Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

#12/#10 Irish Renew Acquaintances With Purdue

Notre Dame Games Notes (PDF)

 GAME DAY INFORMATION
DateSaturday, September 18, 2021
Time2:30 p.m. ET
Site: Notre Dame Stadium | South Bend, IN
TV:TV: NBC (national)
Mike Tirico (play-by-play)
Drew Brees (analyst)
Kathryn Tappen (sideline)
Radio:Notre Dame Radio Network
THE COACHES    
Head CoachAt SchoolOverallvs. Opponent
PurdueJeff Brohm21-25 (Fifth year)51-35 (Eighth year)0-0
Notre DameBrian Kelly104-39 (12th year)ˆ275-96-2 (31st year)ˆ4-0
 IRISH VS. BOILERMAKERS - BY THE NUMBERS
1Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Brian Kelly is just one win away from tying Knute Rockne (105) for most wins all-time by a Notre Dame coach.
4Since the start of 2018, Notre Dame is 35-5 (.875). That rate ranks fourth among all teams who have made an appearance in the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014. Among those teams, Notre Dame is one of just four teams that have totaled five or fewer losses (Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State) since the start of 2018.
8Notre Dame has won eight-straight games against in-state opponents. Their last lost against an in-state foe was against Purdue on Sept. 29, 2007.
10With the win over Toledo, Notre Dame has won 10-consecutive home openers under Brian Kelly. It ties for the longest win streak in home-openers since 1964-73, when Ara Parseghian also won 10-straight home openers.
11Brian Kelly improved his home opening record to 11-1 after the win over Toledo. He is now tied with Knute Rockne for the most home opening wins in Notre Dame history.
11Linebacker JD Bertrand led the Irish in tackles second-straight game with 11 against Toledo. He is the first Irish defender to have back-to-back games with double digit tackles since Alohi Gilman in 2018 (Southern Cal and Clemson).
25Notre Dame has won 25-consecutive games at home, setting its modern-era record for longest home win streak. It is the second longest active streak in FBS.
34With the 32-29 win over Toledo, the Irish have won 34-straight games against unranked opponents dating back to the 2016 season.
105The Irish have 105 wins all-time over in-state opponents with a record of 105-33-4 (.754).
373^Career games coached by Brian Kelly, second among active NCAA coaches to Mack Brown (North Carolina).
2009With the 32-29 win over Toledo, Notre Dame won both of its first two games by three points. It is the first time since 2009 that the Irish won back-to-back games by three points or less.

ˆ Includes 20 regular-season wins and two postseason appearances vacated under discretionary NCAA penalty.

HOME SWEET HOME

  • With the Irish trailing by five with 1:35 left in the home-opener against Toledo, quarterback Jack Coan led the Irish on the 75-yard game-winning drive in just three plays that was capped off with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Michael Mayer. After the two-point conversion, the Irish took a 32-29 lead that they would not relinquish to improve to 2-0 on the season.
  • It was Coan’s first game-winning drive in the final two minutes of the game in his career and it improved his career record to 14-6 as a starter.
  • The last time the Irish had a game-winning drive in the final minutes of the game was in 2019 when Ian Book led an 18-play, 87-yard touchdown drive to defeat Virginia Tech 21-20.
  • Coan finished the game with 239 yards and two touchdowns. It is just the third time in his career that he has had back-to-back multi-touchdown games.
  • Fellow quarterback Tyler Buchner made his collegiate debut against the Rockets and ripped off a 26-yard run on the first snap of his career.
  • Buchner led the Irish on a five-play, 96-yard drive in his first-career series than ended in a 43-yard touchdown run from Kyren Williams.
  • In the fourth quarter, Buchner recorded his first touchdown pass when he connected with Chris Tyree for a 55-yard strike.
  • It was Tyree’s longest-career-reception and his first-receiving touchdown of his career.
  • The win extended Notre Dame’s longest modern era home winning  streak to 25 games, a streak that dates back to the 2017 season.
  • The Irish also collected their 34th-consecutive win over an unranked opponent with the victory over Toledo.
  • The win gave the Irish their second-consecutive win by three points or less. It is the first time since the 2009 season that Notre Dame has won back-to-back games by three points or less. In 2009, the Irish defeated Michigan State 33-30 and followed it up with a 24-21 win over Purdue.
  • Notre Dame won its first game when trailing at halftime since Sep. 28, 2019, when they defeated Virginia, 35-20, after trailing, 17-14, at the half.

BE LIKE MIKE

  • Tight end Michael Mayer was a ball magnet again for the Irish in the win over Toledo, as he led the team in receptions and receiving yards for the third-straight game dating back to last season.
  • Mayer finished the game with seven receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
  • It was the first time in Mayer’s career that he tallied a multi-touchdown game.
  • He has three touchdowns through two games this season, surpassing last year’s total of two for the entire season.
  • Dating back to last season, Mayer has collected seven or more receptions in his last three games. The last Irish receiver to have three-consecutive games with seven or more receptions was Michael Floyd in 2011 (Maryland – 8;  Boston College – 10 and Stanford – 8).
  • Through two games this season, Mayer has totaled 16 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
  • Among tight ends in FBS, his is tied for the national lead for touchdowns and ranks second in receptions and receiving yards.

BALLIN’ BERTRAND

  • Linebacker JD Bertrand has a knack for the ball as he led the Irish in tackles for the second straight game against Toledo.
  • Bertrand totaled 11 tackles against Toledo to lead the squad, after he tallied 12 tackles in the season-opener against Florida State.
  • He is the first Irish player to have back-to-back double digit tackle games since Alohi Gilman in 2018. Gilman had  10 tackles against Southern Cal and then 18 against Clemson in the College Football Playoff Semifinal.
  • His 23 tackles this season ranks eighth in the country and he is tied for second in the NCAA with 16 solo tackles.
  • Bertrand also set a career high with 1.0 sacks against Toledo and recovered his first career fumble to seal the game in the fourth quarter.

BATTLE OF THE SHILLELAGH TROPHY

  • For the first time since 2014, Notre Dame and Purdue will meet for the Battle of the Shillelagh Trophy this upcoming weekend.
  • The Irish lead the all-time series against the Boilermakers 58-26-2 (.686) that dates all the way back to the  1896 season.
  • The game had occurred annually from 1946 up until their previous meeting in 2014. The two teams were set to meet last season before COVID-19 altered both team’s schedules.
  • The Irish have won their last seven games against the Boilermakers, keeping the Shillelagh Trophy on campus since the 2008 season.
  • The Irish currently hold all five of their traveling trophies  (Jeweled Shillelagh, USC; Leahy Memorial Bowl, Boston College; Legends Trophy, Stanford and the Megaphone Trophy, Michigan State) and have had all five since the 2018 season.

AMONG THE NATIONS BEST

  • Since the start of 2018, Notre Dame is 35-5 (.875). That rate ranks fourth among all teams who have made an appearance in the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014.
  • Among those teams, Notre Dame is one of just four teams that have totaled five or fewer losses since the beginning of 2018.
  • The Irish are one of five teams who have made playoff appearances in multiple seasons.

School

Record Since 2018

Win Pct.

Alabama

40-3

.929

Clemson

40-4

.909

Ohio State

34-4

.895

NOTRE DAME

35-5

.875

Oklahoma

35-6

.854

Georgia

33-7

.825

LSU

31-9

.775

Oregon

27-9

.750

Washington

21-12

.636

Michigan State

18-17

.514

Florida State

14-22

.389

IRISH IN THE POOLS

  • The Irish check in this week at No. 12 in the AP Top 25 and No. 10 in the Coaches poll.
  • Notre Dame has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 65-consecutive weeks, the longest such streak for the Irish since the 1994 season (124 weeks).

Notre Dame – Consecutive Weeks

Appearing in the AP Poll

Seasons

124

1987-1994

97

1969-1975

75

1942-1950

65

2017-Current

46

1952-1956

41

1964-1967

  • The 65-week run currently ranks fourth among all FBS active streaks, which do not include teams who were not listed in the initial AP polls at the beginning of the 2020 season (Big Ten and Pac-12).

Team

Weeks

Seasons

Alabama

216

2008-21

Clemson

105

2014-21

Georgia

69

2017-21

NOTRE DAME

65

2017-21

Florida

48

2018-21

Cincinnati

31

2019-21

CHASING ROCKNE

  • Head coach Brian Kelly is in his 12th season at the helm of the Fighting Irish and is on the tail of one of the greatest coaches in team history.
  • Kelly sits second all-time in wins at Notre Dame with 104^ and is just one win shy of tying Knute Rockne for the most all time in Notre Dame history.
  • Kelly stands alone as the only Irish coach in history to post six seasons with 10 wins or more (2012^, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020).
  • Kelly is just the second coach in Notre Dame history to coach 12 or more years in South Bend (Rockne – 13).
  • Last season, Kelly eclipsed the 100-win plateau after a 45-31 road win over Boston College, which tied Lou Holtz for second all-time in wins.
  • The very next week, Kelly surpassed Holtz when the Irish defeated No. 19 North Carolina on the road, 31-17.

—ND—