Notre Dame-Georgia Tech: By The Numbers

2 Touchdowns allowed by the Notre Dame defense the past three games while defeating Louisville (12-7), Pitt (45-3) and now Georgia Tech (31-13), whose first score came on a fumble return by the defense.

It won’t be recorded in the record books this way, but it is also the first time the Fighting Irish defense limited the opposing offense to single-digit points three straight games since 2012 when it defeated Michigan State (20-3), Michigan (13-6) and Miami (41-3) — and also Stanford (20-13 in overtime) when the lone Cardinal touchdown was by the defense.

4 Different Notre Dame defenseman to record a season high five quarterback sacks, eclipsing the previous standard of four versus Florida State on Oct. 10. Graduate student/vyper end Daelin Hayes led the charge with his first two of this season, both resulting in fumbles. Classmate/strong side end Ade Ogundeji registered his third of the season, sophomore vyper Isaiah Foskey upped his team high to 3.5 sacks, and sixth-year senior safety Shaun Crawford rounded it out with his first in 2020.

Coming into the contest, Georgia Tech had allowed only 10 sacks in six games (1.67 per contest).

10 Straight wins Notre Dame has over Atlantic Coast Conference foes after finishing 5-0 last year and 5-0 so far this season. All but two victories have been by at least 14 points (21-20 versus Virginia Tech last Nov. 2 and Louisville, 12-7, this Oct. 17), with the average margin of victory 19.3 points.

The Fighting Irish also went 5-0 against the ACC during the 2018 regular season with a 23.6 average margin of victory, but in the College Football Playoff they happened to meet ACC member Clemson and lost 30-3.

12 Consecutive victories by Notre Dame, which remains the longest in the nation as it prepares to take on top-ranked Clemson. Defeating the Tigers would tie it for the third-longest streak at Notre Dame since 1950, led by the school-record 23 in 1988-89, 17 in 1992-93 and 13 apiece in 1973-74 and 2017-18.

17-0 Record for Notre Dame when it plays on Halloween, beginning with a conquest of Albion in 1896. The closest “scares” came in a 25-22 win versus Navy in 1959 thanks to a 32-yard field goal by Monty Stickles with 32 seconds left, and a 24-20 win at Temple in 2015 on a 17-yard touchdown pass from DeShone Kizer to Will Fuller with 2:09 remaining.

19:47 Minutes and seconds Notre Dame has trailed out of a possible 360:00 this season. Boston College actually led No. 1 Clemson 44:21 earlier in the day before losing, 34-28.

30 Victories in a row recorded by Notre Dame over unranked teams, beginning with Temple to open the 2017 season and continuing through each of the first six contests this season.

The previous standard of 29 was achieved from 1990 through 1994 under head coach Lou Holtz before falling 30-11 at Boston College.

This is the second-longest active streak nationally, behind Alabama’s NCAA-record 94 that dates back to head coach Nick Saban’s debut season in 2007. The previous NCAA record had been 72 by both Miami (1984-95) and Florida (1989-2000).

93 Yards on Georgia Tech’s second-quarter fumble return for a touchdown by cornerback Zamari Walton after safety Juanyeh Thomas stripped the ball from sophomore running back Kyren Williams.

It is the fourth time in the Brian Kelly era a Notre Dame fumble near the opponent’s five-yard line was returned for a score the other way, with Virginia Tech’s Divine Deablo’s 98-yard return last year nearly leading an upset before the Irish prevailed 21-20. Long fumble returns for scores also propelled victories by USF (23-20) and USC (31-17) in 2011.

211.0 Yards total offense averaged by Notre Dame’s last three foes: Louisville (233), Pitt (162) and Georgia Tech (238). Seldom in today’s college football will you see a defense limit a Power 5 team’s offense to under 250 yards three consecutive weeks.

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