Sept. 12, 2009

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Michigan won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Irish will receive and the Wolverines will defend the South end zone

Today’s defeat…
• Drops the Irish to 1-1 for the first time since 2002.
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record to 72-22-6 (.750) the week following a season opening victory.
• Denies the Irish their fourth 2-0 start to a season over the past five years.
• Drops Notre Dame to 15-21-1 (.419) in the all-time series with Michigan.
• Drops the Irish to 7-11 (.389) in the all-time series with the Wolverines in Michigan Stadium.
• Drops a ranked Irish squad to 12-11-1 all-time against Michigan and 0-2 against an unranked Wolverine team.
• Drops a ranked Notre Dame squad to 5-7 all-time against Michigan in Ann Arbor and 0-2 against an unranked Wolverine team in Michigan Stadium.
• Drops the Irish to 218-113-15 (.652) all-time against the Big Ten.
• Drops Weis’ record to 30-22 (.577) overall and 7-9 (.438) against the Big Ten.
• Drops Weis’ road record to 11-9 (.550) overall and 3-5 (.375) against the Big Ten.
• Drops Weis’ record to 11-9 (.550) in September games.
• Drops Weis’ record to 24-17 (.585) in afternoon games.
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record to 832-285-42 (.736).
• Drops the Irish all-time record on the road to 291-142-22 (.664).
• Drops Notre Dame to 95-72-9 (.565) all-time on the road against the Big 10 Conference.
• Drops the Irish to 82-49-4 (.622) all-time against schools from the state of Michigan.
• Drops Notre Dame to 75-35-5 (.674) all-time in road openers.

Streaks…
• the following players extended active starting streaks this afternoon: senior OT Sam Young 40, senior OC Eric Olsen 21, junior QB Jimmy Clausen 18, sophomore TE Kyle Rudolph 15, senior SS Kyle McCarthy 15 and junior DE Kerry Neal.

Against the Wolverines…
• Michigan scored the winning touchdown with 11 seconds remaining in the game. It marked the third meeting between the two rivals where the deciding points were scored with less than 12 seconds to go in the contest. The Wolverines last captured a meeting decided so late into the contest in 1994 when Remy Hamilton kicked a field goal with two seconds left to secure a 26-24 victory in Notre Dame Stadium.
• Junior QB Jimmy Clausen’s 336 yards are the most ever by an Irish signal caller against Michigan.
• Notre Dame racked up 27 first downs and 490 yards on the afternoon, the most ever by an Irish squad in the all-time series with the Wolverines.
• Sophomore WR Michael Floyd set a school record for receiving yards in a season-opener last week and followed up that performance with a school record for receiving yards in the series against Michigan with 131. The previous record was 127 set last season by junior WR Golden Tate in last year’s matchup.
• Tate’s nine receptions are the most by an Irish player in the all-time series with the Wolverines, besting the previous high of seven set by three different players (most recently Darius Walker in 2006).
• Tate also tied five other Irish players (most recently junior RB Robert Hughes in 2008) with the most touchdowns against the Wolverines in the series.
• Notre Dame managed just 10 first downs and 79 total yards on 55 plays in the 2007 meeting with Michigan, the last trip to Ann Arbor for the Irish. Notre Dame registered 15 first downs and piled up 302 yards on 37 plays, good for an average of 8.2 per play in the first half.
• The Irish were also held to minus-seven yards on 33 carries in that meeting. Notre Dame rushed for 112 yards on 19 carries, good for a 5.9 average, in today’s first half.

More Notes…
• Notre Dame racked up 27 first downs on the afternoon – the most by an Irish squad since Oct 7, 2006 against Stanford.
• Notre Dame had a touchdown called back in the first quarter when the replay booth overturned the call on the field that junior RB Armando Allen did not step out of bounds en route to the score (Irish had to settle for a field goal). The Irish also had what would have been a 74-yard reception to sophomore TE Kyle Rudolph called back due to a holding penalty.
• Notre Dame registered 10.0 tackles for loss in the game – the most since Nov. 19, 2005 against Syracuse.
• Michigan went 79 yards on nine plays to grab a 7-0 lead with 4:12 remaining in the opening quarter. The Wolverines converted a pair of third downs on the drive, including a 40-yard pass play on a third and 12. Michigan also converted a third and seven en route to the game’s opening touchdown.
• The Wolverines converted a pair of huge fourth down plays this afternoon. Michigan converted a 4th and 11 late in the second quarter to help kick a field goal as the first half clock expired. The Wolverines then converted a huge 4th and three when Michigan QB Tate Forcier scampered 31 yards for a touchdown to give the Wolverines a 31-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.
• Michigan’s Darryl Stonum returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to give the Wolverines a 14-3 lead with 34 seconds to go in the opening quarter (ensuing kickoff after Notre Dame had a touchdown overturned and settled for a field goal to make the score 7-3). Stonum was the first Irish opponent to return a kick for touchdown since Brian Cushing returned an onsides kick for a touchdown in 2006 (42 yards).
• Notre Dame allowed just three touchdowns in the opening quarter over the entire 2008 season and just one over the final nine games of the year, but Michigan scored 14 points to grab a 14-3 advantage after the first 15 minutes of the contest. The Irish had allowed just 19 total points in the first quarter over their last 10 games entering today.
• Notre Dame answered the Michigan kickoff return touchdown with 17 points over its next three drives. The Irish marched 76, 69 and 17 yards to regain a 20-14 lead.
• Notre Dame held the ball for nearly 19 minutes in the first half (18:41) compared to Michigan’s 11:19.
• Notre Dame committed its first turnover of the 2009 season when sophomore RB Jonas Gray fumbled at the Irish 26-yard line. Michigan took advantage of the miscue with a touchdown to regain a 24-20 lead with 7:55 left in the third quarter.

Jimmy Clausen, Jr., QB
• Clausen has registered multiple touchdown passes 12 times over Notre Dame’s last 17 games.
• He has thrown three or more touchdown passes nine times over his Irish career – all over Notre Dame’s last 18 games.
• Eclipsed 300 yards for the third straight game and fifth time over his Irish career.
• His 336 yards are the most ever by an Irish signal caller against Michigan.
• Clausen completed 9-of-17 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown in the fourth quarter.
• Over his last three games, Clausen has completed 62-of-86 (72.1 %) for 1,052 yards with 12 touchdowns and no interceptions. That equates to a 220.9 quarterback efficiency rating.
• On the drive following Michigan’s kickoff return for touchdown (giving the Wolverines a 14-3 lead), Clausen guided a seven play, 76-yard drive to bring Notre Dame within a score of 14-10. He went 3-for-3 on the drive for 56 yards, including a 37-yard strike to Floyd.
• After the Irish defense forced the Wolverines into a three and out, Clausen guided another scoring drive. Notre Dame went 69 yards on seven plays before Clausen found Floyd in the corner of the end zone to give the Irish a 17-14 lead. He completed 3-of-4 passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.
• On Notre Dame’s three scoring drives following Michigan’s kickoff return for touchdown (two touchdowns and a field goal), Clausen completed 7-for-8 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Michael Floyd, So., WR
• Eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark for the second consecutive game and sixth of his career. Floyd is now tied for fifth all-time in the Irish annuals for 100-yard receiving games.
• His 320 yards are the most over any two-game span by an Irish wide receiver since Tim Brown set the school record with 360 yards in consecutive games during the 1986 season.
• Floyd set a school record for receiving yards in a season-opener last week and followed up that performance with a school record for receiving yards in the series against Michigan with 131. The previous record was 127 set last season by junior WR Golden Tate in last year’s matchup.
• Hooked up with Clausen for his 11th career touchdown reception to give the Irish a 17-14 advantage with 7:05 remaining in the first half. Floyd, who has played just 13 games in his career, already ranks 11th in career receiving touchdowns at Notre Dame.

Golden Tate, Jr., WR
• Tate has registered multiple receiving touchdowns in three games over his career and all three have occurred in the last five games for Notre Dame.
• Eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark for the seventh time of his career. Tate is now tied for fourth all-time in the Irish annuals for 100-yard receiving games (Maurice Stovall also with seven).
• Tate’s nine receptions are the most by an Irish player in the all-time series with the Wolverines, besting the previous high of seven set by three different players (most recently Darius Walker in 2006).
• Tate also tied five other Irish players (most recently junior RB Robert Hughes in 2008) with the most touchdowns against the Wolverines in the series.
• Hooked up with Clausen for his 12th career touchdown reception to bring Notre Dame within 14-10 early in the second quarter.
• Added his second touchdown catch of the afternoon and 13th of his career with 9:46 to go in the fourth quarter to bring the Irish within five points, 31-26. Tate moved into sole possession of eighth place on the all-time Irish receiving touchdowns list.

Armando Allen, Jr., RB
• Eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the second time in his career.
• Added his second rushing touchdown of the season and fifth of his career with 5:13 to go in the game to give the Irish a 32-31 lead.
• Followed with a two-point conversion rush to make the score 34-31.
• His 139 yards on the ground bested his previous career-high of 134 set last season against Purdue.
• He also recorded a career-long run of 24 yards.

Nick Tausch, Fr., PK
• After missing a 28-yard field goal (the first field goal attempt of his career) on Notre Dame’s opening drive, connected from 34 yards to bring the Irish within a score of 7-3 with 0:46 remaining in the first quarter.
• Added a 42-yard field goal to give Notre Dame a 20-14 lead with 2:41 to go before halftime.