Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2019 9 UNDER THE DOME 6 Notre Dame men's basketball players have recorded at least 20 double-dou- bles in points and rebounds during a season. Junior John Mooney became the most recent this year with 20 during a 14-19 campaign. The other five were Luke Harangody with 25 (2008-09), LaPhonso Ellis 22 (1991-92), cur- rent Fighting Irish assistant coach Ryan Humphrey 21 (2001-02), and then Zach Auguste (2015-16) and Troy Murphy (1999-2000) with 20 apiece. In fairness, it should also be noted that Bob Whitmore, inducted into Notre Dame's Ring of Honor this January, had 19 in only 28 games in 1966-67, an impressive 67.9 percent rate. 27 Ranking of Notre Dame senior safety ALOHI GILMAN among Athlon Sports' early list of the nation's top 50 returning college football players in 2019. The trans- fer from Navy had an impact on the 2018 defense with 95 tackles (second on the team), five passes broken up, three forced fumbles and two interceptions. Senior drop end Julian Okwara was also mentioned in "the next tier" of 20 players. Per Pro Football Focus, Okwara finished fourth in the country last year in pass rush efficiency. Among Notre Dame's 2019 op- ponents, Georgia had four players: quarterback Jake Fromm (No. 6), offensive lineman Andrew Thomas (No. 18), running back D'Andre Swift (No. 31) and safety J.R. Reed (No. 33). Other Fighting Irish foes ranked were Virginia cornerback Bryce Hall (No. 17); Stanford cornerback Paulson Adebo (No. 28), who gave an initial verbal commitment to Notre Dame; Boston College running back AJ Dil- lon (No. 30), whose grandfather is Notre Dame Col- lege Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Thom Gatewood (1969-71); and Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson (No. 48). 63 Games missed on the men's basketball team by either full-time projected starters or play- ers who started multiple games this season, because of health setbacks. The breakdown is as follows: freshman guard Robby Carmody (24), senior guard Rex Pflueger (23), junior wing Nikola Djogo (six), junior center Juwan Durham (five), sophomore wing D.J. Harvey (four) and junior guard T.J. Gibbs (one). Both Carmody and Pflueger can take a medical redshirt season, and Notre Dame already has announced that Pflueger will return for a fifth season in 2019-20. 75-77 Overall record of Notre Dame's 2019 football opponents from the previous year, with six of the 12 posting losing marks and three others suffering at least five defeats. In contrast, Notre Dame's 2017 regular-season opponents finished the year 99-59, and in 2018 they were 81-74. Seldom does a full regular-season slate of foes collectively finish under .500. Since the NCAA first began tracking toughest schedule rankings in 1977, there were only two years where Fighting Irish opponents together finished under .500 in the regular season: .460 in 1998 (52-61) and .462 in 2008 (67-78). 500 Career wins as an NCAA Division I hockey head coach posted by Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson following a 3-2 victory versus Penn State March 23 to capture the Big Ten Tournament championship, the eighth conference crown in his 14 seasons with the Fighting Irish. He became the 13th hockey coach to achieve that milestone at Division I schools, highlighted by national titles at Lake Superior State in 1992 and 1994, and four Fro- zen Fours at Notre Dame (2008, 2011, 2017 and 2018). He has posted 318 of those victories at Notre Dame. 611 Career receptions in the NFL by former Notre Dame wide receiver Golden Tate (2007-09), who recently was signed by the New York Giants after having played for Seattle (including a Super Bowl title), Detroit and last season at Philadelphia. Among Fighting Irish alumni, Tate's reception total in the NFL, which has resulted in 7,214 yards and 38 touchdowns, is eclipsed only by 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Tim Brown, whose 1,094 catches accounted for 14,934 yards and 100 touchdowns. A distant third is former running back Ricky Watters with 467 career catches. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA