Senior tight end John Carlson caught six passes for 98 yards in last year's game against Penn State

Irish Set To Face Nittany Lions

Sept. 4, 2007

Full Notes Package in PDF Format
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DATE: Saturday, September 8, 2007

TIME: 6:06 p.m. ET

SITE (CAPACITY): Beaver Stadium (107,282); University Park, Pa.

TICKETS: The game between Notre Dame and Penn State is officially sold out, making it the 63rd in the last 69 road games for the Irish that were sellouts. The 2001, 2003 and 2005 games at Stanford, the 2004 game vs. Navy (The Meadowlands), the 2005 game at Washington and the 2006 game at Air Force were not sellouts.

TV: ESPN national telecast with Mike Patrick (play-by-play), Todd Blackledge (analysis), Holly Rowe (sideline) and Bo Garrett (producer).

RADIO: For the 40th consecutive season, all Notre Dame football games are to be broadcast on approximately 200 stations in 50 states by Westwood One with Don Criqui (play-by-play), former Irish running back Allen Pinkett (analysis) and Jeff Jeffers providing pre-game, halftime and post-game reports. This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 159) and will be streamed live on the Irish official athletics website at www.und.com.

All Notre Dame home games may be heard in South Bend on U93-FM (92.9) and WDND-AM (1490) with pre-game analysis featuring Sean Stires and Vince DeDario. The post-game show is hosted by Jack Nolan and features former Notre Dame players Reggie Brooks and Mirko Jurkovic. See page 11 of this notes package for more information on Irish football radio and television shows.

Real-Time Stats: Live in-game statistics will be provided through College Sports Television¹s Gametracker via each school’s respective official athletic websites.

Web Sites: Notre Dame (und.com), Penn State (gopsusports.com).

POLLS: Notre Dame received 11 votes in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 and 90 votes in the USA Today Coaches poll. Penn State is ranked No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 18 in the USA Today poll.

SERIES INFO: This meeting will be the 19th all-time between the rivals. It is the Irish¹s 13th-most played series and the seventh most frequent with any school in the Big Ten. Notre Dame holds a 9-8-1 lead in the series and took last year¹s meeting, 41-17, in the home opener. The Irish have won two consecutive meetings and four of the last six dating back to 1988. Notre Dame is 2-5-1 against the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley. Notre Dame has not won at Penn State since 1989. (see All-Time Series Results on page 2-3).

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: This game will mark the road opener of the 119th season of football at Notre Dame and the third under head coach Charlie Weis … The Irish have won each of their two road openers under Weis after dropping seven of the previous eight road openers before his arrival to South Bend … Weis is 2-0 in road openers and 8-1 on the road overall … Notre Dame is 75-32-5 all-time in road openers … The Irish did not play a road game during the 1887, 1888, 1892, 1894, 1895 and 1896.

NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH Charlie Weis: Charlie Weis (Notre Dame, 1978) is in his third season as the Notre Dame head coach. The Irish finished his inaugural season with a 9-3 mark and an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. Notre Dame followed that campaign with a 10-3 record last season and another BCS Bowl berth (Sugar). With 19 wins over his first two seasons, Weis has captured more games than any other previous Irish coach through his first two years on the Notre Dame sidelines. In addition to leading one of three schools to consecutive BCS Bowl games, Weis guided the Irish to their most wins over any two-year span since 1993-94. Weis is 1-0 vs. Penn State.

PENN STATE HEAD COACH JOE PATERNO: Joe Paterno (Brown, 1950) is in his 42nd season as head coach. He has a career record of 363-121-3 (.748) record at Penn State. Paterno recently moved past Amos Alonzo Stagg for longest tenure at a single institution among major college coaches. Stagg was a head coach for 57 years, including 41 at the University of Chicago (1892-1932). He will also earn the distinction with his induction into the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. Paterno ranks second all-time (trailing only Florida State¹s Bobby Bowden, 366) in victories among Division I-A coaches. He has led the Nittany Lions to five perfect seasons (1968, 1969, 1973, 1986, 1994) and two national championships (1982 and 1986). Last year, Paterno led Penn State to nine victories, capped by the triumph over Tennessee in the 2007 Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day. Paterno spent 16 years as an assistant for the Nittany Lions before being named head coach prior to the 1966 season. Paterno is 8-6 all-time against Notre Dame.

PENN STATE SCOUTING REPORT: The Nittany Lions opened their 2007 season with a 59-0 rout of Florida International last weekend. Anthony Morelli tossed for 295 yards and three touchdowns, while Austin Scott added two TDs on the ground. Penn State ranked up 27 first downs and 549 total yards (313 in the air and 236 on the ground). The Nittany Lions defense limited the Golden Panthers to just seven first downs and 114 total yards (-3 rushing, 117 passing). With the game just 24-0 at halftime, Penn State scored on five of its first seven possessions of the second half to blow the game open. Junior LB Sean Lee led the Nittany Lions defense with seven solo tackles, two for loss, a forced fumble and a sack. All-American senior LB Dan Connor added five tackles, a fumble recovery and sack. Penn State finished the 2006 season with a 9-4 record that included a 20-10 win against Tennessee in the Outback Bowl, and the No. 24 spot in the final AP Poll. The Nittany Lions lost three defensive linemen and two-time All American linebacker Paul Posluszny off a defense that allowed only 14.4 points per game, but is still expected to be one of the nation’s best in large part to the return of Connor and Lee, both are Butkus Award candidates.

Top Irish Performances
vs. Penn State

INDIVIDUAL
Rushing Yards
Allen Pinkett, 36-217; 11.12.1983

Passing Yards
Steve Beuerlein, 24-39-0, 2 TDs; 11.15.1986

Receptions
Tim Brown, 8-89, 2 TDs; 11.15.1986

Receiving Yards
Milt Jackson, 4-118; 11.12.1983
Milt Jackson, 5-118; 11.15.1986

Points Kicking
John Carney, 11 (5 PATs; 2 FGs); 11.17.1984 Carl Gioia, 11 (5 PATs; 2 FGs); 9.9.2006

Kickoff Return Yards
Allen Pinkett, 4-148, 1 TD; 11.13.1982

Punt Return Yards
Steve Lawrence, 1-50; 11.15.1986

Touchdowns
Allen Pinkett, 4 (4 rushing); 11.12.1983 Allen Pinkett, 4 (4 rushing); 11.17.1984

Tackles
Maurice Crum, Jr., 14; 9.8.06

Interceptions
13 different players with one

TEAM
Points Scored

44 (W, 44-7); 1984 in Notre Dame

Points Scored (quarter)
24 (W, 44-7); 1984 (second) in Notre Dame

Points Scored (half)
31 (W, 44-7); 1984 (first) in Notre Dame

Points Allowed
36 (L, 36-6); 1985 in Penn State

Points Allowed (quarter)
21 (L, 35-13); 1991 (first) in Penn State

Points Allowed (half)
23 (L, 36-6); 1985 (first) in Penn State

A NOTRE DAME WIN THIS WEEK WOULD…

  • Give Notre Dame a victory in its road opener for the third consecutive season (Irish dropped six of seven road openers before Weis became head coach).
  • Make the Irish 76-32-5 (.695) all-time in road openers.
  • Be the third consecutive victory over Penn State and fifth in the last seven meetings.
  • Be the second win in the last three meetings in Happy Valley.
  • Improve Notre Dame to 10-8-1 in the all-time series with Penn State.
  • Improve the Irish to 3-5-1 in the all-time series with the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley.
  • Improve Notre Dame to 5-6-0 all-time against a ranked Penn State squad.
  • Improve Notre Dame to 2-3-0 all-time against a ranked Penn State squad in Happy Valley.
  • Improve an unranked Notre Dame to 5-4-1 all-time against Penn State and 2-3-1 in Happy Valley.
  • Improve Weis’ record to 20-7 overall, 2-0 against Penn State and 6-3 against the Big 10 Conference.
  • Improve Weis’ road record to 9-1.
  • Improve Weis’ record to 8-3 in September games.
  • Improve Weis’ record to 14-5 in afternoon games.
  • Improve Notre Dame’s all-time record to 822-270-42 (.744).
  • Improve the Irish all-time record on the road to 288-134-22 (.673).
  • Improve Notre Dame’s all-time record against the Big 10 Conference to 217-107-15 (.662).
  • Improve Notre Dame’s all-time record on the road against the Big 10 Conference to 96-67-9 (.608).

A NOTRE DAME LOSS THIS WEEK WOULD…

  • Be the first road opening loss since 2004 — when the Irish lost at BYU, 20-17.
  • Make the Irish 75-33-5 (.686) all-time in road openers.
  • Even Notre Dame at 9-9-1 in the all-time series with Penn State.
  • Drop the Irish to 2-6-1 in the all-time series with the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley.
  • Drop Notre Dame to 4-7-0 all-time against a ranked Penn State squad.
  • Drop Notre Dame to 1-4-0 all-time against a ranked Penn State squad in Happy Valley.
  • Drop an unranked Notre Dame to 4-5-1 all-time against Penn State and 1-4-1 in Happy Valley.
  • Drop Weis’ record to 19-8 overall, 1-1 against Penn State and 5-4 against the Big 10 Conference.
  • Drop Weis’ road record to 8-2.
  • Drop Weis’ record to 7-4 in September games.
  • Drop Weis’ record to 13-6 in afternoon games.
  • Drop Notre Dame’s all-time record to 821-271-42 (.744).
  • Drop the Irish all-time record on the road to 287-135-22 (.671).
  • Drop Notre Dame’s all-time record against the Big 10 Conference to 216-108-15 (.662).
  • Drop Notre Dame’s all-time record on the road against the Big 10 Conference to 95-68-9 (.608).

NOTRE DAME VS. BIG 10

  • Notre Dame has faced no other conference as often as the Big Ten. The Irish have played 338 all-time games against the 11 current members of the league. The Irish have played almost three times as many games against the Big Ten as any other conference. The Pac-10 (122) and ACC (104) are the only other conferences against whom Notre Dame has played at least 100 games.
  • Notre Dame has won more than 66 percent of its games versus Big Ten Conference schools, with a record of .500 or better against nine of the 11 members (Michigan and Ohio State being the exceptions). The Irish have an overall mark of 216-107-15 (.661) against the league, with nearly 54 percent of those games (182) coming versus Michigan (14-19-1), Michigan State (44-25-1) and Purdue (51-25-2), all of whom are on the 2007 schedule.
  • Notre Dame will play four members of the Big 10 in 2007. In addition to Penn State, the Irish will face Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue. Notre Dame has played a member of the Big Ten every single season since 1915. In fact, the Irish will face four Big Ten schools in the same season for second consecutive year. The Irish face Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue for the sixth straight season.
  • Notre Dame has posted a 95-66-9 record against Big Ten opponents on the road.

Notre Dame – Penn State Series Notes

  • This year’s road opener for Notre Dame is the 19th meeting with Penn State. The Irish lead the all-time series, 9-8-1.
  • The school’s first met in 1913 where Notre Dame picked up a 14-7 victory and met again in 1925 when the two teams played to the only tie in the series history.
  • The two schools met as independents every year from 1981-1992 prior to Penn State joining the Big Ten Conference in 1993. This is the second meeting of the two institutions since the Nittany Lions moved to the Big Ten.
  • This is Penn State head coach Joe Paterno’s 42nd season and he owns an 8-6 record against Notre Dame in 14 previous meetings.
  • Saturday’s matchup ends a streak of five consecutive meetings between the two schools when each were ranked in the top 25. Notre Dame had been the higher ranked squad in four of those five meetings. The Irish held a slight 3-2 advantage in those contests.

ROAD OPENERS

  • The Irish are 75-32-5 (.692) in road openers and have won each of their last two.
  • Notre Dame has dropped seven of its last 10 road openers.
  • The Irish are playing its first ever road opener in Happy Valley.
  • Notre Dame is 38-20-3 all-time when its road opener is against an Big 10 school.

NOTRE DAME-PENN STATE CONNECTIONS

  • Current Notre Dame assistant head coach (defense)/defensive backs coach Bill Lewis and Penn State linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden have each served as a head coach in the ACC. Lewis was the head coach at Georgia Tech from 1992-94, while Vanderlinden held the reigns at Maryland from 1997-2000.
  • The 2007 Notre Dame roster features six players from the state of Pennsylvania, including senior ILB Joe Brockington, junior DE Derrell Hand, freshman ILB Steve Paskorz, senior HB Travis Thomas, junior OG Michael Turkovich and sophomore CB Darrin Walls. Brockington is a native of Palmyra, Pa., and graduated from Palmyra High School. Hand graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School in Philadelphia, Pa., while Paskorz is a native of Allison Park, Pa., and alum of Hampton High School. Thomas hails from Washington, Pa., and attended Washington High School. Turkovich graduated from Valley Forge Military College, but hails from Bedford, Pa. Walls calls Pittsburgh home and attended Woodland Hills High School.
  • The 2007 Penn State roster features three players from the state of Indiana, including senior DE Josh Gaines, junior DE Tom Golarz and senior OG Ross Muir.
  • A a number of players from Penn State and Notre Dame attended the same high school or hail from the same hometown.
Notre Dame High School/Hometown Penn State
Jake Richardville, WR Fort Wayne, Ind. Josh Gaines, DE
Kyle McCarthy, SS Youngstown, Ohio Daryll Clark, QB
Darrin Walls, CB Pittsburgh, Pa. Justin King, CB
Anthony Morelli, QB
Sean Lee, LB
Eric Maust, P Atlanta, Ga. Jordan Lyons, TE
Eric Olsen Staten Island, N.Y. Ollie Ogbu, DT
Ambrose Wooden Clinton, Md. Phillip Taylor, DT

CLAUSEN GETS THE BALL IN HAPPY VALLEY
Jimmy Clausen will be the first freshman quarterback to start for Notre Dame since Brady Quinn got the call against Purdue on Sept. 27, 2003. His start on Saturday against Penn State, just the second game of the year, will be the earliest start into a season for an Irish freshman quarterback since 1951. Clausen also is just the eighth freshman quarterback to start for the Irish in the last 57 seasons (1951-present), joining Ralph Guglielmi (1951), Blair Kiel (1980), Steve Beuerlein (1983), Kent Graham (1987), Paul Failla (1991), Matt LoVecchio (2000) and Quinn (2003) in that elite club. Notre Dame is 6-1 since 1951 when a freshman quarterback makes his first-ever start for the Irish.

Sept. 27, 2003 Purdue 23, ND 10 (Game 4) Brady Quinn (29-59 for 297 yards, TD, 4 INT)
Oct. 7, 2000 ND 20, Stanford 7 (Game 5) Matt LoVecchio (10-18 for 100 yards, 2 TDs)
Sept. 28, 1991 ND 45, Purdue 21 (Game 4) Paul Failla (1-1 for 10 yards)
Nov. 7, 1987 ND 32, Boston College 25 (Game 8) Kent Graham (6-8 for 111 yards, INT)
Oct. 1, 1983 ND 27, Colorado 3 (Game 4) Steve Beuerlein (8-12 for 133 yards)
Oct. 11, 1980 ND 32, Miami 14 (Game 4) Blair Keil (4-17 for 35 yards)
Nov. 17, 1951 ND 12, North Carolina 7 (Game 8) Ralph Guglielmi

How Do They Stack Up?
Average weight of the offensive and defensive lines:
ND OL 301.8 lbs. vs. PSU DL 276.0 lbs.
ND DL 284.3 lbs. vs. PSU OL 298.0 lbs.

Average height of the receivers and the secondaries:
ND WR/TE 6’1″ vs. PSU DB 5’11” ND DB 6’0″ vs. PSU WR/TE 6’0″

In Front of a Full House
Notre Dame has played in front of sellout crowds in 193 of its previous 220 games, including 68 of its last 74 contests dating back to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2000 season (the 2001, 2003 and 2005 games at Stanford, the 2004 game vs. Navy at the Meadowlands, the 2005 game at Washington and the 2006 game at USC were not sellouts). At Michigan in 2003, the Irish and Wolverines attracted the largest crowd in NCAA history (111,726), marking the third time in the history of the series that an NCAA attendance record was set. Including last year’s game at Georgia Tech, the Irish have been part of establishing a new stadium attendance record seven times since 2001. The list also includes: at Nebraska and Texas A&M in 2001, at Air Force and Florida State in 2002, home vs. Boston College in 2002, vs. Oregon State in the Insight Bowl in 2004 – the game set a Bank One Ballpark record for football configuration). Notre Dame and Michigan played before an over-capacity 111,386 at Michigan Stadium in September of 2005. At Purdue in ’05, the Irish and Boilermakers played before 65,491 football fans, a Ross-Ade Stadium record (since the renovation of the facility in 2003).

100,000 FANS (OR MORE) AWAIT THE IRISH
Notre Dame is quite accustomed to playing in front of huge crowds, but the Irish could take the feat to another level in 2007. Notre Dame will travel to Michigan and Penn State in consecutive weeks. The Irish will likely draw crowds well over 100,000 at each venue. The two venues list their respective capacities at 107,501 (Michigan Stadium) and 107,282 (Beaver Stadium). Notre Dame will become the first school to ever play consecutive road games against ranked opponents before crowds exceeding 100,000. Minnesota is the only school to ever play consecutive road games before 100,000 (Penn State and Michigan during the 2005 season), but the Nittany Lions were unranked at the time of the game. The combined attendance for those two road games was an NCAA record 217,721 (106,604 at PSU and 111,117 at UM).

Notre Dame could also become the first school in NCAA history to ever play three regular season road games before crowds of 100,000. Both Penn State and Michigan will definitely exceed that mark, but UCLA could as well.

The Rose Bowl lists its current capacity at 91,136, though crowds eclipsing 100,000 routinely fill the stadium.

NEWCOMERS THROWN INTO ACTION
In the season opening loss against Georgia Tech, nine members of the 2007 signing class saw their first action. Armando Allen (Fr., HB), Jimmy Clausen (Fr., QB), Robert Hughes (Fr., HB), Duval Kamara (Fr., WR), Matt Romine (Fr., OT), Kerry Neal (Fr., LB), Golden Tate (Fr., KR), Brandon Walker (Fr., PK) and Ian Williams (Fr., NT) each played in their first season with the Irish. In addition to those nine players from the 2007 signing class making their Notre Dame debuts versus Georgia Tech, the following players saw action in an Irish uniform for the first time: Thomas Bemenderfer (Jr., OC), Dan Wenger (So., OG), Demetrius Jones (So., QB), Leonard Gordan (So., DS/DC), Luke Schmidt (So., FB), Paddy Mullen (So., DT) and Kallen Wade (So., DE). In all, 16 of the 61 players that played against Georgia Tech for Notre Dame were making their first ever appearance in an Irish uniform.

YOUTH ON SERVE
Notre Dame used a total of 61 players against Georgia Tech on Saturday. An incredible 31 of those players were either freshman or sophomores, including five that started. Just over 50% of the players on the field were in their first or second year with the Irish. On the other hand, Georgia Tech started just one freshman or sophomore and played only 19 first or second year players.

The 31 freshman and sophomores playing in a season opener stands as the most in Irish history. The previous high for first and second year players in a Notre Dame season opener came during the 1983 and 1989 seasons (29).

Opponent, Date Fr./So. Played
Georgia Tech, 2007 31
Virginia, 1989 29
Purdue, 1983 29
Purdue, 1984 23
Maryland, 2002 23
Indiana, 1991 22
Kansas, 1999 22
Purdue, 1980 21
Michigan, 1987 21
Northwestern, 1992 21

STARTING SOMETHING
Five offensive players and four players on the defensive side of the ball picked up their first career starts in Saturday’s loss against Georgia Tech.

George West (X), Paul Duncan (LT), Michael Turkovich (LG), Dan Wenger (RG) and Demetrius Jones (QB) each started the game for the first time for the Irish offense, while Pat Kuntz (NT), John Ryan (OLB), Anthony Vernaglia (OLB) and David Bruton (FS) hit the field the first play for the Notre Dame defense.

MORE ON THE FRESHMAN
Notre Dame used nine freshman in its season opening loss to Georgia Tech last weekend. It was tied for the fourth most used in an opener since the freshman eligibility rule became enacted in 1972. The Irish used 11 freshmen in the 2006 opener against the Jackets. A total of 14 frosh played in the 36-13 win over Virginia in the 1989 Kickoff Classic and 12 saw action in the 52-6 blowout of Purdue in 1983.

Opponent, Date Freshman Played
Virginia, 1989 14
Purdue, 1983 12
Georgia Tech, 2006 11
Georgia Tech, 2007 9
Michigan, 1987 9
Michigan, 1986 8
Michigan, 1998 8

IRISH ALL-STARS ON WATCH LISTS
Notre Dame senior strong safety Tom Zbikowski is a candidate for nearly every defensive award this season. The two-time All-American has been named to preseason watchlists for the Bednarik Award, Lott Trophy, Nagurski Trophy and Thorpe Award. In addition, senior tight end John Carlson, a Mackey Award finalist in 2006, was distinguished as one of 50 preseason candidates for the Maxwell Award. Senior linebacker Maurice Crum, Jr. is on the watch lists for the Bednarik, Nagurski and Lott, while senior center John Sullivan is on the Outland and Rimington lists. Sullivan, senior defensive end Trevor Laws and Crum are also on the Lombardi watch list.

SCHEDULE NOTES

  • Notre Dame will face eight teams that went to bowl games last year: Georgia Tech (Gator), Penn State (Capital One), Michigan (Rose), Purdue (Champs), UCLA (Emerald), Boston College (Meineke Car Care), USC (Rose) and Navy (Meineke Car Care).
  • Notre Dame is the only school in the country to face a school from a BCS conference over the first eight weeks of 2007. The next longest streak to open this season is four (Florida Atlantic). The Irish also play a total of 10 BCS affiliated schools (which is tied for second most in the NCAA).
  • The Irish take on Duke for the first time since 1966. Notre Dame leads the brief all-time series, 2-1. The Irish blanked the Blue Devils, 64-0, in the last meeting.
  • Notre Dame will make travel to the Rose Bowl for the first time since Knute Rockne brought his eventual national champion 1924 squad to Pasadena to face Stanford in the Rose Bowl. The ’24 team featured the Shock Troops, Seven Mules and the famous Four Horsemen.

ONLY THE BIG BOYS
After last Saturday, Notre Dame is now one of just five NCAA Division I-A programs that has never faced a non-Division I-A opponent since the current division setup was established in 1978 (the division’s names have undergone a change this year, but the setup is still the same). The four remaining schools that have yet to play a non-Division I-A opponent since the advent of the current format are Michigan State, USC, UCLA and Washington. The list stood at seven entering this season, but Michigan and Ohio State each opened its respective seasons with Appalachian State and Youngstown State on Sept. 1.

2007 NOTRE DAME OPPONENT UPDATE
Below is a look at Notre Dame opponents’ results from last week. Since 1977, when the NCAA started rating strength of schedule, Notre Dame’s schedule has been rated the most difficult five times in the last 30 years (1978, 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1995).

Opponent ’07 Record Sept. 1
Georgia Tech 1-0 W, 33-3 (Notre Dame)
Penn State 1-0 W, 59-0 (FIU)
Michigan 0-1 L, 32-34 (App. State)
Michigan State 1-0 W, 55-18 (UAB)
Purdue 1-0 W, 52-24 (at Toledo)
UCLA 1-0 W, 45-17 (at Stanford)
Boston College 1-0 W, 38-28 (Wake Forest)
USC 1-0 W, 38-10 (Idaho)
Navy 1-0 W, 30-19 (at Temple)
Air Force 1-0 W, 34-3 (SC State)
Duke 0-1 L, 14-45 (UConn)
Stanford 0-1 L, 17-45 (UCLA)
Notre Dame 2007 Opponents’ Combined Record: 9-3 (.750)

NOTRE DAME IN SEPTEMBER

  • Notre Dame is 120-43-4 (.731) all-time during the month of September.
  • The Irish are 75-17-2 (.809) in September home games.
  • Notre Dame has an all-time mark of 40-24-2 (.621) in road games during September.
  • The Irish went 4-1 (first time in school history ND ever played five games in the month) in September last season (at Georgia Tech, W, 14-10; Penn State, W, 41-17; Michigan, L, 47-21; at Michigan State, W, 40-37; Purdue, W, 35-21).

LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE ’07
Every spring after spring drills, the Irish coaching staff votes on the Leadership Committee, which head coach Charlie Weis brought to Notre Dame in 2004. The Leadership Committee consists of players who serve in an advisory role.

Player, Pos. Cl. Hometown
John Carlson, TE Sr. Litchfield, Minn.
Maurice Crum, Jr., LB Sr. Tampa, Fla.
Trevor Laws, DE Sr. Burnsville, Minn.
Geoff Price, P Sr. Plano, Tex.
John Sullivan, C Sr. Old Greenwich, Conn.
Travis Thomas, TB Sr. Washington, Pa.
Tom Zbikowski, SS Sr. Arlington Heights, Ill.

PINKETT IN THE HOUSE
Allen Pinkett, the second leading rusher in Notre Dame football history, opened his seventh season as color commentator for Irish football on Westwood One. Pinkett still holds a number of Irish school records, including most career rushing touchdowns with 49, but he did some of his best work against Penn State. Pinkett rushed for 537 yards and scored eight touchdowns in his four meetings with the Nittany Lions (1982-85). In fact, Pinkett galloped to four TDs in consecutive years against Penn State (’83 and ’84).

WHAT’S NEW?
Much change has been happening with and around the Notre Dame football team since the final second ticked off the scoreboard against LSU in the Sugar Bowl. Here are some of the more notable changes:

  • Shift to 3-4: The Irish scrapped the 4-3 defense in favor of the 3-4 scheme in an effort to get more speed on the field.
  • New Face, New Title: Head coach Charlie Weis brought in two new coaches, including defensive coordinator Corwin Brown. Brown joined the Irish coaching staff after spending the previous three years with the New York Jets of the NFL. Weis also moved former Notre Dame quarterback Ron Powlus into the role of quarterbacks coach. Powlus spent the previous two seasons with the program as the director of personnel development.

SIX IRISH PLAYERS EARN PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Senior strong safety Tom Zbikowski was a preseason first-team All-America selection by ESPN.com, Athlon, The Sporting News and Phil Steele. He also earned preseason second-team honors from Lindy’s and honorable mention accolades from Street & Smith’s. Senior tight end John Carlson also earned multiple preseason first-team All-America selections. Athlon and Phil Steele each named Carlson a preseason first-team All-American. He also garnered second-team accolades from Lindy’s and Street & Smith’s. Senior center John Sullivan was the third and final Irish player to receive preseason first-team All-American honors. Sullivan was chosen by Street & Smith’s. He also earned second-team honors from Phil Steele and third-team from Lindy’s. Senior cornerback Ambrose Wooden, senior punter Geoff Price and sophomore offensive tackles Sam Young all earned honorable mention preseason All-American from Street & Smith’s. Price was also tabbed a second-team All-American by Lindy’s.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

  • Notre Dame returns 10 letterwinners on offense, including three starters. The returnees include Freshman All-American lineman Sam Young and second team All-America tight end John Carlson as well as Rimington and Outland Trophy candidate John Sullivan.
  • The Irish offensive line has two of five starters back from last year in sophomore Sam Young and senior John Sullivan. Among the departed were tackle Ryan Harris, who finished his career with 45 consecutive starts, and guard Dan Santucci, who closed his with 25 straight.
  • Senior TE John Carlson, a Mackey Award finalist in 2006 and Maxwell Award candidate in 2007, exploded onto the scene last season becoming Notre Dame’s third-leading receiver in terms of yardage and worked his way into the Fighting Irish record books. The 6-6, 256-pound student-athlete from Litchfield, Minn. caught 47 passes for 634 yards and four touchdowns despite missing almost three entire games. Carlson recorded the second-most receiving yards in a single season ever by a Notre Dame tight end and ranked third for most receptions in a single season by a tight end. He ranked second in the NCAA Division I in receptions per game by a tight end and third for most receiving yards per game by a tight end in 2006.

TOP IRISH RECEIVING SEASONS IN IRISH TIGHT END HISTORY

Gms. Rec. Yds TD
Ken MacAfee (1977) 11 54 797 6
Anthony Fasano (2005) 12 47 576 2
John Carlson (2006) 11 47 634 4
Tony Hunter (1982) 11 42 507 0

QUARTERBACKS EFFICIENT, DESPITE CONSTANT DURESS
Despite constant pressure from the Georgia Tech defense that led to nine sacks, the Notre Dame quarterback trio of sophomore Demetrius Jones, junior Evan Sharpley and freshman Jimmy Clausen still managed to complete 15-for-22 passes — good for 68.2%. The completion percentage ranked 10th best in the Charlie Weis era. Sharpley finished 10-for-13 on the day for 92 yards. His 76.9% completion percentage is third best since Weis arrived at Notre Dame.

AR(MAN)DO TO BE RECKONED WITH
Freshman HB Armando Allen totaled 110 all-purpose yards in his first career game with Notre Dame last weekend. Allen recorded 84 kick return yards on five tries and 25 yards rushing on three carries. He also added a reception for one yard.

No Turnovers = Victory (Usually)
Notre Dame did not commit a turnover in six of its 13 games last season — and to the surprise of nobody — the Irish were 6-0 in those contests.

Excluding the 2006 Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State and the 2004 regular season finale at USC, the Irish had not lost a game in which it failed to commit a turnover since 1985. That USC defeat snapped an amazing 41-game unbeaten streak (40-0-1) for the Irish when they didn’t commit a turnover.

Prior to the ’04 game with the Trojans, the last time a Notre Dame team lost a game without committing a turnover was in a 34-30 loss at Penn State on Nov. 12, 1983. In all, Notre Dame is 48-2-1 since 1983 when not turning over the football.

Charlie And The Irish Offensive Factory
Third year head coach Charlie Weis came to Notre Dame with a tremendous reputation as one of the premier offensive minds in all of the NFL. The Irish saw immediate results in 2005, setting 11 school records, including passing yards (3,963), touchdown passes (32, bested in 2007), total offense yards (5,728) and total points (440). Notre Dame has surpassed the 40-point barrier on 10 different occasions in Weis’ 26 games as head coach. Prior to his arrival, the Irish had eclipsed 40 points just nine times in its previous 97 contests. In addition, the Irish had 83 separate 100-yard receiving games over its first 116 seasons of football, but Notre Dame has had 19 the past two years under Weis. To put those numbers in perspective, Notre Dame averaged a 100-yard receiving effort every 13 games. Under Weis, the Irish is almost recording a 100-yard receiving effort every game.

MORE ON WEIS’ OFFENSE
Notre Dame has registered its top two passing seasons in school history each of the last two years. The Irish averaged 330.3 yards in the air in 2005 and 264.7 in 2006. Notre Dame has also eclipsed 400 points each of the last two seasons. The Irish had only topped 400 points in a season on five previous occasions (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996). In fact, the 843 total points scored over ’05 and ’06 are the most points ever scored in consecutive years — besting the previous school record of 835 (1991 and 1992).

IRISH AIM TO CONTINUE QUARTERBACK’S FIRST-START MAGIC

  • Notre Dame opened the 2007 season with a new starting quarterback, sophomore Demetrius Jones. While history was on the side of the young signal caller, he was not able to add to the lore of first time starting Irish QBs. From 1985-98, Notre Dame was victorious in nine straight games in which an Irish quarterback was making his first career start, including four coming in a season opener. Those openers were won by Rick Mirer (#1 Notre Dame def. #4 Michigan 28-24 in ’90), Kevin McDougal (#7 Notre Dame def. Northwestern 27-12 in ’93), Ron Powlus (#3 Notre Dame def. Northwestern 42-12 in ’95) and Jarious Jackson (#22 Notre Dame def. #5 Michigan 36-20 in ’98).
  • Notre Dame’s nine-game, first-start streak ended in the 10-0 loss at USC on Nov. 28, 1998, when Eric Chappell started in place of the injured starter Jackson (then-freshman Arnaz Battle also played a large chunk of that game).
  • With the possibility that either junior Evan Sharpley or freshman Jimmy Clausen could start this weekend against Penn State, Notre Dame may have another chance to extend its success under first time starting quarterbacks.

Last 16 starting debut games by Notre Dame quarterbacks (Irish are 12-4 in those contests).

  • Terry Andrysiak, sophomore (vs. Mississippi, 11/9/85, 8th game of season) … win, 37-14 … 4-of-8 passing, 60 yards, TD … 2 rushes for -7 yards.
  • Tony Rice, sophomore (#11 Notre Dame at Air Force, 10/17/87, 5th game of season) … win, 35-14 … 1-of-5 passing, 10 yards, INT … 9 rushes for 70 yards, 2 TD … played due to Andrysiak’s broken collarbone injury, in previous game at Pittsburgh.
  • Kent Graham, freshman (#9 Notre Dame vs. Boston College, 11/7/87, 8th game of season) … win, 32-25 … 6-of-8 passing, 11 yards, INT … 3 rushes for 7 yards.
  • Rick Mirer, sophomore (#1 Notre Dame vs. #4 Michigan, 9/15/90, 1st game of season) … win, 28-24 … 14-of-23 passing, 165 yards, TD, INT … 10 rushes for 12 yards, TD.
  • Paul Failla, freshman (#8 Notre Dame at Purdue, 9/28/91, 4th game of season) … win, 45-20 … 1-of-1 passing, 10 yards … 2 rushes for 11 yards … started in place of Mirer due to team policy of “no practice, no start” (Mirer had pulled rib cartilage during the week) … Mirer replaced Failla beginning with the second series.
  • Kevin McDougal, senior (#7 Notre Dame vs. Northwestern, 9/4/93, 1st game of season) … win, 27-12 … 6-of-8 passing, 135 yards … 5 rushes for -16 yards.
  • Ron Powlus, sophomore (#3 Notre Dame at Northwestern, 9/3/94, 1st game of season) … win, 42-15 … 18-of-24 passing, 291 yards, 4 TD … 2 rushes for 6 yards.
  • Tom Krug, junior (#8 Notre Dame at Air Force, 11/18/95, 11th game of season) … win, 44-14 … 8-of-13 passing, INT … 3 rushes for 13 yards … started due to Powlus’ collarbone injury, in previous week versus Navy.
  • Jarious Jackson, senior (Notre Dame vs. #5 Michigan, 9/5/98, 1st game of season) … win, 36-20 … 4-of-10 passing, 96 yards, 2 TDs, INT … 16 rushes for 62 yards.
  • Eric Chappell, junior (#9 Notre Dame at USC, 11/28/98, 11th game of season) … loss, 10-0 … 0-of-3 passing, 2 INT … 7 rushes for 33 yards.
  • Arnaz Battle, junior (Notre Dame vs. #24 Texas A&M, 9/2/00, 1st game of season) … win, 24-10 … 10-of-16 passing, 133 yards … 12 rushes for 50 yards.
  • Gary Godsey, sophomore (Notre Dame vs. Purdue, 9/16/00, 3rd game of season) … win, 23-21 … 14-of-25 passing, 158 yards, INT … 7 rushes for 3 yards, TD.
  • Matt LoVecchio, freshman (#25 Notre Dame vs. Stanford, 10/7/00, fifth game of season) … win, 20-14 … 10-of-18 passing, 100 yards, 2 TD … 13 rushes for 36 yards, TD.
  • Carlyle Holiday, sophomore (Notre Dame at Texas A&M, 9/29/01, third game of season) … loss, 24-3 … 6-of-13 passing, 73 yards, 2 INT … 12 rushes for 23 yards.
  • Brady Quinn, freshman (Notre Dame at #22 Purdue, 9/27/03, fourth game of season) … loss, 23-10 … 29-of-59 passing, 297 yards, 4 INT, TD … 8 rushes for 25 yards.
  • Demetrius Jones, sophomore (Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech, 9/1/07, first game of season) … loss, 33-3 … 1-of-3 passing, 4 yards, 2 fumbles … 12 rushes for 28 yards.

EVEN MORE NOTRE DAME QUARTERBACK’S FIRST-START MAGIC
Demetrius Jones was looking to become the 12th consecutive QB making his first start in a season opener to lead the Irish to victory last weekend against Georgia Tech. Dating back to 1964, Notre Dame had won 11 straight season-opening games with a new quarterback: John Huarte (vs. Wisconsin, ’64), Bill Zloch (vs. Cal, ’65), Terry Hanratty (vs. Purdue, ’66), Pat Steenberge (vs. Northwestern, ’71), Tom Clements (vs. Northwestern, ’72), Rick Slager (vs. Boston College, ’75), Rick Mirer (vs. Michigan, ’90), Kevin McDougal (vs. Northwestern, ’93), Ron Powlus (vs. Northwestern, ’94), Jarious Jackson (vs. Michigan, ’98) and Arnaz Battle (vs. Texas A&M, ’00).

SPREADING THE WEALTH
The trio of Jones, Sharpley and Clausen completed passes to a total of nine different Irish receivers last weekend (five of those receptions were the first career grabs for the respective player). It was the first most different Notre Dame receivers to register a catch in a single-game since nine logged receptions at USC on Nov. 27, 2004.

YOUNG RECEIVERS
The Notre Dame offense boasts an experienced pass-catcher at the tight end position, but at running back and wide receiver, the Irish will be utilizing some young talent in 2007. The current group of wideouts boasts a grand total of 46 career catches and 29 of those come from the hands of junior David Grimes (served as Notre Dame’s #3 receiver a year ago). Sophomore George West has just four career catches (two last week), but played in all 13 games in 2006 and registered one touchdown rush and 16 returns (12 on kickoff and four on punt). Sophomore Robby Parris, who was the only other wideout on the Irish roster with a reception entering the year, grabbed three balls for 30 yards against Georgia Tech. Junior D.J. Hord, who missed all of last season with a torn achilles, did see action in six games during the 2005 season. He picked up his first career catch against the Yellow Jackets. Freshman WR Duval Kamara (two catches for 19 yards), sophomore TE Will Yeatman (one grab for 10 yards), senior RB Junior Jabbie (one for three yards) and Armando Allen (one for one yard) all recorded their first career catch. Sophomore Richard Jackson played in 12 games last year, mostly on special teams, but did not see action last week.

RED ZONE SUCCESS
The Irish offense had a 89.9 percent success rate in the ‘red zone’ last fall. Notre Dame converted 44-of-49 chances inside the opponents’ 20-yard line, including 37 touchdowns. The Irish registered a touchdown 75.5 percent of the time entering the ‘red zone.’

John Carlson turned In All-American Type Season in 2006 Despite an injury that sidelined him for nearly three full games, Notre Dame senior TE John Carlson exploded onto the college football scene in 2006. He had 47 receptions for 634 yards — good for an average of 57.6 yards a game and 13.5 per reception. Carlson’s season ranked as one of the best ever by an Irish tight end. His 634 yards receiving ranks second best in single-season tight end history, while his 47 catches was tied for second best. Carlson’s 13.5 yards per catch was second among all Irish receivers in 2006. He was 81st, nationally, in receiving yards per game and fourth among tight ends. He also ranked 78th overall in receptions per game and sixth in the category among tight ends. With Carlson’s 121-yard effort on four grabs against Michigan State (also tied an ND record for average yards per reception in a single-game), he became the first Irish tight end to eclipse 100 yards receiving in a game since Anthony Fasano had 155 yards against Purdue on Oct. 2, 2004.

Carlson, who became the 49th Irish football player to be named ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American, is the only 2006 Mackey Award finalist to return in 2007. He is one of three tight ends on the Maxwell Award watch list. Carlson ranks third all-time for receptions (63) in Notre Dame tight-end history and needs just 30 grabs this season to move into second.

He proved to be one of the top tight ends in 2006 and his numbers compared quite favorably with the last seven John Mackey Award winners.

Year Player No. Yds TD
2006 John Carlson 47 634 4
————————————————————————————————————-
2006 Matt Spaeth (Minnesota) 59 804 9
2005 Marcedes Lewis (UCLA) 58 741 10
2004 Heath Miller (Virginia) 36 475 5
2003 Kellen Winslow (Miami) 55 557 1
2002 Dallas Clark (Iowa) 39 645 4
2001 Daniel Graham (Colo) 51 753 6
2000 Tim Stratton (Purdue) 56 579 2

DEFENSIVE NOTES

  • The Irish return 18 letterwinners and five starters on defense. Heading the list of returnees is two-time All-America strong safety Tom Zbikowski.
  • With the addition of new defensive coordinator Corwin Brown, Notre Dame switched from its previous 4-3 base defense to a 3-4. The change was due in large part to head coach Charlie Weis’ familiarity with the scheme from his time in the NFL.
  • Fifth-year senior LB Joe Brockington broke onto the scene in 2006 starting the final nine games. Brockington finished the season with 59 tackles, good for fifth on the team. He recorded a career-best 15 stops at Air Force.
  • Notre Dame is replacing three of its four starters on the defensive line with the graduation of tackle Derek Landri and ends Victor Abiamiri and Chris Frome. Fifth-year senior Trevor Laws is the lone returning starter. Laws registered 62 tackles, 40 solo, and 11 for loss, including four sacks.

CRUMBLING THE COMPETITION

  • Senior LB Maurice Crum totaled 100 tackles in 2006 to lead Notre Dame. Crum was the first Irish player to eclipse the 100 tackle mark since Courtney Watson had 117 in 2003.
  • Crum, as well as senior DT Trevor Laws and junior FS David Bruton, led the Irish with nine tackles against Georgia Tech. For Crum, it was the fifth time in his career he led Notre Dame in tackles. He led the Irish in tackles four times in 2006 (Penn State, 14; UCLA, 8; UNC, 9; USC, 9). Crum added a tackle for loss versus the Jackets.

ZIBBY NEARLY ALL-TIME LEADER IN TACKLES BY DEFENSIVE BACK
After picking up four tackles last week against Georgia Tech, two-time All-American strong safety Tom Zbikowski moved even closer to the Notre Dame career record for tackles by a defensive back. With 224 career stops, Zbikowski trails Jim Browner (228, 1976-78) by just five tackles.

SOMETHING BRUTON IN THE NOTRE DAME SECONDARY
Junior FS David Bruton made quite an impression in his first career start for the Irish last weekend. He finished with a game-high tying nine tackles, two for loss, and a sack. Bruton also managed to pick up a special teams tackle on senior Geoff Price’s 55-yard long punt — denying the Georgia Tech returner to gain a single yard.

TREVOR LAYING DOWN THE LAWS
Senior DE Trevor Laws was quite active in his new role as DE in the Notre Dame 3-4 defense. Laws, who finished fifth on the Irish in tackles last year, totaled nine stops last Saturday. He also added a quarterback hurry and blocked field goal. The field goal block was the fourth of his Irish career.

NO LOADING IN THE RED ZONE
Notre Dame limited Georgia Tech to a pair of field goals (another field goal attempt was blocked) on the Jackets’ three first half red zone opportunities. In fact, the Jackets drove inside the Irish 26-yard line on six different occasions in the opening 30 minutes and came away with just 16 points (three FGs, one TD).

MORE FROM THE IRISH DEFENSE

  • Of Georgia Tech’s four scoring drives before intermission, three began in Irish territory (two after fumbles) and another opened at the Yellow Jacket 47-yard line. In fact, four scoring drives that resulted in 16 of their 33 points came off drives of 18, 36, 21 and 17 yards.
  • While Tashard Choice did gain 196 yards on 26 carries, the Irish actually bottled up the Georgia Tech star for most of the afternoon. Choice collected 106 of those 196 yards on just four carries. Take away those runs, Notre Dame limited Choice to 90 yards on 22 totes.
  • The Irish did not allow Georgia Tech a single third down conversion in the first half. The Yellow Jackets were 0-for-6 on third down and did not register a third down conversion until their seventh drive of the afternoon.
  • Notre Dame allowed just over 200 yards (203.4) per game passing in 2006. The Irish also allowed their opponents to complete just over 55% of its passes a year ago. Georgia Tech completed, though, on just 45% (11-for-24) of its throws for a mere 121 yards.

SENIOR SECONDARY
With a pair of seniors, Notre Dame enjoys an abundance of experience in the secondary. Fifth-year senior, two year captain and two-time All-American strong safety Tom Zbikowski leads the Irish secondary. Zbikowski, who entered the 2007 preseason camp at a trim 207 pounds (down 10 pounds from 2006), looks to close his Irish career on a high note. After a 2005 season that saw Zbikowski register five interceptions, two for touchdowns, and return a pair of punts for scores, he failed to pick off a single pass in 2006. Zbikowski has started 37 of Notre Dame’s last 38 games — missing only the Stanford game of 2006 due to injury.

Fellow fifth-year senior CB Ambrose Wooden has made 15 career starts at right cornerback, including all 12 games in 2005 before an injury forced a set-back in 2006. He finished third on the 2005 Irish in tackles (74) and tied for second in pass breakups (5). Junior cornerback Terrail Lambert returns to the fray at left corner back. Lambert started the final 10 games of 2006 and was second on the Irish with three interceptions, including a 27-yard gamewinning INT return against Michigan State.

The lone new face in the secondary is junior David Bruton at free safety. Bruton replaces two-year starter Chinedum Ndukwe (now with the Cincinnati Bengals). Bruton, who was a special teams stalwart for Notre Dame in 2006, captured defensive MVP honors at the 2007 Blue-Gold game after returning an interception 35 yards for a touchdown and recording four tackles. Sophomore Darrin Walls, who started against Georgia Tech, has made three career starts at corner, while senior Leo Ferrine has started a pair and junior Ray Herring started the Stanford game in 2006 (replaced an injured Zbikowski). Junior Kyle McCarthy and sophomores Raeshon McNeil and Munir Price (converted from running back) also play into the mix in the secondary.

Zbikowski’s Rapid Returns
Senior strong safety Tom Zbikowski has made a name for himself in the Notre Dame record books. He became the fifth player in Irish history to ever return three punts for touchdowns in a career. Zbikowski has seven career TD returns (two interceptions, three punts, two fumbles). Zbikowski scooped up a fumble and raced 25 yards for a touchdown against Penn State in 2006. With the return, Zbikowski became the Irish all-time leader in fumble return yards (100) and joined Tony Driver (1997-00) as the only Notre Dame players to ever return a pair of fumbles for touchdowns. In a three-game stretch against USC, BYU and Tennessee in 2005, he returned a punt or interception for a touchdown four times – the first Irish defensive player to accomplish such a feat. Zbikowski also returned a fumble 75 yards for a TD against Michigan State in 2004. With his interception and punt return for a touchdown against Tennessee in 2005, Zbikowski became the first Irish player to accomplish that feat (interception return and punt return in the same game) since Nick Rassas against Northwestern in 1965. Rassas returned an interception 92 yards and a punt 72 yards for scores in Notre Dame’s 38-7 rout.

Career Punt Returns For TD
Tom Zbikowski 3 2003-06
Allen Rossum 3 1994-96
Ricky Watters 3 1987-90
Tim Brown 3 1984-87
Nick Rassas 3 1963-65

SPECIALTY NOTES

  • Notre Dame opened the season with a new kicker for the third consecutive season. D.J. Fitzpatrick (’05), Carl Gioia (’06) and now freshman Brandon Walker. Walker is the first freshman kicker for Notre Dame since Nicholas Setta in 2000.
  • Walker, a freshman from Findlay, Ohio, became the first left-footed Irish kicker since the recently-deceased Harry Oliver held the duties during the 1980-81 seasons. The drought dates back to Oliver’s 35-yard boot against Miami on Nov. 27, 1981. Since that kick, a total of 21 different Irish kickers have attempted 430 field goal attempts — all coming from the right side.
  • Sophomore Nate Whitaker did not seem bothered by the new NCAA rule. Despite the ball getting moved back five yards (and now kicked from the 30 instead of 35), Whitaker averaged 67.5 yards on his two kicks against Georgia Tech. His first kick sailed to the five yards line, while his second carried halfway into the end zone.

They Shall Return

  • During the past 21 seasons (1987-07), Notre Dame has produced 90 touchdowns via kickoff, punt, interception and fumble returns ­- with the most recent touchdown runback coming Nov. 11 on junior Terrail Lambert’s 76-yard blocked field goal return at Air Force.
  • Notre Dame scored four touchdowns via returns last season, two by the defense (INT return by Lambert at Michigan State and fumble return by Tom Zbikowski vs. Penn State) and two by special teams (punt return by Zbikowski against North Carolina and blocked field goal return by Lambert at Air Force).
  • In contrast, opponents in the past 21 seasons have combined for 32 total touchdown returns vs. the Irish. Here’s a year-by-year breakdown of the Irish return touchdowns since 1986:
Year PU KO INT FUM
1987 3 0 1 0
1988 2 2 3 0
1989 2 2 3 0
1990 0 2 0 0
1991 1 1 2 0
1992 0 1 0 0
1993 2 1 2 1
1994 0 0 1 1
1995 1 0 2 1
1996 4 1 0 2
1997 0 2 1 0
1998 0 0 2 3
1999 1 0 2 1
2000 2 1 1 2
2001 0 1 2 1
2002 2 1 4 2
2003 1 0 0 2
2004 0 0 2 1
2005 3 0 2 0
2006 1 0 1 2
2007 0 0 0 0
ND (90) 25 15 31 19
Opp. (29) 6 5 12 6

Price is Right
After entering last season with only two career punts, senior Geoff Price made his presence known across the country for Notre Dame. Price finished last season ranked sixth in the NCAA with a average boot of 45.4 yards (50 punts for 2,272 yards). He bested the previous Irish single-season school record of 44.9 held by Craig Hentrich (1990). Price also owns the Notre Dame career record (45.4). He not only boomed 14 kicks last year over 50+ yards, but also managed to drop 14 inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. Price averaged 50+ yards in punts in two separate games in 2006, including a school-record average of 51.9 yards per kick (7-for-363) against Michigan. He was an ’06 semifinalist for the Ray Guy award and has already received numerous preseason All-American honors this year. Price was named second-team All-American by Lindy’s and honorable mention by Street & Smith’s. He picked up his 15 career punt of over 50 yards (55) against Georgia Tech last weekend.

NUMBER CHANGE
Sophomore kicker Nate Whitaker changed uniform number from #33 to #35. Whitaker and freshman Robert Hughes had previously shared the jersey.

Early Opener
Notre Dame opened the season earlier in the calendar year (Sept. 1) than they have since Aug. 31, 2002 against Maryland (Giants Stadium).

Birthday Greetings
The following Notre Dame players have birthdays coming up in the near future:

Sept. 11, 1984 — Dwight Stephenson, Jr., DE, Sr.
Sept. 12, 1987 — Chris Stewart, OG, So.
Sept. 14, 1987 — Toryan Smith, ILB, So.

In Overtime
Notre Dame is 2-4 all-time in overtime games. The last time the Irish played an OT game was a 44-41 loss to Michigan State on Sept. 17, 2005.

Eighth-Best in the NCAA Since 1988
Notre Dame has the nation’s eighth best record over the last 20 seasons, or since the start of 1988. The Irish have posted a 162-67-2 record. The best Division I-A records from the start of 1988 (research courtesy of Colorado):

School G W L T Pct.
1. Florida State 236 192 43 1 .816
2. Miami, Fla. 230 185 45 0 .804
3. Nebraska 237 189 47 1 .800
4. Michigan 233 175 54 4 .760
5. Florida 237 180 56 1 .762
6. Tennessee 234 174 57 3 .750
7. Ohio State 235 174 57 4 .749
8. Notre Dame 231 162 67 2 .706
9. Texas 231 159 70 2 .693
10. Penn State 231 157 73 1 .682

STARTING POINT
Notre Dame has nine players with double digit career starts. Leading the way is two-time All-American strong safety Tom Zbikowski with 37 career starts. Active Career Starts Leaders

Player Starts
Tom Zbikowski, 2003- 37
John Sullivan, 2003- 32
Trevor Laws, 2003- 26
Maurice Crum, Jr., 2004- 26
John Carlson, 2003- 20
Ambrose Wooden, 2003- 15
Sam Young, 2006- 14
Terrail Lambert, 2005- 11
Joe Brockington, 2003- 10

Historic Notre Dame Stadium
The 2007 football season marks the 77th year of Irish football in fabled Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish have played 393 games in the facility to date and own a 297-91-5 (.762) record in the “House that Rockne Built.” The Irish were 4-2 at home in 2005 and 6-1 in 2006 to push the team’s record at home to 101-34 (.754) over the last 23 years. The most wins in a season by the Irish at home is seven by the 1988 national championship team and the longest home winning streak in Notre Dame football history is 28 games (from 11/21/42 through 9/30/50).

Sullivan Named Fifth Team Captain; Four Walk-ons Awarded Football Scholarships for 2007 Season

Five Notre Dame football players were pleasantly surprised by head coach Charlie Weis at the beginning of practice on Aug. 23. In an impromptu announcement given in front of the team, fifth-year senior center John Sullivan was named a team captain and junior center Thomas Bemenderfer, senior cornerback Wade Iams, senior long snapper J.J. Jansen and senior cornerback William David Williams all were awarded scholarships for the 2007-08 school year.

The coaching staff unanimously decided to name Sullivan the fifth team captain for 2007 based on the leadership role he demonstrated throughout the summer and training camp. He joins fellow fifth-year seniors John Carlson, Travis Thomas and Tom Zbikowski along with fourth-year senior Maurice Crum Jr. as team captains. Sullivan is the most experienced returning offensive player, having started 21 consecutive games at center and 33 games at that position in his Notre Dame career. He was named to the 2007 watch lists for the Outland Trophy and Rimington Award and was tabbed a first-team preseason All-American by Street & Smith’s.

Bemenderfer began his college career as a scholarship athlete at Northwestern University before transferring to Notre Dame for the 2006-07 school year. The Mishawaka, Ind. native and Penn High School graduate walked onto the football team last year and is currently listed as a backup center.

Iams is also a local product as he hails from Mishawaka, Ind. and is a graduate of Penn High School. The four-year walk-on earned a 4.0 grade-point average during the 2006-07 school year and currently holds a 3.921 cumulative GPA.

Jansen earned a scholarship for the second-consecutive season and serves as the team’s long snapper. The Phoenix, Ariz. product became the team’s long snapper in the middle of the 2005 season and has held that position ever since.

Williams is in his third year with the Notre Dame football team. A Raleigh, N.C. native, he earned a 3.933 GPA during the 2007 spring semester and his cumulative GPA for the 2006-07 school year was 3.893.

Irish Championship Football
Coaches Honored With Notre Dame Stadium Gate Display The five coaches who have produced national championships in football at the University of Notre Dame – Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz – are now honored as part of the third Notre Dame Stadium gate to feature the history and tradition of the Irish football program.

Mixed media wall relief portraits and action montages of the five Notre Dame national championship coaches this week were positioned at Gate D of Notre Dame Stadium, as part of a multi-year plan to theme the five entrance gates to Notre Dame’s home football facility. They were created by Lou Cella, senior sculptor of Timeless Creations, Inc., a division of the Rotblatt-Amrany Fine Art Studio in Highland Park, Ill.

Cella created the statue of former Detroit Tiger broadcaster Ernie Harwell at Comerica Park in Detroit, and he also did the sculpture of Father Theodore Hesburgh and Father Edmund Joyce (former Notre Dame president and executive vice president) just south of the Hesburgh Library on the Notre Dame campus. Rotblatt-Amrany is responsible for the Michael Jordan statue in front of the United Center in Chicago, as well as various statues of sports figures Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Vince Lombardi, Al McGuire and George Halas.

The national championship coach display at Gate D is the third of the Notre Dame Stadium gates to be finished, following the Heisman Trophy display at Gate B that opened in 2005 and the All-America display at Gate A that opened in 2006. Funding for all the themed gates has been provided by the Notre Dame Monogram Club.

Notre Dame’s 79 consensus All-America football players are honored inside Gate A with panels containing authentic Notre Dame helmets with nameplates. Those displays were designed by Rockwell Group of New York and fabricated by Show Motion Inc., of Connecticut.

Prior to the 2005 season, three-by-eight foot replica Heisman Trophies were added to the Gate B display, where pictures of all seven Irish Heisman winners were placed earlier. The honoring of Notre Dame’s Heisman Trophy winners took the form of seven individual panels installed within existing brick niches of the old stadium wall just inside Gate B – with one display each for Angelo Bertelli, John Lujack, Leon Hart, John Lattner, Paul Hornung, John Huarte and Tim Brown.

Each display consists of a three-by-eight-foot aluminum panel, powder-coated in Notre Dame blue and serving as a background for holding an oversized, three-foot-tall replica of the Heisman Trophy. The Heisman replicas are finished in bronze, cantilevered off of the blue aluminum panels and sculpted from an original Heisman Trophy. Irish Will Wear Throwback Uniforms Against USC Notre Dame and Adidas will honor the 30th anniversary of the 1977 National Championship team by wearing the authentic green jerseys and gold pants for the USC game on October 20th.

The Throwback uniforms will be designed to replicate those worn by the 1977 team.

NEXT WEEK: MICHIGAN
Notre Dame hits the road for the second consecutive week as it pays a visit to No. 5/5 Michigan on Sept. 15 for a 3:30 p.m. ET contest that will be televised nationally on ABC. The Wolverines, who dropped their season opener to Appalachian State, host Oregon this weekend. Last year, Michigan routed the Irish, 47-21, at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won its last meeting with the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, 17-10, in 2005. Notre Dame has lost three of its last four trips to Michigan.

College Football Fanatics To Battle In Fantasy Bowl I

For 70 fanatical fans of Notre Dame and Penn State football, the highlight of the anticipated clash between the Irish and Nittany Lions will not be the game taking place at Beaver Stadium on September 8. One night earlier, Penn State’s Bigler East Field will play host to Fantasy Bowl I – a unique challenge football game between two teams of college football diehards.

Before they cheer on the current generation of gridiron greats, two rosters of 35 players averaging 40+ years in age will proudly wear the colors of the Irish and Nittany Lions themselves. They will do battle at 7 p.m. (ET) in an 11-on-11 semi-contact flag football game with school pride and bragging rights at stake.

“This is the perfect way to kick off a very special weekend of football and show some competitive spirit on the field,” said Fantasy Bowl organizer Patrick Steenberge, a former Notre Dame quarterback (1970-71) and President of Global Football. “These are truly fanatical fans of the two teams who might not have had an opportunity to play on the ultimate stage when in college, but are enjoying the next best thing later in life.”

Both rosters comprise of participants from the annual Notre Dame Football Fantasy Camp, which has run since 2003, and the 2006 and 2007 Nittany Lion Football Fantasy Camps. The campers experienced a true insider’s view of the respective schools, being coached by current coaches and former college stars, while using the stadium locker rooms and finally playing an intrasquad game inside Notre Dame Stadium and Beaver Stadium.

Coaches for each team will be legendary former players from the Irish and Nittany Lions, and will be announced at a later date.

The Fantasy Bowl I players will enjoy an action-packed weekend that will include two on-campus practices, a Friday post-game party, a tailgate party on Saturday, and of course, Fantasy Bowl I to be played at Bigler East Field. The teams will wear authentic Notre Dame and Penn State uniforms and fans in town for Saturday’s game from both schools are encouraged to attend and cheer on 70 men who believe you are never too old to try.

Irish To Face Washington State In 2009 Matchup At San Antonio
In the first of a series of “off-site” Fighting Irish football games, the University of Notre Dame and Washington State University will square off on Oct. 31, 2009, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Notre Dame officials expect to play one “home” game per season beginning in ’09 at locations in Texas, Florida and in other cities.

The Irish and Cougars will be meeting for the first time since 2003, their only previous meeting. Notre Dame won that one 29-26 in overtime to open the season in Notre Dame Stadium. The 2009 game will be played at the 65,000-seat Alamodome, with the Valero Alamo Bowl serving as the host.

The Alamodome played host to a Texas A&M-Army regular-season matchup in 2006, served as temporary home to the NFL New Orleans Saints for part of the 2005 season in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – and is the home of the 2007 NFL Dallas Cowboys preseason training camp and the ’07 Big 12 Conference Football Championship. The NCAA men’s basketball Final Four was played at the Alamodome in 2003 and will be again in 2008.

“On behalf of the Valero Alamo Bowl and the Alamodome, we look forward to welcoming the history and tradition of Notre Dame to San Antonio and showing the team and their loyal fans our Texas hospitality,” said Derrick Fox, Valero Alamo Bowl president.

Notre Dame expects to make tickets available to its contributing alumni and fans through its alumni lottery as it does with all other football games. Washington State will receive an allotment of tickets as the visiting team.

Notre Dame has more than 4,600 alumni in the state of Texas, most as part of alumni clubs in San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas/Eastern New Mexico.

NBC Sports will have the live television rights to the game, as with other Notre Dame home games.

“Notre Dame has never played in San Antonio, so this will be a tremendous opportunity to showcase our program in a new city, and in a state in which we have a strong emphasis in recruiting,” said Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White.

“San Antonio has become a consistent stop on the men’s basketball NCAA Final Four rotation, and the Riverwalk and other areas make it a great venue in terms of hospitality – so this will be an extremely attractive option for fans in general.”

The off-site home game concept, as originated by White, came about once the NCAA opted for a 12-game regular season.

“We already had plans to play seven home games per year in Notre Dame Stadium,” said White. “We considered the prospect of playing eight times in South Bend, but we determined we could make more effective use of that extra game by moving it around the country and playing not only in some areas very important to us in terms of recruiting, but also in some locales in which our fans and alumni might not otherwise see us as part of any future schedules.

“It’s a little bit like the barnstorming approach that Knute Rockne took back in the 1920s. We believe these events will provide great opportunities for fans to see our team play when they may be otherwise challenged to travel or obtain tickets for games in South Bend.”

Notre Dame’s two most recent trips to the state of Texas produced a 27-24 win over Texas in 1996 in Austin – followed by a 24-3 loss to Texas A&M in College Station in 2003.

The Irish have played in the Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas on seven occasions – following the 1969, 1970, 1977, 1978, 1987, 1992 and 1993 seasons. A victory in the Cotton Bowl facility in 1977 earned a national championship for Notre Dame after the Irish defeated top-ranked and unbeaten Texas. Notre Dame also faced unbeaten and top-ranked Texas teams in Cotton Bowls following both the ’69 and ’70 seasons (winning in the second of those games to end a 30-game Texas win streak). The Irish are 5-2 in Cotton Bowl appearances, also winning 35-34 over Houston to close out the 1978 season in Joe Montana’s final collegiate appearance.

Notre Dame also has played in Dallas against SMU in 1949 (a 27-20 win for the top-rated Irish), 1954 (a 26-14 Notre Dame victory), 1956 (a 19-13 SMU win), 1957 (a 54-21 Notre Dame win) and 1958 (a 14-6 Irish triumph) – giving the Irish a 9-3 overall mark in Dallas. Other Notre Dame appearances in Texas came in Houston for games against Rice in 1915 (a 55-2 Notre Dame win) and 1973 (a 28-0 Irish victory). All those contests combine to give the Irish a 12-4 mark in games played in Texas.

Notre Dame’s Alamodome appearance will be a homecoming of sorts for a number of Irish players who were invited to the Alamodome as high school seniors to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl prep high school all-star game. Among those who presumably would be on the ’09 Irish roster are current Notre Dame sophomores James Aldridge, Matt Carufel, Barry Gallup Jr., Demetrius Jones, Raeshon McNeil, Konrad Reuland, Chris Stewart, Darrin Walls, Bartley Webb, Dan Wenger and Sam Young, plus incoming freshmen Armando Allen, Jimmy Clausen, Gary Gray, Robert Hughes, Duval Kamara, Aaron Nagel, Mike Ragone and Matt Romine.

IRISH ADD HERALDED SIGNING CLASS
This preseason, Notre Dame has welcomed another outstanding recruiting class under third-year head coach Charlie Weis. The Irish signing class has been ranked as high as fifth (tied) in college football. Below charts where the media experts tabbed Notre Dame’s 2007 incoming class:

CBS SportsLine.com — t-5th SuperPrep — 11th ESPN.com — 8th Scout.com — 11th CollegeFootballNews.com — 11th Rivals.com — 8th

Ara Parseghian Statue To Be Dedicated On Sept. 22, At Gate D Of Notre Dame Stadium

A statue of former University of Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, will be dedicated on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, at Notre Dame Stadium.

The dedication, slated for 9:30 a.m. EDT, on the morning of the Notre Dame-Michigan State football game, will take place at Notre Dame Stadium’s Gate D, which honors the Irish national championship football coaches.

All of Parseghian’s former players and coaches have been invited to the dedication ceremonies ­ and more than 200 of them are expected to attend. Speaking at the dedication on behalf of Parseghian’s former players will be 1964 Heisman Trophy winner John Huarte. The general public is welcome to attend the ceremony.

The Parseghian statue shows the former Irish coach on the shoulders of his players following the ’71 Cotton Bowl win over top-rated Texas. The statue was sculpted by Notre Dame graduate Jerry McKenna, who also created the Frank Leahy and Moose Krause statues east of Notre Dame Stadium, as well as the Knute Rockne sculpture at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown South Bend, Ind.

The sculpture has been funded completely by donations from Parseghian’s former players, assistant coaches and student managers. Plans for the statue were spearheaded by former Irish football player Peter Schivarelli (he played in ’69 and ’70).

The sculpture will complement bas relief portraits of the five Notre Dame national championship coaches ­ Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz ­ that are now located at Gate D, designated the national championship coaches gate.

Parseghian served as Irish head coach from 1964 through the ’74 season (he previously had been head coach at Northwestern for eight seasons and Miami of Ohio for five). His Notre Dame teams won consensus national titles in 1966 and 1973, and also claimed the McArthur Bowl Trophy from the National Football Foundation following a 9-1 campaign in ’64. His 11 Notre Dame teams combined to finish 95-17-4 (.836) ­ and his Irish posted victories in the 1971 Cotton Bowl (over top-rated Texas), the 1973 Sugar Bowl (over top-rated Alabama) and the 1975 Orange Bowl (again over unbeaten Alabama).

Parseghian was chosen the national college coach of the year in 1964 by the Football Writers Association of America and by the American Football Coaches Association. Only one time in 11 seasons did one of his teams lose as many as three games in a season, and on 40 occasions during that period Irish players received first-team All-America recognition. He coached eight NCAA postgraduate scholarship winners, 17 Academic All-Americans and five eventual winners of the NCAA Silver Anniversary award. Parseghian was selected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

In 1994, Parseghian started the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation to fund study of Niemann-Pick Type C Disease in hopes of moving toward a cure. To that end, the foundation has raised more than $22 million to combat the disease, which has claimed three of Parseghian’s grandchildren. The disease, also known as NP-C, is a genetic pediatric neurodegenerative disorder that causes progressive deterioration of the nervous system, usually in school-age children. By interfering with children’s ability to metabolize cholesterol, the NP-C causes large amounts of the substance to accumulate in the liver, spleen and brain, leading to a series of ultimately fatal neurological problems.

Former Irish team captains under Parseghian who are confirmed to attend the ceremonies are Jim Carroll (1964), Phil Sheridan (’65), Jim Lynch (’66), Mike Oriard (’69), John Dampeer (’72), Greg Marx (’72) and Dave Casper (’73).

All-Americans under Parseghian expected to attend include Huarte (1964), Carroll (’64), Tony Carey (’64), Kevin Hardy (’64, ’66, ’67), Lynch (’65, ’66), Nick Eddy (’66), Pete Duranko (’66), Jim Seymour (’66, ’67, ’68), George Goeddeke (’66), Mike McGill (’67), Oriard (’69), Clarence Ellis (’70, ’71), Marx (’72), Dampeer (’72) and Casper (’73).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER Chris Zorich HONORED

Chris Zorich, two-time All-American defensive tackle at the University of Notre Dame, was one of 12 former college players and two coaches named to the National Football Foundation’s 2007 College Football Hall of Fame Class for the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). Zorich was recognized for his honor at halftime of the Georgia Tech game.

The 2007 College Football Hall of Fame class will be inducted at the 50th Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4, 2007, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The players and coaches were enshrined at the Hall of Fame in South Bend in August 2007.

Zorich becomes the 42nd former Notre Dame player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The Irish also have five former coaches in the Hall and the 47 total enshrinees are the most of any NCAA institution.

A three-year starter at defensive tackle for the Irish, Zorich left Notre Dame as one of the most decorated defensive players in school history. He was a two-time All-American, earning unanimous first-team All-America accolades as a senior in 1990. Zorich was named United Press International Lineman of Year for 1989 and was chosen CBS Sports/Chevrolet Defensive Player of the Year for 1990. He was selected as the 1990 Lombardi Award recipient, given annually to the outstanding lineman in college football, and was a finalist for the Outland Trophy that year, too. Zorich started at nose tackle on the 1988 national championship team and finished his Notre Dame career with 219 tackles, including 21 tackles for loss.

Zorich graduated from Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies in 1991 and from the Notre Dame Law School in 2002.

A native of Chicago’s South Side, Zorich is president of the Christopher Zorich Foundation and is a past recipient of USA Weekend’s “Most Caring Athlete Award” and the Jesse Owens Foundation Humanitarian Award. The Foundation assists disadvantaged families through a variety of diverse activities and have affected over 100,000 individuals.

Zorich currently lives in Chicago where he works for the law firm of Schuyler, Roche & Zwirner, P.C.

HUNDREDS OF FORMER PLAYERS TO FORM PRE-GAME “TUNNEL”
Another Notre Dame tradition will continue with the game versus arch-rival USC, as prior to the game the 2007 team will run through a tunnel comprised of former Irish football players (several hundred are expected to return).

Former head coach Bob Davie wrote a letter to every former Notre Dame football player during the summer of 1997, with the University providing them with the opportunity to buy two tickets to the season opener and inviting them to be part of the tunnel ceremony. Nearly 250 Irish football alumni formed the tunnel prior to the 1997 opener versus Georgia Tech and approximately 300 former players formed the tunnel prior to the 1998 opener versus Michigan before returning again for the ’99 opener vs. Kansas. Another such group is expected versus the Trojans.

FWAA, Charlotte Touchdown Club unveil defensive legends award
The FWAA and Charlotte Touchdown Club will present the first annual Bronko Nagurski Legends Award in conjunction with the Bronko Nagurski Trophy this coming December in Charlotte.

The FWAA began selecting separate defensive and offensive All-America squads during the 1966 season. And, the first annual award will go to the players at Michigan State and Notre Dame who played in one of the greatest defensive games of the 20th Century. The teams were ranked No. 1 and 2 in the country when they met in East Lansing that season. The historic game ended in a 10-10 tie.

For the only time in history, two players from two teams made the 1966 FWAA All-America team on the defensive side of the ball: Notre Dame’s Jim Lynch and Alan Page and Michigan State’s Bubba Smith and George Webster. One of those players or a representative from each school is expected to be in Charlotte on Dec. 3 for the presentation when the 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy is awarded to the best defensive player in college football.

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR 2007 FOOTBALL KICKOFF LUNCHEONS
Tickets are now on sale for the 2007 Notre Dame Kickoff Luncheons held the Friday prior to each Irish home football game. The luncheons feature Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, Irish players and assistant coaches, plus special guests and other attractions.

Tickets are $18 each, with a handling fee of $3 (payment may be made with one check for more than one luncheon). There are 10 seats per table < and=”” if=”” you=”” wish=”” to=”” sit=”” as=”” a=”” group=”” at=”” the=”” same=”” table=”” with=”” other=”” guests,=”” please=”” return=”” all=”” reservations=”” in=”” one=”” envelope.=””>

Checks should be made payable to “University of Notre Dame” and mailed to: Athletics Business Office, 112 Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Telephone and credit card reservations are not accepted.

A printed reservation form also is available on Notre Dame’s athletics web site at www.und.com.

The luncheons are held in the Joyce Center fieldhouse (north dome) on the Notre Dame campus, with a noon (ET) start. Be aware that advance reservations are required for tickets, and tickets are not routinely available at the door.

PEP RALLIES
All 2007 pep rallies will be held in the Joyce Center Arena (south dome), unless moved inside Notre Dame Stadium, on Fridays before Saturday home games, beginning at 6 p.m. (ET). The Irish squad enters the arena at 6:30 p.m.