Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1037156
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 15, 2018 9 UNDER THE DOME 2 & 3 Preseason rankings for the 2018-19 Notre Dame hockey team that has advanced to the Frozen Four each of the past two seasons, losing 2-1 last year to Minnesota Duluth in the final. Head coach Jeff Jackson's Fighting Irish are No. 2 in the USCHO.com poll and No. 3 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. After an Oct. 7 exhibition contest versus the USNTDP Oct. 7, Notre Dame heads to Erie, Pa., for the 2018 Ice Breaker Tournament Oct. 12-13. The Fighting Irish Big Ten league slate begins with a 7:30 p.m. home game against Ohio State Nov. 2. In its initial hockey season in the Big Ten last year, Notre Dame won both the regular-season and tournament titles. 6 Players on the 2018 Notre Dame football roster who hail from Pennsyl- vania as they prepare to host Pittsburgh this weekend. The sextet from the Keystone State is comprised of, alphabetically: freshman linebacker Bo Bauer (Harborcreek), sophomore right tackle Robert Hainsey (Pittsburgh), sophomore nose tackle Kurt Hinish (Pittsburgh), freshman quarterback Phil Jurkovec (Pittsburgh), walk-on sophomore tight end Xavier Lezynski (Newtown) and sophomore offensive tackle Josh Lugg (Wexford). 13 Overall pick projected for Notre Dame senior linebacker TE'VON CONEY in a "way too early" CBSSports 2019 NFL mock draft. Coney had contemplated turning pro last De- cember along with defensive tackle Jerry Tillery — a more likely first-round selection — but both decided in mid-January to return as seniors while also receiving their undergraduate degrees in three and a half years. 70 Previous meetings between Notre Dame and the Pittsburgh Panthers in football prior to this year's Oct. 13 contest, with the Fighting Irish owning a 48-21-1 advantage in the series. Only four other schools have played Notre Dame more often entering the 2018 campaign: Navy at 91 (77-13-1 Notre Dame lead), USC at 89 (47-37-5), Purdue at 86 (58-26-2) and Michigan State at 79 (49-29-1). Army West Point is a distant sixth with 51 (39-8-4). 93.9 Grade received by Fighting Irish senior defen- sive tackle Jerry Tillery from Pro Football Focus for his dominant performance in the 38-17 victory versus Stanford that included four quarterback sacks and two pressures. It was the second highest grade of any defensive player in the Football Bowl Subdivi- sion for the weekend of Sept. 29, behind only Mi- ami edge rusher Joe Jackson (95.5). PFF grades out ever play of every player each week. Tillery also earned Walter Camp National Football Bowl Subdi- vision Defensive Player of the Week honors for his work against the Cardinal, plus the team game ball. .306 Career batting average of Craig Counsell when he starred for baseball coach Pat Murphy's Notre Dame teams that rose to power from 1988-92 with a 187-62-1 record (.750 winning percentage) and advanced to NCAA Tournament play for the first time in 19 years. He also scored 204 runs and produced 166 RBI prior to embarking on a 16-year Major League Baseball career that featured two World Series titles. Counsell is up for Manager of the Year after leading his hometown Milwaukee Brewers to the National League Central Division crown — with Murphy on his staff as the bench coach. 1929 Marked the last season until this year where the Notre Dame football team played one or fewer home games in both October and November. The only two the 2018 Fighting Irish will host in those months are Pitt (Oct. 13) and Florida State (Nov. 10). The reason the 1929 national champions under Knute Rockne didn't play any is because Notre Dame Stadium was under construction and all the games were on the road, including several at Chicago's Soldier Field. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL