Published Dec 5, 2020
Notre Dame-Syracuse: By The Numbers
Lou Somogyi  •  InsideNDSports
Senior Editor

3 Seasons in a row Notre Dame has finished unbeaten at home, a first since 1987-89. Consider that in the 22 years afterward from 1990-2011 it occurred only once (1998), and now under head coach Brian Kelly it is the fifth time in nine years (also 2012 and 2015 to go with 2018-20).

The current 24-game winning streak at home is the second longest in the 90-year history of Notre Dame Stadium, which opened in 1930. The record is 28 from 1942-50.

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10 Times Notre Dame reached a 10-0 record in its history (with still more games to play in the last seven). The other years were 1924, 1930, 1949, 1973, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2012 and 2018.

For Kelly, it also is his fourth 10-0 achievement in the last 12 years, as he was 12-0 at Cincinnati in 2009 before accepting the Notre Dame position. He likewise had 12-0 regular seasons with the Irish in 2012 and 2018.

30 Receptions this year by freshman tight end Michael Mayer after catching five for 36 yards against Syracuse. That total enabled him to surpass the Notre Dame freshman record for tight ends that was set by Kyle Rudolph in 2008 when he snared 29 for 340 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games (7-6 finish). In 10 games this season, Mayer so far has 30 for 337 yards and two scores.


30-3 Record as Notre Dame starting quarterback by fifth-year senior Ian Book — the first signal-caller in the program’s history to achieve 30 wins. His .909 winning percentage is the second best in the school’s annals with a minimum of 20 starts, behind John Lujack’s 20-1-1 (.923) during three national title campaigns in 1943, 1946-47.

Book finished his career 15-0 in Notre Dame Stadium. The only other quarterback with at least 10 starts to never experience a defeat or tie in Notre Dame Stadium was Tony Rice from 1987-89, who also was 15-0. Joe Theismann (1968-70) was 11-0-1.


43 Victories by the four-year graduating senior class at Notre Dame (43-6), with the ACC Championship Dec. 19 and potential College Football Playoff still to go. It is the first class at the school to win a minimum of 10 games each of its four undergraduate years, and the second to record 43 victories over four years.

The other was the class of ’92 which was 43-7: 12-0 (1988), 12-1 (1989), 9-3 (1990) and 10-3 (1991).


94 Yards on freshman running back Chris Tyree’s fourth-quarter touchdown run that made it 45-14. It is the third-longest rushing touchdown in school history, all of which occurred in the Kelly era. Freshman Josh Adams had a 98-yard score versus Wake Forest in 2015, while senior Dexter Williams had a 97-yard tally in a 2018 victory at Virginia Tech.


244 Consecutive games served as the pubic-address announcer at Notre Dame Stadium by 1967 graduate Mike Collins, who is now officially retired from the post. His debut came in the 1982 opener versus Michigan, the first night game ever at home, a 23-17 Fighting Irish victory.


266 Passes thrown by Book — a Notre Dame record — before finally getting intercepted for the first time since the season opener versus Duke Sept. 12 when Syracuse safety Ja’Had Carter did the honors on a deep pass in the third quarter. The previous record was 226 by Brady Quinn during his senior year in 2006.


1,011 Rushing yards this year by sophomore Kyren Williams after totaling 110 on 20 attempts versus the Orange. That makes him the sixth Notre Dame player to reach the 1,000-yard benchmark as a sophomore, and he still has at least two more games to play. The previous five were Allen Pinkett (1983), Jerome Bettis (1991), Autry Denson (1996), Ryan Grant (2002) and Darius Walker (2005).


6,831 Official attendance count for the game with the COVID-19 restrictions. That is the second fewest since the opening of Notre Dame Stadium in 1930. The lowest still remains 6,663 in the Oct. 15, 1932 Drake game, a 62-0 Fighting Irish win in the midst of The Great Depression.

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