- wise. It also was the first time in 10 games that Notre Dame won the turnover battle (LSU lost a fumble). The previous such game was in the 30-14 victory ver- sus Purdue (the Boilermakers had three giveaways to Notre Dame's one) on Sept. 13. The Irish had been minus-12 (25-13) in turnover margin in their previ- ous nine contests. 100 Yards on LSU freshman running back Leonard Fournette's kickoff return in the second quarter that helped tie the game at 14. It was the first time the Irish permitted a kickoff return for a touchdown since the 38-34 loss at Michigan on Sept. 12, 2009, when the Wolverines' Darryl Stonum had a 94-yard score to give them a 14-3 lead. It was the first time Notre Dame surrendered a touchdown on any return in a bowl since Oregon State's 45-yard punt return in the Beavers' 41-9 Fiesta Bowl victory in 2001. 1993 The last season that Notre Dame de- feated a ranked team in a bowl game. The Associated Press had LSU ranked No. 23 coming into the game. The previous Irish victory over a ranked team in a bowl was Jan. 1, 1994, versus No. 7 Texas A&M (24-21) in the Cotton Bowl. Sophomore wide receiver Will Fuller hauled in his 15th touchdown catch of the season versus LSU to tie Jeff Samardzija (2005), Rhema McKnight (2006) and Golden Tate (2009) for the top single-season mark in school history. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA