#13 Irish Renew Rivalry for Jeweled Shillelagh with Southern Cal

Notre Dame Game Notes

ˆ Includes 21 wins vacated under discretionary NCAA penalty.

ENTER SANDMAN, EXIT IRISH

• The Irish secured another comeback win this season when they scored 11-unanswered points to defeat Virginia Tech 32-29 at Lane Stadium on Oct. 9.
• It is the third time this season the Irish have won a game after the opponent scored first and second time this year they have won a game when they have trailed heading into the fourth quarter.
• The win extended Notre Dame’s win streak to 36-straight wins over unranked opponents. It is the longest active streak in the FBS.
• The Irish also won their 21st-consecutive regular season game against ACC opponents. The Irish are 25-1 against ACC foes in the regular season since the start of the 2017 season.
• The win was also the eighth-straight road win for the Irish, a streak that goes back to 2019.
• Notre Dame won its 37-consecutive game when they have scored 30 points or more. The Irish are 70-9 under Brian Kelly when they score 30 or more.
• Quarterback Jack Coan led the Irish on two scoring drives in the final three minutes to complete the comeback. It is his second game-winning drive in the final two minutes of the season after not having one in his career entering this year.
• Fellow quarterback Tyler Buchner set a Notre Dame record in the win. He is the first true freshman quarterback to have a passing and rushing touchdown in the same game.
• Buchner had his first career rushing touchdown in the second quarter, followed by a passing touchdown to Kyren Williams right before halftime to give the Irish their first lead of the night.
• Buchner finished with a career high 113 passing yards and a career-long 46-yard reception.
• Williams had 107 all-purpose yards (81 rushing, 26 receiving) for his fourth game this season with 100 all-purpose yards or more. He had a rushing and a receiving touchdown in the same game for the third time in his career.
• Cornerback TaRiq Bracy notched his first career interception against the Hokies, the seventh different Irish player to record an interception this season.
• Kicker Jonathan Doerer hit his second game-winning field goal this season with the 48-yarder with 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter that put the Irish up for good.

BALLIN’ BERTRAND

• Linebacker JD Bertrand continues to be a key cog for the Irish defense as he led the team in tackles in the road win over Virginia Tech. He had 10 tackles in the game and has led the Irish in tackles in each of the six games this season.
• Bertrand has totaled 58 tackles through six games which is the most to begin a season since Manti Te’o had 69 in the first six games of the 2010 season.
• The 9.7 tackles per game are tied for 12th nationally and he is seventh in the nation in solo tackles per game with 6.0 for the season.
• He has totaled double digit tackles in four of the six games this season.
• Bertrand tied a career high with 12 tackles in the win over Purdue after he tallied 11 against Toledo and also had 12 in the season-opener against Florida State.
• The sophomore from Marietta, Georgia was the first Irish player to begin a season with three-straight double-digit tackles games since Courtney Watson back in 2001.
• He is also the first Irish player to have three-consecutive games with double-digit tackles since Alohi Gilman in 2018-19. Gilman had 10 tackles against Southern Cal and then 18 against Clemson in the College Football Playoff Semifinal in 2018 and followed it up with 10 tackles in the 2019 season opener against Louisville.
• In the win over Toledo, Bertrand set a career high in sacks (1.0) and recovered his first career fumble to seal the game late in the fourth quarter.
• Bertrand got his first career start in the opener against Florida State and his 12 tackles were the most by an Irish linebacker since Te’von Coney had 16 on Dec. 28, 2018 against Clemson.

CREATING HAVOC

• Under new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, the Irish defense has been one of the nation’s best at creating havoc plays this season, as Notre Dame has totaled 14 takeaways this season. The 14 takeaways are tied for 11th nationally.
• Of those 14 takeaways, the Irish have recorded 10 interceptions from seven different players.
• The 10 interceptions is currently tied for fifth in the NCAA. It is the most interceptions through the first six games of the season since 2014 when the Irish also had 10 interceptions to start the year.
• The Irish are also stout defensively on third down, as they are 19th in the country with a 32 percent (29-91) conversion rate.
• Kyle Hamilton leads the team with three interceptions  and is ranked tied for seventh nationally with 0.7 per game.
• Cam Hart has two interceptions on the season and is tied for 35th nationally with 0.3 per game.
• Hamilton and Hart both had two interceptions in a game this season, the first time since 2018 that the Irish have had two players with two interceptions in a game in the same season (Jalen Elliott and Alohi Gilman).
• The Irish have 16 sacks this season and rank 35th in the country with 2.67 sacks per game. Eight different players have a sack so far this season.
• The depth of the defense has been on full display as 15 different players have recorded a tackle for loss this season.
• The defense has also been able to find the endzone this season with two defensive scores. The two touchdowns are tied for fifth nationally.

FREAKY FOSKEY

• Defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey leads the team with 6.0 sacks this season and 6.5 tackles for loss.
• The 1.0 sacks per game is tied for eighth nationally. He has tallied at least one sack in five games this year.
• Foskey is tied for the team lead with three takeaways this season after collecting his second fumble recovery of the year in the win over Virginia Tech.
• Foskey forced his first career fumble against Cincinnati after recording his first career fumble recovery in the win over Wisconsin.
• Foskey began the season with a career-high eight tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss and 2.0 sacks in the road win over Florida State.

BATTLE FOR JEWELED SHILLELAGH

• Notre Dame and Southern Cal will meet for the 92nd time this weekend for the Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy.
• This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2019. They had met every season since 1945 before the 2020 matchup was postponed due to the Pac-12 scheduling.
• The Irish have won the last three matchups between the two schools and have won the last four games at Notre Dame Stadium.
• Notre Dame is 7-3 against Southern Cal under Brian Kelly.
• The Irish are 9-2 under Kelly coming off the bye week and are 2-1 against Southern Cal when facing them after the bye.

BE LIKE MIKE

• Tight end Michael Mayer is one of the best tight ends in the country, as he ranks in the top-five among tight ends in receptions and receiving yards.
• Mayer ranks second in receptions with 32 and fourth in receiving yards with 360.
• He led the Irish against Cincinnati with eight receptions and 93 yards on the afternoon. It was the fourth time this season Mayer has led the team in receptions and the fourth time this year he has hauled in seven or more passes.
• Mayer had seven catches for 61 yards in the win over Wisconsin at Soldier Field.
• In the win over Toledo, Mayer finished the game with team high marks in receptions with seven, yards with 81 and touchdowns with two.
• It was the first time in Mayer’s career that he tallied a multi-touchdown game.
• Dating back to last season, Mayer collected seven or more receptions in three straight games (Alabama, Florida State and Toledo). 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).
• In just his second collegiate season, Mayer is already climbing the ranks in the Notre Dame Record Book:

SUPER SPECIALISTS

• The Irish entered the 2021 season with the same kicker and punter for the third straight season with the return of kicker Jonathan Doerer and punter Jay Bramblett.
• Doerer returns for his fifth season with the Irish thanks to the extra year of eligibility and is working his way up the Irish record book:

• Doerer is currently tied for 32nd nationally in field goals per game with 1.33.
• Bramblett has played in every game (31) for the Irish since he came to campus prior to the 2019 season.
• He sits eighth all-time in Notre Dame history with 141 punts in his career.
• He is ranked fourth all-time in Notre Dame history with a 41.5 career punting average.
• Bramblett launched a career-long 72-yard punt in the win over Wisconsin this season. It was the longest punt by an Irish player since Hunter Smith had a 79-yard punt against Arizona State in 1998.

AMONG THE NATIONS BEST

• Since the start of 2018, Notre Dame is 38-6 (.864). That rate ranks fifth 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 five teams that have totaled six or fewer losses since the beginning of 2018.
• The Irish are one of five teams who have made playoff appearances in multiple seasons.

IRISH IN THE POLLS

• The Irish checked in this week at No. 13 in the AP and the Coaches poll.
• Notre Dame has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 70-consecutive weeks, the longest such streak for the Irish since the 1994 season (124 weeks).

• The 70-week run currently ranks third 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).

—ND—