Notre Dame Regular Season: By The Numbers

1. Notre Dame has finished with a final 9-3 record seven times: 1976, 1978, 1990, 1995, 1998, 2000 and 2005.

However, this is only the second time it posted that ledger in the regular season. The other was in 1991 because of a 12th-regular season game at Hawai’i. Then in the Sugar Bowl, the No. 18-ranked Irish upset No. 3 Florida 39-28 for a 10-3 finish and No. 13 placement in the Associated Press poll.

With a bowl win, it would be the fifth 10-3 campaign at the school, joining 1991, 2002, 2006 and 2015.

A defeat would make it 9-4. The only other time it posted such a ledger was 2013.

2. With a completion percentage of 49.8, junior Brandon Wimbush (133 of 267) is the first starting Irish quarterback to finish below 50.0 percent in the regular season since freshman Brady Quinn in 2003 during a 5-7 campaign. Quinn that season was 157 of 332 for 47.3 percent. Wimbush will have an opportunity to finish above 50 percent for the year in the bowl game.

3. Junior Josh Adams’ 1,386 rushing yards is the third most in one season at the school, behind Vagas Ferguson’s 1,437 and Allen Pinkett’s 1,394 in 1983. Adams needs 52 yards in the bowl game to set the new standard.

However, we will continue to beat the drum on this: It is unfair for the NCAA and school to include bowl games since 2002 and not do it retroactively for players prior to then.

Ferguson did not play in a bowl game in 1979, but if you include the 111 yards Pinkett gained in his bowl game in 1983, his total rises to 1,505 —which would be the school record. Same with Reggie Brooks adding 115 yards rushing in the 1993 Cotton Bowl, which would up his total to 1,458 to put him in second place.

Either don’t include the bowl games for anyone, or include them for everyone. Doing it for some and not others is senseless and unjust.

4. Wimbush’s 765 rushing yards are, technically, the second most in school history by a quarterback, and his 14 rushing touchdowns are easily the most in one season at the position.

Again, though, if you included Tony Rice’s 75 rushing yards in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl, he would be second for now with 775.

Rice holds the single-season mark of 884 set in 1989, which means 120 rushing yards by Wimbush in the bowl game would give him 865 and the new record.

What should be noted is Rice also rushed for 50 yards in the 1990 Orange Bowl win versus No. 1 Colorado, which would give him 934 — but again is not included because of the rules back then for not adding bowl games to the final data.

5. The team-high 31 receptions by Equanimeous St. Brown this year were the fewest by the top pass catcher in one season at Notre Dame since 2000, when David Givens had 29 (including the 41-9 loss to Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl).

6. The 35.3 points per game averaged this regular season are the most since the 36.7 in Charlie Weis’ first season as head coach in 2005.

During the 8-1 start this year, Notre Dame was scoring at a 41.3 points per game clip, which ranked No. 7 nationally and was well on pace to break the 50-year school standard of 37.6 set in 1968.

Unfortunately, the Irish totaled only 52 points the final three games (17.33 average) to come up short of the mark.

It needs to score 65 in the bowl game to get to 37.61 and break the record.

7. The 279.1 rushing yards per game are the most since the 280.9 in 1992 with Reggie Brooks and Jerome Bettis. Over the last three games when the Irish were 1-2, the rushing figure was only 142.0 yards per contest. The 6.4 yards per carry this season is above the school record 6.2 in 1921.

8. Defensively, the top individual highlight was sophomore cornerback Julian Love’s 17 passes broken up were the most in one season at Notre Dame, eclipsing the 13 by sophomore Clarence Ellis in 1969.

9. After allowing more than 170 rushing yards per game for three straight seasons (2014-16) — a first in school history — the figure dropped to 153.2 this season, the fewest since the stellar 2012 unit permitted only 105.69. This year’s figure ranks 48th nationally after placing No. 72 each of the past three seasons.

10. Ever so quietly, junior kicker Justin Yoon has moved up to No. 5 on the Notre Dame career chart for scoring with 268 points. He is behind only Pinkett (320), Craig Hentrich (294), Kyle Brindza (288) and current Irish running backs coach Autry Denson (282).

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