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2009 Notre Dame

6–⁠6, coached by Charlie Weis.

Schedule and results

Notre Dame in 2009, game by game: won vs. Nevada 35–0; lost at Michigan 34–38; won vs. Michigan State 33–30; won at Purdue 24–21; won vs. Washington 37–30; lost vs. No. 6 USC 27–34; won vs. Boston College 20–16; won vs. Washington State 40–14; lost vs. Navy 21–23; lost at No. 8 Pittsburgh 22–27; lost vs. UConn 30–33; lost at Stanford 38–45+35−7Won 35–0 vs. Nevada+35NevadaLost 34–38 at Michigan-4MichiganWon 33–30 vs. Michigan State+3Michigan StateWon 24–21 at Purdue+3PurdueWon 37–30 vs. Washington+7WashingtonLost 27–34 vs. No. 6 USC-7No. 6 USCWon 20–16 vs. Boston College+4Boston CollegeWon 40–14 vs. Washington State+26Washington StateLost 21–23 vs. Navy-2NavyLost 22–27 at No. 8 Pittsburgh-5No. 8 PittsburghLost 30–33 vs. UConn-3UConnLost 38–45 at Stanford-7Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsNevadaW 35–⁠060%
Sep 12atMichiganL 34–⁠3849%
Sep 19vsMichigan StateW 33–⁠3056%
Sep 26atPurdueW 24–⁠2156%
Oct 3vsWashingtonW 37–⁠3080%
Oct 17vs6USCL 27–⁠3433%
Oct 24vsBoston CollegeW 20–⁠1653%
Oct 31vsWashington StateW 40–⁠1483%
Nov 7vsNavyL 21–⁠2361%
Nov 14at8PittsburghL 22–⁠2728%
Nov 21vsUConnL 30–⁠3361%
Nov 28atStanfordL 38–⁠4534%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Stanford 45–⁠38; unranked in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 112th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 23
  2. Wk 2: 18
  3. Wk 7: 25
  4. Wk 9: 25
  5. Wk 10: 19

Biletnikoff AwardGolden Tate, WR

Consensus All-AmericanGolden Tate, WR

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
—
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
361–⁠311
Coach
Charlie Weis
Elo
1538 +0 this season
SP+ rating
11.0 No. 34 of 120; offense No. 3, defense No. 77, special teams No. 41
SRS
6.2 No. 36 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 15
Defensive coordinators
Corwin Brown and Jon Tenuta
Captains
Jimmy Clausen, Kyle McCarthy, Eric Olsen and Scott Smith
Most valuable player
Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense9th of 120
  • Defense95th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted12th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted103rd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1348%0.899th of 120
Defense0.1043%1.0395th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
0.08 def		46% off
42% def		—12th off
103rd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 281% allowed
Defense0.0own 302% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJimmy Clausen QB3,722 yds
Passing touchdownsJimmy Clausen QB28 TD
Rushing yardsArmando Allen Jr. 697 yds
Rushing touchdownsRobert Hughes 5 TD
Receiving yardsGolden Tate WR1,496 yds
Receiving touchdownsGolden Tate WR15 TD
InterceptionsKyle McCarthy S5 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Manti Te’o ILB★★★★★No. 4
Chris Watt OG★★★★No. 40
Cierre Wood RB★★★★No. 63
Shaquelle Evans WR★★★★No. 93
Tyler Stockton DT★★★★No. 100
Zeke Motta OLB★★★★No. 142
Zack Martin OT★★★★No. 146
E.J. Banks S★★★★No. 206

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.969
Receivers33.30.873
Offensive line33.70.907
Defensive line14.00.955
Linebackers34.30.941
Defensive backs14.00.916
Athletes and specialists23.00.841
Whole class143.70.906

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 2Jimmy Clausen QBCarolina Panthers
Rd 2Golden Tate WRSeattle Seahawks
Rd 6Sam Young OTDallas Cowboys
Rd 6Eric Olsen CDenver Broncos

Roster 103

The 2009 roster

103 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster