Oct. 2, 2004
NOTRE DAME-PURDUE SERIES HISTORY AND GAME NOTES
• Notre Dame now leads the all-time series with Purdue, 49-25-2, including a
25-11 mark in South Bend (22-10 at Notre Dame Stadium).
• Today marks the first victory for Purdue in Notre Dame Stadium since Sept. 28,
1974, when the Boilermakers upset second-ranked Notre Dame, 31-20. The Irish
had won 13 straight versus Purdue at Notre Dame Stadium (every other year from
’76-’02 with the exception of the 1984 season when the teams met at the Hoosier
Dome).
• The combined passing numbers in today’s game: 51-of-81 for 873 yards, 5 TDs
and no INTs.
• Purdue has won consecutive games in the series for the first time since
1984-85.
• Purdue has beaten Notre Dame more times (25) than any other school besides USC
(28).
• Purdue’s 41 points are the second-most ever for the Boilermakers in the
76-game series (51-19 on Oct. 1, 1960 at Notre Dame Stadium).
• The Boilermakers retain possession of the Shillelagh Trophy, a tradition
started in 1957. The trophy was donated by the late Joe McLaughlin (a merchant
seaman and Notre Dame fan who brought the club from Ireland). Purdue has now
taken home the Shillelagh Trophy 18 times in the 48-year history of the award.
NOTRE DAME TEAM NOTES
• Notre Dame had two 100-yard receivers (Anthony Fasano – 155; Rhema McKnight –
113) for the first time since Sept. 24, 1977 at Purdue (Kris Haines – 120; Ken
MacAfee – 114).
• Notre Dame chewed up 4:19 on its first drive of the game, leading to a 26-yard
field goal by senior K D.J. Fitzpatrick. It was the longest scoring drive (in
terms of time) for the Irish this season, topping a 3:40 scoring march last
week vs. Washington.
• Purdue’s Jerome Brooks returned a first-quarter kickoff 100 yards for a
touchdown, tying a Notre Dame opponent record (now done four times). The last
time that happened against the Irish was Nov. 30, 1974, when USC’s Anthony
Davis went end zone to end zone. It also tied the Purdue record for the longest
kickoff return and was the first kickoff runback for a TD by the Boilermakers
since Sept. 30, 1995, when Lee Johnson did so against Ball State (99 yards).
• Purdue drove 97 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter, the longest
scoring drive by a Notre Dame opponent since Sept. 21, 2002, at Michigan State,
when the Spartans drove 97 yards in 10 plays in the fourth quarter (capped by a
21-yard TD pass on fourth down from Jeff Smoker to Charles Rogers).
• Purdue’s 97-yard touchdown connection (Kyle Orton to Taylor Stubblefield) was
the longest ever by a Notre Dame opponent. The previous mark was an 86-yard
pass by Michigan State (Bill Burke to Plaxico Burress) on Sept. 12, 1998.
• Purdue is the first Notre Dame opponent with two 90-yard drives in one game
since Boston College had scoring marches of 94 and 93 yards on Nov. 20, 1999.
• Purdue QB Kyle Orton tied an Irish opponent record with four touchdown passes,
becoming the 10th player to reach that mark and the first since USC’s Matt
Leinart last season.
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• Junior TE Anthony Fasano caught a career-high 8 passes for a career-high 155
yards this afternoon, including a career-long 42-yard reception in the first
quarter. His previous career-best yardage total was a 60-yard effort earlier
this season at BYU, a performance that was highlighted by a (then) career-long
27-yard catch.
• Fasano’s yardage total is a school record for tight ends and it marks just the
third time ever that an Irish tight end has had 100 yards receiving in a game.
Three-time All-American Ken MacAfee had two 100-yard games in his career, both
during the 1977 season — Sept. 24 at Purdue (9 rec., 114 yds., 1 TD) and Oct.
29 vs. Navy (5 rec., 130 yds.).
• Fasano’s eight receptions also are the most by a Notre Dame tight end since
Ken MacAfee latched onto nine passes in the 1977 game versus Purdue. In fact,
during the past 17 seasons (dating back to ’77), just a handful of Irish
players have totaled more than the eight catches that Fasano had today: Bobby
Brown’s 12 vs. Pittsburgh in ’99, Arnaz Battle’s 10 during two different games
in the 2002-03 season (vs. Pittsburgh and N.C. State), and four players with
nine-catch games (Maurice Stovall vs. Purdue in ’03, David Givens vs. Tennessee
in ’01, Tony Smith vs. Hawaii in ’91 and Kris Haines vs. USC in ’79).
• Senior P D.J. Fitzpatrick boomed a career-long 59-yard punt in the first
quarter. His previous best was a 56-yard boot at BYU earlier this year.
Fitzpatrick averaged 49.3 yards on three punts today after averaging 46.0 last
week vs. Washington.
• Sophomore WR Chase Anastasio and senior TE Jerome Collins had their first
catches of the year today. Notre Dame has now had 16 different players catch a
pass this season (all from sophomore QB Brady Quinn).
• Sophomore QB Brady Quinn completed 26 of 46 passes for a career-high 432 yards
and one TD. His passing yardage total is the second-highest in school history,
topped only by Joe Theismann’s 526 yards at USC on Nov. 28, 1970. Quinn’s
yardage also is the most by any quarterback (Irish or opponent) in Notre Dame
Stadium history. In two career games vs. Purdue, Quinn is 55-of-105 for 729
yds, 2 TDs and 4 INTs.
NOTRE DAME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
• With the Purdue game televised nationally by NBC, the Irish extended their
streak of appearances on one of four major networks (NBC, ABC, CBS or ESPN) to
141 consecutive games, a stretch that covers 10 full seasons (1993-2003). The
last time the Irish didn’t appear on one of those four networks was more than
11 years ago (Oct. 31, 1992), when Notre Dame downed Navy, 38-7, at Giants
Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. That game was shown locally in the South Bend
area on WNDU-TV.
• Today’s game captains for Notre Dame were: LB Derek Curry, WR Carlyle Holiday,
OG Dan Stevenson and DE Justin Tuck. The Irish have chosen captains on a
game-by-game basis throughout Tyrone Willingham’s tenure at Notre Dame.
• Notre Dame won the toss and elected to defer to the second half, while Purdue
chose to receive and defend the South goal.