Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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fourth pass of the season in the first quarter versus Brigham Young, which is tied for the team lead along with junior cornerback Bennett Jackson. Ju- nior outside linebacker Danny Spond intercepted BYU quarterback Riley Nelson in the final seconds to seal the victory for the Irish, who have forced 17 turnovers through seven games compared to 14 turnovers in all of 2011. Notre Dame entered the con- • Senior linebacker Manti Te'o picked off his test ranked eighth nationally in interceptions with 10 after snag- ging just eight last fall. • Before facing the Cougars, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 25th time in school history the program has started 7-0, and it's the longest winning streak since the 2006 team put together eight in a row after losing in week three. The scrappy win over the Cougars also improved Notre Dame to 416-133-15 (.751) when ranked in the top 25. The Irish were ranked No. 5 in both the Associated Press and BCS polls heading into the contest, and improved to 177- 44-7 (.792) when ranked among the top five. • After the Cougars capitalized Notre Dame had allowed only two touchdowns out of 16 trips by op- ponents to the red zone (with opponents failing to reach the end zone in the last 11). Brigham Young, however, scored on its first two trips into scoring territory. Entering the third weekend of October, the Irish were tied with Alabama for first in the Football Bowl Subdivision in red-zone defense (.500), which includes both touchdowns and field goals allowed. • The Notre Dame defense hadn't allowed a touchdown in 17 quarters (and an overtime), but watched that stellar spree come to an end when BYU got on the scoreboard with a six-yard passing touchdown midway through the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7. It was the longest stretch the defense had kept Once again, senior linebacker Manti Te'o led the Irish in tack- les (10), and he also recorded his fourth interception. on an Irish turnover in the sec- ond quarter, when they went 30 yards in four plays to take a 14-7 lead, the Irish defense came out in the second half and allowed only 115 total yards of offense and no points. • Opponents have yet to find PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA lowed eight rushing touchdowns in 2011, are the only program in the FBS that have shut opposing rushers out of the end zone through seven games. The Irish defense also didn't allow a rushing opposing offenses out of the end zone since 1980, when Notre Dame set a school record by not allow- ing an offensive TD for 23 straight quarters. • Notre Dame continues down a similar path as touchdown in the final two games of the 2011 campaign and has surrendered a rushing score just nine times over the past 25 games. Only Alabama has allowed fewer rushing touchdowns (six) over the same stretch. • Though it wasn't junior quarterback Tommy a way to score a touchdown on the ground against Notre Dame in 2012. The Irish, which only al- the 2002 squad. The victory over BYU marked the seventh consecutive victory of the 2012 season, which is the longest streak to start a season since the Fighting Irish rattled off eight straight a decade ago before losing to Boston College at home. It's the Rees' finest career performance (7-for-16 passing for 117 yards with one touchdown and an intercep- tion), he is now 14-4 as the starter dating back to the 2010 season, when he took over at the end of the year for an injured Dayne Crist. The touchdown pass to senior tight end Tyler Eif- ert in the first quarter was the 34th of Rees' career, which ties him with Jarious Jackson (1996-99) for fifth on the school's all-time list.