#10 Notre Dame To Kick Off Season vs. #RV Duke

Notre Dame Notes | Duke Notes 

	GAME DAY INFORMATION
Date	Saturday, September 12, 2020
Time	2:30 p.m. ET
Site:	Notre Dame Stadium
TV:	TV: NBC (national) Mike Tirico (play-by-play) Tony Dungy (analysis) Jac Collinsworth (sideline)
Radio:	Notre Dame Radio Network

THE COACHES
	Head Coach	At School	Overall	vs. Opponent
Notre Dame	Brian Kelly	92-37 (11th year)ˆ	263-94-2 (30th year)ˆ	1-1
Duke	David Cutcliffe	72-79 (13th year)	116-108 (19th year)	1-1

	IRISH VS. Blue Devils - BY THE NUMBERS
1	The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will make history in 2020 by joining a conference for the first time in the 133-year tenure of the program. The Irish will play as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and are ranked No. 2 in the Preseason ACC Poll.
3	Brian Kelly became just the third coach in Notre Dame history with three or more wins of at least 25 points over ranked teams with the victory vs. Navy. Lou Holtz and Frank Leahy each secured eight such victories. Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine had two such victories apiece.
4	Four graduate transfers -- CB Nick McCloud (North Carolina State), S Isaiah Pryor(Ohio State), WR Ben Skowronek(Northwestern) and K/P Dawson Goepferich (Brown) -- signed with the Irish this offseason who will play key roles on the field for Notre Dame.
5	QB Ian Book totaled five games in 2019 with four or more passing touchdowns, the most for a single season in school history. He joined Brady Quinn as the only Irish quarterbacks to throw four or more touchdown passes in a single game on six occasions in their career (Quinn accomplished the feat seven times).
10	Notre Dame reached 10 wins for three-consecutive seasons, the first time since the 1991-93 seasons that the Irish accomplished the feat.
13/9	The Irish return 13 starters from 2019, losing nine. Returning starters include graduate student QB Ian Book, who enters his third season as a starter, the entire offensive line and multiple starters or key contributors on the defensive line.
18	Notre Dame has won 18-consecutive games at Notre Dame Stadium. It is the third-longest winning streak at home for the Irish since the stadium opened in 1930. Clemson and Ohio State are the only other Power 5 programs that boast home streaks of 18 or more games.
25	Notre Dame has held 25-of-26 opponents during Clark Lea’s tenure as defensive coordinator to 30 points or less. That includes includes ranked opponents LSU, Michigan, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Clemson, Georgia, Virginia and Navy.
139	The last time Duke and Notre Dame met (Nov. 9, 2019), QB Ian Book became the first player in program history to mark four passing touchdowns and at least 100 rushing yards in a single game. His 139 rushing-yard total was the third-highest by an Irish quarterback since 1996. The last Irish quarterback to rush for more than 100 yards was Brandon Wimbush vs. Wake Forest in 2017 (110).
+188	The +188 point differential (296-108) for the Irish during their 2019 home slate was the largest since the 1932 season, when Hunk Anderson’s Notre Dame team outscored opponents by 198 (they shut out every team that visited Notre Dame Stadium that season).
359^	Games coached by Brian Kelly in his career, second among active coaches in the NCAA to Mack Brown (North Carolina).
2,500	QB Ian Book became the first Notre Dame quarterback with 2,500 passing yards, 500 rushing yards and 30 touchdown passes in a season in 2019. Jalen Hurts was the only other collegiate student-athlete to hit these marks in the 2019 season, and since 2017 only Book, Hurts, Kyler Murray, JT Barrett and D’Eriq King have hit these marks in the regular season.

ˆ Includes 20 regular-season wins and two postseason appearances vacated under discretionary NCAA penalty.

33-6 LAST THREE SEASONS

• Winning the Camping World Bowl and finishing 11-2 in 2019, and earning a College Football Playoff bid and finishing 12-1 in 2018, Notre Dame has compiled a 33-6 record over the past three seasons – the best three-year run for the program since 1991-93, when Notre Dame went 31-5-1. The Irish improved to 14-1 in regular-season games against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents over the last three seasons.
• The 33 wins tie a program record for most victories in a three-year period (also posted from 1988-90).

home field win streak

• The Irish completed an undefeated home slate for the second-consecutive season in 2019. Notre Dame had not achieved back-to-back undefeated home seasons since 1988-89.
• Notre Dame completed an undefeated season at Notre Dame Stadium in 2019 for the third time in five seasons (2015, 6-0 and 2018, 6-0) after finishing 7-0 following a 40-7 win over Boston College. From 1990-2011, only the 1998 campaign (6-0) saw a perfect Notre Dame home slate.
• Notre Dame has won 18-straight games at home dating back to Sept. 30, 2017, starting with a victory over Miami (Ohio). It is the third-longest home winning streak for the Irish since Notre Dame Stadium opened in 1930 (28-straight from 1942-50; 19-straight from 1987-90). Clemson (23) and Ohio State (21) are the only other Power 5 programs that boast home streaks of 18 or more games.

entering The Season

WELCOME TO THE CLUB 

• For the first time in the 133-year history of the Notre Dame Football Program, the Fighting Irish will play the 2020 football season as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Each ACC squad will play 10 conference games, in addition to one non-conference matchup, to complete a modified 11-game schedule. The two squads with the best records will face off in the ACC Championship in December.
• In the ACC Preseason Order of Finish, the Irish are ranked second behind Clemson, who enters the season as the top-ranked team in the nation.
• In a partnership that began in 2014, Notre Dame and the ACC agreed to schedule the Irish to play, on average, five ACC opponents each sesason. Originally scheduled through the 2025 season, the games have now been scheduled through the 2037 campaign.
• Notre Dame is 23-7 (.767) against ACC opponents since the scheduling agreement began during the 2014 season (See page 10 for complete list of games played under this agreement). In 2019, the Irish improved to 14-1 in regular-season games against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents over the last three seasons.
• Notre Dame has been ranked in the Top 25 for 44-consecutive weeks, the longest such streak for the Irish since the 1994 season.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS IN 2019

• The Irish faced seven teams coming off of their bye week in 2019, and won all seven of those games. In 2020, Notre Dame is set to face Florida State and North Carolina in weeks following their open weeks.
• Notre Dame and Alabama are the only two teams that have not lost to an unranked team since the beginning of 2017.

LAST TIME: DUKE

• Notre Dame beat Duke handily, 38-7, with a performance that saw QB Ian Book go 18-of-32 for 181 yards and four touchdowns, in addition to a career-best 139 rushing yards. His four-score performance made him one of just two Notre Dame quarterbacks to throw at least four touchdown passes on four occasions, joining Brady Quinn, who accomplished the feat seven times. He was also the first Notre Dame quarterback ever to throw four TD passes and rush for 100 yards in the same game.
• In the first quarter vs. Duke, the Irish held the Blue Devils to 26 offensive yards compared to Notre Dame’s 180. The Irish totaled eight first downs in the quarter, while limiting Duke to just one. Duke did not post its second first down until halfway through the second quarter.
• In the first half, Notre Dame outgained Duke, 273-123. The Irish racked up 175 rushing yards to the Blue Devils’ 44. On the game, the Notre Dame defense held Duke to 95 total rushing yards.

SEASON OPENERS

• Notre Dame is 107-17-5 (.848) in season openers, with victories in 27 of the last 33 lid-lifters.
• In nine of the last 10 seasons, the Irish have scored the first points in the season’s opening game, including Jahmir Smith’s three-yard rushing touchdown as the first points in the season-opener at Louisville in 2019.
• The Irish are 8-2 in season openers under Brian Kelly.
• Since 1958, the Irish are 37-4 (.902) in the season opener when scoring first, while they are 13-6 when the opponent registers the first score.
• In the 107 seasons Notre Dame has won its opener, the Irish have gone on to post a winning record 93.5% of the time (100 seasons).

HOME OPENERS

• Notre Dame opens its 91st season at Notre Dame Stadium in 2020. The facility opened in 1930 and the Irish own an all-time record of 356-114-5 (.755)ˆ in “The House That Rockne Built”.
• The Irish are 107-18-4 (.845)ˆ in home openers (the team did not have a home opener in 1889 or 1929), with a mark of 73-15-2 (.822)ˆ at Notre Dame Stadium.
• Brian Kelly is 9-1ˆ in home openers at Notre Dame, ranking behind Rockne and Parseghian and even with Leahy in terms of home-opening victories.

Book club in session

• Graduate student quarterback Ian Book returns as the starter in 2020, marking the first time the Irish enter a season with a quarterback boasting at least two seasons of majority of games started (23 of 26 games from 2018-19) since Jimmy Clausen in 2009 (22 of 25 games from 2007-08).
• Book became the first Notre Dame quarterback with 2,500 passing yards, 500 rushing yards and 30 touchdown passes in a season with his 2019 regular-season performance. Jalen Hurts was the only other collegiate student-athlete to hit these marks in the 2019 regular season, while Trevor Lawrence and Sam Ehlinger joined the group, but not until the postseason. Since 2017, only Book, Hurts, Kyler Murray, JT Barrett and D’Eriq King have hit these marks in the regular season.
• In 2019, Book was named Notre Dame Offensive Player of the Year and earned spots on the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List three times and as the Manning Star of the Week twice. He finished the season 240-for-399 with 3,034 yards and 34 touchdowns, throwing just six interceptions. He also ran 112 times for 546 yards and four touchdowns.
• Just five FBS players were responsible for more points than Book’s 222 in the 2019 regular season.

HEADED FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

• Book currently stands at 57 career passing touchdowns after passing current associate athletic director for football Ron Powlus (52  career TD passes) with his four scoring tosses at Stanford in 2019.
• Book’s 34 touchdown passes in 2019 rank second in program history. Brady Quinn’s 37 touchdown passes in 2006 is the only more-prolific QB scoring campaign.

DEFEND THE GRIDIRON

• In 2019, Notre Dame led the nation in fumbles recovered with 19 on the season. Players responsible for 11 of those recoveries are returning veterans. Four 2019 players recorded two fumble recoveries on the season, and three of those players (Drew White, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and TaRiq Bracy) return, while Chase Claypool is the only departing player with multiple fumble recoveries.
• Notre Dame totaled 26 takeaways during the 2019 regular season, the second-most in the FBS at that point. By the end of the postseason, just three teams totaled more takeaways than Notre Dame’s 28: Florida Atlantic (33), Clemson (30) and Baylor (30).
• Notre Dame‘s 2019 defense ranked third among FBS teams in pass yards allowed/game (168.5).
• In 2019, Notre Dame’s offense traveled 501 yards vs. Boston College, and the Irish defense held the Eagles to 191 offensive yards, including just 63 yards passing. Prior to that game, the Eagles had averaged 201.5 passing yards per game.
• The Irish forced a shutout vs. Bowling Green in 2019 for the first time since 2014 (vs. Michigan, 31-0), scoring 35 points in the first half. Notre Dame’s 35-0 halftime lead was the largest since opening a 35-0 halftime margin over Rutgers in 1996. It was Notre Dame’s largest shutout margin since that game, when Lou Holtz’s Irish won, 62-0.
• Rising sophomore DB Kyle Hamilton led the Notre Dame defense in interceptions (four) in 2019, and was one of two true freshman in the FBS to total four interceptions on the regular season (LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr.).

FOLLOW HIS LEA-D

• Notre Dame has held 25-of-26 opponents during Clark Lea’s tenure as defensive coordinator to 30 points or less. That includes includes ranked opponents LSU, Michigan, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Clemson, Georgia, Virginia and Navy.

PROTECT THE ZONE, AND FIND THE OTHER

• In 2019, the Notre Dame defense ranked No. 12 among FBS teams in scoring defense, allowing just 17.9 points per game (26 touchdowns and 17 field goals).
• Last season, the Irish defenders found the end zone four times on the season, three coming from fumble recoveries (Adetokunbo Ogundeji, Paul Moala and Khalid Kareem) and one pick-six (Kyle Hamilton).

poised to attack

• In 2019, Notre Dame combined for the fourth-best turnover margin among FBS schools (+17), behind Florida Atlantic (+21), San Diego St. (+19) and Alabama (+18). The Irish offense gave away the ball just 11 times in 2019, the fifth fewest among FBS teams.
• The Irish scored at least 52 points in three games last season (vs. New Mexico, vs. Bowling Green, vs. Navy). Notre Dame outscored opponents 478-233 in 2019.
• Notre Dame was the last remaining team in the FBS hold a perfect red zone scoring percentage in 2019, converting on its first 24-of-24 visits inside the 20. Of the two dozen scores, 21 were touchdowns (11 rushing, 10 passing). Last season, the Irish scored on 51 of 55 visits to the red zone (.927), ranking as the 10th-best rate in the FBS.
• The Irish return five starters to the offensive line (Eichenberg, Banks, Patterson, Kraemer and Hainsey), as Hainsey and Kraemer were sidelined for some game action in 2019 due to injury. As a whole, Notre Dame’s offense returns seven starters, only losing four.

PROTECTED AND ELUSIVE

• Behind one of the best offensive lines in college football, Notre Dame quarterbacks were sacked just 1.23 times per game in 2019 (Book 13 times, Phil Jurkovec once, two MISC). This figure ranked No. 12 among all FBS teams.
• In 2019, Notre Dame’s offense traveled an average of 431.4 yards per game. The high (591) came against New Mexico in the home opener, which the Irish also reached the 500-yard mark against Bowling Green (573) and Boston College (501).

saturday specialists

• On the season, K/P Jonathan Doerer has compiled a 85.0 FG-make percentage (17-20), the fifth-best by an Irish kicker in a single season since 1996. In 2019, Doerer was perfect on PAT attempts (54-of-54), totaling 93 poinst between field goals and points after.
• In 2019, Doerer scored 108 points for the Irish, the most in a single season by any Notre Dame kicker. He topped Kyle Brindza’s 2013 mark of 98 with his performance in the Camping World Bowl vs. Iowa State, in which Doerer netted 15 points on four field goals and three PATs.
• With his four field goals vs. Boston College and four vs. Iowa State, Doerer tied for seventh-most by an Irish kicker in a single game.
• Doerer inscribed his name in Notre Dame record books vs. Southern Cal, becoming the first Irish kicker since Dave Reeve (1977) to make three field goals of 40 or more yards in a single game. Doerer made a career-long 52-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half vs. Southern Cal, also making a 45-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining in the first half. Doerer added a 43-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. All three surpassed his previous career-long (36 yards).
• Doerer’s 52-yarder also placed him in the Irish record books, matching the third-longest field goal made in Notre Dame history. Dave Reeve (1976 vs. Pittsburgh) and Kyle Brindza (2013 vs. Arizona State in Arlington, Texas) both had 53-yard field goals for the Irish. Notre Dame’s last made field goal of 50 yards or longer came in 2015, when Justin Yoon netted a 52-yarder against Navy.
• Notre Dame special teams units did not allow a single blocked kick on punt in 2019, while blocking two punts on the season (sixth-best mark in among FBS teams).
• The Irish as a whole led all FBS teams in fumbles recovered, due to a combined effort from the defense and special teams units.