Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 SEPT. 17, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Felicien Dumas — Soccer The senior from Tokyo, Japan, was a crucial part of then-No. 24 Notre Dame's 2-0 victory over No. 22 Dartmouth Sept. 2, giving the Irish their second win over a ranked opponent in three days (they also beat No. 18 UConn 3-0 Aug. 31). In the game against Dart- mouth, Dumas tallied two assists and fired one shot on goal. He also contributed to keeping Dartmouth from getting a single shot on goal. Jacqueline Gaughan — Cross Country The freshman from Exeter, N.H., started off her Irish career with a bang, winning the five-kilometer race in the Crusader Open with a time of 17:22.1. Her first-place fin- ish helped the Irish capture the team title, with fellow freshman Elana Denner finishing just behind her in second place with a time of 17:22.3. Gaughan was a dominant high school runner, earning two New Hampshire division champi- onships. Meg Morningstar — Volleyball The senior from Wexford, Pa., posted a sea- son-high nine blocks to go along with a team-high hit percentage of .500 and five kills in Notre Dame's 3-0 vic- tory over Oakland Aug. 31. Through five matches, Morningstar has racked up 25 total kills and an overall hit percentage of .300 with 28.5 total points. As a junior, she started 25 of 29 matches and recorded a career-high 119 blocks, plus 86 kills and nine digs. Anthony Williams — Cross Country The senior from Blooming- ton, Ind., took first place in the six-kilometer race with a time of 18:01 at the Crusader Open Aug. 31 in Valparaiso, Ind. The Irish finished first overall, taking nine of the top 10 spots in the race. Williams led the way for the Irish twice as a junior, in the 3,000-meter race at the Notre Dame Invitational and in the 5,000-meter race at the BVSU Big Meet Invite. TOP OF THE CLASS ✦ GIMME FIVE With the 24-17 victory against No. 14 Michi- gan in the Sept. 1 opener, ninth-year Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly improved his record to 15-17 with the Fighting Irish ver- sus teams that were ranked in the Associated Press poll at the time of the game. In back-to-back meetings against Stanford (Sept. 29) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 6) he might get the opportunity to reach the .500 mark with victories in those two contests, if both are ranked. Since the start of the AP poll in 1936, five Notre Dame non-interim coaches were at or above .500 against foes ranked at the time of the game. Here are their rankings by winning percentage: Coach (Years) Record Vs. Top 25 (Pct.) 1. Frank Leahy (1941-43, '46-53) 29-4-4 (.838) 2. Dan Devine (1975-80) 17-10 (.630) 3. Lou Holtz (1986-96) 33-20-2 (.618) 4. Ara Parseghian (1964-74) 14-11-3* (.554) 5. Elmer Layden (1936-40) 5-5 (.500) * From 1962-68, the AP ranked only a top 10 Getting To Know … JUNIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN TOMMY KRAEMER Hometown: "Cincinnati." High School: "Elder." Major: "Business." Favorite Food: "Pizza." Favorite Place To Eat In South Bend: "Cheddar's." Favorite Movie: "'Step Brothers.'" Favorite Music: "I love country music." Favorite Musician: "I'll go with Erich Church for this one." Favorite TV Show: "Probably 'The Office.'" Favorite Pro Sports Team: "Definitely the Cincinnati Reds." Favorite Part About Playing For Notre Dame: "It's the guys on the team. They're my best friends in the world." Toughest Player You've Lined Up Across From: "In high school, DePaul Catholic had a guy who went to be the starting three tech- nique at Michigan [Michael Dwumfour]. He was really good. There were a ton of good players in Ohio." MOVING? Let us know! Call 1-800-421-7751 CHARTING THE IRISH NOTRE DAME'S HISTORY VS. SEC PROGRAMS For the second straight season Notre Dame will host a Southeastern Conference opponent, with Vanderbilt headed to South Bend for the third meeting ever between the two programs. The first two came in 1995 and 1996, and were won by the Irish. Notre Dame went 1-1 versus the conference last year, falling 20-19 at home to the Georgia Bulldogs and then defeating the LSU Tigers 21-17 in the Citrus Bowl. The Commodores are the lone SEC foe on the regular-season schedule for the Irish, but Notre Dame has future games with Arkansas, Texas A&M and Alabama over the next decade. Against the current 14 teams that comprise the conference, Notre Dame is 28-19 all time, though their 8-5 combined mark against South Carolina, Texas A&M and Missouri occurred before each joined the league. Ten of the 14 programs — Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Ten- nessee and Vanderbilt — were among the original 13 members along with Georgia Tech, Tulane and the University of the South (Sewanee). Notre Dame is 20-14 against the 10 members still part of the league, while their SEC record inflates to 34-16 when factoring in a combined 14-2 mark against Georgia Tech and Tulane when those two were still affiliated. NOTRE DAME VS. THE SEC SEC Opponent ND Record Alabama 5-2 Arkansas 0-0 Auburn 0-0 Florida 1-0 Georgia 0-2 Kentucky 0-0 LSU 7-5 Mississippi 1-1 Mississippi State 0-0 Missouri 2-2 South Carolina 3-2 Tennessee 4-4 Texas A&M 3-1 Vanderbilt 2-0