Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DEC. 19, 2020 13 UNDER THE DOME 40 Years Ago: Dec. 9, 1980 Notre Dame's Athletic & Convocation Center — later Joyce Center and Purcell Pavilion — hosts pos- sibly the most NBA-talented lineup ever for a basketball game at the school when the Fighting Irish defeat the Indiana Hoosiers 68-64. The Notre Dame lineup features five players who would be taken among the top 25 in the NBA Draft: senior forward Orlando Woolridge was the sixth overall pick, senior forward Kelly Tripucka was the 12th and senior guard Tracy Jackson was the 25th the following spring, while sophomore guard John Paxson went 19th in 1983 and freshman center Joe Kleine, who would transfer to Arkansas after this season, was eventually taken sixth overall after also playing for the 1984 Summer Olympics gold medal team coached by Indiana's Bob Knight. The Hoosiers, meanwhile, would go on to win the national title three months later and featured their own star-studded lineup with first-rounders Isiah Thomas (No. 2 overall pick the following spring), Ray Tolbert and Randy Wittman, while Ted Kitchel and Jim Thomas would be selected in the second round. Another Hoosiers starter, Landon Turner, was projected as a future first-round selection before get- ting paralyzed in a car accident the summer after winning the national championship. Paxson's 18 points lead Notre Dame past Indiana, while Tripucka adds 16 points and eight rebounds. 20 Years Ago: Dec. 9, 2000 For the first time in the 23-year history of the program, Notre Dame women's basketball achieves an 8-0 start following a 72-61 victory at home versus No. 6 Purdue. That win also elevates 13th-year head coach Muffet McGraw and her squad into the Associated Press top three, another first. The starting lineup features center Ruth Riley, forwards Kelly Siemon and Ericka Haney, and guards Alicia Ratay and Niele Ivey, the latter returning for a fifth season after getting medically redshirted as a freshman. Nearly four months later, the Fighting Irish and Boilermakers would meet again to play for the na- tional title in St. Louis, Ivey's hometown, with the Fighting Irish eking out a 68-66 triumph. 15 Years Ago: Dec. 10, 2005 Junior Fighting Irish quarterback Brady Quinn be- comes the first Notre Dame player in 13 years to make the top 10 in the Heisman Trophy voting, finishing fourth with 191 points, including seven first-place ballots. USC running back Reggie Bush, who later would have to vacate his award because of NCAA violations, receives the nod over Texas quarterback Vince Young, who would guide the Longhorns to the national ti- tle and prevent the Trojans from capturing a third straight title. USC quarterback Matt Leinart, who won the award the previous year, this time places third. Under first-year head coach Charlie Weis, Quinn shatters numerous single-season school records, no- tably passing yards (3,919), completion percentage (64.9) and touchdown passes (32, while tossing only seven interceptions). The previous Fighting Irish player to make the top 10 list was 1992 running back Reggie Brooks at No. 5. And for all the fame and tradition that comes with being a Notre Dame quarterback, only three times in the 45 years since 1975 has one been in the top-10 balloting: Tony Rice at No. 4 in 1989, and then Quinn in 2005 (No. 4) and 2006 (No. 3). 5 Years Ago: Dec. 8, 2015 For the second time in five years, a Notre Dame player is the recipient of the Butkus Award, feting the nation's top linebacker. Junior Jaylon Smith earns the distinction with 89 overall points in the voting, ahead of runner-up Reggie Ragland of Alabama (61 points). Instead of at a banquet hall, this award is used as a surprise during a Notre Dame practice among coaches, players and family members — with Dick Butkus himself and his son Matt in attendance to present the trophy. Three years earlier, Notre Dame's Manti Te'o earned the same honor, which was first awarded in 1985. Te'o and Smith became the first two linebackers to win both the high school and collegiate Butkus Award. — Lou Somogyi Anniversaries In Notre Dame Athletics History: Dec. 8‑14 Junior quarterback Brady Quinn became the first Irish player in 13 years to make the top 10 in the Heisman Trophy voting, finishing fourth with 191 points in 2005. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS DID YOU KNOW... Your home address will be automatically changed to the mailing address on file with the US Postal Service? ALL addresses are cross-referenced with the USPS National Change of Address database. It can take up to 7 days for the USPS to update your address in their database? 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