Notre Dame-Army West Point: 10 To 1
10 Times Notre Dame has played in a domed stadium, where it is 4-6 — but 2-0 in the Shamrock Series. The first Irish dome game was the Jan. 1, 1981 Sugar Bowl loss to No. 1 Georgia (17-10). This will be Notre Dame’s second appearance in San Antonio's Alamodome. It won the original Shamrock Series game there in 2009 against Washington State, 40-14, and in 2013 it also defeated Arizona State 37-34 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
9 Passes completed in as many attempts by Notre Dame junior quarterback DeShone Kizer in the second half last week against Navy — yet the Irish still lost, 28-27. The school record for consecutive completions is 25 by Everett Golson in a 31-15 win over Syracuse in 2014.
8 The Alamodome will be the 8th different neutral site stadium to host this Notre Dame-Army West Point rivalry, joining the likes of Ebbets Field, Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium (both the old and new).
7 The Fighting Irish are 7-0 in their Shamrock Series contests, which began in 2009 with a 40-14 victory in the same Alamodome against Washington State, followed by a 27-3 win the next year in Yankee Stadium versus the Black Knights. The Series will take a one-year hiatus in 2017 before it plans to resume in 2018.
6 Ranking of Army West Point in total defense, allowing 286.4 yards per game, including a No. 5 national ranking in passing yards (166.6). Overall, the Black Knights are 13th in scoring defense at 18.1 points per game. They have also had to deal with the tragedy of losing star cornerback Brandon Jackson, who died Sept. 11 in a car accident, hours after a victory against Rice.
5 Full decades have passed since Army West Point last defeated Notre Dame on Oct. 11, 1958, by a 14-2 count. The Black Knights went undefeated that season in head coach Earl Blaik’s last season, with Pete Dawkins the Heisman Trophy winner.
4 Army West Point is one of four teams against who Notre Dame has won at least 14 consecutive games. The others are/were Indiana, Navy and Northwestern. A win over the Black Knights would make it 15 straight for the Irish, dating back to 1965. That would make it the second-longest winning streak against any opponent, behind only the 43 versus Navy from 1964-2006.
3 This will be only the third time Notre Dame plays Army in the 50-game history of the series — with the Irish leading 38-8-4 — where it enters with a losing record (3-6) while the Black Knights are above .500 (5-4). The other two times were 1933, where 2-5-1 Notre Dame stunned unbeaten Army (13-12), and in 1985, when the 2-3 Irish defeated No. 19 Army (24-10).
In both years, the Notre Dame head coach, Hunk Anderson in 1933 and Gerry Faust in 1985, were fired or resigned at the end of the season.
2 Times in history Notre Dame has lost twice to a service academy in one season — and both times they occurred in back-to-back games. The 1944 Irish lost 32-13 to Navy on Nov. 3, followed by the 59-0 debacle against Army, the worst margin of defeat ever by a Fighting Irish team. Army would win the national title, while Navy finished No. 4.
Then in 2007, Notre Dame dropped to 1-9 after first losing 46-44 to Navy in triple overtime and then following with a 41-24 defeat at home to Air Force.
Notre Dame lost last week to Navy, 28-27.
1 Team ranked ahead of Army’s 320.6 yards rushing per game with the triple option. Believe it or not, it’s former Irish head coach Bob Davie’s (1997-2001) 6-3 New Mexico Lobos (358.8), which also run the triple option. Davie has revived that program that was 1-11 each of the three seasons before he arrived in 2012. Last week’s Irish opponent, Navy, is No. 4 at 299.5, and the Midshipmen ran for 320 yards versus Notre Dame.
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