Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 23, 2021 9 UNDER THE DOME 4th Out of seven teams was where Notre Dame hockey was slotted to finish by the league's coaches in the 2021-22 Big Ten preseason poll. Senior forward Graham Slaggert was named a preseason second-team All-Big Ten selection, while senior defenseman Spencer Stastney earned honorable mention honors. 5 Straight NCAA Tournament bids for the Fighting Irish hockey program — the longest streak in school history. Notre Dame has earned a spot in eight of the last 11 NCAA Tournaments overall, although it had to bow out of last year's event before playing a game due to a COVID outbreak on the team. 5 Years since the Notre Dame football pro- gram dropped back-to-back regular- season games. The last time it happened, the Fighting Irish lost 34-31 to Virginia Tech in South Bend on Nov. 19, 2016, and then suffered a 45-27 defeat at USC the following week. 9th Individual inducted into Notre Dame's Purcell Pavilion Ring of Honor will be LaPhonso Ellis on Dec. 11. Ellis played for the Fighting Irish from 1998-92 and excelled on both ends of the court. He became just the fourth player in program history to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds in a career, and finished among the school's all-time leaders in blocked shots (No. 1, 200), rebounds (No. 3, 1,075) and points (No. 8, 1,505). Ellis helped three Irish teams to postseason appearances, including a first-round NCAA Tournament victory over Vanderbilt in 1989. He capped the 1992 season by lead- ing the Irish to the NIT championship game, earning all- tournament honors with 18.0 points and 12.8 rebounds per contest. "LaPhonso Ellis is one of the greatest athletes and gentlemen to ever suit up for Notre Dame basketball," current Irish head coach Mike Brey said in a statement released by the school. "A dominant player on the court, 'Phonz' faced his share of challenges at Notre Dame, but overcame them all to become a great ambassador not only for our program, but our entire University. The Ring of Honor was meant to celebrate amazing individuals like LaPhonso, and we can't wait to induct him in December." 10 Wins for the Notre Dame women's soccer team in its first 12 matches this fall. It marks the fastest the Fighting Irish (10-1-1, 4-0-0) have achieved 10 wins since the 2010 national cham- pionship season, in which they accomplished the feat in just 11 games. The win also gave the program its best-ever start in ACC play. 14 Pressured dropbacks for Notre Dame quarterbacks against Cin- cinnati Oct. 2, per Pro Football Focus. Three Irish signal-callers combined to complete only two passes for six yards on those 14 plays, while taking two sacks and throwing two interceptions. 28.0 Percent third-down conversion rate allowed by the Notre Dame football defense through five games. That figure ranked 10th in the nation through five weeks. 32 Receptions for sophomore tight end Michael Mayer through five games, which ranked second nationally among tight ends. He was also third in the country in receiv- ing yards (360) among tight ends, and tied for sixth in receiving touchdowns (three). 36th Out of 130 FBS pro- grams was where Pro Football Focus had the Irish trio of graduate student Jack Coan, sophomore DREW PYNE and freshman Tyler Buchner in its quar- terback rankings after Week 5. "Notre Dame's offense is why the team is already out of the College Football Playoff conversation," PFF noted. "The underperforming offensive line and lack of separators at wide receiver play a huge part in that, but Coan crumbling under pressure has also hindered the unit's output. Coan can lead an efficient dink-and-dunk passing offense with his underneath accuracy. "… But his inconsistent deep ball and inability to withstand the heat of the pass rush make this offense only good — not great. Including all throws, Notre Dame fell to 42nd in the Power Five in [expected points added] generated per pass. "Both Buchner and Pyne offer more upside because of their athletic ability. Buchner — a true freshman who was a top-100 recruit in the class — has been ef- fective on the ground with 7.1 yards per attempt on 14 rushes this season. Pyne has gotten no work in the designed run game, but he proved capable of moving out- side of the pocket on the limited dropbacks he took against Cincinnati." ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER