Oct. 26, 2008

Recap | Final Stats | AP Photo Gallery

Notre Dame won the coin toss and elected to defer. The Huskies will receive and the Irish will defend the West end zone.

FAST START

• Notre Dame exploded out of the gates with a pair of touchdowns to grab a 14-0 first quarter lead. It took the Irish just three offensive plays to score their first touchdown (drive was three plays for 61 yards). Notre Dame added another seven-play, 70-yard scoring drive. The 14 first quarter points mark the second time this season the Irish have scored at least 14 points in the opening quarter (ND scored 21 against Michigan earlier this season).
• The Irish ran 18 plays in the opening 15 minutes and racked up 154 total yards, good for an average of 8.6 yards per play. On the other hand, Notre Dame limited Washington to 16 total yards on 15 plays or 1.1 yards per play.
• The Irish also picked up a pair of sacks, both by sophomore DS Harrison Smith. Notre Dame entered today’s contest with just seven sacks over its first six games of the season, which ranked 100th in the NCAA FBS.
• Notre Dame has now opened each of its last three games with touchdown drives on its opening possession of the game.
• Washington’s starting quarterback Ronnie Fouch went 17-of-32 for 276 yards last week against Oregon State, but the Irish limited the signal caller to complete just 1-of-9 for five yards in the opening half.
• Notre Dame blanked Washington in the first half. The Irish last blanked an opponent over the first 30 minutes against Michigan earlier this season.

YOUNG PUPS

• Notre Dame not only stated two freshmen today, but played a total of 10 true freshmen in the game, including the first career appearance for TE Joseph Fauria.
• The Irish have scored 24 touchdowns already this season and 20 have come from either freshmen or sophomores, including both scores in today’s game. The only touchdowns scored this season by upper classmen were senior WR David Grimes (2) and junior James Aldridge (2).
• The 20 of 24 touchdowns by under classmen does not include sophomore QB Jimmy Clausen, who has tossed 15 touchdown passes this season.

TERRITORIAL DOMINANCE

• Washington ran 26 plays in the first half and not one inside the Irish 50-yard line. By contrast, 30 of Notre Dame’s 42 plays were run inside Huskies’ territory.
• Notre Dame’s averaged drive start was its own 43-yard line, while Washington’s was its own 20. When you take into consideration each team had six first half possessions, the Irish had an advantage of 138 hidden yards.
• Washington did not enter the Irish territory until 5:50 to go in the game.

IRISH GROUND GAME

• Notre Dame recorded 104 yards rushing in the first half today. The 104 yards on the ground are the most in any first half this season and the second most of any half overall. The Irish rumbled for 139 yards rushing in the second half against Purdue.
• Notre surpassed the 200-yard rushing barrier for the second time this season. The Irish rushed for 201 yards against Purdue earlier this season. The 254 yards on the ground were the most since 275 against Pittsburgh in 2005.

TODAY’S VICTORY…

• Improve Notre Dame to 5-2 on the season.
• Improve Notre Dame to 2-0 (1.000) this season and 8-9 (.471) under Weis coming off a defeat.
• Give the Irish their third victory in the last five road games.
• Give Notre Dame a victory over Washington for the seventh consecutive meeting.
• Improve the Irish to 7-0 (1.000) in the all-time series with the Huskies – the most victories over a NCAA FBS opponent without a tie or defeat.
• Improve Notre Dame to 4-0 (1.000) in the all-time series with Washington in Seattle.
• Give Notre Dame its fourth consecutive victory over the Huskies in Husky Stadium.
• Improve an unranked Irish squad (post 1932) to 3-0 (1.000) all-time against Washington.
• Improve an unranked Notre Dame squad to 2-0 (1.000) all-time against the Huskies in Husky Stadium.
• Improve Notre Dame to 5-0 (1.000) all-time against Washington when the Huskies are unranked.
• Improve Notre Dame to 3-0 (1.000) all-time against Washington in Husky Stadium when the Huskies are unranked.
• Improve Notre Dame to 80-41-6 (.654) all-time against the Pac-10 Conference.
• Improve Notre Dame’s all-time road record against the Pac-10 to 32-24-5 (.566).
• Improve Weis’ record to 27-17 overall (.614), 2-0 (1.000) against Washington and 8-3 (.727) against the Pac-10.
• Improve Weis’ overall road record to 11-6 (.647) and his road record against the Pac-10 to 5-1 (.833).
• Improve Weis’ record to 9-5 (.643) in October games.
• Improve Weis’ record to 22-14 (.611) in afternoon games.
• Improve Notre Dame’s all-time record to 829-280-42 (.738).
• Improve Notre Dame’s all-time record on the road to 290-139-22 (.667).
• Improve Notre Dame’s all-time record to 61-15-2 (.795) when it plays after a bye week (since 1900).
• Improve Notre Dame’s record to 29-5 (.853) when it plays after a bye week (since 1984).
• Improve Notre Dame’s record to 3-2 (.600) when it plays after a bye week under Weis.

NOTRE DAME’S RECORD WHEN…

CHECKING THE WEIS ERA RECORD BOOK

• With seven points allowed, the Irish allowed the second fewest points under Weis. The fewest points Notre Dame has allowed under Weis were the six points in a 20-6 victory over UCLA on Oct. 6, 2007.
• With 26 rushing yards allowed, the Irish allowed the second fewest during the Weis era (tied). Notre Dame allowed just minus-11 yards on the ground against Setanford in 2005.
• With 98 passing yards allowed, Notre Dame allowed the seventh-fewest under Weis.
• With 124 yards total yards allowed, the Irish allowed the fewest in the Weis era.
• With nine first downs allowed, Notre Dame surrendered the fewest under Weis.
• With 254 yards rushing, the Irish ran for the second-most in a single game in the Weis era. Notre Dame rushed for 275 yards against Pittsburgh in 2005.

IRISH ITEMS
James Aldridge, Jr., RB

• Set season-highs in rushes (13), rushing yards (84) and rushing touchdowns (2)
• Registered his first career multi-rushing touchdown game
• Now has three rushing touchdowns in 2008 and three for his career

Jimmy Clausen, So., QB

• Registered his 10th consecutive start, seventh of the season and 15th of his career
• Hooked up with freshman WR Michael Floyd for a 51-yard touchdown pass to give the Irish a 7-0 lead
• The touchdown pass was Clausen’s 15th of the season and 22nd of his career
• The 51-yard pass was Clausen’s 25th completion of over 20 yards this season
• Following his sixth completion today, Clausen moved ahead of Steve Beuerlein (1984) into 10th place in single-season completions.
• Following his seventh completion today, Clausen moved ahead of Joe Montana (1978) into ninth place in single-season completions.
• On Notre Dame’s touchdown drive to open the second half, Clausen went 4-of-4 for 57 yards
• Clausen has now made 16 career starts for Notre Dame. Here is an interesting look at his noticeable improvement:

Maurice Crum, Jr., Sr., LB

• Failed to start for the first time in his career, snapping a streak of 43 consecutive starts
• His 43 consecutive starts was the longest streak on the team and seventh-longest among current NCAA FBS players.

Darius Fleming, Fr., DE

• Picked up his first career start
• Became the fourth different Irish true freshman to start this season joining DE Ethan Johnson, TE Kyle Rudolph and WR Michael Floyd.

Michael Floyd, So., WR

• Registered his sixth consecutive start, sixth of the season and sixth of his career
• Hauled in a 51-yard touchdown reception from sophomore QB Jimmy Clausen to give the Irish a 7-0 first quarter lead
• The TD reception was Floyd’s fifth of the season, which sets a new Notre Dame freshman record for touchdown receptions
• The 51-yard reception is Floyd’s longest of his career
• Added a 32-yard grab on Notre Dame’s second drive of the game (sixth career catch of over 30 yards)
• Surpassed 100 receiving yards for the third time in Notre Dame’s last four games (had 107 yards in the first half alone)
• With four receptions today and 31 this season, Floyd is now one reception shy of the single-season record for catches by a freshman (Duval Kamara had 32 in 2007).
• Floyd is having one of the top receiving seasons by any true freshman across the country in NCAA FBS. Here is where Floyd ranks among other true freshmen in receptions and receiving yards per game.

Kyle Rudolph, Fr., TE

• Registered his seventh consecutive start, seventh of the season and seventh of his career
• Here is how Rudolph’s season already compares to final numbers for three other outstanding Notre Dame rookies tight ends (Brown and McAfee each were named first team All-Americans later in their career).

Harrison Smith, So., FS

• Recorded his first career sack
• Added his second sack on another third down stop midway through the first quarter
• Recorded a career-high 35 yard rush on a fake punt midway through the third quarter setting up a Notre Dame field goal
• Smith has a pair of fake punt rushes this season, both have gained first downs and totaled 58 yards

Golden Tate, So., WR

• Registered his fourth consecutive start, fourth of the season and sixth of his career
• Picked up his first career rushing touchdown on a 21-yard end-around to give Notre Dame a 14-0 first quarter lead
• Tate first two rushes this season went for 45 yards, including today’s touchdown run (both on end-arounds)

• Tate’s second carry of the afternoon, another end-around, went for minus 10 yards.
• Tate has 565 yards receiving on 31 catches through seven games. Here is how Tate compares through seven games to the five previous top single seasons in receiving.

Brandon Walker, So., PK

• Connected on a 28-yard field goal to give Notre Dame a 17-0 lead in the second quarter
• Has made each of his last three field goals after opening the season 1-for-his-first-7
• The 28-yard field goal was just his second attempt inside of 40 yards
• Added a 42-yard field goal in the third quarter