Sept. 23, 2014
Notre Dame-Syracuse Gameweek Central
DATE
– Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014
TIME
– 8:12 p.m. EDT
SITE (CAPACITY)
– MetLife Stadium (82,500); East Rutherford, N.J.
TELEVISION
– ABC national telecast with Chris Fowler (play by play), Kirk Herbstreit (analysis) and Heather Cox (sideline).
– The Irish are 5-2 when appearing on ABC since 2012. The Irish were 4-0 in 2012 with victories over Michigan State, Oklahoma, Boston College and USC. The Irish went 1-2 in 2013 with a win over Purdue but losses at both Michigan and Pittsburgh.
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 are broadcast on up to 117 affiliates by Don Criqui (play by play), former Irish great Allen Pinkett (analysis) and Jeff Jeffers (sideline). This broadcast can be heard live on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (channel 129).
– The broadcast will be preceded by a one hour pre-game show hosted by Tony Castricone with Criqui, Pinkett and interviews conducted by Jack Nolan.
– All games can be heard in South Bend on News & Sports Radio 96.1 FM & 960 AM and Sunny 101.5 FM.
TICKETS
– Tickets remain for Saturday’s game against Syracuse.
– Notre Dame has played in front of sellout crowds in 268 of its previous 313 games (.856) overall. The Irish have played before 639 sellouts in 914 total games (.699) since 1930.
WEB SITES, SOCIAL MEDIA
– Notre Dame (UND.com…@NDFootball), Syracuse (Cuse.com…@CuseFootball)
POLLS
– Notre Dame is ranked No. 8 in both the Associated Press and Amway Coaches’ polls. Syracuse is unranked in both polls. Four Irish opponents in 2014 are currently ranked in both the AP and coaches polls.
REAL-TIME STATS
– Live in-game stats will be provided by Syracuse at Cuse.com.
SERIES INFO
– The all-time series against Syracuse is tied at 3-3.
– The teams last met in 2008 with the Orange prevailing, 24-23, at Notre Dame Stadium.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
– The Irish aim to improve to 4-0 for the second time in three years. Notre Dame hasn’t started 4-0 twice over a three-year span since 1988 and 1989.
COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF
365. Notre Dame snapped Michigan’s NCAA record streak of 365 games without being shut out in a 31-0 victory on Sept. 6. The Wolverines had not been previously shut out since Oct. 20, 1984.
11. Notre Dame has played 11 true freshmen over its first three games of 2014.
10. Notre Dame’s running backs have lost just 10 fumbles (on 1,520 rushing attempts) since head coach Brian Kelly arrived in 2010.
9. Notre Dame is 32-8 (.800) since Sept. 17, 2011, which is the ninth-best winning percentage in the Football Bowl Subdivision over the span.
8. Notre Dame ranks eighth in the nation with six interceptions this year. Six different players have recorded an interception.
7. Notre Dame has allowed a combined average of 18.59 points/game over the last five years (2010-14). Only seven FBS teams have allowed fewer points/game over the same span.
6. Notre Dame’s defense has excelled at preventing explosive plays since head coach Brian Kelly arrived in 2010. The Irish rank among the top six in the FBS in fewest plays of at least 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60+ yards.
5. Notre Dame senior QB Everett Golson (No. 5) has led the Irish to a 13-1 record over his 14 career starts. Golson’s .929 winning percentage as Notre Dame’s starting signal caller is the second best in school history (John Lujack, 20-1-1; .932).
4. Notre Dame’s opponents have only registered six drives that have entered the Irish red zone. That total ranks tied for fourth in the FBS among teams that have played three games in 2014.
3. Red-zone defense has been a mainstay for Notre Dame since head coach Brian Kelly arrived in 2010. Over the span, the Irish rank second in the FBS in fewest points per red-zone drive (3.71), lowest percentage of red-zone trips resulting in TDs (46.55) and lowest percentage of red-zone rushing TDs (20.69).
2. Since 2011, Notre Dame has allowed just 25 rushing TDs, which is the second-fewest among all FBS teams. Alabama is the only FBS school to allow fewer rushing TDs (22) over the same span.
1. Notre Dame ranks as the winningest team in college football history based on its .734 (877-305-42) winning percentage over 126 seasons of football.
0. Since 1943, no other Notre Dame squad has scored at least 109 points, while also reaching the 30-point plateau in each of its first three games.
–ND–