Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 13, 2021 9 UNDER THE DOME 0 Games played by the Notre Dame football program in the state of Virginia from 1887-2014. Virginia became the 36th state in which the Fighting Irish played a football game in 2015, when they rallied to defeat UVA 34-27 in Charlottesville. Then, in 2018, Notre Dame made its first trip to Blacksburg and recorded a 45-23 victory versus Virginia Tech. Earlier this season, the Irish returned to Blacksburg and notched a 32-29 win over the Hokies. Prior to 2014, Notre Dame played only one opponent from Virginia, de- feating the Cavaliers 36-13 in the 1989 Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Since Notre Dame's scheduling agreement with the ACC began in 2014, the Irish have gone 2-0 against Virginia and 3-1 versus Virginia Tech, with the lone setback being a 34-31 loss to the Hokies on Senior Day in 2016. 1.44 Assist-to-turnover ratio for the Notre Dame men's basketball program since 2000-01 — the first year of the Mike Brey era — which ranks No. 1 in the nation, per Notre Dame media relations. 4 Notre Dame football commits — Jaylen Sneed of Hilton Head (S.C.) High, Joshua Burnham of Traverse City (Mich.) Central, Niuafe Tuihalamaka of Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany and Nolan Zeiger of Grand Rapids (Mich.) Catho- lic Central — were among the 16 class of 2022 prospects named semifinal- ists for the high school Butkus Award, which is annually given to nation's top linebacker. Rivals ranks Sneed as the nation's No. 3 outside linebacker and No. 31 overall player, while Burnham is the No. 5 inside linebacker and No. 155 over- all player, Tuihalamaka is the No. 5 inside linebacker and No. 155 overall player, and Ziegler is the No. 20 athlete in the country. Last year, current Irish freshman Prince Kollie received the Butkus Award at the high school level. 30 Percent pressure rate allowed by Notre Dame with graduate stu- dent quarterback JACK COAN on the field during the first six games of the season, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). Following their bye week Oct. 16, the Irish made some adjustments to their offensive approach and went up-tempo with quicker, shorter passes. The result was a 12 percent pressure rate allowed with Coan on the field in victories versus USC (31-16) and North Carolina (44-34) the last two weekends in October. According to PFF, in those two games with Coan under center compared to the first six, Notre Dame increased its percentage of play- action passes from 23 to 40, its percentage of run-pass option plays from 11 to 24 and its percentage of screen passes from 9 to 19, while the average depth of target dropped from 10.3 to 7.9 yards per pass and the aver- age time to throw dropped from 2.7 to 2.47 seconds. As a result, the Irish's expected points added (EPA) with Coan went from minus-0.04 per play in the first six games to plus-0.34 in the next two. 50 Wins over the past five seasons (2017-21) for the Fighting Irish after their 44-34 triumph over North Carolina Oct. 30. It is the third time in program history they have won at least 50 games over a five-year span. Notre Dame also went 53-8-1 from 1988-92 and 52-9-1 from 1989-93. 66.1 Percent career field goal accuracy for Irish graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr., a figure that leads all returning NCAA Division I players this year. Atkinson, a graduate transfer, was the Ivy League Player of the Year while at Yale in 2019-20. 85.8 Grade for the Irish offensive line, per Pro Football Focus, during Notre Dame's three- game win streak against Virginia Tech, USC and North Carolina from Oct. 9-30. It was a noticeable improve- ment from the first five games of the season, when the Irish blockers received a grade of just 60.5. During those first five contests, the Irish blockers received 68.7 pass-block and 58.9 run-block grades, and allowed a pressure rate of 31.7 percent with 20 combined sacks and hits on their quarterbacks. Over the next three, they improved to 84.5 pass- block and 86.8 run-block grades with a pressure rate of just 13.5 percent and only two sacks or hits allowed on their signal-callers. Notre Dame took home PFF Offensive Line of the Week honors following its win over North Carolina Oct. 30, something that s e e m e d i n c o n c e i v a b l e earlier this season. For the first time in 2021, the Irish offensive line wasn't responsible for a single sack or hit on the quarterback. The unit allowed only three pressures on 28 dropbacks en route to a 524-yard, 44-point perfor- mance against the Tar Heels. 697 Combined three-pointers for the Mabrey family at the college level. Marina (2015-19) is the program's all-time career leader in three-pointers with 274, while current assistant coach Michaela (2012-16) converted 228, and Dara, who joined the Irish as a transfer from Virginia Tech last year, had 195 heading into the 2021-22 season. The Mabrey trio also has scored 3,047 points at Notre Dame. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER