Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1181954
12 NOV. 9, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Cal Burke — Hockey The senior forward from Boxborough, Mass., tallied two goals and five assists while helping the Fight‑ ing Irish sweep two games from Lake Superior State Oct. 25‑26. He opened the season with four consecutive multi‑point efforts and scored a goal in each of Notre Dame's four wins. Burke was tied with classmate Mike O'Leary for a team‑high 11 points, which also tied them for first in the NCAA in points per game (2.75). Patrick Coleman — Soccer The sophomore defender/ midfielder/forward from An‑ tioch, Ill., found the back of the net for the first time in his career to give Notre Dame a 1‑0 victory over No. 2 Wake Forest Oct. 26. Coleman, who has played in 14 of the team's first 15 matches after not seeing action during his freshman campaign, became the 11th Fighting Irish player to score a goal during the 2019 season. Coleen Gillilan — Swimming The freshman from Fort Collins, Colo., was named the ACC Women's Swimmer of the Week after a domi‑ nant performance at Purdue Oct. 25. She notched wins in all four of her events — the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 individual medley and the 200 medley relay team — and earned NCAA B cut times in each of her three individual races. Gillilan has already totaled eight B‑cut times in just three meets this season. Brooke Littman — Soccer The senior goalkeeper from Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif., notched a team‑best six shutouts and had a 6‑3‑2 record through 11 games played. She al‑ lowed only 11 goals in 1,030 minutes of game time, which is good for a 0.96 goals against average. Through Oct. 30, Littman ranked second in the ACC in shutouts and eighth in the confer‑ ence in goals against average. TOP OF THE CLASS ✦ GIMME FIVE When it comes to touchdown receptions by a Notre Dame tight end in a season, four is the magic number for most. During the 45‑14 debacle at Michigan Oct. 26, Fighting Irish junior tight end Cole Kmet al‑ ready snared his fourth touchdown pass of the season. It continued his pace of potentially breaking the 42‑year‑old single‑season school mark at his position established by 1977 Walter Camp Award winner Ken MacAfee. Four touchdowns were previously caught in a season by Notre Dame tight ends such as Dave Casper (1973), Derek Brown (1991), Irv Smith (also in 1991), Oscar McBride (1992), Pete Chryplewicz (1996), Anthony Fasano (2004), John Carlson (2006), Tyler Eifert (2012) and Durham Smythe (2016). During the five‑game November slate plus the bowl, Kmet could become only the fourth different tight end to reach five, the second to achieve six, and possibly the first to get beyond a half dozen. Here are the top five: Rk. Tight End (Year) Touchdowns 1. Ken MacAfee (1977) 6 2t. Ken MacAfee (1975) 5 2t. Tyler Eifert (2011) 5 2t. Troy Niklas (2013) 5 5. 10 Different (1973‑) 4 CHARTING THE IRISH BUG OFF! As a marketing ploy, the national extermination company Insight Pest Solutions conducted a study on which college football fans "bug" people the most. A total of 13,500 college football fans participated in the study, and the results were then broken down by percentage of the vote. Notre Dame had the fifth-highest portion of the vote with 3.14 percent, which isn't too bad given the national reach of the Irish football program. It's also significantly less than Alabama, which had the largest chunk of the vote at 21.9 percent. Three 2019 Irish opponents also made the list. Coming in with the third highest portion of the vote was Michigan at 9.04 percent. The Wolverines are just behind their fiercest rival, Ohio State, which re- ceived 15.75 percent of the vote. In fact, four of the top five are northern teams, with Penn State finishing just in front of Notre Dame. USC also made the list with the eighth-highest segment of the vote at 2.71 percent. Just outside the top 10 was Georgia with the 13th highest portion of the vote at 1.61 percent. The Wisconsin Badgers, a 2020 Irish opponent, had the 15th highest portion of the vote at 1.2 percent. Getting To Know … SENIOR DEFENSIVE END ADETOKUNBO OGUNDEJI Hometown: Pontiac, Mich. High school: Walled Lake Central Major: Design Favorite food: "My favor‑ ite food is Jollof rice, which is an African rice dish." Favorite movie: "One of my favorite movies is 'Four Brothers.'" Favorite music: "Hip hop has to be one of my favorite styles of music." Favorite musician: "Believe it or not, one of my favorite artists is Maroon 5." Favorite TV show: "I really like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.'" Greatest football memory: "One of my fa‑ vorite football memories was my very first game at Notre Dame." Who is your idol: "This is an easy one. My idols are my parents." Favorite part about playing for Notre Dame: "The best part about playing at Notre Dame is playing with my brothers on the team." Toughest player you've ever faced: "The toughest player I ever faced was DJ Zezula from Clarkston High School. He is currently a quarterback at Wayne State University." COLLEGE FOOTBALL FANS THAT "BUG" PEOPLE THE MOST Per Insight Pest Solutions Rk. School Pct. Of Vote 1. Alabama 21.90 2. Ohio State 15.75 3. Michigan* 9.04 4. Penn State 3.33 5. Notre Dame 3.14 6. Texas 3.08 7. Florida 3.00 8. USC* 2.70 9. Florida State 2.32 10. Oklahoma 2.04 13. Georgia* 1.61 15. Wisconsin* 1.20 * 2019 and/or 2020 Notre Dame opponent