The Irish finished minus-four in turnover margin. According to ESPN’s Ivan Maisel, over the last two seasons teams that went minus-four in turnover margin against teams from “Power 5” conferences were a combined 1-28.
Golson nearly ties record
Irish senior quarterback Everett Golson completed 25 consecutive passes from the second quarter into the fourth quarter. Golson finished one consecutive completion shy of the FBS record set by former East Carolina quarterback Dominique Davis, who connected on 26 straight passes against Navy in 2011. Golson’s incompletion on a fourth-quarter screen attempt to sophomore receiver Corey Robinson snapped the streak.
Still, Golson smashed the former Notre Dame record held by former Irish quarterbacks Ron Powlus (1997), Brady Quinn (2006) and Tommy Rees (2011), who each completed 14 consecutive passes.
Golson passes Johnny Lujack
With the victory sealed, Golson improved to 14-1 (.933) as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, passing former Irish great Johnny Lujack (.932) for the best career winning percentage by a Notre Dame starting quarterback.
Miscellaneous
Irish sophomore receiver Torii Hunter Jr. made his Notre Dame debut Saturday, 634 days after suffering a broken leg at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January 2013. Hunter hauled in his first career reception for a 13-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Saturday’s reported attendance of 76,802 was the largest all-time for a collegiate game at MetLife Stadium, which opened in 2010.
For this first time this season, Notre Dame failed to score in a quarter when it came up empty in the opening stanza Saturday.
