Aug 27, 2013
Coach Kelly Press Conference Transcript
DATE
Saturday, August 31, 2013
TIME
3:42 p.m. ET
SITE (CAPACITY)
Notre Dame Stadium (80,795); Notre Dame, Ind.
Television
NBC national telecast with Dan Hicks (play-by-play), Mike Mayock (analysis), Alex Flanagan (sideline), Rob Hyland (producer) and Jeff Simon (director).
RADIO
- IMG College Sports is the exclusive national rights-holder for Irish football radio broadcasts. IMG College manages, produces and syndicates the Irish national football radio network. Notre Dame games will be broadcast by Don Criqui (play-by-play), former Irish great Allen Pinkett (analysis) and Jeff Jeffers (sideline). This broadcast can be heard live on both SIRIUS and XM Satellite Radio (channel 129).
- All games can be heard in South Bend on News & Sports Radio 96.1 FM & 960 AM WSBT.
TICKETS
- Saturday is the 232nd straight sellout at Notre Dame Stadium. Since 1966, every home game for the Irish has been a sellout except one – a 1973 Thanksgiving Day game vs. Air Force. Notre Dame has played in front of sellouts in 280 of its last 281 home games.
- Notre Dame has played in front of sellout crowds in 256 of its previous 298 games (.859) overall. Notre Dame has played before 627 sellouts in 899 total games (.697) since 1930.
Web Sites
- Notre Dame (UND.com), Temple (OwlSports.com)
POLLS
- Notre Dame was ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press poll and No. 11 USA Today Coaches’ preseason poll. Temple is unranked in both polls.
Real-Time Stats
- Live in-game stats will be provided through CBS College Sports GameTracker via UND.com.
SERIES INFO
- Notre Dame and Temple will meet for the first time in program history.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- Temple will become the 71st different team to visit Notre Dame Stadium (since its opening in 1930). Notre Dame owns a 57-12-1 mark (.821) in games when the opponent was making its first visit to the Stadium. Fourteen of those teams previously had played at Notre Dame (prior to 1930), with the Irish owning a mark of 46-9-1 (.830) since 1930 versus teams making their first overall visit to Notre Dame.
- The Owls are the 142nd different opponent in Notre Dame football history. The Irish own an all-time record of 118-20-3 (.848) when facing an opponent for the first time.
COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF
- 10. Notre Dame is 10-0 under Brian Kelly when playing an entire game without committing a turnover. (Page 10)
- 9. Notre Dame has played 17 games decided by a touchdown or less since the arrival of Brian Kelly in 2010. The Irish went 2-5 in the first seven such games, but have since gone 9-1. (Page 9)
- 8. Notre Dame has eight different players that have started at least 15 career games. (Page 8)
- 7. Notre Dame ran for at least 200 yards in seven games last year, including six of the last nine contests. The Irish had not posted more 200+ yard rushing games in a season since 1996 when Notre Dame registered nine games with at least 200 yards rushing. (Page 11)
- 6. Notre Dame is one of six FBS teams that allowed less than 21.0 points/game over each of the last three seasons. The other five schools are Alabama, Boise State, Florida State, LSU and Wisconsin. (Page 13)
- 5. Brian Kelly is one victory shy of reaching the 200-win barrier. With a victory on Saturday, Kelly would accomplish the feat in the fifth-fewest games (270) among college coaches with at least five years of service or 50 victories at a school that was classified as a major college. (Pages 6-7)
- 4. Notre Dame faces four opponents this season that are ranked in the top 25 of both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ preseason poll, including Stanford (No. 4/4), Oklahoma (No. 16/16), Michigan (No. 17/17) and USC (No. 24/24. (Pages 8-9)
- 3. Brian Kelly is one of eight FBS coaches that have guided their respective schools to an undefeated regular season since 2009. Three of those head coaches, including Kelly, have done it on multiple occasions. (Page 6)
- 2. Brian Kelly is one victory shy of reaching the 200-win barrier. With a victory on Saturday, Kelly (51 years, 310 days) would become the second youngest to accomplish the feat among college coaches with at least five years of service or 50 victories at a school that was classified as a major college. (Pages 6-7)
- 1. Zack Martin and Nick Martin will be the first set of brothers at Notre Dame to start on the offensive line together since 1978 (Dave and Tim Huffman). (Page 11)
- 0. No FBS defense has allowed fewer rushing touchdowns than the 13 by Notre Dame over the last 30 games. Alabama has limited its opponents to 14. (Page 13)
SEASON OPENERS
- The Irish are 103-16-5 (.851) in season openers and have won 21 of their last 26.
- Notre Dame, which failed to score first in six consecutive season openers (2003-08), hit pay dirt first in 2009, 2010 and 2012.
- Notre Dame has captured its last 14 season openers when scoring first, a span that dates back to the 1986 defeat to Michigan.
- Notre Dame dropped both the 1985 and 1986 openers against the Wolverines, both times opening with the game’s initial score.
- Since 1958, the Irish are 33-3 (.917) when scoring first and 13-6 (.684) when the opponent scores first.
- Here’s a breakdown of each Notre Dame head coach’s record in season openers (post 1913):
Harper: 5-0
Rockne: 13-0
Anderson: 2-0-1
Layden: 6-1
Leahy: 9-0-2
McKeever: 1-0
Devore: 1-1
Brennan: 4-1
Kuharich: 4-0
Parseghian: 11-0
Devine: 4-2
Faust: 3-2
Holtz: 9-2
Davie: 4-1
Willingham: 2-1
Weis: 4-1
Kelly: 2-1
OPENERS AN INDICATOR?
- The 103 seasons Notre Dame has won its opener, the Irish went on to post winning records 94 times (91.3%), with four losing seasons and five .500 records.
- The 16 seasons the Irish lost their opener, the Irish posted winning records seven times and a losing mark eight times (with one .500 season).
- The five seasons Notre Dame registered a tie in its opener, the Irish had four winning records and one losing record.
EVEN MORE ON OPENERS
At Home: 73-11-3
On The Road: 24-4-2
Neutral Site Games: 6-1
In Overtime: 1-0
On Television: 33-8
On NBC: 10-3
On ABC: 16-3
On ESPN: 2-1
On CBS: 4-1
On Raycom: 1-0
Afternoon Games: 92-13-5
Night Games: 11-3
Decided By 7 or Less: 17-10-5
Scoring 40+ Points: 33-0
Scoring 30+ Points: 52-0
Scoring 20-29 Points: 28-3
Scoring 0-19 Points: 23-13-5
Allowing 40+ Points: 0-0
Allowing 30+ Points: 0-2
Allowing 20-29 Points: 8-7
Allowing 0-19 Points: 95-7-5
Scoring First (since 1958): 33-3
Opp. Scores First (circa 1958): 13-6
*Both teams are AP-ranked: 13-2-1
*Neither team is ranked: 22-2-1
*ND is ranked higher: 32-6-1
*Opponent is ranked higher: 8-4 Vs. In-state Opponents: 22-1-1
* post 1936 when the AP instituted national rankings
HOME OPENERS
- Saturday’s game is the home opener for the Irish and the 83rd time Notre Dame Stadium has served as the venue. The Stadium opened for Knute Rockne’s final season in 1930 and the Irish have compiled a 320-106-5 (.748) record in “The House that Rockne Built.”
- Notre Dame is 98-20-5 (.817) in its home openers, including 66-17-2 (.788) at Notre Dame Stadium. There were no home games in 1929 due to construction of Notre Dame Stadium.
- Here’s a breakdown of each Notre Dame head coach’s record in home openers (post 1913):
Harper: 5-0
Rockne: 11-0-1
Anderson: 2-0-1
Layden: 6-1
Leahy: 9-2
McKeever: 1-0
Devore: 1-1
Brennan: 5-0
Kuharich: 3-2
Parseghian: 10-1
Devine: 4-2
Faust: 4-1
Holtz: 7-3-1
Davie: 4-1
Willingham: 3-0
Weis: 3-2
Kelly: 2-1