Game Note Highlights

Each week The University of Notre Dame’s Media Relations Department puts out its weekly game notes.  Talking Irish went through all 64 pages this week and pulled out timely and relevant information so you don’t have to.

Notre Dame has nine victories in 10 games against Oklahoma. No school that has played the Sooners more than twice has a better win percentage than the .900 percentage posted by the Irish.

Notre Dame ranks second all-time in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision winning percentage at .733 (868-302-42) and Oklahoma ranks fourth at .719 (834-310-53).

Oklahoma (101) and Notre Dame (98) rank first and second all-time in NCAA FBS history in No. 1 rankings.

Notre Dame has totaled just 13 losing seasons in 125 seasons, while Oklahoma has just 12 in 199 (ranking first and second in all of FBS football).

No Irish player has ever had more than one interception in a game against Oklahoma.

Notre Dame's all-time varsity football roster includes nearly 2,800 players who have appeared in at least one career game, with 29 from the state of Oklahoma.

Notre Dame’s roster does not feature a player from the state of Oklahoma. The Sooners' roster does not feature a player from the state of Indiana.

Six of Notre Dame’s twelve opponents this season are currently either ranked or receiving votes in either the USA Today Coaches Poll or the Associated Press Poll, including Oklahoma (12/14).

Notre Dame has played 11 previous games in its history on Sept. 28. The Irish are 5-5-1 (.500) all-time on this date.

Stephon Tuitt is 0.5 sacks to move into tie for 9th all-time, 1.0 sacks to move into tie for 8th all-time, 2.0 sacks to move into tie for 7th all-time.

Notre Dame has played opponants with a combined record of 8-7 (.533 winning percentage), Oklahoma has played opponants with a combined record of 5-7 (.417 winning percentage).

Average weight of the offensive and defensive lines:

Notre Dame OL 311.4 lbs. vs. Oklahoma DL 280.5 lbs.

Notre Dame DL 317.0 lbs. vs. Oklahoma OL 313.8 lbs.

Notable Head to Head Statistical Comparisons

Notre Dame                                       Oklahoma

26.5 77th Scoring Offense vs. Scoring Defense 5th 9.0

133.66 69th Passing Efficiency Off. vs. Passing Efficiency Def. 9th 88.54

0.75 114th Sacks vs. Sacks Allowed 46th 1.33

64.3 112th Red-Zone Offense vs. Red-Zone Defense 15th 66.7

Points of Interest… Oklahoma

This weekend’s matchup is composed of two all-time great programs that are again having early season success this year.   Although Oklahoma is 3-0 but has yet to play a team with a winning record (Louisiana-Monroe from the Sun Belt League, West Virginia by 9 points and 1-2 Tulsa  team) and has yet to play away from the friendly confines of Norman.

This will be only Blake Bell’s (6’6”, 252lbs) second start at quarterback for the Sooners.  However he did pass for over 400 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions and a 73% completion percentage.  Offensively look for Bell to be different from last years “BellDozer” and a more complete quarterback package.  Make no mistake the Irish defense will not hold Oklahoma to 15 net yards as they did last season.  Bell may lack starting experience but he has seen action on big stages over the past two seasons (Insight Bowl Offensive MVP as a freshman and scoring the game tying touchdown last season against Oklahoma State with four seconds left) so pressure should not be an issue.

The Sooners also have a solid running game in a balanced offensive attack.  Oklahoma averages just less than 272 rushing yards a game good enough for 16^th in the nation, including 27 rushes for 10 yards or more.  Bob Stoops running game is led by Brennan Clay with 45 rushes for 262 averaging 5.8 yards per carry and 2 touchdowns followed by Damien Williams who has 37 carries for 161 and averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

Freshman Trevor Knight came out of camp as the starting quarterback but after a rough start and an injury (knee) Bell stepped in.  If Bell gets hurt or does not deliver early against the Irish Knight would be coming in after missing practice time recovering from his injury as well as coming back with shaken confidence.

Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops has implemented a 3-3-5 defense this season which has led to a number 5 ranking in scoring defense with 9.0 points per game.

The good news is that this Irish team fights till the end and since that year’s game had a score of 13-13 with six minutes to go it truly matters more how you fished as opposed to how you start.  Don’t let Notre Dame’s 9-1 all-time record against Oklahoma fool you, none of that matters this Saturday.

 

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Idenity

For a couple of weeks now I hear the same question posed over and over again to Notre Dame coaches, players and analysts.  Everyone is inquiring about the team’s “identity.”  Most of it is driven by comparison to last year’s squad and its defensive prowess, sprinkled in with hints of Manti and Golson absences.  And with three less than impressive/dominant wins and one loss to a team that has struggled to beat the likes of Akron and Connecticut, who can blame them?

It struck me that their identity, if they need one, is the same as last season – just win.  And an expansion of that -play till the end.  Last season, after a 50-10 thumping of Navy, there were several knock down, drag out battles with close calls, many against top-notch talent, including a 13-6 win over Michigan, a 20-13 OT win over Stanford, a 20-17 win over Purdue, a 17-14 win over BYU, and a 29-26 triple OT win over Pittsburgh.  Even the big wins didn’t pass for flashy on the eye test.

Look at the stars and emerging stars on this team, lunch box guys.  Heading into the 2013 season, the offensive line was expected to be a high point of this team bringing experience and leadership.  Let’s face it, the O-Line has never been a glamorous role in football at any level.  Running back Cam McDaniel is emerging as the hard-nosed, clean-cut, hard-working player that we knew he was for two years.  Even one of Notre Dame’s biggest personalities (and bodies) Louis “Irish Chocolate” Nix with his YouTube Chocolate News plays with a “get the job done” attitude at Nose Tackle, taking on double and triple team blocks so his teammates can rack up tackles while he sacrifices his own stat sheet.

During Saturday’s win over the formerly undefeated and number one-ranked defense Michigan State Spartans, I questioned play calls, player substitutions and the overall state of the team.  However, I did that during every game last season, and up until BCS game, things worked out okay.  Over the next few weeks against Oklahoma, Arizona State and USC, Notre Dame’s identity will be defined one way or another.  Until then, just win.