Road sweet road.
It just doesn't have the same ring to it. But to this Irish team, road trips seem to be met with the same enthusiasm as field trips for a bunch of elementary school kids.
For good reason, these numbers don't lie.
At Notre Dame Stadium, the Irish have been survivors. Count the four total overtimes, the inability to break 20 points in four quarters of play and the late-game-heroic wins against Purdue, BYU and Pittsburgh.
At [insert anywhere away from South Bend], the Irish have been conquerors. Count the two total touchdowns given up all season, ability to score 43 fourth-quarter points and two wins over top-10 teams - the Irish snapped then-No.10 Michigan State's 15-game home winning streak while then-No. 8 Oklahoma had only lost four times in Norman since 1999.
At Notre Dame Stadium, the Irish have outscored their opponents 99-76, with an average margin of victory of less than a touchdown: 4.6 points.
Away from South Bend, the Irish have outscored their opponents 50-10. Wait. Sorry, that was just the Navy "game" in Dublin. The real figure is a whopping 141-29, with an average margin of victory of four touchdowns: 28 points.
With the way the Irish have been putting up points this year, 141 points sounds more like Mike Brey's territory than that of Brian Kelly's.
Turnovers killed the Irish last year (how's that for an understatement?). This year, the Irish have been incredibly efficient: only one of the Notre Dame's 11 turnovers have occurred away from the hallowed, Jumbotron-less grounds of the House that Rockne Built. That came from Everett Golson in Dublin when the game was already over, which means after the first quarter.
And now for the stat-heavy portion of today's column.
At home, the Irish average 19.8 points per game, 3.9 yards per rush, 372 yards per game, have four rushing touchdowns and score touchdowns in just 36 percent of their red zone trips.
Deep breath.
On the road, the Irish average 35.2 points per game, 5.9 yards per rush, 445 yards per game, have 11 rushing touchdowns and score touchdowns in 57 percent of their red zone trips.
Just ogle those numbers for a second. Compare, contrast, shock and awe.
Maybe Notre Dame is too welcoming. We know that Notre Dame is one of the friendlier places for opposing fans, but maybe the memo was accidentally sent to the players as well.
