Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1409378
12 SEPT. 18, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Jack Coan — Football The Sayville, N.Y., native was named to the Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8 List and was a Manning Award Star of the Week after his 366-yard, four- touchdown performance in the season opening win over Florida State Sept. 5. Coan was the only quarterback in the top five nationally in passing yards in Week 1 who played a true road game. He set a career high in passing yards and tied a career high with 26 completions. Jonathan Doerer — Football Notre Dame would not have won in Tallahassee without the leg of the Char- lotte, N.C., product. Doerer's 41-yard field goal in over- time marked the first time the Irish won a game on the final play of the game since Kyle Brindza made a 32-yard field goal against LSU in the 2014 Music City Bowl. Doerer said he had never made a last-sec- ond, game-winning kick in his football career prior to his kick against the Seminoles. Zach Kreft — Cross Country The junior from Sunbury, Ohio, won a collegiate cross country event for the first time by crossing the finish line with a time of 18:30.6 Sept. 3 at the Valparaiso Open. A group of Kreft's Notre Dame teammates followed him across the line immediately after; Irish runners took second through fifth place in the race as well. Notre Dame won the overall team event in dominant fashion. Olivia Wingate — Soccer The senior forward from Wilmington, Mass., surged into the team lead for points with one goal and one as- sist in the second week of the season. She scored the lone goal in Notre Dame's 1-0 victory over Purdue Sept. 2 and assisted on a goal in the Irish's 3-2 loss to Missouri Sept. 5. Through six matches, Wingate led the team with five points (two goals and one assist). TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom CHARTING THE IRISH RANKED OPPONENTS REMAINING FOR THE AP TOP 10 Through one week of the 2021 college football season, no team ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll had more ranked opponents remaining on its schedule than No. 8 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish could possibly play as many as five ranked foes between now and the end of the regular season. Remember, these rankings are accurate through Week 1. Notre Dame is set to play No. 18 Wisconsin at Soldier Field in Chicago Sept. 25, No. 7 Cincinnati at home Oct. 2, No. 19 Virginia Tech on the road Oct. 9, No. 14 USC at home Oct. 23 and No. 24 North Carolina at home Oct. 30. That can be looked at two ways; one on hand, Notre Dame has plenty of op- portunities to strengthen its résumé as it looks for a third College Football Playoff berth in the last four seasons. On the other hand, there are a lot of quality teams that can derail those dreams by beat- ing the Irish. An undefeated 12-0 Notre Dame team is not going to be left out of the playoff, but the Irish sure do have their work cut out for them in trying to get there. Here's a look at how many ranked opponents each team in the AP top 10 had on its schedule through one week of the season. — Tyler Horka ✦ GIMME FIVE Given Notre Dame's geographical location in the heart of the Midwest, it's no wonder the Fighting Irish have such an extensive history playing against Big Ten teams. Outside of 328 games played against independent univer- sities, Notre Dame has gone head-to-head with Big Ten teams 327 times. This week's game against Purdue will tie the total against independents, and next week's game against Wisconsin will surpass it. Notre Dame has played Purdue the most of all Big Ten teams. This will be the 87th matchup pitting the Boiler- makers against the Irish. Michigan State is the Big Ten team Notre Dame has played the second most. The Irish have gone against the Spartans 59 times. Notre Dame has its fifth-best record against any given Big Ten team when playing Purdue. The only two current teams in the league Notre Dame has a losing record against are Michigan (17-21-1) and Ohio State (2-4). Irish head coach Brian Kelly has gone against Big Ten opponents 21 times in his Notre Dame career. He holds a record of 13-8 (.619 winning percentage). Here's a look at the five Big Ten programs Notre Dame has its best all-time records against: Rk. Big Ten Team Notre Dame's Record Winning Pct. 1. Illinois 11-0-1 .958 2. Minnesota 4-0-1 .900 3. Indiana 22-4-1 .833 4. Northwestern 37-9-2 .792 5. Purdue 58-26-2 .686 — Tyler Horka After the Irish play Wisconsin Sept. 25, the Big Ten will surpass independents for being the opposing league of Notre Dame's most-common foes. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Remaining Ranked Rk. School Opponents (Current Rankings) No. 8 Notre Dame Five (7, 14, 18, 19, 24) No. 1 Alabama Four (5, 13, 20, 25) No. 5 Texas A&M Three (1, 20, 25) No. 9 Iowa State Three (4, 10, 15) No. 10 Iowa Three (9, 11, 18) No. 2 Georgia Two (13, 25) No. 3 Ohio State Two (11, 12) No. 4 Oklahoma Two (10, 15) No. 7 Cincinnati One (8) No. 6 Clemson Zero