Irish Making Final Preparations For Citrus Bowl

Dec. 22, 2017

Countdown To Kickoff

• 819 Offensive snaps played by Outland Trophy finalist Quenton Nelson this season without allowing a single sack or QB hit. He is the highest-rated offensive lineman in the nation according to Pro Football Focus at 48.1.
• 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.
• 101 Offensive linemen Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey were both consensus first team All-Americans this season, giving Notre Dame a nation-leading 101 consensus All-Americans in school history. The Irish passed Yale for the most all-time, a position the Bulldogs had held a lead in since 1897. In addition, Nelson was a unanimous first team selection, the 34th in school history and first since Manti Te’o in 2012.
• 10 Notre Dame enters the Citrus Bowl looking to win at least10 games in a season for the second time in three years 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 17 pass break-ups.
• 7 With seven runs of at least 60 yards this season, RB Josh Adams leads the nation in that category. In addition, he is the only running back in the country to break four rushes of at least 70 yards this season.
• 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 Five of Notre Dame’s 2017 opponents finished the regular season in the AP Top 25, with LSU becoming the sixth such foe. In addition, 10 of 12 regular season opponents are in bowl games this year, including one opponent in the College Football Playoff (Georgia) and two more in the New Year’s Six (USC and Miami). That follows a championship week which saw four of the Power 5 title game participants come from the Irish schedule.
• 4 LB Te’von Coney ranks fourth among major team (Power 5+ND) linebackers with a run stop percentage of 14.2 according to Pro Football Focus. The junior leads the Irish with 99 tackles entering the Citrus Bowl.
• 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 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’s offensive line won the Joe Moore Award for the first time in school history this season. Presented by the Foundation for Teamwork, the award is given annually the “toughest, most physical offensive line in the country,” and is the only major college football award given to a position unit or group.
• 0 No FBS player since 1996 other than Josh Adams has broken 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.