Nov. 15, 2014

Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery

TEAM NOTES

• Despite the loss, Notre Dame still leads the series against Northwestern 37-9-2 and 16-5 at home.
• Today’s contest marked the first overtime game for Notre Dame since November 3, 2012 vs. Pittsburgh. The Irish won 29-26 in triple overtime.
• Notre Dame is now 5-9 all-time in overtime games.
• With its 84-yard march to the end zone with 5:27 left in the second quarter, Notre Dame now has 11 scoring drives of at least 80 yards this season. The defense has yet to allow one.
• Notre Dame now has an interception in each of its last 13 games. It is the second-longest active streak in the FBS behind only Ole Miss’ 15.
• The third and 24 that the Irish converted in the second quarter on a 33-yard pass from Everett Golson to C.J. Prosise is their longest conversion of the year. Notre Dame picked up a third and 21 in the third quarter on Oct. 11 against North Carolina when Golson found Will Fuller for a 32-yard gain.
• Today marked the second time in three weeks that the Irish have scored in the game’s opening minute. Notre Dame scored at 14:08 against Navy on Nov. 1 when Everett Golson hit C.J. Prosise for a 78-yard TD. Today’s score, a 61-yard TD run by Everett Golson at 14:16, marked the earliest that the Irish have scored since Oct. 1, 2011, when Tommy Rees hit Michael Floyd for a 35-yard TD at the 14:36 mark at Purdue.
• Golson’s 61-yard first-quarter run was Notre Dame’s longest rush since George Atkinson III ran 80 yards for a TD last year against Oklahoma (Sept. 28, 2013). It was the longest run by an Irish quarterback since Andrew Hendrix gained 78 yards on a carry against Air Force on Oct. 8, 2011.
• The defensive extra point by Northwestern is the first against the Irish since Tulsa recorded one on Oct. 30, 2010.
• The combined 29 points scored in the first quarter are the most in the opening stanza of an Irish game since Oct. 18, 2003, when Notre Dame and USC combined to score 35 (USC led 21-14). Notre Dame’s 20 first quarter points today were most in a home game since scoring 21 against Wake Forest on Nov. 17, 2012.
• With a temperature reading of 29 degrees at kickoff, today marks the fourth-coldest game at Notre Dame Stadium since 1980. The lowest in that time was 24 degrees at kickoff of the Navy game on Nov. 2, 1991. The 2013 BYU game commenced at 26 degrees and the 2008 Syracuse game began at 27 degrees.
• Today marked Notre Dame’s first home game since Oct. 11 vs. North Carolina. The 35-day layoff ties for the longest gap between home games in school history. This is the ninth five-week gap between home games and the first since 1987.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Everett Golson’s 61-yard TD rush on the opening drive was the longest run by a Notre Dame player this year and the longest rush of his career.
• Golson has eclipsed 200 yards passing in 15 consecutive games.
• Will Fuller caught a career-high three TD passes today, moving him into sole possession of fourth place in school history for a single season. He entered the day tied for fourth nationally with his 10 TD catches and can move up as high as first depending on today’s national outcomes. Entering today, Rashard Higgins of Colorado State led the country with 13 and the Rams are off today.
• Fuller had his third multiple-TD game of the season.
• Fuller’s 159 receiving yards today are a career high and Notre Dame’s most since DaVaris Daniels collected 167 yards against Purdue on September 14, 2013.
• Fuller recorded the first three-receiving TD game for the Irish since 2010 when Michael Floyd had a hat trick against Western Michigan.
• Folston rushed for 106 rushing yards on 20 carries, marking his third 100-yard rushing game this season. It was the fourth such performance in his career.
• For the first time since November 2, 2013 in a contest against Navy, the Irish had a 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver in the same game as Folston collected 106 rushing yards and Fuller recorded 159 receiving yards. In the 2013 contest versus Navy, Cam McDaniel had 117 rushing yards and DaVaris Daniels had 107 receiving yards.
• Isaac Rochell had his first career solo sack in the third quarter. He had two pass breakups today, entering the game with just one over his 20-game Irish career. His nine tackles today represent a career high.
• Matthias Farley made his career-high fourth interception of the season during the second quarter. Farley also intercepted a pass last week at No. 11 Arizona State, marking the first time in his career that he had consecutive games with an interception..
• Cole Luke made his fourth interception of both the season and his career in the fourth quarter to tie Farley for the team lead.
• The blocked extra-point attempt in the first quarter snapped Kyle Brindza’s streak of consecutive extra points made at 89. It stands as the third-longest in school history.
• Austin Collinsworth scored on a 32-yard fumble return for a touchdown on his first play from scrimmage after being injured against North Carolina on Oct. 11. Notre Dame’s last fumble return for a touchdown against Navy on Sept. 1, 2012, when Stephon Tuitt returned a fumble 77 yards for a score in Dublin, Ireland.
• Sheldon Day recorded his first sack of the season, a 10-yard loss, on a third and goal play on the opening drive of the second half.
• The fumble recovery by Drue Tranquill in the third quarter marked his first involvement in a turnover for Notre Dame.