Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 OCT. 2, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Katie Coyle — Soccer The Irish women's soccer team played under the lights at Alumni Stadium Sept. 18 and improved to 7-1-1 by beating Syracuse 4-0. Coyle, a freshman from Middletown, N.J., played a huge part in the blowout in recording a goal and an assist — the first of each in her career. Coyle took on multiple defenders herself then beat the keeper for a highlight-reel first career goal. Dawson McCartney — Soccer It's always a thrill to be the only player to score in any given game, and that's what Mc- Cartney was able to do in Notre Dame's 1-0 victory against NC State Sept. 17. The graduate transfer from Dartmouth connected on a cross from teammate Daniel Russo in the 84th minute. McCartney had five points through six matches this season, which ranked second on the team. The two-time second- team All-Ivy League pick has 11 career goals. Zoe Nunez — Volleyball Notre Dame became the first team this season to take No. 3 Ohio State to five sets Sept. 19 in the Irish's second hard-fought defeat to a top- five team in as many weeks. Nunez, a senior setter from Rockford, Ill., had a team-high 45 assists and ranked second on the team in digs with 15. She had a team-high 316 assists through 10 contests this season, 270 more than the next Irish player. Tom Seitzer — Cross Country For the second straight competition, the Irish men's cross country squad finished first as a team and had the individual race win- ner. This time it was Seitzer, a sophomore from Leawood, Kan., who crossed the line first at the National Catho- lic Invitational at Burke Golf Course in South Bend Sept. 17. Seitzer finished the 8-kilometer race in 24:59.6, just 2.7 seconds ahead of teammate Robert Cozean. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE It's a little early to talk about single-season Notre Dame records within reach, but get ready Notre Dame fans. Junior safety Kyle Hamilton could be on his way to rewriting the Fighting Irish record books. Hamilton snagged his third interception of the season late in the fourth quarter of Notre Dame's 27-13 victory over Purdue Sept. 18. It was the first time an Irish player recorded three picks in the first three games of a season since Manti Te'o and Bennett Jackson both achieved that feat in 2012. Hamilton could have had four interceptions through three games, but a play against Toledo that was originally called an interception on the field was overturned upon review and ruled an incomplete pass. Still, Hamilton is on an interception per game pace. If he were to keep that up throughout the regular season, he'd break the single-season record in the category. Mike Townsend had 10 picks in 1972. Nearly 40 years later, that still stands as Notre Dame's all-time mark. Hamilton would also break Notre Dame's all-time record for interceptions in a career if he were to stay on the pick per game pace. The record (17) was set by Luther Bradley from 1973-77. Through the Purdue game, Hamilton had eight career interceptions. Obviously, he'd need to more double that total over the course of the remainder of the season. But the way he's been playing leaves the record within reach. Only five former Notre Dame players have re- corded eight or more interceptions in a single season. Hamilton is five interceptions away from joining that elite company, and he has plenty of regular-season games and a potential postsea- son game to get there. Here are the five former Irish standouts who have intercepted more passes in a single season than any other players in program history: Rk. Player Interceptions (Year) 1. Mike Townsend 10 (1972) 2. Tom MacDonald 9 (1962) 3. Todd Lyght 8 (1989) Tony Carey 8 (1964) Angelo Bertelli 8 (1942) Junior safety Kyle Hamilton had three intercep- tions through three games, the first time that has occurred at Notre Dame since 2012. PHOTO BY BOB MYERS CHARTING THE IRISH NOTRE DAME ADDS TO HEALTHY COLLEGE GAMEDAY TOTAL ESPN took its popular pregame show College GameDay to Chicago for last week's matchup between No. 12 Notre Dame and No. 18 Wisconsin. The Fighting Irish have not been strangers to College Game- Day over the years. The very first installment of the show, after all, took place in South Bend in 1993 for the "Game of the Century" between No. 2 Notre Dame (9-0) and No. 1 Florida State (9-0). Lou Holtz's Irish took down Bobby Bowden's eventual national champion Seminoles 31-24 in a game that lived up to the billing. College GameDay looked a whole lot different back then. Chris Fowler, who is now the play-by-play announcer for ABC's primetime game of the week, hosted the pregame show inside the Joyce Center across from Notre Dame Stadium with Lee Corso and Craig James in front of roughly 2,000 Irish and Seminoles fans. Of course, the staple of the show these days is for it to be held outdoors in front of the venue in which the game the panel is previewing will be played later that day. That was the case this past weekend in the Windy City. Corso, a former Florida State quarterback, did not go all out with his prediction in 1993 by putting on mascot headgear for the team he projected to win. That tradition started three years later. He did, though, pick Florida State by putting on a garnet and gold ball cap. He has picked both Notre Dame and Florida State plenty of times in the nearly three decades since. Those two programs rank near the top on the list of schools with the most College GameDay appearances. Entering the Wisconsin game, Notre Dame had a record of 14-18 when featured on the show. That win total stands as the 12th most all time. Here are the 10 programs that have the most all-time ESPN College GameDay appearances. — Tyler Horka School Appearances Record Ohio State 50 35-15 Alabama 50 33-17 Florida 41 26-15 Oklahoma 38 25-13 Florida State 35 17-18 LSU 33 21-12 Notre Dame 33 14-18* Michigan 32 16-16 Clemson 29 18-11 Oregon 26 15-11 * Does not include 2021 game against Wisconsin