Tonight's game marked the first visit to Lincoln for Notre Dame
since Oct. 16, 1948, when the second-ranked Irish, led by legendary head
coach Frank Leahy, downed Nebraska, 44-13.
The opponent scored first in four of Notre Dame's 12 games last
season, including the 2000 season opener against Texas A&M. The Irish went
3-1 in these contests, defeating Texas A&M (24-10), West Virginia (42-28)
and Rutgers (45-17) and losing to Oregon State (41-9) in the Tostitos Fiesta
Bowl.
Notre Dame set an NCAA record last season with just 0.73 turnovers
per game, and tied another NCAA standard with only eight turnovers in the
2000 season. Tonight, the Irish turned the ball over four times (2 fumbles,
2 interceptions), including its first offensive play of the game.
Last season, Notre Dame QB Matt LoVecchio set a school record for
interception avoidance, throwing just one pick in 125 pass attempts (vs.
Navy, Oct. 14, 2000). He threw an interception in the first quarter of
tonight's game.
Last year, Notre Dame outscored its opponents, 84-34, in the first
quarter. The Irish trailed 17-0 after one period in tonight's contest.
The 17 points scored by Nebraska in the first quarter were the most
by a Notre Dame opponent in one period since Stanford also put up 17 points
in the first quarter on Nov. 27, 1999 (a game won by Stanford, 40-37).
Notre Dame is now 8-11 in the Bob Davie era when trailing at the
half.
Notre Dame QB Carlyle Holiday appeared in his first collegiate game,
coming on in relief of LoVecchio with 11:42 left in the second quarter. He
finished the night going 5-of-8 passing for 41 yards. He also had eight
rushes for 21 yards.
Tonight's loss is the first season-opening defeat for Notre Dame
since Northwestern knocked off the Irish, 17-15, to begin the 1995 season.
It's also the first season-opening loss for Notre Dame in the Bob Davie era.
And, it's just the 13th season-opening setback in school history for the
Irish (now 95-13-5 all-time in openers).
Notre Dame has now played in front of a sellout crowd in 128 of its
last 150 games. Tonight's attendance was a Memorial Stadium-record 78,118.
Carrying over their red zone effectiveness from last season
(33-of-35 inside the opponents' 20-yard line), the Irish were 2-for-2 in the
red zone tonight, picking up a 29-yard field goal from Nicholas Setta in the
second quarter and a one-yard scoring run by Tony Fisher in the fourth
quarter.
Notre Dame P Joey Hildbold, a Ray Guy Award candidate, averaged a
solid 45.7 yards on seven punts tonight, marking the fifth time in the last
12 games he has averaged better than 44 yards per kick.
In the first half, Notre Dame's average starting field position was
its own 30-yard line. By contrast, Nebraska's average starting field
position in the first half was the Notre Dame 42-yard line, including three
drives which began inside the Irish 25-yard line.
