Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 SEPT. 23, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME 2019 KNUTE ROCKNE AWARDS ANNOUNCED The third annual Knute Rockne Spirit of Sports Awards Celebration will be held Oct. 11, the day before Notre Dame hosts USC, at the historic Palais Royale ballroom in downtown South Bend. All Fighting Irish fans are invited to attend. Heading this year's honorees is Alan Page — a 1966 All-American and na- tional champion at Notre Dame who went on to become one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history. A member of both the Pro and College Football Hall of Fame, Page began a sec- ond career in law and served 23 years as a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. His Page Education Foundation has helped thousands of underprivi- leged high school graduates attend col- lege. He will receive the Rockne Living Legend Award. Other 2019 Rockne Award recipients include: Legacy — The family of All-American, 1924 national champion and Four Horsemen member Elmer Layden, who also served as Notre Dame head coach and NFL commissioner. Communicator — Hall of Fame broadcaster Tony Roberts, who has called more Notre Dame football games (1980-2006) than anyone in history. Heritage — Professor Michael Steele, a 1967 Notre Dame graduate who has authored numerous books on Fighting Irish football history. Leadership — Clark Power, Ph.D., and Kristin Sheehan of the Play Like A Champion Today Educational Series, which promotes values-based sports programs. Distinguished Service — Patrick "Murf" Murphy, who has served the university community for 43 years as a very public face of its hospitality. The Rockne Awards have already established a tradition of celebration, camaraderie, and recogni- tion of outstanding individuals who espouse the character and spirit of Coach Rockne. It supports the Knute Rockne Memorial Society — headed by award-winning author, speaker and sports historian Jim Lefebvre — the Page Education Foundation and the Play Like A Champion Today Educational Series. — Lou Somogyi NOTRE DAME'S 2019-20 MEN'S BASKETBALL ACC SCHEDULE On Sept. 12, the ACC unveiled its men's basketball schedule for league play, which will be 20 games for the first time. All 14 ACC opponents will be faced, with eight single-game meetings (four at home and four on the road) while the other six will be home-and-home series. Notre Dame will have home-and-homes with Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse and Wake Forest. Here is the conference slate: THE CORNER MARKET Senior Donte Vaughn had a strong first two weeks of training camp and appeared on the cusp of locking down the field corner spot. However, an injury to Vaughn opened the door for fifth-year senior Shaun Crawford to earn the starting spot, and he acquitted himself well despite missing last season with a torn ACL. Surprisingly, Vaughn did not play in the opener against Louisville even though he dressed for the game and warmed up. Sopho- more TaRiq Bracy worked behind Crawford at field corner, while sophomore Houston Griffith didn't appear until late in the game on the boundary side behind senior starter Troy Pride Jr. "It's just a competitive situation," Brian Kelly said of why Vaughn did not play. "We haven't lost confidence in Donte at all. It's just that Shaun Crawford is a guy that we wanted to continue to get reps and play him. "We like his overall sense and playing the wide-field corner as well with TaRiq Bracy. Houston [Griffith] has been playing into the short field because we've played Donte to the wide field." However, something else has to be under consideration. Pride is out of eligibility after this season and Crawford (see pages 18-19) has indicated he does not have any plans to return for a sixth season of eligibility in 2020. Further- more, with the transfer of safety Derrik Allen (Georgia Tech) and the likelihood that senior starting safeties Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott will be in the NFL next year, Griffith might have to move to safety next season. Consequently, and if possible, it might be prudent to not play Vaughn in more than four games this season to preserve a potential fifth year of eligibility for him in 2020. So much depends on injury situations and the type of offenses Notre Dame will encounter. "You'll see Donte this year," Kelly said. "It just didn't pan out for him to be in the game plan [at Louisville]." — Lou Somogyi Senior Donte Vaughn suffered an injury in training camp after a strong showing at the field cornerback position. He recovered and was dressed for the season opener, but was not among the seven defensive backs that saw game action at Louisville. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER Alan Page — a 1966 All-American and national champion at Notre Dame, nine-time NFL Pro Bowl selection and for- mer Minnesota Supreme Court Justice — will be honored with the "Living Legend" award at the Knute Rockne Spirit of Sports Awards Celebration Oct. 11 in South Bend. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Nov. 6 at North Carolina (ACCN) 7 p.m. Dec. 7 Boston College (ESPN2/U) 7 p.m. Jan. 4 at Syracuse (ESPN2/U) TBA Jan. 8 at NC State (ESPN2/U) 7 p.m. Jan. 11 Louisville (ESPN) 2 p.m. Jan. 15 at Georgia Tech (ACCN) 6 or 8 p.m. Jan. 22 Syracuse (ESPN/2/U) 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at Florida State (TBA) 12 p.m. Jan. 29 Wake Forest (ACCN) 9 p.m. Feb. 1 Georgia Tech (RSN) 12 p.m. Feb. 5 Pittsburgh (ACCN) 6:30 p.m. Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Feb. 9 at Clemson (ACCN) 6 p.m. Feb. 11 at Virginia (ESPN2/U) 9 p.m. Feb. 15 at Duke (TBA) 4 p.m. Feb. 17 North Carolina (ESPN) 7 p.m. Feb. 23 Miami (ACCN) 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at Boston College (ACCN) 9 p.m. Feb. 29 at Wake Forest (RSN) 4 p.m. Mar. 4 Florida State (ESPN2/U) 9 p.m. Mar. 7 Virginia Tech (ACCN) TBA All game times and broadcast networks are subject to change.