Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/744639
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 7, 2016 9 UNDER THE DOME .99 Percentage points Notre Dame is away from dropping from No. 1 to No. 6 on the all-time winning percentage chart after this year's 2-5 start. With a .7297 mark entering the Oct. 29 home game with Miami, Notre Dame had already fallen behind unbeaten Michigan (.7313). Not too far behind are No. 3 Boise State (.7265), No. 4 Ohio State (.7231), No. 5 Ala- bama (.7200) and No. 6 Oklahoma (.7198). 2 Times in the 90 meetings between Notre Dame and Navy that the game was held in Florida, with the Nov. 5 contest at Jacksonville — a prime Naval base — the second. The only other occurrence was Oct. 14, 2000, in Orlando, a 45-14 Fighting Irish victory. Notre Dame has played in the city of Jacksonville three times because of an invitation to the Gator Bowl. It defeated Penn State 20-9 in 1976, but lost 35-28 to Georgia Tech on Jan. 1, 1999, and 28-6 to North Carolina State on Jan. 1, 2003. 5 Losses in the first seven games for Brian Kelly for only the second time in his 26 seasons as a head coach. He had the same start in his first season at Central Michigan in 2004, when the Chippewas finished 4-7. That is the lone losing campaign of his career to date. 8 Times Notre Dame has started a season 2-5 or worse through seven games. The others occurred in 1933 (3-5-1 finish), 1956 (2-8), 1960 (2-8), 1963 (2-7), 1997 (7-6), 2003 (5-7) and 2007 (3-9). This year's team will attempt to join Bob Davie's debut campaign in 1997 as the only one to finish with a winning record. 10 Current scholarship fourth-year seniors who can apply to return for a fifth season in 2017: quarterback Malik Zaire; running back Tarean Folston; wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr.; tight ends Jacob Matuska and Durham Smythe; offensive linemen Hunter Bivin, Colin McGovern, Mike McGlinchey and John Montelus; and currently suspended defensive back Devin Butler. 11 Notre Dame football players on the 2016 roster from Florida, where the Irish will play Navy in order to keep a recruiting presence in the state. Only Illinois (16) and Ohio (12) have more. Among the standouts are running backs Folston and Dexter Williams, wide receiver KEVIN STEPHERSON, linebacker Te'von Coney, and safety Devin Studstill. 13 Freshmen of the 23 signed this past February have seen action for the Fighting Irish this fall, tying the most in Kelly's seven seasons. The ones expected to be redshirted are quarterback Ian Book; running backs Tony Jones Jr. and Deon McIntosh; offensive linemen Parker Boudreaux, Liam Eichenberg and Tommy Kraemer; defensive end Ade Ogundeji; linebacker Jonathan Jones; safety D.J. Morgan; and long snapper John Shannon. Five of the true freshmen have started: Stepherson at wide receiver, Studstill at safety, and Julian Love, Troy Pride and Donte Vaughn at cornerback. 55 Players out of the 61 listed on Notre Dame's two-deep for the Miami game that have at least one more year of eligibility remaining in 2017. Furthermore, 43 of them have a minimum of two more seasons to play at Notre Dame if they opt to do so. 200 For the state of Indiana's Bicentennial celebration in 2019, former Notre Dame and longtime India- napolis Colts' punter Hunter Smith's song "Indiana Moon" played by his Hunter Smith Band has been voted the official song. The Texas native started at Notre Dame from 1995-98. BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY RICK KIMBALL