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#9/#7 Irish To Begin Season With Road Clash Against Florida State

Notre Dame Notes (PDF)

 GAME DAY INFORMATION
DateSunday, September 5, 2021
Time7:30 p.m. ET
Site: Doak Campbell Stadium | Tallahassee, FL
TV:TV: ABC (national)
Joe Tessitore (play-by-play)
Greg McElroy (analyst)
Katie George (sideline)
Radio:Notre Dame Radio Network
THE COACHES    
Head CoachAt SchoolOverallvs. Opponent
Notre DameBrian Kelly102-39 (12th year)ˆ273-96-2 (31st year)ˆ2-2
Florida StateMike Norvell3-6 (Second year)41-21 (Sixth year)0-1
 IRISH VS. SEMINOLES - BY THE NUMBERS
3Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Brian Kelly is just three wins away from tying Knute Rockne for most wins all-time by a Notre Dame coach.
4Since the start of 2018, Notre Dame is 33-5 (.868). 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.
7The Irish were ranked No. 7 in the preseason USA Today/Amway Coaches Poll. It is the highest preseason ranking for the Irish in the Kelly Era. It is the highest preseason ranking since 2006 when the Irish came in at No. 3.
9Notre Dame’s victory over No. 1 Clemson last season was Notre Dame’s ninth win over an AP No. 1 opponent, which ties for second-most all-time (Miami). Only Alabama has more (10).
12Brian Kelly is entering his 12th season as the head coach at Notre Dame. It is the second-longest tenure of any Irish head coach, trailing only Knute Rockne, who coached for 13 seasons.
19Notre Dame has won 19-consecutive-regular season games against ACC opponents. Its last defeat against an ACC foe in the regular season came back in 2017 against Miami. Of those 19 wins, 15 were won by 10 points or more.
24Notre Dame has won 24-consecutive games at home, setting the modern-era record for longest home win streak. It is the second longest active streak in FBS.
102Brian Kelly has tallied 102ˆ wins in his Notre Dame career. He is in sole possession of second place all-time in program history in career wins at Notre Dame.
371^Career games coached by Brian Kelly, second among active NCAA coaches to Mack Brown (North Carolina).
520After having nine selections in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Irish have had 520 draft picks all-time. No other college football program has totaled more than the Irish. The nine selections this past draft were the most ever in the Brian Kelly Era.

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

IRISH IN SEASON OPENERS

  • Notre Dame is 108-17-5 (.850) in season openers, with victories in 28 of the last 34 lid-lifters.
  • The Irish are 25-5-2 in true road games to open the season.
  • The last time the Irish started on the road to begin the season, they defeated Louisville, 35-17, to open the 2019 campaign.
  • In nine of the last 11 seasons, the Irish have scored the first points in the season’s opening game.
  • The Irish are 9-2 in season-openers under Brian Kelly.
  • Since 1958, the Irish are 37-4 (.902) in the season opener when scoring first, while they are 14-6 when the opponent registers the first score.
  • In 2020, the Irish won the opener against Duke, 27-13, after the Blue Devils notched the first points after a field goal in the first quarter.
  • In the 108 seasons Notre Dame has won its opener, the Irish have gone on to post a winning record 93.5 percent of the time (101 seasons).

INDIVIDUAL SEASON OPENER RECORDS

Category

Person

Stat

Opp.

Date

Total Offense

Tommy Rees

341

Temple

8/31/2013

Rushing Yards

Angelo Dabiero

176 (1 TD)

Oklahoma

9/30/1961

Rushing TDs

Rashon Powers-Neal

Everett Golson

3

Pittsburgh

Rice

9/3/2005

8/30/2014

Passing Yards

Tommy Rees

346

Temple

8/31/2013

Pass Attempts

Brady Quinn

47

BYU

9/4/2004

Pass Completions

Brady Quinn

26

BYU

9/4/2004

TD Passes

Ron Powlus

Jimmy Clausen

4

Northwestern

Nevada

9/3/1994

9/5/2009

Receptions

Jim Seymour

13

Purdue

9/24/1966

Receiving Yards

Jim Seymour

276

Purdue

9/24/1966

TD Receptions

Jim Seymour

Michael Floyd

3

Purdue

Nevada

9/24/2966

9/5/2009

All-Purpose Yds.

Willie Maher

361

Kalamazoo

9/29/1923

Points (kicking)

Nicholas Setta

17

Washington St.

9/6/2003

Field Goals

Nicholas Setta

5

Maryland

Washington St.

8/31/2002

9/6/2003

Kick Return Yds.

Paul Castner

253

Kalamazoo

9/30/1922

Punt Return Yds.

Vince McNally

225

Beloit

10/2/1926

Interceptions

Shane Walton

3

Maryland

9/31/2002

Tackles

Courtney Watson

18

Nebraska

9/8/2001

TEAM OPENER RECORDS

Category

Stat

Opp.

Season

Points Scored

116 (W, 116-7)

St. Viator

1912

Points in Quarter

35 (first)

Kalamazoo

1921

Points in Half

64 (second)

St. Viator

1912

Points Allowed

33 (L, 3-33)

Georgia Tech

2007

Points Allowed Qtr.

17 (first)

Nebraska

2001

Points Allowed Half

27 (first)

Nebraska

2001

AMONG THE NATIONS BEST

  • Since the start of 2018, Notre Dame is 33-5 (.868). 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.

Clemson

39-3

.929

Alabama

38-3

.927

Ohio State

33-3

.917

NOTRE DAME

33-5

.868

Oklahoma

33-6

.846

Georgia

31-7

.816

LSU

30-8

.789

Oregon

25-9

.735

Washington

21-10

.677

Michigan State

16-17

.485

Florida State

14-20

.412

2021 CAPTAINS

  • Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Brian Kelly announced seven team captains for Notre Dame’s 2021 football campaign this fall. They include Avery Davis, Kyle Hamilton, Kurt Hinish, Jarrett Patterson, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Drew White and Kyren Williams. All seven players were SWAT captains during the summer workouts.
  • The seven captains tie for the most in a single season in Notre Dame history. The Irish named seven captains prior to the 2017 and 2019 seasons.

IRISH IN THE POLLS

  • The Irish enter the 2021 season ranked No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the AP Poll.
  • The No. 7 ranking is the highest preseason ranking for the Irish in the Brian Kelly Era.
  • It is the highest preseason ranking since they went into the 2006 campaign ranked No. 3 in the country.
  • Notre Dame has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 63-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

63

2017-Current

46

1952-1956

41

1964-1967

  • The 63-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

214

2008-21

Clemson

103

2014-21

Georgia

67

2017-21

NOTRE DAME

63

2017-21

Florida

46

2018-21

Cincinnati

29

2019-21

CHASING ROCKNE

  • Head coach Brian Kelly enters 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 102^ and is just three 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.

RUN IT BACK

  • The Irish return a stable of experienced running backs heading into the 2021 season.
  • Led by the 2020 Second Team All-American and ACC Rookie of the Year Kyren Williams, the Irish return 2,010 rushing yards from the previous season.
  • Chris Tyree and C’Bo Flemister round out the running back group returning from last season and the trio all had at least one 100-yard rushing game in 2020.
  • The Irish were one of three Power 5 teams to have 100-yard rushing performances from three or more players.
  • The Irish were one of just two schools to have three separate running backs achieve that feat in 2020.
  • Williams burst onto the scene early last season, hitting the 100-yard rushing mark in three of the first four games of the season. He earned ACC Rookie of the Week in each of those three weeks and was named ACC Running Back of the Week after the 112-yard rushing, two touchdown performance in his first career start against Duke.
  • He had the best start of his career in the 42-26 win over Florida State after he racked up 185 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns.
  • Williams tallied his first three touchdown performance in the win over No. 1 Clemson. He posted 140 yards on 23 rushes, including a 65-yard rush for a touchdown on the first drive of the game. He earned his second ACC Running Back of the Week honor in the win.
  • In the road win over No. 19 North Carolina, Williams was named ACC Running Back of the Week following his 23 rushes for 124 yards and three total touchdowns. He eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season and was the first Irish running back to hit that number since Josh Adams in 2017.
  • In the College Football Playoff Semifinal against No. 1 Alabama, Williams tallied his 13th rushing touchdown of the season.  It was the most by an Irish running back since Autry Denson tallied 15 in the 1998 season.
  • Chris Tyree also had one of the best games of his young career in the win over Florida State, eclipsing the 100-yard mark with 103 yards on 13 carries.
  • Tyree and Williams were the first 100-yard rushing tandem for the Irish since 2017 against Southern Cal when Josh Adams and Brandon Wimbush both rushed for over 100-yards in the win.
  • Tyree also went over the 100-yard plateau in the regular season finale against Syracuse. He busted off a 94-yard run for a touchdown which was the longest rushing play of the season for an Irish player. It is the longest rush since Dexter Williams scampered for a 97-yard touchdown against Virginia Tech in 2018.
  • Flemister went over the 100-yard mark in the 52-0 win over South Florida. He rushed for 127 yards on the afternoon to break the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career.
  • Flemister received the game ball after his 80 yards of all-purpose yards and two touchdown performance in the road win over Boston College.

NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN

  • After Ian Book started 32 of the last 33 games for the Irish, there will be a new quarterback under center to begin the 2021 campaign.
  • Brian Kelly announced on August 14 that graduate student Jack Coan will be the Irish starting quarterback when they take on Florida State in the season-opener.
  • Coan comes to the Irish after spending four years at Wisconsin.
  • He played in 25 games for the Badgers, and made 18 starts to finish with a 12-6 career record.
  • Coan finished his career at UW third all-time in completion percentage (68%) and third in pass efficiency rating (144.7).
  • Prior to this season, Coan was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

  • After having one of the most experienced offensive lines in the country in 2020, the Irish will have a number of new faces on the line this year.
  • Jarrett Patterson and Josh Lugg are the two most experienced lineman returning from the 2020 squad.
  • Patterson, a team captain for 2021, has made 20 career starts in his career and is coming off a 2020 season where he was named an honorable mention All-American by Phil Steele.
  • Heading into this season, Patterson was named to the Rimington Trophy, Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award Watch Lists.
  • Lugg has played in 36 games and made seven starts on the line.
  • In 2020, he played in 11 of 12 games and made three starts for the offensive line that was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award.
  • Prior to this season, Lugg was one of six Irish named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List.
  • An impact transfer who will help the Irish on the offensive line is Cain Madden who joins the Irish from Marshall.
  • Madden was a 2020 Walter Camp Second Team All-American and an AP Second Team All-American.
  • He started 9-of-10 games for the Thundering Herd last season and the offensive line paved the way for Marshall to outrush their opponents in 7-of-10 games and outpass opponents in six.
  • Prior to the 2021 season, Madden has earned preseason All-American honors from Walter Camp (first team) and the Associated Press (second team). He was also named to the Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award Watch Lists.
  • Sophomore Zeke Correll will to be in the mix this season after starting the final two games of the 2020 season. He has played in seven games over his career.
  • An impact freshman in the mix to start right away for the Irish is five-star Blake Fisher from Avon, IN. Fisher would be the first true freshman to start on the line for the Irish since Robert Hainsey started in the Citrus Bowl against LSU in the 2017 season.
  • The last time the Irish had a true freshman start on the offensive line in the season opener was Sam Young against Georgia Tech in 2006.

THE MAYER

  • There were not many true freshmen in the country that made as big of an impact as tight end Michael Mayer in 2020.
  • He played in all 12 games and made three starts in his first year with the blue and gold and got better as the season went on.
  • He caught four or more passes in five of the final six games, including a season-best seven receptions against Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl. Mayer led the Irish receivers with 62 yards against the Crimson Tide.
  • He tallied a season best 72 receiving yards on five receptions in the road win against Pitt. All five of his receptions resulted in an Irish first down.
  • After the season, Mayer earned first team Freshman All-American recognition from The Athletic and was named to 247Sports True Freshman All-American team.
  • Heading into the 2021 season, Mayer earned a spot on the Biletnikoff Award and John Mackey Award Watch Lists.

DEEP DEFENSIVE LINE

  • Even after losing two starters from last year to the NFL Draft, the Irish bring back some of their most experienced players on the defensive line.
  • Graduate student Kurt Hinish is the most experienced player returning on the team as he has played 50 games in his career, starting in 25-consecutive games over the past two seasons.
  • In 2020, Hinish had the best season of his career with a career-best 19 tackles, 7.5 tackles-for-loss and 2.0 sacks.
  • Hinish was one of the seven captains named prior to the 2021 season.
  • Fellow graduate student Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa also brings a wealth of experience back on the line as he has logged 38 games played and 20 starts in his career.
  • In 2020, Tagovailoa-Amosa posted career-high numbers with six tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks. After the season, he earned second team All-ACC honors.
  • Heading into 2021, he joined Hinish in being named one of the seven team captains.
  • Tagovailoa-Amosa is also on a number of watch lists heading into the season including the Nagurski Trophy, Wuerffel Trophy, Reese’s Senior Bowl and Polynesian Player of the Year. He was also named to the AFCA Good Works Team this preseason.
  • Senior Jayson Ademilola (2) and sophomore Rylie Mills (1) are amongst the group of returning defensive linemen who have starting experience.
  • Other returners who look to make an impact on the line include sophomores Isaiah Foskey and Howard Cross III, and junior Justin Ademilola, who played in all 12 games last season rotating in on the line.
  • Another experienced returner includes junior Jacob Lacey who saw game action in 11-of-12 games last season.

SUPER SECONDARY

  • As with much of the Irish defense, experience reigns key, especially with the secondary unit.
  • Leading the secondary cast is junior Kyle Hamilton who has played and started in 24-of-25 games through his first two seasons.
  • In 2020, Hamilton led the defense with 63 tackles, including 51 solo. He was also one of seven defenders to tally an interception on the season.
  • He had a career day in the ACC Championship game with a team and career high 10 tackles, including eight in the first half, and an interception on the first drive of the game.
  • After the season, Hamilton earned All-American honors from the Football Writers Association (first team), Phil Steele (first team), the American Football Coaches Association (second team), Walter Camp (second team) and The Athletic (second team).
  • 2021 is no different in terms of accolades for Hamilton. He was named a preseason first team All-American by Walter Camp and the Associated Press.
  • Hamilton is also on a number of preseason watch lists including Bednarik Award, Thorpe Award, Nagurski Trophy, Lott IMPACT Trophy and Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List.
  • Fellow safety Houston Griffith joins Hamilton in bringing experience back to the secondary.
  • Griffith has played in 36 games in his Irish career, including each game over the past two seasons.
  • Last season, Griffith tied a career-best with 14 tackles, including a career-high 13 solo tackles.
  • Sophomore Clarence Lewis burst onto the scene in his freshman season in 2020.
  • He played in all 12 games and made six starts, including earning a start in just his second collegiate game.
  • He earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors after recording a career-best 12 tackles and one forced fumble in the regular-season-finale win against Syracuse.
  • The 12 tackles were the most by an Irish player since Julian Love had 12 in 2018 against Southern Cal.
  • After the season, Lewis was named a second team Freshman All-American by The Athletic.
  • Senior TaRiq Bracy also brings back experience to the secondary as he has played in 31 games over the past three seasons.

LETHAL LINEBACKERS

  • Senior captain Drew White leads the group of returning linebackers back who look to thrive in Marcus Freeman’s new defense.
  • White has played in 29 career games and made starts in 24 of the last 25 games for the Irish.
  • He earned the game ball in Notre Dame’s road win over No. 19 North Carolina, after posting five tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss, 0.5 sacks and one pass breakup.
  • White led the Irish with nine tackles in the College Football Playoff Semifinal Game against Alabama.
  • Heading into this season, he was named a team captain and is on the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List.
  • Another linebacker worth noting is senior Shayne Simon who has played in 11 games and made eight starts last season.
  • In his 2020 campaign, Simon posted a career-best 14 tackles and four pass breakups on the year.
  • His career-best-performance came in the win over No. 1 Clemson when he tallied four tackles, two pass breakups and one tackle-for-loss.
  • Sophomore Jack Kiser adds to the Irish depth at linebacker after coming onto the scene in 2020 against South Florida.
  • In his first career start, he led the Irish with eight tackles (seven solo) and added 2.0 tackles-for-loss and one QB hurry. After the game, Kiser was awarded the game ball.
  • Another sophomore in the mix at linebacker is JD Bertrand.
  • Bertrand played in 11 games last season, mainly on special teams. He has played in 15 games over the past two seasons.