By The Numbers
3 Times in the 51-game history of the series where Notre Dame was under .500 when it played Army West Point while the Black Knights had a winning record. In addition to this season, the other two were 1933 and 1985. The 2-5-1 Irish in 1933 stunned unbeaten Army (13-12), and in 1985 the 1-3 Notre Dame team defeated the No. 19-ranked Cadets, 24-10.
4 Touchdown receptions this year by senior tight end Durham Smythe after snaring 10- and 31-yard tallies from junior quarterback DeShone Kizer. That is more TDs at the position than the last two years combined when the Irish had one last season (Smythe on a fake field goal) and two in 2014. It is the most by one Notre Dame tight end since Troy Niklas nabbed five in 2013.
8 Players in Notre Dame history who have returned two kickoff returns for a touchdown in the same season, with sophomore C.J. Sanders the most recent after his 92-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff. The others were: Paul Castner (1922), John Lattner (1953), Nick Eddy (1966), Tim Brown (1986), Raghib “Rocket” Ismail (1988 and 1989), Allen Rossum (1997) and George Atkinson III (2011).
5-6 All-time record for Notre Dame in domed stadiums, including 2-0 in the San Antonio Alamodome after the 44-6 victory over Army West Point. It won the original Shamrock Series game at the Alamodome in 2009 against Washington State, 40-14. The first dome game was the Jan. 1, 1981 Sugar Bowl loss to No. 1 Georgia (17-10).
8 The Alamodome was the 8th different neutral site stadium to host this rivalry between Notre Dame and Army West Point, joining the likes of Ebbets Field, Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium (both the old and new).
15 Consecutive wins by Notre Dame against Army West Point, dating back to 1965. That is the second longest winning streak by Notre Dame against any one opponent, breaking a three-way tie of 14 against Northwestern (1965-94) and Indiana (1908-49). The longest is the NCAA record of 43 straight versus Navy from 1964-2006.
38 Points in Notre Dame’s margin of victory, tying it for the most in the eight Shamrock Series outings it has had since 2009. The other was the 41-3 victory versus Miami in 2012, held in Chicago.
1997 The last time a Notre Dame player returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Allen Rossum did the honors in a 45-21 win at Pitt to help snap a four-game losing streak. Sanders became the first Irish player to achieve the feat in the 19 years hence — after having the opening kickoff for a score this year versus Michigan State wiped out by a penalty. Also, Terry Brennan in 1947 was the most recent Irish player to return the opening kickoff for a score against Army West Point.
Turning Point
Army West Point needed a good start to believe it could hang with the Fighting Irish, but Notre Dame immediately established control in the first five minutes with a 14-0 advantage.
C.J. Sanders returned the opening kickoff for a 92-yard touchdown when originally it looked like he would be pinned inside the 20-yard along the right sideline. Then after a three-and-out debut series for the Black Knights, Notre Dame crossed the end zone again with a 37-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback DeShone Kizer to freshman Kevin Stepherson with 10 minutes still left in the first quarter. By the end of the first quarter Notre Dame led 21-0 and the Black Knights, for all intents and purposes, had no chance of rallying or mounting any form of a threat.
Stats Of The Game
Notre Dame dominated the third-down conversions on both sides of the ball, finishing 10 of 13 on offense and 3 of 11 on defense.
The latter is more significant because unlike the week prior at Navy when Notre Dame had only six possessions on offense while Navy was 12 of 18 overall on third- and fourth-down conversions, the Fighting Irish defense was consistently able to get off the field versus the Black Knights. That enabled them to have a significant 34:22 to 25:38 advantage in time of possession, a stat not easy to achieve against a triple-option attack.
Army West Point also was only 1-of-3 on fourth down attempts, notably getting stopped on fourth-and-one near midfield in the closing minutes of the first half.
Head Coach Brian Kelly’s Take On Rushing For A Season High 261 Yards
“We were able to throw the ball over their heads, and it backed them off, so it gave us some opportunities to run the football. I think any time that you get the ball vertically down the field, it's going to open up your running game because they certainly weren't going to play their safeties down. They were much more interested in staying over the top, which gave us the opportunity to get some pretty good looks to run the football.”
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