STANFORD, Calif. — Irish receiver Golden Tate broke Jeff Samardzija's school record for career receiving yards. Tate's 201 yards in the game put him at 2,707 career receiving yards, passing Samardzija's record of 2,593. Tate also tied Samardzija's record of eight consecutive games with a receiving touchdown, which Samardzija set in 2005. Tate now has had a touchdown of any kind in 11 consecutive games.
Tate also extended his streak of games with 100 yards or more to 15 overall and nine this season. His season total broke Tom Gatewood's record of eight, which Gatewood set in 1970.
Tate tied a single-season touchdown record with 15 receiving touchdowns. Samardzija had 15 in 2005 and Rhema McKnight had 15 in 2006. Finally, Tate scored his 18th overall touchdown, which tied Allen Pinkett for second on the all-time list. Pinkett had 18 in 1984. Jerome Bettis set the single-season record with 20 in 1991.
Tate said he didn't know he had broken the records after the game.
"It's great to be mentioned with those guys but right now I'm really hurting," he said. "Maybe in a week or a year … it'll hit me."
Quick off the blocks
In Notre Dame's last three games, all losses, the Irish scored an average of eight points in the first half and 3.3 points in the first quarter. Against Stanford, they scored 14 points in the first quarter and 10 in the second. The 14 points in the first quarter were the most the Irish scored in the first period this season.
Tackling leaders
With his 10 tackles, freshman linebacker Manti Te'o finished with 63 on the season, making him one of four Irish freshmen to record more than 60 tackles in a season.
Senior safety Kyle McCarthy, already the only Notre Dame defensive back to record 100 tackles in a season with 110 in 2008, did so again this year. His team-leading 11 tackles gave him 101 in the season.
So close …
Ten of Notre Dame's 12 games have been decided during the final minute of the game or in overtime.
"To be honest with you, we didn't finish," Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen said. "It's frustrating. It seems that every time we lose a game it's by a touchdown or less."
He's right: Notre Dame's largest margin of defeat has been seven points, during Saturday's 45-38 loss to Stanford and a 34-27 loss to USC on Oct. 17.
