Oct. 28, 2000
POSTGAME NOTES
Final Score: Notre Dame 34, Air Force 31 (OT) (October 28, 2000)
The Irish now lead the series with Air Force 20-5, including a 10-3 record at Notre Dame Stadium.
The win improves Notre Dame to 1-3 all-time in overtime. The loss drops Air Force to 3-1 in overtime games.
Notre Dame wins after trailing at halftime for the first time since a 25-24 win over USC in 1999. They trailed the Trojans 21-3 at halftime.
Notre Dame’s win marks its 13th straight victory in October, dating back to a 20-17 loss to USC in ’97.
Matt LoVecchio becomes the first Irish QB to win his first four starting appearances since Kevin McDougal won his first nine in 1993.
The non-conference loss snaps a 13-game winning streak for Air Force over non-conference opponents in the regular season, dating back to 1996.
Notre Dame improves to 26-1 vs. the service academies since 1986.
The capacity crowd of 80,232 marks the 154th consecutive sellout in Notre Dame Stadium (the first 130 coming at the old 59,075 capacity). Today’s game also marks the 202nd home sellout in the last 203 games (dating back to 1964) and the 125th sellout in the last 145 games involving Notre Dame, including the first five games in 2000, the first 11 games in 1999 and the first 10 games in 1998.
The crowd of 80,232 marks the largest ever for an Air Force game, surpassing the 80,000 that watched the Falcons play San Diego State in the 1981 Mirage Bowl in Tokyo, Japan.
Matt LoVecchio has become the first Irish QB to throw a pair of TD passes in four consecutive games since Rick Mirer in 1992: two TD passes vs. Pittsburgh, BYU and Navy and three against Boston College.
Matt LoVecchio’s 68-yard TD pass marked the longest Irish completion since Rick Mirer threw a 70-yard TD pass to Michael Miller against Northwestern in 1992. Jarious Jackson also threw a 68-yard completion to Malcolm Johnson against Boston College in 1998.
Julius Jones gained 100-yards rushing for the third game this season (105 vs. Navy and 126 vs. Michigan State) and the fourth of his career (146 vs. Navy in ’99).
Julius Jones’ 119 kickoff return yards move him into fourth place on the Irish career kickoff return list with 1030 yards on 41 returns — trailing only Tim Brown (69-1613), Raghib Ismail (46-1271) and Jim Stone (49-1079). Jones passed teammate Tony Driver (43-1009) for fourth place.
Notre Dame was held scoreless in the first quarter for the first time since not scoring in the first quarter against Nebraska. The Irish also did not score in the first 15 minutes against Texas A&M in their season opener.
Julius Jones’ fumble on Notre Dame’s second offensive play marked the first fumble lost by the Irish this season and the first since losing two against Stanford in the final game of the 1999 season.
The Irish entered the game 3-7 on fourth-down conversions before converting two fourth downs on their first scoring drive.
Notre Dame’s 8:07 scoring drive on its first touchdown marked the longest Irish scoring drive since a 8:26 drive against Tennessee in 1999 that resulted in a four-yard TD run by David Givens.
Mark Thiessen’s 265 yards passing was a career high.
Mike Thiessen’s two TD passes bring his season total to 11 — the second most by an Air Force QB in the option era that dates back to 1980, behind only Beau Morgan’s 12 in 1995.
Thiessen’s 15 career TD passes rank him third in the Falcon option era — trailing Dee Dowis’ 18 and Beau Morgan’s 25.
Ryan Fleming’s 163 yards receiving was a career high. Fleming’s 163 yard effort also marked his fourth 100-yard game this year. In his last two games, Fleming has tallied 267 yards on 18 receptions (10 receptions and 104 yards vs. New Mexico).
Notre Dame had trailed at halftime twice this season and is 0-2 in those games. Nebraska led the Irish 14-7, and Michigan State led 10-7.
The Irish now lead the series with Air Force 20-5, including a 10-3 record at Notre Dame Stadium.
Notre Dame is now 1-3 all-time in overtime. The loss drops Air Force to 3-1 all-time in overtime.
Notre Dame wins after trailing at halftime for the first time since a 25-24 win over USC in 1999 after losing 21-3 at halftime.
Notre Dame’s win marks its 13th straight victory in October, dating back to a 20-17 loss to USC in ’97.
Matt LoVecchio becomes the first Irish QB to win his first four starting appearances since Kevin McDougal won his first nine in 1993.
The non-conference loss snaps a 13-game winning for Air Force over non-conference opponents in the regular season, dating back to 1996.
Notre Dame improves to 26-1 vs. the service academies since 1986.