Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1438218
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2022 11 UNDER THE DOME Kyle Hamilton Earns Consensus All-American Status Kyle Hamilton added one final national honor to his college football résumé. Consensus All-American. The American Football Coaches Association named him a first-team All-American, his third and final such nomination from the five NCAA-recognized voting bodies. Any player who appears as a first-teamer on three of them earns consensus status. The Walter Camp Football Foundation and Football Writers Association of America also selected him as a first-team safety. In their eyes, Hamilton's six-plus games of production outweighed his absence from Notre Dame's final five regular-season contests due to a knee injury. The 6-4, 220-pound Hamilton recorded 35 tackles in seven games, along with 2.0 tackles for loss and four passes broken up. His three interceptions are tied for the team lead. He averaged five tackles per game, which ranks second among Notre Dame defensive players — behind only junior linebacker JD Bertrand. In coverage, Hamilton allowed catches on just 14 of 28 passes thrown his way. Those receptions totaled 176 yards, with one touchdown — a 27-yard completion in the 24-13 loss to Cincinnati Oct. 2. Opposing quarter- backs had a 42.3 passer rating when throwing his direction. After Hamilton went down, Notre Dame replaced him with a combination of senior DJ Brown, sophomore Ramon Henderson and sophomore Xavier Watts. Notre Dame's defense held serve with that trio instead of a potential top-10 NFL pick. The Irish went 6-0 without Hamilton and didn't allow a touchdown for 14 straight quarters in November. Hamilton declared for the 2022 NFL Draft and will not play in Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl versus Oklahoma State. — Patrick Engel KYREN WILLIAMS, MICHAEL MAYER EARN ALL-AMERICA RECOGNITION Michael Mayer is Notre Dame's latest in a lengthy history of tight ends to collect some postseason honors. Sporting News and the American Foot- ball Coaches Association named Mayer a second-team All-American, while the As- sociated Press gave him a spot on its third team. Junior running back Kyren Williams also picked up second-team honors from Sporting News as an "athlete." In his sophomore season, Mayer set the Notre Dame single-season recep- tion record by a tight end. His 64 catches surpassed Tyler Eifert's 63 in 2011. That number also led all Power Five tight ends in 2021. He totaled 768 yards and five touchdowns. Mayer ended the regular season as Notre Dame's leader in recep- tions and yards. Williams, meanwhile, became the first Notre Dame running back since Darius Walker in 2005-06 to post consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. This year, he ran for 1,002 yards on 204 attempts (4.9 yards per rush) and 14 touchdowns. He is also tied for second on the team with 42 catches, which led to 359 yards and three touch- downs. He returned 14 punts for 151 yards. All told, Williams' 17 touchdowns are tied for 14th among Football Bowl Subdi- vision players. The 42 catches are eighth- most by a running back. His 10.07 yards per punt return ranks 13th. He was one of five finalists for the Hornung Award, which goes to the country's most versatile player. Houston cornerback Marcus Jones was the winner. Williams declared for the 2022 NFL Draft and will not play in the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State. — Patrick Engel Fighting Irish Release Full 2022 Schedule Notre Dame has put the finishing touches on its 2022 schedule. All that was left to determine was the date for a pair of ACC games and the off week. Those have been set. Notre Dame will play at Syracuse on Oct. 29 and host Boston College on Nov. 19 in the final home game of the year. The Irish's open week will be Oct. 1. Notre Dame Stadium will host six games, with the seventh "home" game exported to Las Vegas as part of the Shamrock Series. That game is Oct. 8 vs. Brigham Young, following the bye week. The Irish will play five road games, though only four of them are at true road environments. The Nov. 12 game versus Navy will be in Baltimore. Some major storylines are already easy to spot. Marcus Freeman's first regular-season game as Notre Dame's head coach will be at Ohio State, his alma mater, on Sept. 3. Former Irish quarterback Phil Jurkovec stated he will come back to Boston College for a fifth year, setting up a return to Notre Dame Stadium. He has already faced his old team once — a November 2020 game at Boston College. Elsewhere, the regular-season finale at USC pits a pair of first-year head coaches against each other. USC hired Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma in late November. Freeman, of course, was introduced Dec. 6 as the Irish's 30th head coach. The game in Las Vegas will be Notre Dame's first ever in Nevada. — Patrick Engel 2022 IRISH FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Sept. 3 at Ohio State Sept. 10 Marshall Sept. 17 California Sept. 24 at North Carolina Oct. 8 vs. BYU* Oct. 15 Stanford Oct. 22 UNLV Oct. 29 at Syracuse Nov. 5 Clemson Nov. 12 vs. Navy^ Nov. 19 Boston College Nov. 26 at USC * at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas ^ at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore Notre Dame junior safety Kyle Hamilton was recognized as a consensus All-American despite playing in just seven games this year. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER