Statistically Speaking | by Pat
• To quote directly from the und.com game notes, here's a reflection of how much the offense has improved this season.
With 560 yards of total offense in today's game, Notre Dame has now piled up over 500 yards of offense in three of its first four games. The team compiled 502 at Pittsburgh and 594 against Michigan State. The last time the Irish put up 500 yards of offense three times in a single season was 1996, when the Irish accomplished that feat four times. From 1997-2004, Notre Dame reached 500 total yards of offense in a game only five times.• Darius Walker has now topped 100 yards rushing for the first four games of the season. He's the first player to do so in the first four games of the season. Allen Pinkett had 5 100-yard rushing games in a row so Darius can tie him with a century mark performance against Purdue. The ND record for consecutive 100 yard rushing games is 7, set by Lee Becton in 1993.
• Brady Quinn not only rapidly moving up the career attempts, completions, and yardage records, he also moved into a tie for 2nd place with 8 career games notching over 250 yards passing. The all-time leader is Jarious Jackson with 9 so it's possible that Quinn could reach a tie for first with a good showing against Purdue.
• Say what you will about his coverage, but Chinedum Nduwke is making an impact in the secondary. So far this season he has four fumble recoveries. Going back through the stats for the past 10 years, no player on the Irish defense totaled four fumble recoveries in a single season. Nduwke also has an interception giving him 5 turnover recoveries so far only a third into the season. Over the last ten year period, here are the Irish defenders who over a whole season have at least matched that total.
8 - Lyron Cobbins, 1995 (3 FR, 5 INT)• So far this season, Notre Dame has successfully completed 26 of 61 third downs into first downs or touchdowns. So just how have we been doing it? Who's the most likely target? Of the 26 successfully converted 3rd downs, one has been by penalty, leaving 25 conversions. Here's the breakdown.
8 - Shane Walton, 2002 (1 FR, 7 INT)
6 - Quentin Burrell, 2003 (2 FR, 4 INT)
5 - Gerome Sapp, 2002 (1 FR, 4 INT)
Third Downs Converted, by Player
| Player | Rush | Pass | Total |
| Anthony Fasano | 3 | 3 | |
| Jeff Samardzija | 4 | 4 | |
| Maurice Stovall | 5 | 5 | |
| Rhema McKnight | 1 | 1 | |
| Asaph Schwapp | 1 | 1 | |
| Rashon Powers-Neal | 3 | 3 | |
| Brady Quinn | 2 | 2 | |
| Darius Walker | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| David Wolke | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals | 10 | 15 | 25 |
Season-long Running Averages
Offense
| Category | Pitt | UM | MSU | UW | 2005 | 2004 |
| Yards per rush | 5.5 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.32 |
| Avg yards per pass attempt | 8.4 | 4.7 | 8.1 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 7.2 |
| Avg yards per pass completion | 11.0 | 11.7 | 14.8 | 13.1 | 12.4 | 13.4 |
| Pass completion % | 67% | 63% | 55% | 68% | 62% | 54% |
| Third Down conversions | 10/15 (67%) | 4/15 (27%) | 6/18 (33%) | 6/13 (46%) | 26/61 (43%) | 68/183 (37%) |
| Rushing yd average | 275.0 | 104.0 | 107.0 | 233.0 | 179.75 (39th) | 127.4 (85th) |
| Passing yd average | 227.0 | 140.0 | 487.0 | 327.0 | 295.72 (17th) | 218.1 (54th) |
| Total offense yd average | 502.0 | 244.0 | 594.0 | 560.0 | 475.00 (13th) | 345.5 (81st) |
| Time of possession / game | 32:45 | 30:55 | 35:49 | 36:56 | 34:07 | 30:50 |
| Red Zone Touchdown Efficiency | 5/ 6 (83%) | 2/2 (100%) | 4/ 5 (80%) | 3/5 (60%) | 14/ 18 (77%) | 25 / 36 (69%) |
Defense
| Category | Pitt | UM | MSU | UW | 2005 | 2004 |
| Yards per rush given up | 3.3 | 2.4 | 4.5 | 1.9 | 3.9 | 2.7 |
| Avg yards per pass attempt | 6.3 | 5.1 | 12.1 | 10.2 | 7.3 | 7.9 |
| Avg yards per pass completion | 11.0 | 11.7 | 20.4 | 21.5 | 14.0 | 13.6 |
| Pass completion percentage | 57% | 43% | 59% | 48% | 52% | 58% |
| Quarterback sacks | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 30 |
| Rushing yd average against | 103.0 | 114.0 | 161.0 | 41.0 | 104.75 (32nd) | 88.2 (4th) |
| Passing yd average against | 220.0 | 223.0 | 327.0 | 408.0 | 294.5 (105th) | 281.2 (116th) |
| Total yd offense average against | 323.0 | 337.0 | 488.0 | 449.0 | 399.25 (76th) | 369.4 (54th) |
Turnovers
| Category | Pitt | UM | MSU | UW | 2005 | 2004 |
| Interceptions by ND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Fumbles Forced / Recovered | 2/ 1 | 3/ 1 | 4/ 2 | 2/2 | 11/ 6 | 27 / 12 |
| Turnovers gained | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 21 |
| Had Intercepted | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Fumbles / Lost | 1/ 0 | 3/ 1 | 1/ 1 | 2/0 | 7/ 2 | 15 / 6 |
| Turnovers lost | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| Turnover Margin | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | +6 | +5 |
Special Teams
| Category | Pitt | UM | MSU | UW | 2005 | 2004 |
| Kickoff return average | 17.5 | 24.0 | 21.5 | 31.0 | 22.0 | 18.7 |
| Kickoff return average allowed | 16.0 | 18.0 | 20.8 | 16.0 | 17.9 | 19.9 |
| Punt return average | 23.0 | 19.0 | 11.0 | 15.5 | 15.8 | 10.8 |
| Punt return average allowed | 0.0 | 5.2 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 4.7 | 8.2 |
