Sept. 28, 2014

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

TEAM NOTES

  • Notre Dame has scored at least 30 points in each of its first four games. The Irish have not accomplished this feat since the national championship season of 1943.
  • For the fourth consecutive game in 2014, Notre Dame has held its opponent to 17 points or less. The Irish also accomplished this feat to open the 2012 season but had not previously accomplished it since 1988.
  • With the win, Notre Dame now stands at 878-305-42 (.734), the best winning percentage in college football history.
  • Notre Dame now leads the series with Syracuse, 4-3.
  • The Irish are now 12-1 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, going 11-0 at Giants Stadium and 1-1 at MetLife Stadium.
  • Brian Kelly now stands at 41-15 (.732) as head coach at Notre Dame.
  • Tonight’s crowd of 76,802 was the largest for a collegiate game at MetLife Stadium, surpassing the 75,614 that saw Notre Dame face Navy in 2010.
  • Syracuse entered the game averaging 265 rushing yards per game on the ground. Notre Dame’s defense held the Orange to 135 tonight, 42 of which came on the fake punt.
  • The 95-yard second-quarter touchdown drive by the Irish was the longest scoring march by Notre Dame since a 95-yard TD drive at Boston College on Nov. 10, 2012.
  • Notre Dame has now scored first in each of its last nine games, dating back to Oct. 26, 2013 when Air Force struck first on a Colton Huntsman 10-yard run at 5:05 of the first quarter. Notre Dame came back to win 45-10. The Irish are now 30-7 under Brian Kelly when scoring first.
  • Notre Dame’s defense has stopped its foes in six of 10 fourth-down conversion attempts this year.
  • Tonight’s first quarter was the first time this year that the Irish had gone an entire quarter without scoring. Notre Dame had scored in each of its last 16 quarters overall dating back to the fourth quarter of the Nov. 30, 2013, game at Stanford.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

  • Everett Golson completed 25 consecutive passes between the second and third quarters, falling one shy of matching the Football Bowl Subdivision record established by Dominique Davis of East Carolina against Navy on Oct. 22, 2011. The 25 consecutive completions did break the school record of 14, a mark established by Ron Powlus against Michigan State (Sept. 20, 1997) and matched by Brady Quinn against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 2, 2006) and Tommy Rees against Maryland (Nov. 12, 2011).
  • Golson is now 14-1 (.933) as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, surpassing John Lujack (1943, 1946-47) for the best winning percentage as a starter in school history. Lujack went 20-1-1 (.932) as a starter.
  • Golson’s 32 completions are a career-high and tied for the fifth-best single-game showing in school history. They are the most by a Notre Dame passer since Tommy Rees completed 34 passes against Tulsa on Oct. 30, 2010.
  • Golson’s 362 passing yards tonight are the most by an Irish signal caller since Dayne Crist threw for 369 in an overtime loss to Michigan State on Sept. 18, 2010.
  • Golson was 32 of 39 passing tonight. His completion percentage of 82.1 ranks eighth in school history for a single game. It is the best mark since Jimmy Clausen completed 22 of 26 passes (84.6%) in the 2008 Hawai’i Bowl.
  • Tonight marked Golson’s first 300-yard passing game of the season and the second of his career.
  • Will Fuller now has at least one touchdown catch in each of the first four games this year. It is the longest streak to open a season for the Irish since Jeff Samardzija began the 2005 season with a TD in each of the first eight games.
  • Fuller had his first career 100-yard receiving game tonight. It is also the team’s first of the year.
  • Corey Robinson had a career high for receptions tonight. His previous best was three against both Purdue on Sept. 13 and Michigan State in 2013. His 91 receiving yards tonight are also a career high, eclipsing his 54 yards against Michigan State in 2013.
  • With his four successful extra point tries tonight, Kyle Brindza has now converted each of his last 66 tries, passing a streak of 63 by David Ruffer (2010-11) and moving into third-place in school history.
  • Matthias Farley’s interception on the opening drive of the third quarter was his second of the year and the fifth of his career, He is the first Notre Dame player with two interceptions this year.
  • Jarron Jones blocked his third career place kick and first of the season.
  • Golson’s late first quarter interception was his first of the season. It snapped a streak of 120 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, dating back to the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama on Jan. 7, 2013.
  • The fumble lost by Everett Golson on the game’s opening drive was his first turnover of the season. Entering tonight, only Golson and Marcus Mariota of Oregon had accounted for at least 10 touchdowns this year without committing a turnover.
  • WR C.J. Prosise made his first start of the 2014 season tonight.
  • WR Torii Hunter Jr. saw his first career action tonight.