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Postgame Notes

September 11, 2004

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Notre Dame Stadium
Notre Dame, Ind.

TEAM

  • Notre Dame’s 21-point fourth-quarter represents the most points the Irish have scored in the final 15 minutes since another 21-point eruption vs. Boston College on Oct. 25, 1997.
  • In its last two home openers, Notre Dame has scored a total of 44 points in the fourth quarter and overtime (20 in fourth quarter/three in OT vs. Washington State last year; 21 vs. Michigan today).
  • The combination of the Notre Dame win and Michigan loss results in another flip-flop atop the Division I football all-time winning percentage list (the teams are separated by the narrowest of margins, just .00026, or roughly 3/100ths of a percent). Notre Dame now is first on that list at .74567 (797-258-42) while Michigan has slipped back to .74541 (834-273-36).
  • Michigan now leads the all-time series with Notre Dame by an 18-13-1 count, although the Irish lead the series in Notre Dame Stadium, 7-4-1, and the series is now even in all games on the Notre Dame campus (7-7-1).
  • Notre Dame is 8-5-1 in its last 13 meetings with the Wolverines.
  • The lower-ranked team in the series now holds a 12-10-1 edge dating back to 1942, including wins in five of the last eight matchups. The other recent wins in the series by the lower-ranked team: No. 11 Notre Dame over No. 3 Michigan in ’93 (27-23), No. 6 Michigan over No. 3 Notre Dame in ’94 (26-24), No. 22 Notre Dame over No. 5 Michigan in ’98 (36-20) and No. 20 Notre Dame over No. 7 Michigan in ’02 (25-23).
  • The Irish earn their first victory over Michigan since 2002 and their third in a row over the Wolverines at Notre Dame Stadium (25-23 in 2002 and 36-20 in 1998).
  • Notre Dame defeats its first top-10 team since its last victory over (then) seventh-ranked Michigan in 2002.
  • Notre Dame’s last three victories over a top-10 team all have come against Michigan (2004, 2002 and 1998).
  • Notre Dame posts three consecutive home wins against Michigan for the first time in the series (the Irish won two straight in ’80-’82 and ’88-’90.
  • Seven of the last nine games in the series have been decided by a total of 27 points (3.2 points per game), with Notre Dame winning three of those nail-biters, Michigan winning twice and one tie.
  • Notre Dame has won more than 66 percent of its all-time games versus Big Ten Conference opponents, with a record of .500 or better against 10 of the 11 Big Ten teams (Michigan is the lone exception). The Irish have an overall mark of 210-103-15 (.663) in 325 games against Big Ten schools.
  • Notre Dame now is 23-12-1 (.653) at home vs. ranked teams during the past 18 seasons.
  • Notre Dame came up with three turnovers this afternoon (two fumble recoveries, one interception). Over the past three seasons (2001-04), Notre Dame has forced two or more turnovers in 28 of its 38 games, including 22 contests where they came up with at least three takeaways.
  • The Notre Dame run defense has been exceptionally sturdy during the past three seasons. Since Tyrone Willingham arrived on the scene in 2002, the Irish have held 16 of 27 opponents to less than 100 yards rushing, including Michigan’s 56-yard effort today. In 2002, Notre Dame was ranked 10th in the nation in rushing defense, followed by a No. 29 national ranking last year. Entering this weekend’s game, the Irish were fourth in the country in rushing defense.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

  • Senior defensive end and All-America candidate Justin Tuck made his 22nd career sack today, inching closer to the Notre Dame record (22.5) held by Kory Minor (’95-’98). The Kellyton, Ala., native set a school record with 13.5 sacks in 2003 and added two more sacks in last weekend’s season opener at BYU. Today, he moved past Mike Gann (’82-’84) into sole possession of second place on the Irish career list.
  • RB Darius Walker became the first freshman to see action for Notre Dame this season, taking the field on the final play of the first quarter.
  • Walker later put the Irish ahead with a touchdown run in the fourth quarter. It was the first score by a Notre Dame freshman since Maurice Stovall caught a 26-yard TD pass from Carlyle Holiday on Nov. 23, 2002 vs. Rutgers.
  • Walker also is the first Irish freshman to score in a home opener in 25 years, dating back to the 1979 opener vs. Michigan State (27-3) when Tony Hunter caught a 14-yard TD pass. Walker is the first Notre Dame freshman since at least 1970 to score two TDs in a home opener. The previous eight seasons (prior to ’79) had featured five freshmen who scored in a home opener, in: 1977 (Dave Mitchell 9-yard run vs. MSU, 16-6); 1975 (Jim Browner 10-yard run vs. Northwestern, 31-0); 1973 (Ross Browner punt-block TD vs. Northwestern, 44-0); 1972 (Eric Penick 14-yard run vs. Purdue, 35-14) and 1971 (Greg Hill 4-yard run vs. Northwestern, 50-7).
  • Walker later added a second touchdown, becoming the first Notre Dame freshman to score twice in a game since Matt LoVecchio also ran for two TDs at USC on Nov. 25, 2000.
  • The Notre Dame-Michigan series now has featured six games in which one player kicked four field goals: ND’s John Carney (’85), Chuck Male (’79) and Reggie Ho (’88) and Michigan’s Remy Hamilton (’84), Jeff Del Verne (’99) and Garrett Rivas (’04).
  • Walker rushed 31 times for 115 yards, making him the first ND freshman to rush for 100 yards in a game since Julius Jones ran for 146 yards vs. Navy on Oct. 30, 1999.
  • WR Matt Shelton caught a 48-yard touchdown pass from QB Brady Quinn in the third quarter. It was Shelton’s second career touchdown, both coming off Quinn’s arm (65 yards at Stanford, 2003).
  • CB Dwight Ellick intercepted a Chad Henne pass late in the third quarter. It was the first interception of Ellick’s career.
  • FB Rashon Powers-Neal logged his first career TD reception in the fourth quarter. It also was his first touchdown of any kind since Nov. 9, 2002, when he scored on a one-yard dive vs. Navy.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Today’s game marks the 174th consecutive sellout at Notre Dame Stadium and 222nd sellout in the past 223 home games for the Irish. Notre Dame also has played in front of sellout crowds in 163 of its last 187 games, including 27 of its last 28 games (the ’03 Stanford game was not a sellout).
  • With the Michigan game televised nationally by NBC, the Irish extended their streak of appearances on one of four major networks (NBC, ABC, CBS or ESPN) to 138 consecutive games, a stretch that covers 10 full seasons (1993-2003). The last time the Irish didn’t appear on one of those four networks was more than 11 years ago (Oct. 31, 1992), when Notre Dame downed Navy, 38-7, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. That game was shown locally in the South Bend area on WNDU-TV.
  • Today’s game captains for Notre Dame were: LB Mike Goolsby, WR Carlyle Holiday, OG Dan Stevenson and DE Justin Tuck. The Irish have chosen captains on a game-by-game basis throughout Tyrone Willingham’s tenure at Notre Dame.
  • Michigan won the toss and elected to defer its choice to the second half. Notre Dame chose to receive and defend the North goal.