Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2020 11 UNDER THE DOME 5 Notre Dame alumni named to the NFL Network's annual Top 100 players in the league countdown for 2020. Only Alabama with seven and Ohio State and LSU with six apiece had more represen- tation. Mississippi State was tied with Notre Dame for fourth place. The Fight- ing Irish quintet were guards QUENTON NELSON (No. 29) and Zack Martin (No. 55) of Indianapolis and Dallas, respectively, Minnesota safety Harrison Smith (No. 64), Baltimore offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley (No. 74) and Dallas linebacker Jaylon Smith (No. 88). Nelson is the highest rated guard in the 10- year history of the survey, while six-time Pro Bowl and four-time first-team All-Pro Martin is second amongst the guards this year. Each of the first four Notre Dame graduates were first-round selections, and second-round choice Smith — who made his first Pro Bowl last year while recording 142 tackles — would have been had he not suffered a severe knee injury in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. 6 Years since Nelson signed with the Fighting Irish as the most re- cent five-star prospect along the offensive line and the nation's No. 29-ranked player by Rivals. Incoming 2021 guard Blake Fisher is now following in those footsteps. On Aug. 24, Rivals bumped up the Avon, Ind., native to five-star status and the No. 19 overall player in his class. He could become Notre Dame's highest rated line prospect in the Rivals era (which began in 2002) since Sam Young's No. 11 placement in 2006. 9 Among 15 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball schools, Rivals ranked the Notre Dame job as only the ninth best despite the significant upgrade in facilities. The top eight were North Caro- lina, Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, Virginia, North Carolina State, Florida State and Clemson. Wrote Dan McDonald of the ranking: "Like Virginia, the biggest positive is they can attract some of the top student-athletes from all over the country because of the academic reputation. The academics also becomes a little bit of an issue as it also shrinks the pool of players you can recruit … Mike Brey has proven you can win at Notre Dame, but it feels a lot more like he's overachieved than this being a great job. It felt like a better fit in the old Big East." 16 Notre Dame hockey alumni in the National Hockey League, a school record. This does not include 2020 graduate and forward Cam Mor- rison signing a two-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks this August. Making their NHL debuts this year were Thomas DiPauli (Pittsburgh), Jake Evans (Montreal), Jordan Gross (Arizona) and Andrew Peeke (Columbus). 17 Ranking of fifth-year senior Ian Book at quarterback in Pro Football Focus' rating among 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools. Wrote PFF: "While his 2019 production was skewed heavily by three lights- out performances against the bad defenses of New Mexico, Bowling Green and Navy, Book had very few errant throws to speak of over the year, finish- ing the season with the fifth-lowest rate of QB-fault incompletions in 2019. The reason to worry about Book in 2020 is the 29 sacks he has invited since 2018, the most in the FBS over that span." Versus New Mexico, Bowling Green and Navy, Book completed 45 of 64 throws (70.3 percent) for 905 yards with 15 touchdowns and no inter- ceptions. Overall, he finished 24th nationally in passing efficiency last season. Two Notre Dame opponents in November feature Clemson's Trevor Lawrence at No. 1 and North Carolina's Sam Howell No. 4. 21.5 Scoring average for second-year WNBA Dallas Wings star guard Arike Ogunbowale — which led the league by almost 2.0 points per game through Aug. 24 and after 14 games. In a 95-89 victory versus the Phoenix Mercury on Aug. 16, Ogunbowale tallied 33 points, converting 13 of 19 from the field and 6 of 7 from three-point range. Teammate and former Notre Dame classmate Marina Mabrey added 17 points in that same game, while Fighting Irish alumnae Skylar Diggins-Smith poured in 20 points and Brianna Turner nine for Phoenix. Diggins-Smith is 13th in the league in scoring with a 15.1 average. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO COURTESY INDIANAPOLIS COLTS