#7 Notre Dame To Take On USF Saturday

Notre Dame Notes | South Florida Notes

	GAME DAY INFORMATION
Date	Saturday, September 19, 2020
Time	2:39 p.m. ET
Site:	Notre Dame Stadium
TV:	TV: USA Paul Burmeister (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	93-37 (11th year)ˆ	264-94-2 (30th year)ˆ	0-1
USF	Jeff Scott	1-0 (First year)	1-0 (First year)	0-0

	IRISH VS. BULLS - BY THE NUMBERS
1	The Notre Dame Fighting Irish make history in 2020 by joining a conference for the first time in the 132-year tenure of the program. The Irish will play as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The USF matchup marks the only non-conference game the Irish will play in the regular season.
3	In 2019, 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.
4	Three offensive linemen (T Liam Eichenberg, G Aaron Banks and C Jarrett Patterson) and CB TaRiq Bracy were named to the Pro Football Focus Team of the Week for their performances against Duke. The Notre Dame offensive line was also named PFF’s Offensive Line of the Week.
7	The Irish boast a current win streak of seven games, the second-most among Power 5 programs.
19	Notre Dame has won 19-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.
26	Notre Dame has held 26-of-27 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.
46.5	RB Kyren Williams led all FBS players last week in yards-per-reception with 46.5, after his 93-yard receiving performance vs. Duke. He caught two passes, taking a screen pass 75 yards for the Irish. In total, Williams marked down 91 yards-after-catch vs. Duke.
96	QB Ian Book led the Irish on five scoring drives vs. Duke, the first of which went 96 yards in 12 plays (longest drive by the Irish since a 97-yard drive in the 30-27 home win over Southern Cal in 2019).
205	RB Kyren Williams exploded in his first-career start vs. Duke, rushing for 112 yards and adding 93 receiving yards, totaling 205 all-purpose yards on the day. He was the first Notre Dame player since at least 1996 to reach the 90-yard mark in both rushing and receiving in a single game. No FBS player had more all-purpose yards than Williams’ 205 that week.
360^	Games coached by Brian Kelly in his career, second among active coaches in the NCAA to Mack Brown (North Carolina).

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

2020 Captains

• Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Brian Kelly announced five team captains for Notre Dame’s 2020 football campaign this fall. They include returning 2019 captains QB Ian Book and OL Robert Hainsey, as well as first-time captains S Shaun Crawford, DL Daelin Hayes and DL Adetokunbo Ogundeji.
• Book and Hainsey earn the role as rare two-time captains, just the 23rd and 24th Notre Dame players in the program’s 131-season history to ever serve multiple seasons as a team captain. More than 200 players have served in the captain role for Irish Football.

home field win streak

• Notre Dame has won 19-straight games at home dating back to Sept. 30, 2017, starting with a victory over Miami (Ohio) and extending to the 2020 season-opening win over Duke.
• It ties the second-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 and Ohio State are the only other Power 5 programs that boast home streaks of 19 or more games.
• 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.

entering The Season

WELCOME TO THE CLUB 

• For the first time in the 132-year history of the Notre Dame Football Program, the Fighting Irish are playing the 2020 football season as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (131 years were spent as an independent. The 132nd season is the first in the ACC). 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.

LAST TIME: USF

• September 3, 2011 – Notre Dame 20, USF 23: Notre Dame fell to USF in a game that lasted 5 hours, 59 minutes, including two weather delays (lightning).
• Officials asked fans to leave the stadium at halftime because of severe weather, mostly lightning, and the teams then stayed in their locker rooms for 2 hours, 10 minutes until it cleared. South Florida led 16-0 at the time.
• Then, with 4:21 to play, the game was delayed for 43 minutes and again fans departed the stadium with wicked lightning flickering around the stadium.

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).
• In the season opener vs. Duke, Book completed 19-of-31 passes, including a 75-yard long, for 236 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 12 yards. Book quarterbacked the Irish offense to five scoring drives, the first of which went 96 yards in 12 plays, to take the lead in the second quarter. It was the longest drive by the Irish since a 97-yard drive in the 30-27 home win over Southern Cal in 2019. Notre Dame also added an 83-yard touchdown drive later in the game.
• In all, the Irish offense outrushed (178-75), outpassed (263-259) and outgained (441-334) the Blue Devils, and were 3-4 in the redzone.
• 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 58 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

• After the first game, Notre Dame ranks third among all FBS teams and first in the ACC in fumbles recovered, after taking control of two fumbles vs. Duke. The two recoveries placed the Irish at a +1 turnover margin, the third-best in the ACC and 11th-best in the FBS. S Shaun Crawford and DL Ade Ogundeji were responsible for the two recoveries, as LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah forced one loose.
• By allowing just 13 points vs. Duke, the Irish defense ranks third in the ACC and 10th among FBS teams in scoring defense. 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).
• The Irish currently rank eighth among FBS teams in rushing defense (and fourth in the ACC), after limiting Duke to just 75 yards on the ground in the season-opener.
• Duke’s third quarter touchdown snapped the Notre Dame defense’s streak of 1:04:31 between touchdowns allowed. The last touchdown the Irish had allowed was in the waning moments of the 2019 victory over Stanford.

FOLLOW HIS LEA-D

• Notre Dame has held 26-of-27 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.

WHEN THERE’S A WILL(IAMS)

• RB Kyren Williams exploded onto the scene in his first-career start vs. Duke, leading all FBS players in all-purpose yards (205) after rushing for 112 yards and tacking on 93 more in the air. His performance marked the first time an Irish player has reached the 90-yard plateau in both rushing and receiving in a single game since at least 1996.
• In the season-opener vs. Duke, the sophomore back averaged 5.9 yards-per-carry (12 carries) and rushed for two touchdowns, also accounting for two receptions that resulted in 91 yards-after-catch.
• Williams punched it in from the one-yard line for his first-career touchdown in the second quarter vs. Duke. Later in the second quarter, Williams ripped off a career-high 75-yard reception on a screen pass to bring the Irish in the red zone.
• Williams scored his second touchdown of the game after a career-long 26-yard rush in the third quarter. He is the first Irish player to record two or more rushing touchdowns since Tony Jones Jr. had three against Virginia in 2019.
• Williams was awarded the game ball vs. Duke.

poised to attack

• In the season opener vs. Duke, the Irish offense outrushed (178-75), outpassed (263-259) and outgained (441-334) the Blue Devils, and were 3-4 in the redzone.
• Book quarterbacked the Irish offense to five scoring drives, the first of which went 96 yards in 12 plays, to take the lead in the second quarter. It was the longest drive by the Irish since a 97-yard drive in the 30-27 home win over Southern Cal in 2019. Notre Dame also added an 83-yard touchdown drive later in the game.
• With the performance in the season opener, the Irish ranked first in the ACC (and 11th among all FBS teams) in tackles for loss allowed. Notre Dame succumbed to just five TFL.
• Losing zero fumbles in the matchup with Duke, Notre Dame is among 22 FBS teams to not mark a lost fumble in 2020.
• Thanks to RB Kyren Williams’ 112 rushing yards supplemented by the running back corps (including RBs Chris Tyree, Jahmir Smith and Jafar Armstrong), the Irish rank third in the ACC in rushing offense (178 yards).
• The Irish took home Pro Football Focus’ Offensive Line of the Week award after the season-opener vs. Duke, producing the highest-combined pass-block grade of any offensive line that week.
• 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.

saturday specialists

• P Jay Bramblett made his mark vs. Duke, bombing six punts in the season-opener, including punts of 53, 52 and 45 yards. His play of the day came in the second quarter on a fake punt play, when he rushed for 14 yards, cutting to get the Irish the first down and keeping Notre Dame’s drive alive to end in a touchdown. On the day, Bramblett marked a 43.8-yard average punt.
• In his debut for the Irish, RB Chris Tyree served in the KOR slot, returning four kicks for 90 yards, including a 38-yard long.
• K/P Jonathan Doerer went 2-2 of field-goal attempts in the season-opener vs. Duke, connecting on all three PAT attempts.
• In 2019, Doerer 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.
• In 2019, 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).

Individual notables

• S Kyle Hamilton accounted for four tackles and a PBU on the opening drive for Duke. His QB hurry came in the second quarter, which forced an incomplete pass on a Duke third-and-seven. On the day, he marked seven tackles, the second-most for the Irish.
• Freshman RB Chris Tyree recorded his first-career kickoff return in the first quarter. He returned the kickoff 38 yards to set up the Notre Dame drive.
• Freshman TE Michael Mayer notched his first career reception in the second quarter. He hauled in a 17-yard reception from Ian Book for a first down.
• Sophomore DL Isaiah Foskey tallied his first-career sack in the second quarter to force the Blue Devils into a field goal. The sophomore made noise in a reserve role Saturday against Duke, responsible for the sack (loss of 10 yards) and a QB hurry earlier in the game at the 11-yard line also forced a Duke field goal. Foskey broke up a pass on the next drive to help lead to a punt. His final TFL came in the fourth quarter, when he combined with DL Jacob Lacey to bring down Duke’s Deon Jackson on second-and-13, setting up a Duke punt.
• Junior WR Joe Wilkins Jr. hauled in a five-yard pass from Ian Book for his first-career reception in the final minute of the second quarter.
• Senior LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah forced the first turnover of the season after breaking the ball loose from Duke’s Jalon Calhoun in the third quarter. Graduate student S Shaun Crawford recovered the fumble for the Irish, which set Notre Dame up at their own 41 for a touchdown drive. Owusu-Koramoah led the Irish in tackles (nine) and got to Duke QB Chase Brice for the third Irish sack of the day in the fourth quarter, pinning him for a loss of six yards on what would be Duke’s final drive of the game.
• Junior CB TaRiq Bracy was named to the Pro Football Focus Team of the Week for his play against Duke. According to PFF, Bracy forced a contested target and incompletions on two of three targets, and did not allow any yards.