Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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1 This is the first time Notre Dame has defeated five members from one conference in a single season. The Irish finished 5-1 against the Atlantic Coast Conference, losing to No. 1 Clemson (24-22), but defeating Virginia (34-27), Georgia Tech (30-22), Pitt (42-30), Wake Forest (28-7) and Boston College (19-16). It had defeated four Big Ten teams in a sea- son six times, most recently in 1993. 2 Notre Dame running backs in the last nine years who have eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing, with senior C.J. PROSISE's 54 yards on nine carries (prior to his high-ankle sprain injury in the second quarter) putting him at 1,029 for the season. Cierre Wood racked up 1,102 for the Fighting Irish in 2011. 5 Notre Dame currently holds the hardware for all five of its "trophy games," including The Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl versus Boston College. Leahy coached at Boston College (1939- 40) before leading Notre Dame to four national titles and six unbeaten seasons from 1941-43 and 1946-53. The other four are the jeweled shille- lagh (USC), Megaphone Trophy (Michigan State), Shillelagh Trophy (Purdue) and Legends Trophy (Stanford) — which will be on the line Nov. 28. 7-0 Record for Notre Dame in the Shamrock Series that began in 2009. Two of the last three have been by three points, 37-34 versus Ari- zona State in 2013 and 19-16 against Boston College this year. Both games required the Irish to recover an onside kick from the opponent after a touchdown in the final minute. 10-1 Record for Notre Dame, making it only the eighth time in the last 42 seasons, or since going to 11-game regular seasons in 1974, that the Irish achieved 10-1 or better. The others were 1977, 1988 (11-0 after 11 games), 1989 (11-0 after 11 games), 1993, 2002, 2006 and 2012 (11-0 after 11 games). 201 Receiving yards combined by senior Chris Brown (104 yards on six catches) and fifth-year senior Amir Carlisle (97 yards on seven catches). It was the career high in a game for both. Brown's previous high was 82 in 2014 against Navy, while Carlisle's previous standard was 92 in the 55- 31 loss at Arizona State last season. 447 Yards of total offense accumulated by Notre Dame, which was 211 yards more than the No. 1-ranked Boston College defense was allowing per contest this year. It resulted in only 19 points, though, because of five turnovers — three of which came in the red zone. 1,009 Receiving yards this season by ju- nior Will Fuller after catching three passes for 72 yards against Boston College. That made him the fourth Notre Dame receiver to have back- to-back 1,000-yard receiving campaigns, joining Jeff Samardzija (2005-06), Golden Tate (2008-09) and Michael Floyd (2010-11). If Fuller returns next year, he could become the first to achieve the feat three times. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI Although limited the past several weeks because of injuries, including a high-ankle sprain early against Boston College, senior C.J. Prosise eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA