Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME lands. The output breaks Emil Sitko's 29-year single-game Irish rushing record of 186 yards in a 1948 victory versus Michigan State. Heavens had begun the season at fullback, but an injury to starting tailback Vagas Ferguson prompts the shift. The Irish, with an extra week to prepare against Army, also transition to the I-formation. way, the No. 8-ranked Irish improve to 6-0 with a 14-6 victory at home against Pitt despite get- 10 Years Ago: Oct. 12, 2002 In a year when every break seems to fall their and leads a strong rush that forces Pitt quarter- back Rod Rutherford to toss an interception at the Irish 21 to nickel back Preston Jackson with only 1:05 remaining. "I still think we won, so I'll go back to that an aw- ting outgained 402-185 by the Panthers in total yardage. Sophomore end Justin Tuck records two sacks ful lot," replies first-year head coach Ty Willingham to criticism about the "smoke and mirrors" way the Irish are achieving victory each week. "You won't mind me referencing to that, I hope." — Lou Somogyi Heading into Saturday night's game against Miami, Notre Dame's rushing defense looked as stingy as any in college football. The Irish allowed 112.5 running yards per game against a triple option team (Navy), a Heisman can- didate (Michigan State's Le'Veon Bell) and an electric dual-threat quarterback (Michigan's Denard Robinson). More impressive was the fact that Notre Dame was the only team in college football not to allow a rushing touchdown in the month of September. CHARTING THE IRISH Team (Year) Miami (2001) Ohio State (2002) LSU (2003) USC (2004) Texas (2005) Florida (2006) LSU (2007) Florida (2008) Alabama (2009) Auburn (2010) Alabama (2011) RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS ALLOWED BY NATIONAL CHAMPIONS Rushing TD Allowed 7 5 5 5 15 8 14 9 5 16 3 If good defense wins championships, then good defense starts with keeping running backs out of the end zone. Since 2001, eight of the 11 BCS champions have allowed fewer than 10 rushing touchdowns in