Notre Dame Leads College Football In Fumbles Recovered
Notre Dame ultimately didn't lead the nation in turnover margin, but they did recover the most fumbles in college football with 19. The next closest was Illinois at 16.
To make this even more impressive, the Fighting Irish were tied for 13th in fewest fumbles lost with five, giving the team a 'fumble margin' of 14.
By my count, this was by far the best in college football in 2019.
Of course, part of this is luck — the way the ball bounces — which certainly played a part in Notre Dame's success.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Fighting Irish forced just as many fumbles (16) as Illinois did, but Notre Dame was able to come up with more of them. This is actually two less than Arizona State forced in 2019, but the Sun Devils ultimately finished third, recovering 15 fumbles on the season.
That means Fighting Irish opponents put the ball on the ground on their own at a somewhat high frequency, but that doesn't mean there wasn't skill involved.
Notre Dame player had a knack for punching the ball out of an opponent's arms, making the tackle and still finding a way to jump on it. Just look at Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the Camping World Bowl against Iowa State.
On this play, he knocks the ball loose from Cyclone quarterback Brock Purdy, runs past him, then recovers and jumps on the football to give Notre Dame the ball.
Three players led the Fighting Irish in forced fumbles with three: Owusu-Koramoah, Khalid Kareem and Ade Ogundeji. Two of those players will be back next season.
But to win the 'fumble margin', Notre Dame also had to control the ball themselves.
The team, of course, lost its streak of the most snaps by a running back carrying the ball without losing a fumble this season, when the ball popped loose on Jafar Armstrong against Virginia Tech on the Hokies goal line and was returned for a touchdown. But that was actually the last time the team lost a fumble all season.
The lost fumbles were by quarterback Ian Book (1), Chris Finke (1), Phil Jurkovec (1), Jonathan Jones (1) and Armstrong (1).
The most egregious of these fumbles was actually by Jones against Michigan, where he tried to pick up a blocked punt in the rain but dropped it, giving the ball back to Michigan.
Can Notre Dame repeat this feat and lead the country in the most fumbles recover next season? Probably not. There's too much luck involved, but it's an impressive statistic nonetheless and the team should be commended for it.
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