Oct. 14, 2014
DATE
– Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014
TIME
– 8:23 p.m. EDT
SITE (CAPACITY)
– Doak Campbell Stadium (82,300); Tallahassee, Florida
TELEVISION
– ABC national telecast with Chris Fowler (play by play), Kirk Herbstreit (analysis) and Heather Cox (sideline).
– The Irish are 6-1 when appearing on ABC since 2012. The Irish were 4-0 in 2012 with victories over Michigan State, Oklahoma, Boston College and USC. The Irish went 1-1 in 2013 with a win over Purdue but a loss against Pittsburgh. This year, Notre Dame defeated Syracuse on ABC on Sept. 27.
– ESPN’s College GameDay will be broadcast live from Tallahassee. This marks the 25th time that GameDay has originated from a Notre Dame game site, including the once studio-based show’s road debut, live from Heritage Hall at the Joyce Center before the 1993 Florida State game.
RADIO
– IMG College Sports is the exclusive national rights holder for Irish football radio broadcasts. IMG College manages, produces and syndicates the Irish national football radio network. Notre Dame games are broadcast on up to 117 affiliates by Don Criqui (play by play), former Irish great Allen Pinkett (analysis) and Jeff Jeffers (sideline). This broadcast can be heard live on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (channel 129).
– The broadcast will be preceded by a one hour pre-game show hosted by Tony Castricone with Criqui, Pinkett and interviews conducted by Jack Nolan.
– All games can be heard in South Bend on News & Sports Radio 96.1 FM & 960 AM and Sunny 101.5 FM.
TICKETS
– Florida State is expecting a sellout crowd on Saturday night.
– Notre Dame has played in front of sellout crowds in 270 of its previous 316 games (.854) overall. The Irish have played before 641 sellouts in 917 total games (.699) since 1930. Notre Dame has played in front of sellouts in 290 of its last 291 home games.
WEB SITES, SOCIAL MEDIA
– Notre Dame (UND.com…@NDFootball), Florida State (Seminoles.com…@FSU_Football)
POLLS
– Notre Dame is ranked No. 5 in both the Associated Press and Amway Coaches’ polls. Florida State is ranked No. 2 in both polls.
SERIES INFO
– Florida State leads the series, 5-2. This is only the second meeting in Tallahassee, joining a 2002 Notre Dame win.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
– Notre Dame looks to improve to 7-0 on the year for the 32nd time in school history and the second time in the past three seasons.
90 Saturday marks the 90th anniversary of Notre Dame’s fabled 13-7 victory over Army at the Polo Grounds, Oct. 18, 1924. The game inspired iconic New York Herald-Tribune scribe Grantland Rice to refer to Notre Dame’s backfield of Harry Stuhldreher, Jim Crowley, Don Miller and Elmer Layden as “the Four Horsemen.”
31 Jameis Winston will become the 31st different Heisman Trophy winner to face Notre Dame at some point in his collegiate career. The 31 winners represent 44 percent of the 70 non-Irish Heisman Trophy winners.
11 Saturday’s game at Florida State marks the 11th time in school history that Notre Dame has been involved in a game where both teams were 6-0 or better. The Irish own a 9-0-1 record in the previous 10 such meetings.
10 Saturday’s matchup with Florida State marks the 24th time in school history that Notre Dame will face the defending national champions. The Irish have knocked off the reigning champions on 10 previous occasions–most recently vs. Michigan in 1998 (36-20).
9 Head coach Brian Kelly is in search of his ninth AP-ranked win at Notre Dame. He is 8-7 vs. the AP Top 25 for the Irish.
8 Notre Dame ranks eighth among the Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense–surrendering 17.2 points per game. The Irish also rank eighth with 10 interceptions.
7 WR Will Fuller already has seven touchdown receptions in 2014. He ranks tied for fifth in the FBS in TD catches.
6 Notre Dame boasts a 27-5 record in its 32 outings since the start of the 2012 season. There are only six FBS teams which can beat that lofty 27-win mark during the past three years, including Florida State.
5 Notre Dame has won 35 of its last 43 games–good for an .814 winning percentage, which is the fifth-best winning percentage in the nation over the span.
4 Under Brian Kelly, Notre Dame is 11-6 in games decided by four points or less. The 11 such victories are tied for the most nationally since 2010.
3 CB Cole Luke has made three interceptions over the past two games – snaring two against Stanford and one vs. North Carolina.
2 Since 2011, Notre Dame has allowed just 30 rushing TDs, which is the second-fewest among all FBS teams.
1 When the score differential at halftime is four points or less, Brian Kelly and Notre Dame own a 12-2 record. Only one FBS school has a better winning percentage than the Irish in such instances since 2010.
0 No Notre Dame quarterback has a higher winning percentage as a starter than Everett Golson’s .941 (16-1).