Oct. 5, 2013

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Shamrock Series Uniforms | Photo Gallery

• Arizona State won the coin toss and deferred possession. Notre Dame received the ball and defended the north goal to open the game.
• Official kickoff was at 6:41 p.m. (CT) with an outdoor temperature of 60 degrees and 49% humidity. The roof to AT&T Stadium was closed. The game officially ended at 10:24 p.m. (CT).
• Notre Dame’s 156 passing yards in the second quarter were the most for the Fighting Irish in a quarter this season, and equaled the most gained in a single quarter since Sept. 3, 2011 against USF (4th quarter).
• Notre Dame’s 14-play, 58-yard drive on its first possession of the game was the team’s longest series in terms of plays this season (13 plays, 61 yards on final drive against Purdue on Sept. 14 was the previous long). The time of possession (8:08) made it the longest Fighting Irish drive this season.
• The game was the fifth game in the history of the Shamrock Series, and marked the first appearance for Notre Dame at AT&T Stadium.
• Notre Dame held Arizona State, who had been rushing for an average of four yards per carry this season, to only 2.6 YPC (25 carries, 65 yards) during the game.
• Notre Dame held Arizona State, who entered the game with a 43 percent conversion rate on third down, to just a 30.8 percent (4-of-13) success rate during the game.
• The official game attendance was 66,960.

The Win Against Arizona State

• Improved Notre Dame’s record to 4-2 on the season.
• Improved Notre Dame’s record to 24-6 over its last 30 games overall and 24-4 over its last 28 regular season contests.
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record to 869-303-42 (.733).
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record in night games to 71-38-2 (.649).
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record in NFL stadiums to 72-21-3 (.766).
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record in current NFL stadiums to 21-7-2 (.733).
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record to 3-0 (1.000) against Arizona State.
• Extended Notre Dame’s winning streak against Arizona State to three games.
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record on neutral fields to 115-39-6 (.738).
• Gave Notre Dame its first neutral field win against Arizona State.
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record to 149-133-10 (.527) against ranked opponents.
• Gave Notre Dame its first win against ranked Arizona State.
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record to 4-1 (.800) against teams from the state of Arizona.
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record to 90-49-6 (.641) against Pac-12 opponents.
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record away from Notre Dame Stadium to 40-31-4 (.560) against Pac-12 opponents.
• Improved Notre Dame’s all-time record on neutral fields to 6-4 (.600) against Pac-12 opponents.
• Improved Brian Kelly’s all-time record to 203-70-2 (.742).
• Improved Brian Kelly’s all-time record at Notre Dame to 32-13 (.711).
• Improved Brian Kelly’s all-time record in FBS games to 85-35 (.708).
• Improved Brian Kelly’s record since 2006 to 76-23 (.768).
• Improved Brian Kelly’s record since 2001 to 127-37 (.774).
• Gave Brian Kelly his first career win against Arizona State.
• Improved Brian Kelly’s all-time neutral field record to 1-0 (1.000) against Arizona State.
• Improved Brian Kelly’s all-time record to 7-3 (.700) against Pac-12 opponents.
• Improved Brian Kelly’s all-time record away from home to 4-1 (.800) against Pac-12 opponents.
• Improved Brian Kelly’s record coming off a loss to 43-21 (.672).
• Improved Brian Kelly’s all-time October record to 72-21-2 (.768).
• Improved Brian Kelly’s record to 11-3 (.786) in the month of October as Notre Dame head coach.

Tommy Rees

• Senior quarterback Tommy Rees threw his 45th career touchdown pass (11th of the season) to Ben Koyack with 3:35 left in the second quarter.
• Rees added his 46th career touchdown pass (12th of the season) on an 8-yard completion to TJ Jones with 0:10 left in the second quarter. Rees now has 14 career multi-touchdown games passing (five this season).
• Rees threw for 156 yards on 9-of-17 passing in the second quarter, finishing the frame with two touchdowns. The 156 passing yards were the most for Notre Dame in a quarter this season, and equaled the most in a single quarter since Sept. 3, 2011 against USF (4th quarter).
• Rees’ third touchdown pass of the game (47th career, 13th of the season), a 21-yard strike to Troy Niklas in the third quarter, gave the senior quarterback his second three-touchdown game of the season (7th of his career).

DaVaris Daniels

• DaVaris Daniels’ 20-yard first quarter reception marked the 10th time (17th career game) that Daniels has had at least one reception of 20 yards or more in a game.

TJ Jones

• Senior captain TJ Jones has now registered at least one reception in 33 straight games played, hauling in multiple passes in 29 of those contests dating back to the 2010 Sun Bowl on Dec. 31, 2010 against Miami (Fla.) (123 catches, 1,516 yards and 11 touchdowns in that span).
• Jones’ 8-yard touchdown reception with 10 seconds remaining in the first half was the 14th touchdown catch of his career (4th of the season).
• Jones surpassed the 100-yard receiving plateau for the second time in his career (first since a 138-yard performance against Temple on Aug. 31 of this year).
• Jones’ 27-yard punt return in the first quarter was the longest of his career, and the longest punt return by a Notre Dame player since Michael Floyd’s 41-yard gain on his first career return against Florida State in the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl (Dec. 29, 2011).

Andrew Hendrix

• Senior quarterback Andrew Hendrix’s 2-yard carry on 4th and 1 on Notre Dame’s opening drive was the first Fighting Irish 4th down conversion this season.

Dan Fox

• Senior linebacker Dan Fox recovered the first fumble of his career during the third quarter, with the forced fumble credited to senior cornerback Bennett Jackson (first career). It was the second Notre Dame defensive fumble recovery of the season.
• Fox intercepted his first career pass and returned it for a touchdown with 1:08 remaining in the game. It was the second interception returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter by Notre Dame this season (Bennett Jackson, 34 yards, at Purdue on Sept. 14).

Prince Shembo

• Senior linebacker Prince Shembo recorded his first sack of the season, dropping quarterback Taylor Kelly for a 10-yard loss on 3rd and six with 6:03 left in the third quarter to force a Sun Devil punt. Shembo’s three sacks in the game moved him into a tie for 8th place on Notre Dame’s all-time sacks list with 17 (since 1982), and was the most for a Notre Dame player since Shembo himself logged three sacks at Boston College in 2012.

Ben Koyack

• Junior tight end Ben Koyack made his first reception of the season (19 yards) on the first Notre Dame scoring drive of the second quarter. It was Koyack’s first career touchdown reception on just his fifth career catch.

Kyle Brindza

• Placekicker Kyle Brindza tied the Notre Dame school record for the longest made field goal with his 53-yard conversion at 10:02 in the third quarter. Brindza equaled Dave Reeve’s mark of a 53-yard made attempt against Pittsburgh in 1976.
• Brindza improved to 31-for-42 (73.8 percent) overall with the Fighting Irish (8-for-11 this season).

Troy Niklas

• Tight end Troy Niklas caught his fourth touchdown of the season, hooking up with quarterback Tommy Rees on a 21-yard reception with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter. Niklas has now scored five receiving touchdowns on 19 career catches.

George Atkinson III

• Junior running back George Atkinson III set a career-high with 18 carries on the ground (54 yards).

Cam McDaniel

• Junior running back Cam McDaniel set a career-high with a 29-yard carry in the 4th quarter. McDaniel rushed for a career-best 82 yards on 15 carries.

Stephon Tuitt

• Junior defensive end Stephon Tuitt recorded his 17th career sack and fourth career forced fumble in the fourth quarter.

Matthias Farley

• Junior safety Matthias Farley recorded his third career interception (second this season) to stall an Arizona State drive in the fourth quarter.

Jaylon Smith

• Freshman linebacker Jaylon Smith was credited with his first career forced fumble at the 2:02 mark of the first quarter.
• Smith set a career-high with nine tackles, including 1.5 for loss.

Captains

• The captains for Notre Dame were Bennett Jackson (CB), TJ Jones (WR) and Zach Martin (OL).
• The captains for Arizona State were Taylor Kelly (QB), Alden Darby (S), Darwin Rogers (TE), Marion Grice (RB) and Gannon Conway (DE).