Nov. 30, 2003

Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Photo Gallery

WITH THE WIN…
Notre Dame improves its record against Stanford to 12-6 and 4-4 at Stanford Stadium.

Win the win today, Notre Dame earned its first win at Stanford Stadium since Oct. 2, 1993, when the Irish defeated the Cardinal 48-20. It also marks the first time the road team has won in the series since then.

Notre Dame improves its record to 23-3 (.920) in games following a bye week dating back to 1984 and stretch their winning streak to 14 consecutive such games (1995-present).

The 50-point win by the Irish marks the largest margin of victory since a 62-point win against Rutgers in 1996.

This is the largest margin of victory for either team in the series. The previous deficit was 28 as Notre Dame won both games 48-20 in 1993 and 42-14 in 1988.

BITS AND PIECES…
The captains for today’s game against Stanford were WR Omar Jenkins, OT Jim Molinaro, DT Darrell Campbell and CB Vontez Duff. This is the fourth time this season and in his career he has been a captain. Molinaro has been a captain eight times this season and in his career. Campbell is a captain for the fourth time this season and the sixth time in his career. Duff is serving as a game captain for the sixth game this season and the eighth time in his career.

Stanford won the toss and deferred until the second half. Notre Dame received the ball and defended the south goal.

Today’s contest marked the first time in 25 games that Notre Dame has not played in front of a sellout crowd. The last non-sellout was also against Stanford in 2001.

With today’s game on ABC, Notre Dame extended its streak of appearing on one of the four major networks (NBC, ABC, CBS or ESPN) to 135 straight games, a stretch that spans 10 full seasons.

THE IRISH TEAM…
Notre Dame’s 512 yards of total offense were the most by the Irish since they had 524 yards against Navy in 1999.

Notre Dame’s 21 points in the first quarter are the most first quarter points since they had 21 against Navy in 2000. It is also the most points the Irish have scored in any quarter since Notre Dame scored 28 in the third quarter against Rutgers in 2002.

The 34 points at halftime were the most by an Irish team since Notre Dame scored 35 points in the first half against Rutgers in 1996 – Lou Holtz’s last game as head coach for the Irish.

Notre Dame’s 57 points were the most by an Irish team in the Tyrone Willingham era (the previous high was 42 against Rutgers last season) and the most points since Notre Dame posted 62 vs. Rutgers on Nov. 23, 1996. …69 against Georgia Tech in 1977 on Nov. 5, 1977…

Notre Dame had three takeaways in the game for the sixth time this season (Washington State, Michigan, Michigan State, Florida State and BYU) and has 24 takeaways (14 FUM, 10 INT) in 2003. Over the last three seasons, Notre Dame has forced two or more turnovers in 25 of its last 35 games, including 20 contests with three takeaways or more.

THE IRISHMEN…
Senior QB/WR Carlyle Holiday made his first career start at wide receiver today against Stanford. Holiday also played quarterback much of the fourth quarter.

With his 25 yards on the opening carry of the game, senior RB Julius Jones became the eighth player in Notre Dame history to rush for over 1,000 yards. Jones came into the game with 996 yards. It also marked only the 13th ever 1,000 yards season in Irish history.

With his 218 yards today, senior RB Julius Jones has 1,214 yards on the season and 3,064 for his career. Jones’ 1,214 yards ranks fifth on the single-season list as he moved past No. 12 Lee Becton (1,044 in 1993), No. 11 Al Hunter (1,058 in 1976), No. 10 Ryan Grant (1,085 in 2002), No. 9 Allen Pinkett (1,100 in 1985), No. 8 Allen Pinkett (1,105 in 1984), No.7 Autry Denson (1,176 – 1998), No. 6 Autry Denson (1,179 – 1996), No. 5 Vagas Ferguson (1,192 – 1978) during today’s game. He is now only 224 yards away from becoming the Notre Dame single-season rushing leader (Vagas Ferguson holds the record with 1,437 yards.) Jones will also finish his career fourth on the all-time Notre Dame rushing list.

Irish RB Julius Jones loves playing against Stanford at Stanford Stadium. In his career, Jones has rushed for 390 yards against the Cardinal in their home stadium including 66 in 1999, 106 in the first half in 2001 (he missed the second half with a leg injury) and 218 today. He also has four touchdowns in his career against Stanford.

RB Julius Jones rushed for 106 yards in the first quarter and by halftime had 179 yards on 16 carries. It is the fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season for the senior and the 10th of his career.

RB Julius Jones has recorded four of the greatest rushing games in Irish history this season. Jones broke the Notre Dame single-game rushing record of 255 yards set by Vagas Ferguson in 1978 when he exploded for 261 yards against Pittsburgh. He then posted the sixth-best rushing attack in Notre Dame history with 221 yards against Navy four weeks later. Against BYU the following week Jones had 161 yards, and today against Stanford the senior recorded the eighth-best game in Notre Dame history with 218 yards on 23 carries. He becomes the first player in Irish history to record three 200-yard rushing games in the same season.

Since freshman All-American RT Ryan Harris moved into the starting lineup and junior RG Dan Stevenson moved back to his natural position of guard, Julius Jones has rushed for 1,062 of 1214 yards this season. He also has nine touchdowns during that time and is averaging over 151 yards a game.

Junior DE Justin Tuck recorded his 10.5 sack of the season, breaking the Notre Dame sack record of 9.5 set by Bert Berry who had 10 in 1996 and Mike Gann also with 10 in 1984 (Sacks have only been kept since 1982). Tuck had a career-high 3.5 sacks in the game and now has 13 on the season.

Junior WR Matt Shelton caught his first career touchdown pass on a 65-yard bomb from QB Brady Quinn. It was only the third reception of Shelton’s career. He came into the game with two catches for 27 yards. Shelton also partially blocked a punt and returned a kick for the Irish.

RB Ryan Grant had three rushing touchdowns today marking the first three rushing touchdowns of the year for the junior. It is also the third game of his career with two touchdowns (Michigan and Florida State in 2002) and his first three TD game. Grant’s third touchdown was a 44-yard run, the longest rush of Grant’s career. His previous high was a 38-yarder against Michigan in 2002.

Junior FS Quentin Burrell’s 65-yard fumble return for a touchdown was the second fumble recovery of his career and his first career touchdown. It was the fumble return for a TD since the Purdue game in 2002 when both SS Lionel Bolen and SS Gerome Sapp both accomplished the feat. Burrell also had an interception in third quarter, his second career interception and first of the season.

SS Garron Bible returned a fumble 44 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter – the first fumble recovery for TD in his career and the second fumble recovery of his career. It also marked the first time Notre Dame returned two fumbles for touchdowns in a game since the Purdue game in 2002.

With his 45-yard touchdown pass to WR Maurice Stovall in the third quarter, QB Brady Quinn has tied his career high with two TD passes for touchdown in a game. His other two TD game was against Boston College.