#12/#10 Irish Set for Shamrock Series Clash with #18/#15 Wisconsin

Notre Dame Games Notes (PDF)

ˆ Includes 21 wins vacated under discretionary NCAA penalty.

SHILLELAGH STAYS HOME

• The Irish extended their winning streak to nine over Purdue to retain the Shillelagh Trophy with the 27-13 win on Sept. 18.
• The defense put together its best performance of the season, limiting the Boilermakers to their fewest points in a game since Oct. 26 2019 against Illinois. 
• With the win, the Irish extended its longest modern-era home winning streak to 26 games.
• Notre Dame also extended its winning streak against unranked opponents to 35 games with the win. 
• Running back Kyren Williams led the way with 168 all-purpose yards, the most by an Irish player this season and the third most of his career.
• Williams currently ranks 20th in the country with 133.3 all-purpose yards per game this season.
• Quarterback Jack Coan finished the day with 223 yards and two touchdowns, his third-straight game with two touchdowns or more.
• It is the first time in his career he has had two or more touchdowns in three-straight games. It is also Coan’s second career streak of three-straight games with 200 yards passing or more.
• Wide receiver Avery Davis was Coan’s favorite target as he had a career day with five receptions for 120 yards and a 62-yard touchdown reception.
• The Irish keep the Shillelagh Trophy home and continue to hold all five traveling trophies. They have had all five trophies on campus since 2018. 

BALLIN’ BERTRAND

• Linebacker JD Bertrand was all over the field as he led the Irish in tackles for the third-straight game against Purdue on Sept. 18.
• Bertrand tied a career high with 12 tackles against the Boilermakers after he tallied 11 against Toledo and 12 in the season-opener against Florida State.
• The sophomore from Marietta, Ga. is the first Irish player to begin a season with three-straight double-digit tackles games since Courtney Watson back in 2001. 
• His 35 tackles through three games is the most to begin a season since Watson totaled 38 over the first three games of the 2001 season.
• He is also the first Irish player to have three-consecutive games with double-digit tackles since Alohi Gilman in 2018-19. Gilman had 10 tackles against Southern Cal and then 18 against Clemson in the College Football Playoff Semifinal in 2018 and followed it up with 10 tackles in the 2019 season opener against Louisville.
• The 35 tackles rank fifth nationally and he is seventh in the nation in solo tackles with 21 for the season. 
• In the win over Toledo, Bertrand set a career high in sacks (1.0) and recovered his first career fumble to seal the game late in the fourth quarter.
• Bertrand got his first career start in the opener against Florida State and his 12 tackles were the most by an Irish linebacker since Te’von Coney had 16 on Dec. 28, 2018 against Clemson.

HAMILTON THE HUNTER

• Safety Kyle Hamilton tied a career high with 10 tackles and hauled in an interception in the win over Purdue.
• One of his tackles stopped a fourth-down conversion for the Boilermakers in the first quarter. The Irish offense scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive to take a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game.
• Hamilton’s interception came in the fourth quarter to improve his total to three on the year. 
• The three interceptions are tied for second nationally and he is tied for the NCAA lead with 1.0 interceptions per game.
• It is the most interceptions by an Irish player in the first three games of the season since Bennett Jackson and Manti Te’o both had three through the first three games of the 2012 season.
• He has eight interceptions in his Irish career which is just three shy from tying Shane Walton and Todd Lyght for ninth all-time in program history.

GETTING AFTER THE QUARTERBACK

• Under new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, the Irish defense has been one of the nation’s best at getting after the quarterback to start the 2021 season.
• The Irish rank sixth nationally with 4.33 sacks per game.
• The 13 sacks are the most in the first three games of a season since the 1996 campaign when the Irish also had 13 sacks in the first three games.
• Defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey leads the Irish with 3.5 sacks on the season which ranks 11th nationally. 
• Foskey has recorded a sack in each of the first three games this season.

TIED WITH A LEGEND

• With the 27-13 win on Sept. 18 over Purdue, head coach Brian Kelly tied Knute Rockne for the most wins all-time in Notre Dame history with 105^.
• Kelly stands alone as the only Irish coach in history to post six seasons with 10 wins or more (2012^, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020).
• Kelly is in his 12th year on the Irish sidelines and is just the second coach in Notre Dame history to coach 12 or more years in South Bend (Rockne – 13).
• During the 2020 season, Kelly eclipsed the 100-win plateau after a 45-31 road win over Boston College, which tied Lou Holtz for second all-time in wins.
• The very next week, Kelly surpassed Holtz when the Irish defeated No. 19 North Carolina on the road, 31-17.

SHAMROCK SERIES

• Notre Dame will take part in its 10th Shamrock Series game this weekend when it travels to Chicago to take on Wisconsin at Soldier Field.

• The Irish are a perfect 9-0 in Shamrock Series games and have won each game by an average score of 22.8 points. The Irish have scored 27 or more points in eight of the nine previous Shamrock games. 
• This will be the third time the Irish return to a previous Shamrock venue as they first played at Soldier Field in 2012. 
• Notre Dame defeated Miami 41-3 in 2012 during the Shamrock Game at Soldier Field. Cierre Wood and George Atkinson both ran for over 100 yards in the game. It was the first time since Oct. 5, 2002 that the Irish had two 100-yard rushers in the same game (Rashon Powers-Neal and  Ryan Grant).
• This will be the second B1G opponent the Irish are set to face in the Shamrock Series as they defeated Purdue 31-14 in Lucas Oil Stadium during the 2014 season.

AMONG THE NATIONS BEST

• Since the start of 2018, Notre Dame is 36-5 (.878). That rate ranks fourth among all teams who have made an appearance in the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014. 
• Among those teams, Notre Dame is one of just four teams that have totaled five or fewer losses since the beginning of 2018. 
• The Irish are one of five teams who have made playoff appearances in multiple seasons.

IRISH IN THE POLLS

• The Irish stay steady this week at No. 12 in the AP Top 25 and No. 10 in the Coaches poll.
• Notre Dame has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 66-consecutive weeks, the longest such streak for the Irish since the 1994 season (124 weeks).

• The 66-week run currently ranks fourth among all FBS active streaks, which do not include teams who were not listed in the initial AP polls at the beginning of the 2020 season (Big Ten and Pac-12).

 —ND—