ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Saturday's contest was the first night game in Michigan Stadium's 84-year history. 114,804 fans attended the game, the largest crowd in history to attend a football game, collegiate or professional. This was the fourth time a Notre Dame-Michigan contest set a new NCAA attendance mark; the teams set records in 1993, 1999 and 2003, all at Michigan.
Floyd sets more records
Senior wide receiver Michael Floyd added to his record-breaking career with a career-best 13 receptions, the second-most catches in a single game in Notre Dame history. With a 21-yard catch in the first quarter, Floyd surpassed Golden Tate for the most receiving yards in Notre Dame history. Floyd's 159-yard effort was the 15th time he surpassed 100 yards in a game, tying him with Tate for the most 100-yard games in Irish history; Floyd has had at least 100 yards in 15 of the 32 games in which he has appeared. Saturday was the first time Floyd had more than 10 catches in two consecutive weeks.
Last-minute heartbreak
Michigan's touchdown to take the lead with two seconds remaining in the game was the latest winning touchdown recorded by a Notre Dame opponent in Irish history, coming later than Matt Leinart's score during the 2005 Notre Dame-USC game. Irish wide receiver Theo Riddick's touchdown with 30 seconds remaining would have been the sixth-latest game-winning touchdown in Notre Dame history.
Irish rushing falls short
Junior running back Cierre Wood and senior running back Jonas Gray combined for 200 yards on the ground Saturday. Wood had 134 yards on 25 carries, while Gray added 66 yards on just six carries. The 35-31 loss, however, marked the first time in 28 games Notre Dame lost when outrushing its opponent. The last time the Irish lost despite winning the ground game was in 2004, when Notre Dame fell 31-28 to Oregon State in the Insight Bowl.
Contact Allan Joseph at ajoseph2@nd.edu
