Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1300210
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 24, 2020 9 UNDER THE DOME 2 Consecutive games where two freshmen scored touchdowns for Notre Dame: running back CHRIS TYREE and vyper end Jordan Botelho against South Florida (Sept. 19), followed by Tyree and tight end Michael Mayer versus Florida State (Oct. 10). Prior to this season, the last time two Fighting Irish freshmen scored in the same game was the 38-36 loss in the 2015 regular-season finale at Stanford: a 93-yard kickoff return by wideout C.J. Sanders and a 62-yard run by running back Josh Adams. Earlier that year, four freshmen scored in a 62-27 rout of Massachusetts: Sanders, Adams, running back Dexter Williams and quarterback Brandon Wimbush. 4 Touchdowns scored by 2019 Notre Dame MVP and current Pittsburgh Steelers rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool during his teams' 38-29 vic- tory over Philadelphia Oct. 11. He scored the clincher on a 35-yard reception from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with 2:59 remaining in the contest and "hit for the cycle" by crossing the goal line in each quarter. Claypool tallied on a two-yard jet sweep for the initial score in the first quar- ter, snared a 32-yard touchdown in the second quarter and caught a five-yard touchdown in the third as part of his seven catches for 110 yards. He was the first Steelers rookie to score four touchdowns in a game, and the first overall for the franchise since 1968. Only two Notre Dame alumni, to our knowledge, scored more touchdowns in an NFL game. Green Bay's Paul Hornung had five touchdowns during a 42-27 win over Baltimore on Dec. 12, 1965, scoring on runs of two, nine and three yards, and catching 50- and 65-yard tallies from quarterback Bart Starr. On Jan. 15, 1994, San Francisco 49ers running back Ricky Watters set an NFL playoff record with five short rushing touchdowns while accounting for 164 yards of total offense in a 44-3 rout of the New York Giants. 6 Notre Dame players are returning to their home state Pennsylvania to play at Pitt Oct. 24, with senior and second-year starting nose tackle Kurt Hinish going back to his native hometown against the Panthers. Junior middle linebacker Matthew "Bo" Bauer (Harborcreek) also has made inroads in the lineup. The offense includes three reserve offensive linemen hailing from the state in senior Josh Lugg (Wexford), sophomore Andrew Kristofic (Gibsonia) and freshman Michael Carmody (Mars), and the group is rounded out by walk-on fifth-year senior tight end Xavier Lezynski (Newtown). 51-0 Score of Notre Dame's 1966 season-ending victory at USC on Nov. 26, 1966 to clinch the national title that season. That score was mistakenly omitted in our "Gimme Five" section of our Oct. 10 edi- tion that featured the five most lopsided Fighting Irish victories since 1946, or the end of World War II, while pitching a shutout. The top four in order were 64-0 versus Duke (1966), 62-0 versus Rutgers (1996), 52-0 against South Florida (2020) and Bowling Green (2019) the past two seasons, and the conquest of the Trojans 54 years ago in the Los Angeles Coliseum. 90.0 Pro Football Focus grade of Notre Dame junior center Jarrett Patterson — the highest of anyone at his position among the 65 Power Five schools entering the game versus Louisville Oct. 17. Because of his play, Patterson was added to the watch list for the Rimington Award, presented annually the past 17 years to the nation's top center at the conclu- sion of the regular season. Thirteen centers from the 15-team ACC are rep- resented. The distant second-highest grade from a Power Five center was Louisville's Cole Bentley at 80.8. Overall among Power Five offensive linemen, fifth-year senior left tackle Liam Eichenberg ranks No. 2, Patterson No. 6, senior right tackle Robert Hainsey No. 7 and senior left guard Aaron Banks No. 8. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS