Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 2, 2021 9 UNDER THE DOME 5 Consecutive opponents on Notre Dame's schedule have a bye the week before playing the Fighting Irish. The streak started with Wisconsin Sept. 25, and will continue with Cincin- nati Oct. 2, Virginia Tech Oct. 9, USC Oct. 23 and North Carolina Oct. 30. All five of those squads have appeared in the Associated Press Top 25 at some point this season, though the Hokies dropped out following their loss at West Virginia Sept. 18. Virginia also has a scheduled bye prior to Notre Dame's trip to Charlottesville Nov. 13. 7 Members of the 12th Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame class will be inducted Oct. 5, including former Notre Dame split end Tom Gatewood. He will be joined by Kansas State quarterback Jona- than Beasley, Arkansas guard Jerry Jones, Ole Miss running back/ wide receiver Dex- ter McCluster, Texas defensive end Cory Redding, Boston Col- lege linebacker Bill Ro- manowski and Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder. The enshrinement ceremony will take place 17 months after initially being scheduled due to postponements caused by the CO- VID-19 pandemic. Gatewood played against top-ranked Texas teams in the Cotton Bowl in both 1970 and 1971. In his first appearance, he caught six passes for 112 yards — in- cluding a 54-yard touchdown — in the Irish's 21-17 loss to the Longhorns. The following year, his 26-yard scoring reception — one of his two grabs for 43 yards — helped Notre Dame knock off the No. 1 Horns 24-11, snapping their 30-game winning streak. 13 Sacks compiled by the Notre Dame defense through three games, which was tied for sixth nationally along with Kansas State, Oklahoma and Pittsburgh. It is the most sacks to start a season for the Fighting Irish since 1996, when they also had 13 sacks through the first three games. 35 Tackles by junior linebacker JD BERTRAND in the first three games this season. That ranked fifth nationally and is the most by an Irish player through the first three games of a season since Courtney Watson had 38 in the first three games of the 2001 campaign. 105.7 Rushing yards per game for Notre Dame through three weeks this season. That ranked 115th nationally and is a drop-off of nearly 50 percent from last year's season average of 211.1 rushing yards per game, which ranked 24th nationally. 126th Was where Notre Dame ranked among 130 FBS teams in sacks allowed through Sept. 18. Irish quarterbacks were sacked 15 times (5.0 per game) in the first three contests against Florida State, Toledo and Purdue. 3,504 Rushing yards and 41 touchdowns for Sedrick Irvin Sr. — the father of Notre Dame's most recent commit- ment, 2023 four-star running back Sedrick Irvin Jr. — during his three- year career at Michigan State from 1996-98. He ranks fifth on the Spartans' all-time rushing list and also is No. 4 in rushing touchdowns. $1,200,000 Payout for Cincinnati to play at Notre Dame Oct. 2 — the larg- est by any Irish opponent this season, which is ironic considering the Bearcats may be the highest-ranked team the Irish face in South Bend in 2021. The only other "guarantee game" on the schedule was Toledo, which received $1 million from Notre Dame to make the trek to South Bend. The Bearcats are currently a Group of Five team in the American Athletic Conference, but in September they accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 no later than 2024. Cincinnati will receive up to 6,000 tickets to the game, and there will be no return visit to Nippert Stadium or any other agreed- upon location. The contract was signed March 27, 2018. Notre Dame is paying $1.25 million to Marshall for a 2022 game and allowing the West Virginia school to purchase up to 5,000 tickets. The Irish are also paying $1 million to Alabama to visit in 2029, but the Crimson Tide return the $1 million when the Irish go to Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2030. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER