Oct. 26, 2013

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TEAM NOTES

• Notre Dame’s 45 points today are its most since scoring 50 against Navy to open the 2012 season in Dublin.
• The 35-point margin of victory is the Irish’s largest since beating Miami by 38 (41-3) on Oct. 6, 2012 at Soldier Field.
• A school-record five different Notre Dame players (Corey Robinson, William Fuller, Ben Koyack, TJ Jones and Chris Brown) caught a touchdown pass today.
• Today’s game was the first time that multiple ND freshmen (Robinson and Fuller) caught touchdown passes in the same game since Sept. 29, 2007 when Golden Tate and Duval Kamara caught touchdowns vs. Purdue. It is just the third such instance in school history, also joining Sept. 24, 1988 when Derek Brown and Raghib “Rocket” Ismail scored against Purdue.
• The 47-yard pass from Andrew Hendrix to William Fuller in the second quarter was Notre Dame’s 13th passing play of at least 32 yards through eight games. The Irish had 11 all of last year in 13 games.
• Today marked the sixth time this year that ND’s opponent has scored first. The Irish, however, have rallied to win four of those games (today, USC, Arizona State and Purdue).
• The Irish did not turn the ball over today, improving to 13-0 under Brian Kelly in that scenario. ND has won all 13 of those games. It is the second time that Notre Dame has not turned the ball over this season, joining the season opener against Temple.
• In the first quarter, Air Force ran the ball 12 times for 101 yards for an average of 8.4 yards per carry. In the final three quarters, it gained just 189 rushing yards on 53 carries for a 3.6-yard average.
• Eight different ND players caught a pass today, matching the squad’s season high.
• Notre Dame has now opened each of its last three games with a drive of at least 10 plays, marching 12 plays today. ND opened the USC game with a 12-play drive and the Arizona State game by going 14 plays. Oddly, the Irish did not score on any of those three drives.
• Notre Dame’s 24 first half points today are its most since posting 31 against Wake Forest on Nov. 17, 2012.
• Today’s captains included linebacker Danny Spond, a native of Littleton, Colorado whose career has been cut short due to migraines.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Rees set a career high with five touchdown passes. He previously threw four against Air Force in 2011 and Tulsa in 2010. The last time a ND signal caller threw for five touchdowns in a single game was Jimmy Clausen at Stanford in 2009.
• With his five touchdown passes today, Tommy Rees now has 54 in his Irish career, moving him past Ron Powlus’ 52 into third place in ND history behind only Brady Quinn (95) and Jimmy Clausen (60).
• It is Rees’ 20th career win, moving him into a tie for ninth place in Irish history alongside John Lujack and Joe Theismann.
• Rees’ 260.71 efficiency rating today is the best by a Notre Dame quarterback since Jimmy Clausen’s 303.7 against Nevada in 2009.
• The 260.71 efficiency rating is the seventh-best in the nation this year for a single game and fifth-best against an FBS opponent.
• In his last two outings, Rees is 31-for-43 for 450 yards with seven TDs and no interceptions for a 213.72 rating.
• Corey Robinson’s first quarter touchdown was the first of his career. The 35-yard score was also the longest of his young career.
• TJ Jones recorded a catch in his 35th consecutive game for the Irish. Including today’s effort, Jones has had multiple catches in 31 of those 35 contests.
• It is Jones’ fifth consecutive game with a touchdown catch. The school record is eight games, set by Jeff Samardzija in 2005 and matched by Golden Tate in 2009.
• Jones had his third career 100-yard receiving game today, joining his efforts this fall against Temple (138) and Arizona St. (135)
• Jones’s touchdown catch was the 16th of his career and moved him into a tie for eighth place in Irish history with Jim Seymour.
• Jones had just his second career rush today, gaining seven yards on a first quarter carry.
• William Fuller caught his first career touchdown pass in the second quarter. The 46-yard grab was also his career-long.
• DaVaris Daniels has recorded a reception of at least 20 yards in 12 of his 19 career games played.
• Kyle Brindza’s 51-yard field goal was two shy of his career long of 53 set against Arizona State on Oct. 5 at AT&T Stadium. It is his third career field goal of at least 50 yards, matching Harry Oliver’s Notre Dame record.
• Chris Brown had his first career touchdown catch today.
• Andrew Hendrix’s 47-yard pass to Will Fuller was the longest of either players’ career.
• Fuller set a career high for receiving yards today with his 93.

SERIES NOTES

• Notre Dame improves to 24-6 all-time against Air Force and 13-2 at Falcon Stadium. ND has won 13 of the last 15 meetings.
• The Irish improves to 135-26-5 all-time against service academies.
• Notre Dame improves to 29-6 against current Mountain West Conference schools.
• With the win, Notre Dame has now gone 26-4 over its last 30 games.
• The Irish face Navy next week at Notre Dame Stadium. It is the first time since 2007 that ND has played service academies in consecutive weeks (Navy on Nov. 3, 2007 and Air Force on Nov. 10, 2007)