Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 AUGUST 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME On June 3, 76 former Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) All-Americans were nominated for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2020. Among them are 1987-90 cornerback Todd Lyght and 1990-93 offensive lineman Aaron Taylor — two of only 16 two-time consensus All-Americans in Notre Dame history. Thirteen of the 16 are already in the college hall through the National Football Foundation, with linebacker Michael Stonebreaker (1986-90) joining Lyght and Taylor on those who aren't yet. There also are five coaching candidates from the FBS and 101 players and 33 coaches from the divisional ranks. The announcement of the 2020 class will be made in January 2020, in the days leading up to the College Football Playoff Championship Game in New Orleans. Last year, 1990 Walter Camp Award winner and Heisman runner-up Raghib "Rocket" Ismail be- came the 47th Notre Dame player inducted (the most among any school). Taylor also was on the ballot but did not make it. Among the familiar names on the ballot this year are former Heisman Trophy winners Eric Crouch, Josh Heupel, Carson Palmer and Rashaan Salaam. There are also eventual NFL stars (which should have no bearing in the college voting) Eric Dick- erson, Tony Gonzalez, Ray Lewis, Dan Hampton, Marvin Harrison and Ray Lewis, plus ESPN College Game Day host David Pollack. In addition, there are some names that make Fighting Irish faithful cringe with the massive upsets they helped lead in Notre Dame Stadium, including Stanford's Ed McCaffrey and Boston College's Pete Mitchell. Of the 5.33 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rut- gers on Nov. 6, 1869, only 1,010 players have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, or less than two one-hundredths of a percent (0.02) of those who have played the game during the past 150 years. From the coaching ranks, 219 individuals have achieved Hall of Fame distinction. After helping the Irish to their most recent na- tional title as a sophomore in 1988, Lyght — who is in his fifth season as the team's cornerbacks coach — was named a unanimous All-American in 1989 while recording eight interceptions and followed with consensus notice in 1990. Since the advent of the Super Bowl era in 1967, Lyght is the lone Notre Dame player who can claim the following accomplishments: starter on a col- legiate national championship team (1988), unani- mous All-American (1989), first-round pick in the NFL Draft (1991), starter on a Super Bowl winning team (St. Louis Rams, 1999) and NFL All-Pro selec- tion (1999). Taylor earned consensus All-America notice at guard in 1992 and unanimous recognition at tackle in 1993 while helping the Irish win 17 consecutive games. He earned the 1993 Lombardi Award and was named the College Interior Lineman of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus (Ohio) before becoming a first-round pick and Super Bowl champion with Green Bay. TODD LYGHT AND AARON TAYLOR PLACED ON THE 2020 COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME BALLOT In an Atlantic Coast Conference scheduling twist brought about by expand- ing the league slate from 18 to 20 games, Notre Dame's 2019-20 men's bas- ketball schedule will open Nov. 6 at traditional superpower North Carolina. The second ACC game, which the Irish will host and is still to be determined by the league, will be played Dec. 7 before playing the final 18 after the New Year. Interspersed in between, head coach Mike Brey's Fighting Irish will face 11 non-conference foes, with six in a row at home following the debut at Chapel Hill. Nov. 9 — Robert Morris (18-17 last season), Men Against Breast Cancer (MABC) Invitational Nov. 12 — Howard (17-17), MABC Invitational Nov. 15 — Marshall (23-14), MABC Invitational Nov. 18 — Presbyterian (20-16) Nov. 21 — Toledo (25-8), MABC Invitational Nov. 26 — Fairleigh Dickinson (21-14) Dec. 4 — at Maryland (23-11), ACC/Big Ten Challenge Dec. 10 — Detroit Mercy (11-20) Dec. 14 — UCLA (17-16) Dec. 21 — vs. Indiana (19-16), Crossroads Classic at Indianapolis Dec. 29 —Alabama A&M (5-27) The complete ACC conference schedule will be released at a later date. The 20-game league slate will feature: Repeat opponents (home and home): Boston College, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Florida State, Syracuse and Wake Forest. Home Only: Louisville, Miami, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. Road Only: Clemson, Duke, North Carolina State and Virginia. Here are some notes about the non-conference portion of the schedule: • Prior to the season opener at North Carolina, Notre Dame will host exhi- bition games Oct. 29 versus NCAA Division III Capital University — coached by Damon Goodwin, father of Notre Dame sophomore guard Dane Goodwin — and Nov. 1 versus NCAA Division II program Bellarmine. • The four-game MABC Invitational marks the second consecutive season Notre Dame has served as a host to an in-season tournament at Purcell Pavilion. • The Nov. 12 game with Howard will see the Bison led by first-year head coach Kenny Blakeney, who was an assistant to Brey at Delaware, while 2010-14 Irish guard Eric Atkins is an assistant there after serving as Brey's video coordinator from 2017-19. • The meeting versus UCLA — which was one of the nation's marquee rivalries in the 1970s — will be the 50th between the two schools. • Following first-semester final exams, the game with Indiana will be the annual Crossroads Classic held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Notre Dame is 4-4 in the event and won 88-80 last year versus Purdue, which advanced to the Elite Eight before losing in overtime to eventual national champ Virginia. Lyght (1987-90) and Taylor (1990-93) are two of only 16 two-time consensus All-Americans in Notre Dame history. PHOTOS COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA Men's Basketball Releases 2019-20 Non-Conference Schedule