Rose Bowl by the numbers: Alabama vs. Notre Dame - AL.com

Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One

No. 1 Alabama (11-0) vs. No. 4 Notre Dame (10-1)

3 p.m. CST Friday, Jan. 1 (ESPN)

AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas

1 Player in SEC history has scored more TDs than Alabama RB Najee Harris. With 44 rushing TDs and 10 receiving TDs, Harris trails only former Florida QB Tim Tebow, who scored 57 TDs for the Gators from 2006 through 2009.

1 Current NCAA FBS coach has more career college victories than Alabama coach Nick Saban. In his 30 seasons as a college coach, Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly has a 273-95-2 record. In 25 seasons, Saban has a 259-61-1 record. Not all of Kelly’s coaching victories came at the NCAA FBS level. He had a 118-35-2 record in 13 seasons at Grand Valley State before going 19-16 at Central Michigan and 34-6 at Cincinnati. Kelly has a 102-38 record at Notre Dame. Only Knute Rockne with 105 has coached Notre Dame to more victories than Kelly.

2 Victories for Alabama in seven games against Notre Dame. The teams most recently squared off in the BCS championship game for the 2012 season, with the Crimson Tide taking a 42-14 victory on Jan. 7, 2013, in Miami. The teams’ first meeting also came with the national title at stake, and Notre Dame posted a 24-23 victory in the Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31, 1973. The teams met the next season in the Orange Bowl, with Notre Dame’s 13-11 victory on Jan. 1, 1975, accounting for the Tide’s only loss on its 1974 schedule. In regular-season games, Notre Dame won 7-0 on Nov. 15, 1980, and Alabama won 28-10 on Oct. 4, 1986, in Birmingham, and the Irish won 21-18 on Nov. 13, 1976, and 37-6 on Nov. 14, 1987, in South Bend.

2 Interceptions have been thrown by Notre Dame QB Ian Book in 314 passes this season. No other player in the nation with as many passes as Book has fewer than three interceptions in 2020. Alabama has intercepted 11 of its opponents’ 393 passes this season.

3 Consecutive Alabama games have feature at least 50 points for the Crimson Tide. Alabama became the ninth SEC team to score at least 50 points in three consecutive games by beating LSU 55-17 on Dec.5, Arkansas 52-3 on Dec. 12 and Florida 52-46 on Dec. 19. Only one SEC team has scored at least 50 points in four consecutive games. In 1945, Alabama defeated Kentucky 60-19 on Nov. 3, Vanderbilt 71-0 on Nov. 17, Pensacola Naval Air Station 55-6 on Nov. 24 and Mississippi State 55-13 on Dec. 1. The Crimson Tide completed an undefeated 1945 season by beating Southern Cal 34-14 in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1946.

4 Victories and three losses for SEC teams in the Rose Bowl. Alabama defeated Stanford 29-13 on Jan. 1, 1935; Georgia defeated UCLA 9-0 on Jan. 1, 1943; Alabama defeated Southern Cal 34-14 on Jan. 1, 1946; and Georgia defeated Oklahoma 54-48 in double overtime on Jan. 1, 2018, in the SEC’s victories. California defeated Alabama 13-0 on Jan. 1, 1938, Southern Cal defeated Tennessee 14-0 on Jan. 1, 1940, and Southern Cal defeated Tennessee 25-0 on Jan. 1, 1945, in the SEC’s losses.

4 Victories without a loss for Alabama coach Nick Saban against Notre Dame. While the coach at Michigan State, Saban faced the Fighting Irish three times, with the Spartans winning 23-7 in 1997, 45-23 in 1998 and 23-12 in 1999. Saban’s one game against Notre Dame at Alabama resulted in a 42-14 Crimson Tide victory in the BCS championship game for the 2012 season.

4 Victories without a loss at AT&T Stadium for Alabama. The Crimson Tide kicked off its season by defeating Michigan in 2012, Wisconsin in 2015 and Southern Cal in 2016 and defeated Michigan State in 2015 in the Cotton Bowl, which was serving as a semifinal game in the College Football Playoff. Alabama outscored its four ranked opponents 166-37. Notre Dame has played two games on the Dallas Cowboys’ current home field. The Fighting Irish lost to Clemson 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29, 2018, in a CFP semifinal game and defeated Arizona State 37-34 on Oct. 5, 2013.

9 Victories over the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Poll for Notre Dame. Notre Dame has a 9-16-1 record against the top-ranked team, with a 47-40 double-overtime victory against Clemson on Nov. 7 in their latest meeting with the No. 1 team. Alabama coach Nick Saban has a 77-8 record when leading the No. 1 team.

10.57 Yards per play have been averaged by Alabama QB Mac Jones this season, the highest figure in the nation. Jones has produced 3,730 yards on 353 rushes and passes. The SEC single-season record for yards per play (with a minimum of 300 plays) is 10.09, the average posted by Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa in 2018.

19 Victories and 19 losses for Notre Dame in bowls. The Fighting Irish’s first bowl appearance came in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1925, when, led by the Four Horsemen, Notre Dame defeated Stanford 27-10 to cap a 10-0 season. The Irish have not played in the Rose Bowl since that game.

19 Victories, 14 losses and one tie for Alabama when playing on New Year’s Day. The Crimson Tide has an overall record of 29-19-1 in January games. Notre Dame has a 9-10 record on New Year’s Day. The Fighting Irish have an overall record of 11-14 in January games.

24 Consecutive Alabama games have featured at least 30 points for the Crimson Tide, tied for the second-longest such streak in major-college football history. The most recent game in which Alabama failed to score at least 30 points was the Tide’s 44-16 loss to Clemson in the CFP national championship game on Jan. 7, 2019. The only longer streak was accomplished by UCF, which scored at least 30 points in 31 straight games starting with a 61-17 victory over Florida International on Sept. 1, 2017, and ended by a 27-24 loss to Cincinnati on Oct. 4, 2019. South Florida also reached 30 points in 24 consecutive games starting with a 44-23 victory over Temple on Nov. 14, 2015, and ended by 28-24 loss to Houston on Oct. 28, 2017.

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25 Victories for Alabama coach Nick Saban against teams ranked in the top five of The Associated Press Poll, seven more than any other coach has had. Saban has a 25-14 record against top-five opponents. Bobby Bowden had 18 victories against top-five opponents during his career.

30 Victories for Notre Dame in the 34 games started by Ian Book, giving the Fighting Irish’s current signal-caller more wins than any other quarterback in school history. In Notre Dame’s career record book, Book ranks second to Brady Quinn (2003-2006) in completions, passing yards, TD passes and TD responsibility and to Tony Rice (1987-89) in QB rushing yards.

35 Victories and 17 losses for Notre Dame in games against SEC opponents. In its most recent encounter with the SEC, the Fighting Irish lost 23-17 to Georgia on Sept. 21, 2019, in South Bend. Notre Dame has a 5-4 record against SEC opponents in bowls. The Irish most recently squared off with the SEC in a bowl on Jan. 1, 2018, when they defeated LSU 21-17 in the Citrus Bowl.

42 Of Alabama’s 44 quarters this season included points for the Crimson Tide. Alabama did not score in the third quarter of its 41-0 victory over Mississippi State on Oct. 31 and the third quarter of its 52-46 victory over Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 19.

56 Tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in eight games for Notre Dame LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker for the 2020 season.

71 Previous bowl appearances for Alabama. The Crimson Tide has a 42-26-3 on-the-field record in those games. Alabama is the all-time leader in bowl appearances and bowl victories.

75 Years since Alabama’s previous appearance in the Rose Bowl. The Crimson Tide’s first five bowl appearances came in the Rose Bowl, but Alabama’s ninth bowl trip was its most recent Rose Bowl appearance. Alabama has a 4-1-1 record in the Rose Bowl, with all the games on Jan. 1. The Tide defeated Washington 20-19 in 1926, tied Stanford 7-7 in 1927, defeated Washington State 24-0 in 1931, defeated Stanford 29-13 in 1935, lost to California 13-0 in 1938 and defeated Southern Cal 34-14 in 1946.

119 More points have been scored by Alabama than by its opponents in the second quarter this season. In the second period in 2020, the Crimson Tide has a 194-75 scoring advantage. Alabama has outscored its opponents 547-214 in 11 games this season. Notre Dame’s most lopsided period also has been the second quarter, when the Fighting Irish has outscored its opponents 141-52. Notre Dame has a 387-205 scoring advantage in 11 games this season.

140 Receiving yards are needed by Alabama WR DeVonta Smith to become the SEC’s career leader. Vanderbilt WR Jordan Matthews set the conference’s career mark with 3,759 receiving yards from 2010 through 2013. Smith already owns the SEC record for career TD receptions with 40. He led the nation with 98 receptions and 1,511 receiving yards entering the bowl season.

202.34 Is the passing-efficiency rating of Alabama QB Mac Jones in 2020, the best in the nation. The rating is produced using average yards gained per pass and TD, interception and completion percentages. Jones has completed 250-of-327 passes for 3,739 yards with 32 TDs and four interceptions. The NCAA FBS single-season record for passing-efficiency rating (for players with at least 250 passes) is 206.9 by Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa in 2019.

266 Consecutive games without being shut out for Alabama, a school record and the fourth-longest scoring streak in SEC history. Alabama’s most recent shutout loss came 9-0 to Auburn on Nov. 18, 2000. Notre Dame also is on a school-record scoring streak. The Fighting Irish have scored in 156 games since a 17-0 loss to Boston College on Nov. 8, 2008.

1,400 Miles is the approximate distance between Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The 107th Rose Bowl is being played in Texas this year because of COVID-19 restrictions in California. The Rose Bowl has been played outside of Pasadena once previously. The 1942 game between Oregon State and Duke was played on the Blue Devils’ home field in Durham, North Carolina, because of safety concerns involving crowds on the Pacific Coast less than one month after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

3,639 Rushing yards for RB Najee Harris at Alabama, the most for a player in Crimson Tide history.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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