Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 MARCH 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Cal Burke — Hockey In January, the senior forward and team cap- tain from Boxborough, Mass., was named a candidate for both the Hockey Humanitarian Award and the NCAA's Senior CLASS Award. He was one of 13 nominees for the Hockey Humanitarian and one of 20 for the Senior CLASS, both of which honor student-athletes who excel on and off the ice. Through 28 contests, he was tied for third on the team in goals (seven), and was fourth in both assists (12) and points (19). Niko Kavadas — Baseball The junior third baseman from Granger, Ind., joined classmate and reliever Joe Boyle on Baseball America's Preseason All-America third team to give the Irish their first All- Americans since 2016. In 2019, Kavadas started all 54 games and led the Irish in home runs (12) and RBI (43) while finishing second in runs (33) and batting average (.274). During the summer, he led the Cape Cod League in home runs with 10 and was named an All-Star. Lee Kiefer — Fencing The 25-year-old Irish alumna became the first fencer to earn a spot on Team USA for the 2020 Tokyo Olym- pics and will attempt to be- come the first U.S. woman to earn an individual foil medal on that stage. It will mark her third Olympic appearance. Kiefer has been the top U.S. woman in foil for the last decade and a fixture in the top five of the world rankings for five years. Payton Tidd — Softball The sophomore pitcher from Vista, Calif., joined senior team captain Kate Marino on the preseason All-ACC team. Last year, Tidd earned first-team All-ACC, All-Freshman and All-Tourna- ment honors. Tidd's 25 victories in 2019 tied for second in the ACC and were tied for second among freshmen nationally. She boasted a 25-10 record and 2.34 ERA, while limiting opponents to a .224 average and striking out 157 in 182 1 ⁄3 innings. TOP OF THE CLASS ✦ GIMME FIVE The overwhelming No. 1 and No. 2 picks in "Way Too Early" college football polls are Clemson and Ohio State, respectively. Those two programs also happen to own the two longest current winning streaks at home in the 130-team Football Bowl Subdivision. At No. 4 is Notre Dame with an 18-game string that also is the third-longest home win streak since the opening of Notre Dame Sta- dium in 1930, Knute Rockne's final season as head coach. Victories against Arkansas (Sept. 12) — which was 2-10 this past season — and Western Michi- gan (Sept. 19) would raise it to 20, eclipsing the No. 2 Irish streak of 19 set from 1987-90. That number would be expected to be at 22 while favored to defeat Stanford (Oct. 10) and Duke (Oct. 31) before hosting Clemson (Nov. 7). The school record for consecutive wins in Notre Dame Stadium is 28 from 1942-50. Here are the top five home winning streaks entering the 2020 campaign: Team Win Streak 1. Clemson 23 2. Ohio State 21 3. Central Florida 20 4. Notre Dame 18 UAB 18 Oklahoma is next with 16 CHARTING THE IRISH TOP-100 TRIO FOR IRISH On Jan. 21, Rivals released its final top 100 for the class of 2020 and Notre Dame had three players make the cut: wide receiver Jordan Johnson, tight end Michael Mayer and running back Chris Tyree. This is about average considering the Fighting Irish have signed 31 Rivals100 players in the 10 full recruiting cycles head coach Brian Kelly has overseen since 2011. Johnson was the only one of the 2020 trio to crack Notre Dame's list of the 10 highest-ranked prospects of the Kelly era. He was listed as the nation's No. 28 overall player, which was sixth best and made him the program's top-rated wide receiver recruit of the past decade. Mayer's No. 36 national ranking placed him just outside of the Irish top 10, while Tyree's No. 78 rating was 24th best. By far the best recruit of the Kelly era, and the only one in the top 15 of his class, is linebacker Jaylon Smith in 2013. Three other players have finished in the top 20 in defensive end Ishaq Wil- liams, running back Greg Bryant and quarterback Gunner Kiel. Seven of the top 10 highest- rated recruits of the Kelly era were landed in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 classes. NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL TICKETS ALL HOME & AWAY GAMES 2020 IRELAND PACKAGE 800-925-2500 NotreDameTickets.com THE TOP RECRUITS OF THE BRIAN KELLY ERA Rivals National Rk. Name, Pos. Ranking (Class) 1. Jaylon Smith, LB No. 3 (2013) 2. Ishaq Williams, DE No. 16 (2011) 3. Greg Bryant, RB No. 19 (2013) 4. Gunner Kiel, QB No. 20 (2012) 5. Stephon Tuitt, DE No. 22 (2011) 6t. Aaron Lynch, DE No. 28 (2011) 6t. Jordan Johnson, WR No. 28 (2020) 8. Quenton Nelson, OL No. 29 (2014) 9. Max Redfield, S No. 30 (2013) 10. Daelin Hayes, OLB No. 31 (2016) 11. Michael Mayer, TE No. 36 (2020) 24. Chris Tyree, RB No. 78 (2020