Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 OCT. 15, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Aiden McFadden — Soccer The sophomore from West Chester, Pa., netted the game-winning goal for No. 20 Notre Dame in a 1-0 home victory over Boston College Sept. 28. It marked his second goal in as many matches. Through 10 contests, Mc- Fadden — who did not see any game action as a freshman last year — ranked second on the team in goals (three) and third in points (six). Zoe Nunez — Volleyball The freshman from Rockford, Ill., recorded a career-high 64 assists in five sets of play dur- ing Notre Dame's 3-2 win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta Sept. 30. Her performance marked the first time an Irish player recorded more than 60 assists in a match since Caroline Holt (64) on Sept. 3, 2016. Nunez registered a team-best 500 assists in Notre Dame's first 14 matches this season. She also ranked third in digs (102), fourth in blocks (30) and fourth in service aces (10). Yared Nuguse — Cross Country The sophomore from Louisville, Ky., led the way for Notre Dame in the Joe Piane Invitational at Notre Dame Sept. 28. Nuguse's five-mile time of 24:11.08 earned him 12th place and helped the Irish finish third out of 17 teams. Nuguse was a state cham- pion in Kentucky while competing for duPont Manual High School. Jen Westendorf — Soccer The junior from Grayson, Ga., played aggres- sively in Notre Dame's 2-1 win over No. 21 North Carolina State at home Sept. 30. She ended the game with five total shots, three shots on goal and one goal, a shot in the 60th min- ute that gave the Irish a lead they would not relinquish. T h ro u g h 1 2 m a t c h e s , Westendorf paced the Irish in goals (tied with three), assists (four) and points (10). She now boasts 19 career goals. TOP OF THE CLASS ✦ GIMME FIVE Notre Dame's 38-17 victory at home ver- sus Stanford Sept. 29 marked only the third time in the last 25 years the Fighting Irish won a showdown when both they and the opponent were ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll (3-12 since 1994). What is especially notable is that it be- came only the 11th time since the start of the AP poll in 1936 that Notre Dame won a home game against a top-10 team by at least 21 points. It also was the largest mar- gin of victory against a top-10 team — home or away — since routing No. 5 and eventual Rose Bowl champ USC 38-10 in 1995. Overall, the greatest margin of victory Notre Dame has ever had against a top-10 team was the 51-0 thrashing of No. 10 and Pac-8 champ USC in the 1966 regular-season finale to clinch the national title. Here are the largest margins of victory by the Fighting Irish against a top-10 opponent in Notre Dame Stadium. Rk. Team (Year) AP Rank Score 1. Boston College (1992) 9 54-7 2. Tulane (1949) 4 46-7 3. Pitt (1989) 7 45-7 4. Alabama (1987) 10 37-6 5. USC (1977) 5 49-19 Getting To Know … JUNIOR CORNERBACK TROY PRIDE JR. Hometown: "Greer, S.C." High School: "Greer Senior." Major: "Film, television and theatre." Favorite Food: "Ribs and mac n' cheese." Favorite Place To Eat In South Bend: "It would have to be Five Guys." Favorite Movie: "All three of the 'Friday' movies." Favorite Music: "Hip hop/rap." Favorite Musician: "Drake." Favorite Professional Sports Team: "I'm a big Dallas Cowboys fan and big Los Angeles Lakers fan." Favorite TV Show: "'Black Mirror.'" Favorite Part About Playing For Notre Dame: "I just love football. The best part about being here is being able to play the game. This is so amazing to just do and be here." Who's The Best Player You've Ever Lined Up Across From?: "[Stanford receiver] JJ Arcega- Whiteside is a really good player. Back in high school I went against Shi Smith, a big-time re- ceiver at South Carolina. Those are some of the best guys I've played." CHARTING THE IRISH NOTRE DAME AND 5-0 STARTS SINCE 1950 For the first time since 2014 and just the fourth time this century, Notre Dame began the season 5-0. After accomplishing the feat every year in the 1940s, with the exception of 1942, winning the first five games of the sea- son has been a tad bit more rare for the Irish. Over the past nearly 80 years, Notre Dame has now begun a season with five victories just 14 times. During the first 13, Notre Dame went a combined 130-18 (.878 winning percentage). The Irish lost two games or less in all but two (2002 and 2014) of those seasons, and went 6-3 in the nine bowl games the pro- gram participated in during those years. Although the Irish finished just 8-5 the last time they achieved a 5-0 start in 2014, it typically portends a top-10 finish. In the first 12 such instances, Notre Dame averaged 10.2 wins and 1.1 losses. The aver- age number of wins remains at 10 even with 2014 included. Year Final Record 2014 2012 2002 1993 1989 1988 1980 1973 1971 1970 1966 1964 1953 * Claimed national title NOTRE DAME'S FINAL RECORD IN SEASONS IT STARTED 5-0 Since 1950 8-5 12-1 10-3 11-1 12-1 12-0* 9-2-1 11-0* 8-2 10-1 9-0-1* 9-1 9-0-1