Eighth-Ranked Irish Look To Harvest 10th Win

Nov. 21, 2017

Countdown To Kickoff

• 744 Offensive snaps played by Outland Trophy finalist Quenton Nelson this season without allowing a single sack or QB hit. He is the highest-rated OG in the nation by Pro Football Focus at 45.1, compared to the next-best guard at 39.8.
• 515 With 515 rushing yards at Boston College, it marked the third-most by any Irish team in a game since 1969 when they ran for a modern school-record 597 yards against Navy. It was good for a 10.1 yards per rush average, breaking the modern Notre Dame record (10.0) set against Great Lakes in 1942.
• 100 Brian Kelly coached his 100th game at Notre Dame against Miami (Fla.), becoming just the fifth head coach in school history to reach the milestone. He joins Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz.
• 10 Notre Dame travels to Stanford looking to win 10 games in a season for the second time in three years and third time in seven seasons under Brian Kelly.
• 9 With nine runs of at least 60 yards this season, the Irish are tied for the national lead in that category. Six of those runs came against Power 5 teams, making Notre Dame one of just four teams in FBS to have broken six runs of 60 yards or more against power conference teams this year.
• 8 CB Julian Love became the eighth Irish player to return two interceptions for touchdowns in a season when he recorded a pick-six against NC State to join his earlier INT return for a TD against Michigan State. Love recorded his third pick against Wake Forest and owns a single-season school-record 14 pass break-ups.
• 7 With seven runs of at least 60 yards this season, Heisman candidate Josh Adams leads the nation in that category. In addition, he is the only running back nationally to break four rushes of at least 70 yards.
• 6 NC State’s rushing defense entered the Oct. 28 contest ranked sixth nationally in rushing defense and had not allowed a 100-yard rusher all season. In Notre Dame’s 35-14 win, the Irish ran for 318 yards, including 136 by halftime, eclipsing the Wolfpack’s previous high for rushing yards allowed in a game of 133.
• 5 Notre Dame has not committed a turnover in five games this season. The Irish are 18th nationally in turnover margin with 20 forced turnovers and 12 giveaways. More importantly, Notre Dame is outscoring opponents off those turnovers, 108-41.
• 4 In games against Power 5 foes, Notre Dame ranks fourth nationally with 284.63 yards per game. In addition, the Irish are one of just nine teams to have eclipsed 2,000 rushing yards against Power 5 opponents this season.
• 3 Brandon Wimbush is the third QB in school history to eclipse both 500 rushing yards and 1,000 passing yards in the same season. He joins Tony Rice (1988 and `89) and DeShone Kizer (2015).
• 2 Heisman trophy candidate Josh Adams is one of just two players in Notre Dame history to reach 1,000 rushing yards for the season in eight games. He passed the mark against NC State, matching Vagas Ferguson who hit 1,000 in eight games in 1979. Adams was the fastest to 1,000 in terms of carries in school history.
• 1 Notre Dame is tied for the national lead in runs of at least 60 yards this season, with nine matching Arizona’s total. In addition, the Irish rank third in runs of 20-plus yards (39), second in runs of 30-plus yards (26), second in runs of 40-plus yards (15), third in runs of 50-plus yards (11) and second in runs of 70-plus yards (four).
• 0 No FBS player since 1996 other than Heisman trophy candidate Josh Adams has broke a TD run of at least 70 yards in four consecutive games. Per STATS, he passed four players since `96 who had TD runs of 70-plus in three straight games, including Heisman trophy winner Ricky Williams.