Oct. 13, 2001

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• Notre Dame tallied 345 yards rushing against West Virginia, the most by the Irish since they rolled up 380 yards on the ground against Boston College on Nov. 11, 2000 at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish ran the ball 69 times today, the most rushing attempts by Notre Dame in one game since Sept. 21, 1991 when they tallied 76 carries in a 49-10 win over Michigan State.

• Notre Dame rolled up 415 yards in total offense on 83 plays against West Virginia, both season highs. It’s the most yards of total offense by the Irish since they amassed 481 yards against Rutgers on Nov. 18, 2000. And, it’s the most offensive plays run by Notre Dame since it ran 86 plays against Navy on Oct. 30, 1999.

• Notre Dame QB Carlyle Holiday rushed for 130 yards and TB Tony Fisher carried for 119 yards, marking the first time two Irish players have topped the 100-yard mark in the same game since Oct. 2, 1999, when Fisher ran for 140 yards and Jarious Jackson rushed for 107 yards in a 34-30 win over Oklahoma at Notre Dame Stadium. Holiday’s 130 yards rushing were also the most by a Notre Dame quarterback since Tony Rice rushed for 141 yards at 17th-ranked Penn State on Nov. 18, 1989.

• Irish tailbacks Julius Jones and Tony Fisher each rushed for two touchdowns, the first time two Notre Dame players have rushed for two TDs in the same game since Nov. 2, 1996 when Marc Edwards scored three times and Autry Denson scored twice in a 54-27 win over Navy at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland. It is the third time in Jones’ career (and second time this season) he has rushed for two touchdowns in a game, while Fisher rushes for two TDs for the fourth time in his career.

• Notre Dame took a 7-0 lead on Julius Jones’ 19-yard touchdown run with 13:45 left in the first quarter. It was the earliest the Irish had gotten on the scoreboard since Nov. 29, 1997 at Hawaii when Allen Rossum returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown with 14:42 left in the opening period.

• The 60-yard first quarter touchdown run by West Virginia’s Avon Cobourne was the longest by a Notre Dame opponent since Rutgers’ Dennis Thomas went 65 yards for a score on Nov. 18, 2000.

• Julius Jones’ 58-yard kickoff return in the first quarter was the longest by the Irish since Jones took a kickoff back 100 yards for a touchdown against Nebraska on Sept. 9, 2000 at Notre Dame Stadium.

• With four PATs today, Notre Dame PK Nicholas Setta extended his string of consecutive extra points made to 41 (9-for-9 this year), continuing the fourth-longest streak in school history. Setta also kicked field goals of 21 and 42 yards, making him 6-of-6 on field goal attempts this year (4-for-4 from 40 yards or more). And, it marks the eighth straight game in which he has booted at least one field goal.

• The 20 combined points scored in the first quarter were the most in a game involving Notre Dame since WVU grabbed a 14-7 lead over the Irish after one period last season in Morgantown.

• Notre Dame is now 10-for-13 (.769) this season on fourth-down attempts after converting all four of its tries against West Virginia.

• The Irish were 3-of-4 in the red zone today, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal after driving inside the West Virginia 20-yard line. For the season, Notre Dame is 10-for-12 in the red zone with six TDs and four FGs. And, since the start of last season, the Irish are 43-for-47 (.915) in the red zone.

• West Virginia’s two third-quarter touchdowns were the first scores allowed by the Irish in the third period this season.

• West Virginia RB Avon Cobourne rushed for 169 yards, the most by a Notre Dame opponent since LSU’s Rondell Mealey carried for 222 yards in the 1997 Independence Bowl.

• The Notre Dame ticket office received alumni requests for 59,368 tickets for today’s game, breaking the previous record of 57,048 from the 1997 Notre Dame-USC game in the first year of the expanded Notre Dame Stadium. Demand for the WVU game was based on parents of current ND students being guaranteed four tickets, plus contributing alumni having the opportunity to apply for four tickets instead of the usual two, based on its designation as an alumni family game. The WVU game is one of three this season to rank among the top 10 in terms of alumni ticket demand at Notre Dame Stadium – the others are Michigan State (third – 48,404) and USC (seventh – 47,127).

• Notre Dame made its 105th consecutive television appearance on one of four major networks (NBC, ABC, CBS or ESPN). The last time the Irish didn’t appear on one of those networks was Oct. 31, 1992, when Notre Dame downed Navy, 38-7, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. That game was broadcast locally in the South Bend area on WNDU-TV.

• Notre Dame has now won 15 consecutive games in the month of October and improves to 16-2 in October under head coach Bob Davie. The last time the Irish lost a game in the month of October was Oct. 18, 1997, when USC handed Notre Dame a last-minute 20-17 setback. The Irish are now 47-7 in the month of October since 1988.

• Notre Dame is now 19-4 against BIG EAST Conference teams since 1990, including a 9-2 mark in the Bob Davie era. The Irish have now won five straight games against BIG EAST opposition and are 2-0 against the league this season, downing Pittsburgh (24-7) last week and defeating West Virginia (34-24) this afternoon.

• Notre Dame notches its 74th victory over a current member of the BIG EAST, its second highest win total over one conference behind the Big Ten (205 victories).

• No current BIG EAST school (other than Boston College) has won at Notre Dame Stadium since Oct. 11, 1986, when Pittsburgh rallied to defeat the Irish, 10-9. Over that 14-game span, BC handed Notre Dame a pair of two-point losses (41-39 in 1993 and 31-29 in 1999). The Irish are now 35-11 all-time against BIG EAST schools at Notre Dame Stadium.