Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 SEPT. 2, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Paddy Burns — Soccer The senior defender from Crumlin, Northern Ireland, scored Notre Dame's only goal of the game in a 1-1 draw against No. 2-ranked In- diana Aug. 24. He gave Notre Dame a brief 1-0 lead with his first-half goal in the 24th min- ute of the match. As a junior last season, Burns started all 17 matches and finished sec- ond on the team with 5 goals and third with 10 points. Madeline Menkhaus — Swimming and Diving The junior from Charlotte, N.C., was honored as the spring winner of the Under Armour 25 X 25 Col- legiate Challenge, which is a community engagement con- test among student-athletes from Notre Dame, Auburn, South Carolina, Texas Tech and Utah. The contest was based and judged on community service hours. Menkhaus performed most of hers in rural Panama helping to set up health clinics. For her efforts, she earned a $1,000 scholarship for the 2023-24 school year. Meg Mrowicki — Soccer The freshman forward from Arlington Heights, Ill., kicked her career off in fine fashion with 2 goals in the first three games of the season during a 2-0-1 start for No. 12-ranked Notre Dame. Mrowicki scored the final goal of the game in a 3-0 win over Ball State Aug. 20, and then tallied her second in a 4-1 triumph over Butler Aug. 24. Ashley Naylor — Soccer The senior goalkeeper from Manhattan Beach, Calif., played a key role in the Fighting Irish's 2-0-1 start, al- lowing just 1 goal in the two wins. She played all 270 min- utes in goal and made 3 saves for a goals-against average of 1.00. Naylor made five starts in six appearances as a junior in 2022, playing 459 minutes in net and posting a 4-1-0 record with a 0.98 goals-against average. — Todd D. Burlage TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE Notre Dame's home opener is this week, and with it comes a chance to start a new winning streak. In 2022, the Irish lost their first game at Notre Dame Stadium in a stunning upset to Marshall, 26-21. It was the first time Notre Dame lost its home opener since 2011, when the Irish fell 23-20 to South Florida in Brian Kelly's second season as head coach in South Bend. For some more perspective about how long ago that was: Notre Dame's quarterback in that game was Tommy Rees. Ten home openers came and went before the Irish lost another one. They survived a close call in 2021 with a 32-29 win over Toledo, one week after Kelly awkwardly joked on national television that "maybe our entire team needs to be executed" for its performance in an overtime victory at Florida State. In the two years before that, the first Irish home games were not as close. Duke came into town in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, and then-junior running back Kyren Williams surpassed 200 yards from scrimmage to beat the Blue Devils by two touchdowns. New Mexico visited in 2019, and Irish fans went home happy with a 66-14 win. Kyle Hamilton, a true freshman making his Notre Dame Stadium debut at the time, returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown less than five minutes in. Notre Dame didn't look back. On Sept. 1, 2018, Notre Dame hosted and defeated Michigan for what would be the final time — barring a College Football Playoff meeting — until 2033. The Irish defense showed out, holding the Wolverines to only 1.8 yards per carry (including sacks) throughout the night. Notre Dame begins its home slate against Tennes- see State on Sept. 2. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH LUCKY NO. 13? In the summer of 1988, Notre Dame was coming off an 8-4 season that was as disastrous at the end as it was promising at the beginning. The Irish were No. 7 in the Associated Press poll as late as Nov. 21, 1987, but an upset loss to unranked Penn State and blowout losses to No. 2 Miami and No. 13 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl dropped the Irish to No. 17 to conclude the season. AP voters thought the Irish — led by third-year head coach Lou Holtz — would be better in 1988, but not by much. Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminoles, who finished No. 2 in the poll in 1987, were heavy favorites to be national champions in 1988, earning 44 of 60 first-place votes. Notre Dame was slotted at No. 13, with only one voter tabbing the Fighting Irish as the best team in the country before the 1988 season. The Irish vaulted into the top 10 after a 19-17 win over No. 9 Michigan, moving up to No. 8 in the Week 3 poll. A 42-14 win over Stanford in Week 4 bumped Notre Dame into the top five. By Week 9, only 7-0 UCLA stood in 7-0 Notre Dame's way of the top spot. The Irish were two weeks removed from a thrill- ing 31-30 win over then-No. 1 Miami that was sealed when safety Pat Terrell batted down Hurricanes quarterback Steve Walsh's attempt at a game-winning two-point conversion. Notre Dame took care of business against Navy that week. UCLA was stunned at home by unranked Washington State. The Irish kept their No. 1 ranking the rest of the way. Notre Dame had not landed at No. 13 in the preseason AP poll since 1988, but that changed this summer, when the Irish were No. 13 in the preseason poll released Aug. 14. — Jack Soble 1988 PRESEASON AP POLL Rk. School (Final Ranking) 1. Florida State (3) 2. Nebraska (10) 3. Oklahoma (14) 4. Clemson (9) 5. UCLA (6) 6. USC (7) 7. Auburn (8 8. Miami (2) 9. Iowa (NR) 10. Texas A&M (NR) 11. Michigan (4) 12. Georgia (15) 13. Notre Dame (1) 2023 PRESEASON AP POLL Rk. School 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Ohio State 4. Alabama 5. LSU 6. USC 7. Penn State 8. Florida State 9. Clemson 10. Washington 11. Texas 12. Tennessee 13. Notre Dame THE LAST FIVE NOTRE DAME HOME OPENERS Year Opponent Result 2022 Marshall L, 26-21 2021 Toledo W, 32-29 2020 Duke W, 27-13 2019 New Mexico W, 66-14 2018 Michigan W, 24-17 Last year's stunning 26-21 loss at the hands of Marshall broke Notre Dame's 10-game winning streak in home openers. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER