URBANA, Ohio -- Prior to Saturday's 49-16 loss in Central Ohio, Notre Dame had been going in high gear in all phases of the game.


GAME NOTES ...

* NDC's game captains were cornerback Spencer Krebs, linebacker Brandon Hummer and quarterback Rob Partridge.

* Saturday's loss marked the Falcons' first since Sept. 17.  Their four wins in between now stand as a program record for consecutive victories.

* With the loss, NDC is now 0-2 in its all-time series with the Blue Knights.  In their two meetings, Urbana has outscored Notre Dame, 81-16 (Urbana defeated NDC, 32-0, on Nov. 13, 2010).


NOTING THE OFFENSE ...

* Notre Dame's performance on Saturday flipped a number of trends on both sides of the ball.  On offense NDC had piled up 129 points (not counting defense/special-teams scores) on 95 first downs and 1,755 total yards in their previous four games.  On Saturday the Falcon offense managed just seven points, 16 first downs and 239 total yards.  NDC's total yardage marked the team's lowest output since last year's meeting with Urbana (126 yards, which is the program's lowest yard total in 19 all-time games).

* Quarterback Robert Partridge was picked off for the first time since week three (Sept. 17 at Marian-Ind.).  The interception was just his third this season against 10 TD passes.

* Partridge was sacked six times.  That marks the most sacks by an NDC foe since the Walsh garnered seven against the Falcons on Sept. 18, 2010.

* Wide receiver Michael Fields caught four passes.  He now has 18 receptions over the last three games and 28 on the season.

* The Falcons went 0-for-1 on trips to the red zone.  The Falcons ventured past the Blue Knights' 20-yard line just once.

* No NDC back mustered a 100-yard game for the Falcons.  That breaks a string of five straight games of having a player hit the century mark in rushing. … Notre Dame was held under four yards per carry (3.6) for the second time this season.  The Falcons came into the game averaging 5.5 yards per attempt.

* The Falcons went just 4-of-14 on third down conversions after having gone 25-of-50 (50 percent) over their win streak.  NDC is now 5-of-26 on third downs in two games against Urbana.

* Notre Dame committed a season-high three turnovers and finished at minus-two in turnover margin.  That marks the first time this season that the Blue & White have finished on the minus side of the turnover ledger.


NOTING THE DEFENSE ...

* Over its previous three games, Notre Dame's run defense had been stingy, allowing just 2.5 yards per rush (284 yards on 114 carries).  On Saturday Urbana ran wild, totaling 201 yards on 49 carries (4.1 average).  The Blue Knights had five rushing touchdowns.

* The Falcons tied a program record and their 2011 season best with four sacks in the game.  NDC now has at least one sack in four straight games (12 over that span) after having zero sacks over their first three games this season.

* Notre Dame had one sack in the game (Jake Adkins) and five tackles for loss.

* With 13 tackles, Bo Grunder ties an NDC single-game mark held by six players (Grunder is now on that list three times).  The sophomore safety became the first NDC player to reach 150 career tackles -- he now has 160 career stops.

* The NDC defense had allowed just four touchdowns over the team's four-game win streak (one of Central State's TDs on Oct. 1 was scored by its defense).  On Saturday, Urbana matched that total in just 25 minutes-and-13 seconds of game play.

* Urbana's 469 total yards in the game marked the most by an NDC foe since Marian racked up 565 yards on Sept. 17.

* The Blue Knights went 8-of-12 on third-down conversions.  NDC's defense had held opponents to an 8-for-43 mark (19 percent) in its previous three contests.


NOTING THE SPECIAL TEAMS ...

* Junior Michael Fields came up with an unusual play in notching Notre Dame's second all-time punt-return TD.  Fields picked up a fourth-quarter Urbana ball just before it came to a rest and evidently just after most players on the field had given u on the play as an eventual downed ball.  Fields scooped up the ball and evaded a few would-be tacklers on his way to a 62-yard return, a program long.

* Punter Rob Partridge registered an average of 38.7 yards per kick on Saturday, marking his best single-game average since the Siena Heights (Mich.) game (Sept. 24).  Partridge now has a 37.4-yard average on the season.  He put two punts inside the UU 20 in the game, a feat he has now accomplished 11 times this season.


WRAPPING IT UP …

With its 49-16 loss on Saturday, Notre Dame is now:

7-12 all-time

4-7 all-time in road games

4-4 in the month of October

6-10 all-time on artificial turf

3-3 against Ohio programs

1-7 all-time when a minus in turnover margin