Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 23, 2019 9 UNDER THE DOME 5 Times since 1993 that Boston College has been the final home game of Notre Dame's football season, the most in that time of any opponent. It began with the infamous upset of the 10-0 and No. 1-ranked Fighting Irish (41-39) in 1993 to shatter their national title aspirations. Notre Dame also lost to the Eagles in the 1999 home finale (31-29), before winning in 2000 (28-16) and 2011 (16-14). 7-0-1 Start to the season by the No. 4-ranked Notre Dame hockey team after sweeping then-No. 9 Ohio State Nov. 8-9 and prior to its road trip to Wisconsin Nov. 15-16. It was the first time since it became a varsity sport in 1968 that the icers opened the season unbeaten through eight games (although as a club team in 1983-84 it began 15-0-0). Notre Dame also extended its winning streak at Compton Family Ice Arena to 10 games, and senior goaltender Cale Morris earned both wins against the Buckeyes, with the 2-1 victory in the second game his 50th. 8 Walk-ons on the Notre Dame 2020 roster who will be honored on Senior Day versus Boston College Nov. 23 for their service to the Fighting Irish program during their careers: cornerback Temitope Agoro, running back Mick Assaf, cornerback Brandon Garcia, quarterback Nolan Henry, tight end John Lager, defensive tackle Logan Plantz, safety Christopher Schilling and wide receiver Arion Shinaver. 10 Scholarship seniors or graduate students who used up their four years of playing eligibility and will be playing their final game in Notre Dame Stadium versus Boston College on Senior Day Nov. 23: Buck linebacker Asmar Bilal, wide receivers Chase Claypool and Chris Finke, safety Jalen El- liott, defensive ends Jamir Jones, Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara, corner- backs Troy Pride Jr. and Donte Vaughn, and offensive lineman Trevor Ruhland. 11 Fourth-year seniors who are on scholarship and will be introduced on Senior Day versus Boston College at home, but who also have the op- tion of applying for a fifth season of eligibility at Notre Dame, turn pro or be a graduate transfer elsewhere in 2020: quarterback Ian Book, cornerback Shaun Crawford, offensive linemen Liam Eichenberg and Tommy Kraemer, safety Alohi Gilman, defensive ends Daelin Hayes and Adetokunbo Ogundeji, linebacker Jonathan Jones, running back Tony Jones Jr., wide receiver Javon McKinley and long snapper John Shannon. Look for a feature on this topic later this month. 273 Consecutive sellouts Notre Dame Stadium had — until a report in the South Bend Tribune two days before this year's Navy game Nov. 16 indicated via confirma- tion from Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick that the streak would be snapped. The last time Notre Dame did not have an official sellout per the univer- sity's definition of it came during the 1973 national title season, when Notre Dame hosted Air Force on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 22) for national television purposes. Notre Dame had already been invited to play in the Sugar Bowl versus the SEC champion, Alabama or LSU, which was the second game of the doubleheader on that same day. Back then, the stadium capacity was 59,075, and the attendance for that game was listed at 57,236. After stadium expansion in 1997, the figure has had the capacity as high as 80,795 before going back down to 77,622 after the latest renovation. Swarbrick told The South Bend Tribune that the streak actually was teeter- ing on ending the past several years, but the school was "creative" to keep it alive by having group sales where corporations buy the tickets and distribute them to their employees. Nebraska has the nation's longest such streak, which was 373 entering last weekend's home game versus Wisconsin. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS