Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1053149
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 26, 2018 13 THEY SAID IT "Senior Day is one of my greatest memories from my five years at Notre Dame. It's an extremely special day filled with a great deal of emotion, pride and love for Notre Dame. It's a day of celebration for all that the players and team have accomplished over their respective careers at the most prestigious university and football program in the world." — Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey in a letter to Irish seniors "Should the Irish lose, either to the Orange or at USC in the regular-season finale, their playoff hopes would then hinge on what happens in the Power Five conference championship games. What if Ohio State wins the Big Ten, and both the Irish and Buckeyes are one-loss teams with wins over Michigan and North- western? What if the Big 12 and Pac-12 both produce two-loss conference champions? The top four could be Alabama, Clemson, Michigan and … Notre Dame. "There could also be a debate if Washington State and Notre Dame both finish with one loss. The Irish might lose to Syracuse, but win at USC — which Wazzu couldn't do. The Irish could also have a win over the Big Ten champ (if Michigan captures the title). While there certainly aren't any guarantees for Notre Dame, there are also too many possibilities remaining to discount a one-loss Irish team." — ESPN's College Football Playoff reporter Heather Dinich on if Notre Dame were to finish the regular season 11-1 "Notre Dame has its most talented roster ever, filled with WNBA prospects, and McGraw's challenge is to parcel minutes judiciously, promote chemistry, get her young players experience when she can and fulfill the potential of a very gifted team. Can Notre Dame avoid, as Pat Riley famously put it, the disease of me? That's the challenge. There is also history. What Notre Dame is attempting to do is rarified space in the sport. "Only three Division I women's programs have repeated as champions — Southern Cal (1983 and 1984), Tennessee (1996-98 and 2007-08), and UConn (2002-04, 2009-10, and 2013-16). Along with UConn, the Irish have been the sport's standard bearer this decade. They have played in six of the last eight Final Fours, including five title game appearances. That's more than UConn in that stretch." — The Athletic's Richard Deitsch on Notre Dame women's basketball going into 2018-19 season OF THE WEEK "Brandon Wimbush is a fantastic human being. He was a great football player in his senior game, but what's most important is what he's going to be for the rest of his life. I'm extremely proud to be his friend. Cheers to you QB1 — you deserve it." Former Notre Dame linebacker Joe Schmidt (@joeschmidtiv) Nov. 11 UNDER THE DOME "I think what we've discovered is some on-and-off element to it makes the Shamrock Series game itself more impactful. It also finds that balance between being true to our independence and maximizing the home schedule. "Looking at the future schedules, I think we'll have periods of two or three years when we don't have one, and then may have one back- to-back again." Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick on the future of the Shamrock Series (The South Bend Tribune) PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA