Oct. 11, 2008

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes

Notre Dame won the coin toss and elected to defer. North Carolina received and the Irish defended the West end zone.

The game was sold out. It was the 67th sellout in the last 74 road games for the Irish. The only non-sellouts include the 2001-07 games at Stanford, the 2004 game vs. Navy (The Meadowlands), the 2005 game at Washington and the 2006 game at Air Force.

TODAY’S DEFEAT…

• Make Notre Dame 4-2 for the first time since 2005 and the third time in five years (2008, 2005, 2004).
• Snap the six-game winning streak by the Irish over North Carolina.
• Drop Notre Dame to 17-4 (.810) under Weis coming off a victory.
• Drop the Irish to 16-2 (.889) in the all-time series with North Carolina – still the highest winning percentage against any opponent with over 12 meetings.
• Drop Notre Dame to 4-2 (.667) in the all-time series with the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.
• Give North Carolina its first victory over the Irish since 1960.
• Drop an unranked Irish squad (post 1932) to 5-2 (.714) all-time against North Carolina.
• Drop an unranked Notre Dame squad to 1-2 (.333) all-time against the Tar Heels in Kenan Stadium.
• Drop Notre Dame to 2-1 (.667) all-time against North Carolina when the Tar Heels are ranked.
• Drop Notre Dame to 0-1 (.000) all-time against the Tar Heels in Kenan Stadium when UNC is ranked.
• Drop Notre Dame to 75-30-2 (.710) all-time against the Atlantic Coast Conference.
• Drop Notre Dame’s all-time road record against the ACC to 26-14-2 (.643).
• Drop Notre Dame’s all-time road record against teams that were members of the ACC at the time of the game to 18-5-1 (.771).
• Drop Weis’ record to 26-17 overall (.605), 1-1 (.500) against North Carolina and 3-3 (.500) against the ACC.
• Drop Weis’ overall road record to 10-6 (.625) and his road record against the ACC to 1-1 (.500).
• Drop Weis’ record to 8-5 (.615) in October games.
• Drop Weis’ record to 19-14 (.576) in afternoon games.
• Drop Weis’ all-time road record against opponents ranked by the AP to 3-3 (.500).
• Drop Notre Dame’s all-time record to 828-280-42 (.738).
• Drop Notre Dame’s all-time record on the road to 289-139-22 (.667).
• Drop Notre Dame’s all-time record against opponents ranked by the AP to 142-125-10 (.531).
• Drop Notre Dame’s all-time road record against opponents ranked by the AP to 57-53-5 (.517).

NOTRE DAME’S RECORD WHEN…

TURNOVERS
Notre Dame entered today’s game with a +5 advantage in turnover margin and ranked tied for 20th in the NCAA FBS. The Irish committed five turnovers (two interceptions, three fumbles) this afternoon, while North Carolina failed to commit one. The minus-five in turnover margin is the largest for Notre Dame in a game this season and largest margin since Nov 2, 2002 against Boston College.

NO RUNNING BACKS
Notre Dame opened the game with four wide receivers, one tight end and no running backs. The Irish have not opened five wide, no running backs, since Oct. 22, 2005 against BYU (just the second time under Weis and more than likely in Notre Dame school history). Notre Dame also opened that game with four WRs and one tight end. Brady Quinn proceeded to throw for 467 yards and a school record six touchdown passes that afternoon.

IRISH MOVED THE BALL ALL AFTERNOON
Notre Dame totaled 472 yards this afternoon. It is the most total yards for the Irish this season and most since Notre Dame racked up 663 at Stanford in 2005.

NOTRE DAME GETS OFF TO FAST START
The Irish opened the first quarter in no-huddle (as it has the last three games) and racked up 158 total yards on 23 plays (good for a 6.9 yard average per play). Notre Dame totaled 11 first downs, compared to just four for the Tar Heels. North Carolina recorded 73 yards on 14 plays.

MORE, MORE BIG PLAYS

• Sophomore QB Jimmy Clausen completed his 20th pass of 20 yards of more when he found freshman WR Michael Floyd for 32 yards midway through the first quarter (helped the Irish get out of their own end zone as the drive started at the Notre Dame seven-yard line). Clausen added his 21st when he found sophomore WR Golden Tate for 47 yards to setup a touchdown late in the second quarter. He then connected with Floyd for 24 yards in third quarter to give him 22 passes of over 20 yards. Clausen finished the afternoon with a total of five 20+ yard completions to give him 24 for the season. He connected on just 13 through 10 games in 2007.
• The Irish had six passing plays of over 30 yards in the entire 2007 season. Not only does sophomore WR Golden Tate have more by himself (seven), Notre Dame has 11 as team though six games.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Sophomore QB Jimmy Clausen completed passes to six different receivers in the first half alone, including four different receivers for more than one reception. Clausen completed a pass to a seventh different receiver in the second half.

THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS

• Notre Dame entered today’s game converting on just 33.8% (22-of-65) on third down this season. The Irish proceeded to convert 6-of-8 on third down in the opening 30 minutes. In fact, North Carolina had allowed just 35.4% (28-of-79) on third down prior to the game. Notre Dame limited the Tar Heels to just 2-of-7 in the first half.
• The Irish finished the afternoon 10-of-16 on third down conversions.

IRISH ITEMS
David Bruton, Sr., FS

• Recorded the 17th start of his career
• Has started nine consecutive games for the Irish

Jimmy Clausen, So., QB

• Recorded the 15th start of his career
• Has started nine consecutive games for the Irish
• Led the Irish on an 11-play, 82-yard scoring drive to give Notre Dame a 7-0 first quarter lead
• Clausen went 5-of-9 for 63 yards on the drive, including a 19-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Golden Tate
• Clausen has thrown a TD pass in all six games for the Irish this season and eight of the last nine games
• Clausen added his second touchdown pass of the game late in the first half to freshman WR Michael Floyd to give the Irish a 17-6 advantage
• The touchdown pass was his 14th of the season and 21st of his career
• Has registered multi-touchdown passing games seven times over Notre Dame’s last nine games
• Tossed his first interception in 132 pass attempts to open the second half (was returned for a touchdown by North Carolina to bring the Tar Heels within 17-16)
• The 132 passes without an interception is the second longest in school history by a Notre Dame quarterback (only Brady Quinn’s 226 straight passes without an INT during the 2006 season was longer)
• Eclipsed 200 yards passing for the sixth time in his career (all in the last nine games)
• Surpassed the 300-yard passing barrier for the second straight week
• Has thrown for a total of 730 yards over the last two Notre Dame games (383 today against North Carolina and 347 last week against Stanford)
• It is the most passing yards by a Notre Dame quarterback in consecutive weeks since Brady Quinn totaled 815 in victories over Washington and Purdue during the 2005 season (468 at Purdue and 327 at Washington)
• The 383 passing yards, 31 completions and 48 attempts are all career-highs

Maurice Crum, Jr., Sr., LB

• Recorded the 43rd start of his career
• His 43 consecutive starts are the longest streak on the team and sixth-longest among current NCAA FBS players
• Has started every game of his career and all 43 games for the Irish over the past four seasons

Michael Floyd, So., WR

• Recorded his fifth consecutive start
• Hauled in a seven-yard touchdown reception from sophomore Jimmy Clausen with 0:52 left in the opening half to give the Irish a 17-6 lead
• The touchdown catch was his fourth of the season, which ties the Notre Dame record for TD receptions by a freshman (sophomore WR Duval Kamara had four in 2007).
• Fell seven receiving yards shot of becoming the first Irish freshman to ever eclipse 100 yards receiving in three consecutive games

Duval Kamara, So., WR

• Entered the game with four receptions, added a fifth in the first half, but hauled in three alone on Notre Dame’s initial scoring drive of the third quarter (two of the three catches went for first downs, including a 18-yard reception on a 3rd and 16 play)

Pat Kuntz, Sr., DE

• Recorded the 16th start of his career
• Picked up his third sack of the season (third in as many weeks) and 3.5 of his career

Terrail Lambert, Sr., CB

• Recorded the 28th start of his career
• His 28 consecutive starts are the third-longest streak on the team (only trails senior Maurice Crum’s 43 straight starts and junior Sam Young’s 31)

Kyle Rudolph, Fr., TE

• Recorded his sixth consecutive start
• Picked up a pair of receptions, including one for a first down on Notre Dame’s opening drive

Golden Tate, So., WR

• Recorded his fourth touchdown of the season and fifth of his career on a 19-yard strike from sophomore Jimmy Clausen to give the Irish a 7-0 lead at 10:27 of the first quarter
• Hauled in a 47 yard reception late in the second quarter to set up a first-down and goal situation
• The 47-yard reception was Tate’s seventh this season of over 30 yards (added an eighth on Notre Dame’s final drive of the game).
• Finished the afternoon with five catches for 121 yards
• Eclipsed 100 yards receiving for the second time in 2008 and third time in his career

Mike Turkovich, Sr., OL

• Recorded the 18th start of his career
• His 18 consecutive starts are the fourth-longest streak on the team (only trails senior Maurice Crum, 43, junior Sam Young, 31, and senior Terrail Lambert, 28)

Brandon Walker, So., K

• Connected on a 42-yard field goal with 12:53 to go in the second quarter to give Notre Dame a 10-3 lead
• Had missed seven of his eight kicks on the season entering the game
• The 42-yarder was his longest field goal of the season

Sam Young, Jr., OL

• Recorded the 31st start of his career
• His 31 consecutive starts are the second-longest streak on the team (only trails senior Maurice Crum’s 43 straight starts)
• Has started every game of his career and all 31 games for the Irish over the past three seasons