Nov. 22, 2014

Recap | Box Score | Quotes | USA Today

TEAM NOTES

• Today was the first meeting between Louisville and Notre Dame.
• With the addition of DL Jay Hayes, nine different true freshmen have played on defense alone for the Irish in 2014. The team had 11 true freshmen play anywhere on the field a year ago.
• Today marked the first time this year that Notre Dame has been held without a touchdown in the first half.
• The Irish now have an interception in each of their last 14 games, which is the longest active streak in the country.
• Notre Dame has scored first in nine of its 11 games this year. The Irish are now 5-4 when scoring first this season and 31-11 under Brian Kelly.
• Today, LB Greer Martini became the 11th different Notre Dame player to record a sack, the most since the 2003 squad had 14 players record a sack.
• For the first time this year, the Irish yielded an 80-yard scoring drive when Louisville marched 93 yards for a TD late in the first quarter. Conversely, Notre Dame’s offense entered today with 11 scoring drives of at least 80 yards.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Everett Golson has thrown for at least 200 yards in 16 straight games.
• Golson threw at least two TD passes for the 11th game in a row and the 14th time in his career.
• Golson now has 41 career TD passes, tying Rick Mirer for fifth in Notre Dame history.
• Will Fuller made his 14th TD catch of the season today. It leaves him just one shy of the school’s single season record of 15 shared by Jeff Samardzija (2005), Rhema McKnight (2006) and Golden Tate (2009).
• Fuller entered today tied with Rashard Higgins of Colorado State for the national lead with 13 TD catches. Higgins caught two TDs today in Colorado State’s win over New Mexico.
• Fuller has a catch of at least 30 yards in seven out of 11 games this year, including today.
• RB Tarean Folston ran six yards for a third quarter TD. He also had a six-yard TD run last Saturday against Northwestern. It is the first time in his career that he has scored in consecutive games.
• Folston recorded 134 rushing yards in the contest, marking the fourth time in the last five games he has rushed for more than 100 yards.
• Fuller registered 109 receiving yards against Louisville. It was the second straight contest and fourth time this season in which Fuller total over 100 receiving yards.
• For the second straight contest Notre Dame had a 100-yard receiver and 100-yard rusher in the same game (Fuller – 109 receiving yards, Folston – 134 rushing yards). Against Northwestern last week, Folston collected 106 yards on the ground while Fuller totaled 159 yards through the air.
• Greg Bryant’s 61-yard punt return in the third quarter is the longest by Notre Dame since Golden Tate went 87 yards for a TD against Pittsburgh in 2009.
• Kyle Brindza extended his Notre Dame career record for field goals to 56 today. It is the 17th time in Brindza’s career that he has made multiple field goals.
• LB Jaylon Smith and LB Nyles Morgan both had double digits in tackles today. It is the second week in a row that each has recorded double digits. No Notre Dame player had previously done that in 2014.
• Morgan’s 10 tackles tied a career high for the freshman linebacker.
• Senior captain Austin Collinsworth collected 1.5 tackles for a loss in the contest, besting his previous career high of 0.5 tackles for a loss against Stanford on November 30, 2013.
• S Drue Tranquill made his first career interception just before halftime.
• DL Jacob Matuska picked up his first career sack in the second quarter.
• LB Greer Martini recorded his first career sack in the fourth quarter.
• DL Jay Hayes made his debut today. He is the ninth true freshman to play on defense for the Irish in 2014.
• Two players wore different uniforms today in honor of injured seniors on Senior Day. DL Andrew Trumbetti wore No. 69 in honor of Tony Springmann while Jaylon Smith wore No. 38 for Joe Schmidt.
• LB Nyles Morgan’s ejection for targeting in the fourth quarter means that he is ineligible for the first half of next week’s game at USC.

SERIES NOTES

• The Cardinals and Fighting Irish met for the first time in school history.
• Head coach Bobby Petrino improved to 49-12 overall at Louisville and 91-33 all-time during his collegiate coaching career.

OFFENSIVENOTES

• The Cardinals rushed for 229 yards and have now won 17-straight games when rushing for 200 or more yards under head coach Bobby Petrino.
• Guard Jake Smith made his 49th career start on the offensive line, while guard John Miller started for the 45th time and tackle Jamon Brown made his 37th start. Miller and Brown started their team-high 30th-straight game.
• Freshman quarterback Reggie Bonnafon made his fourth career start at quarterback. He guided the Cardinals on a 10-play, 75-yard drive on the Cardinals’ first drive of the game. It was the fifth time the Cardinals scored on their opening drive and the fourth time with a touchdown.
• Bonnafon rushed for two first quarter scores, giving him his second two-touchdown rushing game this season. He rushed for two in the 66-21 win over Murray State on Sept. 6. Bonnafon accounted for one passing touchdown when he hit DeVante Parker for a 21-yard touchdown reception.
• Bonnafon’s 52-yard completion to Kai DeLa Cruz was the longest completion of his career, besting a 45-yarder against Wake Forest and Syracuse.
• Wide receiver DeVante Parker caught his 30th career touchdown reception in the third quarter, which is one away from moving into second place on the school’s all-time receiving touchdowns list.
• Running back Brandon Radcliff rushed 17 times for 136 yards, recording his third 100-yard rushing game this season. It’s the seventh 100-yard game for the Cardinals this season.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

• Cornerback Terell Floyd made his 37th career start and 27th straight, while linebacker James Burgess also made his 27th consecutive start. Floyd produced a team-high eight tackles in the game.
• The Cardinals recorded their 23rd interception of the season and have at least one in all 11 games this season. Louisville entered the game with a nation-leading 22 interceptions.
• The Cardinals extended their streak of forcing a turnover to 14 straight games.
• Charles Gaines recorded his second interception this season and the seventh of his career in the second quartet.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Junior placekicker John Wallace booted a 26-yard field goal for his 14th of the season, which ties him for fifth on the school’s single-season list with Nate Smith (2003), Art Carmody (2005) and Chris Philpott (2010). Wallace is 50-for-62 for his career. He needs 10 more field goals to tie the school record.