Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1426496
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 13, 2021 13 UNDER THE DOME THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "Hubb was … not the player we expected to win out here. But that's why we do the exercise! Notre Dame essentially opted not to play defense last season, meaning some of Hubb's fanfare got lost in the rubble, but the 6-3 point guard put together a surprisingly strong season. "Case in point? In league play last season, per KenPom, Hubb played the third-highest percentage of his team's minutes, had the second-best assist rate, conceded the seventh-fewest fouls … and did so all while leading the Fighting Irish in scoring. And while he's plenty capable of putting the ball in the hole himself, Hubb's unselfishness makes him a teammate's dream to play alongside. And, apparently the same for those around the ACC." — The Athletic's Brendan Marks and Brian Hamilton on Notre Dame senior point guard Prentiss Hubb receiving a league-high four votes from his peers in an anonymous poll of "ACC player you'd like to play with" (North Carolina's Armando Bacot and Virginia's Kihei Clark finished second with three votes each) "I know you'll laugh when I say this, but I didn't know I needed to be vindi- cated, so maybe I don't listen enough to the people that were talking about it. Jack was the guy. How can you be the head coach at Notre Dame if you listen to all that stuff every day? I would jump off my roof. It's crazy." — Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on sticking with graduate student Jack Coan as his start- ing quarterback after benching him against Cincinnati (and again at Virginia Tech, before he returned to rally the team to victory), and the subsequent suc- cess Coan has had "Williams wants it all, which is why Notre Dame (7-1) has a chance to win more than its fair share and is now strongly positioned for a New Year's Six Bowl bid following losses on Saturday by Michigan, Iowa, Ole Miss and Ken- tucky. When the first College Football Playoff poll comes out Tuesday night, the Irish should be confident in their positioning. That's because even without star safety Kyle Hamilton, it's impossible to bet against Williams, whose impact on Notre Dame football may be mentioned in the same paragraph as Manti Te'o if the Irish keep winning." — The Athletic's Peter Sampson on junior running back Kyren Williams "The Fighting Irish have what measures out to be a good schedule because there are no horrible teams on it. All of their opponents except Cincinnati (8-0) and Florida State (3-5) are either 4-4 or 5-3. I do not expect the committee to be fooled by the Irish's SOS ranking, but that Wisconsin win is starting to look better." — CBS Sports' Jerry Palm on putting the Fighting Irish at No. 10 in his prediction for the first College Football Playoff rankings Nov. 2 "It's tough to make. The Irish lost the game that mattered the most — and it happened at home. Even if they win out, their best win will likely be Sept. 25 against Wisconsin, which has won its past four games and rebounded from a 1-3 start. Notre Dame might not face another ranked opponent this season, and it doesn't have a conference championship game to boost its résumé. The Irish would need some big-time chaos in the Power Five conference races in order to be taken seriously as a top-four team." — ESPN's Heather Dinish on the case to be made for Notre Dame potentially earning a College Football Playoff berth in 2021 "How high can the Irish get? You'd think it wouldn't be into the semifinals, yet there is a path. The biggest issue is going to be Cincinnati, which dealt Notre Dame its only loss. So many of the possibilities have to include the Bearcats already in the field because it doesn't look like they'll lose twice. "Let's assume Alabama loses in the SEC title game. Let's also assume Oregon loses at some point. And also assume the champion from the ACC has two losses and Oklahoma loses in the Big 12 title game. None of those scenarios are far-fetched. That would put Georgia, the Big Ten champion and Cincinnati in the field. Notre Dame would be right there in the mix with the rest of the con- tenders. Maybe not the greatest of chances, but not impossible to get there." — USA Today's Erick Smith on Notre Dame's College Football Playoff chances "She's a Swiss army knife. She has so many tools in her bag. She's a great rebounder. She's a great defender. She can score. She's very efficient. She brings a ton of energy and has great size. Very versatile. I'm looking forward to her bringing us that spark off the bench." — Notre Dame women's basketball coach Niele Ivey on freshman guard Sonia Citron, who tallied 15 points and six rebounds in her Irish debut during a 104-46 exhibition win over Emporia State PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS OF THE WEEK "'My battle with mental health issues has given me a con- structive amount of distance from the sport — I'm much more OK at dealing with things as they come.' — Molly Seidel '16. By Chad Konecky: https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/a-safe-distance/ @ByGollyMolly12" — Margaret Fosmoe (@MFosmoe), associate editor at Notre Dame Magazine, on Nov. 3