Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 9, 2021 9 UNDER THE DOME 0.63 Yards per rush before contact for Notre Dame ball carriers through four contests, which ranked dead last in the FBS, per ESPN.com's David Hale. The next-worst Power Five team was Washington, almost double at 1.13. 2nd Is where Notre Dame junior safety Kyle Hamilton was ranked on ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr.'s big board released Sept. 30. "Hamilton, one of the most versatile defenders in the country, moves up three spots from my preseason rankings," Kiper noted. "He had two intercep- tions against Florida State and added another in the win over Purdue. He now has eight in his career since 2019. "Hamilton has the size to move up to the line of scrimmage and help in the run game, and he has the speed and range to cover pass-catchers out of the slot. He's exactly what NFL teams want in their first-round safeties." Junior Kyren Williams was listed as the No. 3 draft-eligible running back, while senior offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson was listed as the No. 2 center. 3 Rushing yards for Notre Dame in its 41-13 triumph over Wisconsin Sept. 25. Per The Athletic's Matt Brown, the Fighting Irish became the first team since at least 2000 to rush for less than 10 yards and still win a game by 28 or more points. 3.1 Rating and 5.37 million viewers averaged during the FOX Big Noon Saturday matchup between Notre Dame and Wisconsin Sept. 25, making it the highest-rated and most-watched col- lege football game of the weekend. The Fighting Irish's win increased 94 percent in rat- ings and 103 percent in viewership from Kansas State- Oklahoma last year (1.6, 2.67 million). Compared to Michigan-Wisconsin in 2019, ratings were flat, and viewership increased 13 percent (from 4.73 million). 7th Nationally is where Notre Dame's odds to win the national championship were ranked by BetOnline following the Fighting Irish's 41-13 demolition of Wisconsin Sept. 25. Alabama and Georgia were tied for first at 7/4, followed by Oklahoma at 12/1, Ohio State and Oregon at 14/1, Penn State at 25/1 and Notre Dame at 33/1. 9 Interceptions for Notre Dame through four games, which ranked first in the country. The nine picks are the most by an Irish team through four games in the last 25 years. Last season, the Fighting Irish had only seven picks in 12 games. 16 Years between games in which Notre Dame had an offensive, defensive and special teams touch- down in the same contest. Prior to achieving that feat against Wiscon- sin — with touchdown passes from quarterbacks Jack Coan and Drew Pyne, a 96-yard kickoff return by Chris Tyree, and interception returns by Jack Kiser (66 yards) and Drew White (48 yards) — in a 41-13 victory Sept. 25, the last time the Fighting Irish did that was a 41-21 win over Te n n e s s e e on Nov. 5, 2005. In that victory, quarterback Brady Quinn threw three touchdown passes, while safety Tom Zbikowski had 78-yard punt and 33-yard interception returns for touchdowns. 68 Percent was Wisconsin's win probability, per Pro Football Focus, against Notre Dame while leading 13-10 early in the fourth quarter, prior to Tyree's 96-yard touchdown that gave the Fighting Irish the lead for good in their eventual 41-13 victory Sept. 25. 90.1 Grade for former Notre Dame and current Cleve- land Browns linebacker JEREMIAH OWUSU- KORAMOAH after his first three NFL games. That made him the highest-graded linebacker in the NFL and fifth-best defensive player that has played at least 20 percent of his team's total snaps. Owusu-Koramoah's 93.9 overall grade posted during the Browns 26-6 vic- tory over Chicago Sept. 26 was the highest single-game grade for any linebacker (minimum 20 snaps) since Week 17 of 2019. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO COURTESY CLEVELAND BROWNS