The Notre Dame defense has allowed just 30 total points through its first three games, the fewest since the 1988 squad allowed 27 points to open the season. The 1988 team won Notre Dame's last national championship.
"The most important thing is that our defense continues to be the group that we had committed to in building when we started this process, and they're starting to get to that level that can play against anybody," Irish coach Brian Kelly said.
The three points allowed were the fewest surrendered by an Irish defense against a top-10 opponent on the road since 1966, when they shut out USC.
Eifert held catchless
Senior tight end Tyler Eifert was held without a catch for the first time since Sept. 25, 2010, against Stanford. Eifert had at least one reception in the 22 games he played in since.
"What we've asked [Eifert] to do is block in our offense when we need it," Kelly said. "He's always a guy that will do whatever we ask him to do. The kind of game we got into required him as a tight end to get in there a grind it out."
Eifert led all Football Bowl Subdivision tight ends in receptions and yards last season and is second in Notre Dame history for receiving yards by a tight end.
Contact Matthew DeFranks at mdefrank@nd.edu
