#9/#7 Irish Prep for Top-10 Battle With #7/#8 Cincinnati

Notre Dame Games Notes (PDF)

ˆ Includes 21 wins vacated under discretionary NCAA penalty.

MONSTERS OF THE MIDWAY

• Notre Dame’s defense had shades of the 1985 Bears when they flexed their muscle in the 41-13 win over #18/#15 Wisconsin on Sept. 25.
• The Irish allowed just 13 points for the second-consecutive game and the defense scored two touchdowns in the win.
• Linebackers Jack Kiser and Drew White both returned interceptions for touchdowns late in the fourth quarter. It was the first time since 2002 against Stanford that the Irish had two interceptions returned for a touchdown in the same game.
• The Irish also scored on special teams after a 96-yard kickoff return from Chris Tyree put Notre Dame up for good in the fourth quarter.
• It was the first Irish kick return for a touchdown since CJ Sanders did it against Army during the 2016 season.
• It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown Wisconsin had given up in its previous 122 games since Duane Bennett did it for Minnesota against the Badgers on Nov. 12, 2011.
• The Irish finished the game with four interceptions and five takeaways total.
• It was the first time since 2013 against Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl that the Irish had four interceptions in a game.
• It was the first time since 2019 against Virginia that they had five takeways in a single game.
• Notre Dame tallied an offensive, defensive and special teams touchdown in the same game for the first time since 2005 against Tennessee. Brady Quinn threw for a touchdown and Tom Zbikowski had a punt return and interception return for a touchdown.
• Wide receiver Kevin Austin set career highs with six receptions and two touchdowns. It was the first multi-touchdown game of his career.
• Quarterback Drew Pyne came on after the injury to Jack Coan and tossed his first career touchdown pass to Austin in the fourth quarter.
• Pyne finished with six completions for 81 yards and a touchdown, which were all career-best numbers.
• Punter Jay Bramblett boomed a 72-yard punt in the second quarter. It was the longest punt by an Irish player since Hunter Smith had a 79-yard punt against Arizona State in 1998.
• The Irish scored 31 points in the final quarter, setting the modern record for most points scored in the fourth quarter. The all-time record for most points scored in the fourth quarter was 32 against St. Viator back in 1912.
• The last time Notre Dame scored 31 points in a quarter was on Sept. 14, 2019 against New Mexico in the second quarter.

BALLIN’ BERTRAND

• Linebacker JD Bertrand continues to be a force for the Irish on defense as he was a key contributor in the win over Wisconsin.
• He led the Irish with seven tackles against the Badgers, the fourth straight game he has led the team in tackles to begin the season.
• Bertrand has totaled 42 tackles through four games is the most to begin a season since Manti Te’o totaled 54 over the first four games of the 2010 season.
• The 42 tackles rank 11th nationally and he is seventh in the nation in solo tackles with 27 for the season.
• Bertrand tied a career high with 12 tackles in the win over Purdue Boilermakers after he tallied 11 against Toledo and 12 in the season-opener against Florida State.
• The sophomore from Marietta, Ga. 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 Irish have totaled nine interceptions this year.
• The nine interceptions is currently tied for the NCAA lead this season. It is also the most interceptions through the first four games of the season by an Irish team over the past 25 seasons.
• Kyle Hamilton leads the team with three interceptions, a mark that ranks third in the country.
• Cam Hart is tied for 13th nationally with two interceptions on the season.
• Hamilton and Hart have 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 had six different players record an interception this season.
• In total, the Irish have 12 takeaways this season and that mark is second in the country behind Oregon with 13.
• Notre Dame is ranked No. 3 in the nation with a turnover margin of +7 through the first four games.
• The 14 sacks are the most in the first four games of a season since the 2012 campaign when the Irish also had 14 sacks in the first four games.
• The depth of the defense has been on full display as 10 different players have recorded a tackle for loss so far this season.
• The defense has also been able to find the endzone this season with two defensive scores. The two touchdowns are tied for fourth nationally for defensive touchdowns this season.

TOP-10 SHOWDOWNS

• The Irish are gearing up for just the third Top-10 matchup at Notre Dame Stadium during the Brian Kelly era.
• The Irish are 2-0 in Top-10 matchups at home under Kelly. They defeated No. 7 Stanford 38-17 in 2018 and then took down No. 1 Clemson 47-40 in double overtime in 2020.
• Notre Dame is 26-7-1 all-time in Top-10 matchups at Notre Dame Stadium.

SURPASSING A LEGEND

• With the 41-13 win on Sept. 25 over Wisconsin, head coach Brian Kelly surpassed Knute Rockne for the most wins all-time in Notre Dame history with 106^{^}.
• With the win over Wisconsin, the Irish improved to 4-0 this season. It is the third time in the last four seasons that the Irish have started the season 4-0. It is also the sixth time under Kelly that they have achieved that feat.
• 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 in his 12th year on the Irish sidelines and is just the second coach in Notre Dame history to coach 12 or more years in South Bend (Rockne – 13).
• It is the third time in the past four seasons and six time in his 12 years that Notre Dame has started the season 4-0.

AMONG THE NATIONS BEST

• Since the start of 2018, Notre Dame is 37-5 (.881). 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.

IRISH IN THE POLLS

• The Irish moved inside the Top-10 in each poll this week as they are No. 9 in the AP Poll and No. 7 in the Coaches Poll. Notre Dame has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 67-consecutive weeks, the longest such streak for the Irish since the 1994 season (124 weeks).

• The 67-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).

—ND—