Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 9, 2023 9 UNDER THE DOME 0 Catches for Notre Dame tight ends against Navy Aug. 26. That is the first time that has happened since the Fighting Irish's 24-17 win over the Midshipmen on Nov. 18, 2017, a span of 66 games. 2 Fighting Irish football players were in- cluded in ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.'s preseason rankings: juniors Joe Alt (No. 2 offensive tackle and No. 7 overall player) and Audric Estimé (No. 6 running back). 3.81 Million viewers on average for the Notre Dame-Navy game Aug. 26 on NBC, Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms, per a release from NBC. Viewership peaked at nearly 3.97 million TV-only viewers from 3:30-3:45 p.m. It is the most-watched Fighting Irish season opener on NBC in three years (up 48 percent from last year's contest versus Marshall) and the most-watched Notre Dame-Navy game in the last nine years. In addition, it was also the most-viewed Notre Dame game on NBC in the past two years since its loss to Cincinnati in 2021 drew an average of 3.97 million viewers and was up 66 percent over the 2022 season average on NBC of 2.30 million. Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms av- eraged 251,000 viewers, making it the most- streamed Notre Dame game ever, excluding Peacock exclusive games, per the network. 4 Million or more viewers for a Notre Dame football game occurred 21 times from 2015-22, per research done by The Athletic on Sports Media Watch. That tied the Irish for seventh na- tionally. Here is the top 10 over the past eight seasons: Rk. School Games With 4 Million+ 1. Alabama 50 2. Ohio State 46 3. Michigan 40 4. Georgia 30 5. Auburn 23 6. Florida 22 7. Notre Dame 21 Tennessee 21 9. LSU 20 10. Penn State 20 5 Notre Dame wide receivers have hauled in 2 touchdowns receptions in a season opener since 1996, with freshman JADEN GREAT- HOUSE joining that exclusive club with his effort against Navy Aug. 26. The other four are: Michael Floyd twice, versus Nevada in 2009 and South Florida in 2011; DaVaris Daniels against Temple in 2013; Will Fuller versus Texas in 2015; and Equanimeous St. Brown at Texas in 2016. Greathouse, however, became the first freshman to achieve that feat in school history, per Notre Dame media relations. 12 Missed tackles forced by junior running back Audric Estimé in the season opener against Navy Aug. 26, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). Estimé produced 121 total yards (95 rushing and 26 receiving) and 1 touchdown on his 18 touches against the Midshipmen. Last year, PFF credited Estimé with a team-best 44 (41 running the ball and 3 on receptions) missed tack- les forced in 13 games (3.4 per game). 29th I s w h e r e N o t r e Dame running backs c o a c h D e l a n d M c - Cullough ranked on the list of the top 30 college football assistant coaches to watch, put together The Ath- letic's Bruce Feldman. "The 50-year-old McCullough, who helped the Chiefs win a Super Bowl before coming back to college football, has been in the mix for some head coaching jobs before," Feldman noted. "He's one of the best position coaches in the country regardless of role and has also shown a good eye for talent. He's re-stocked the Notre Dame running backs room and is likely to be a strong candidate for some openings this winter if the Irish keep ascending." 68 Years since Notre Dame last faced a current member of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), prior to the matchup with Tennessee State Sept. 2. The Fighting Irish played seven current FCS schools before the NCAA split its football divisions in 1978, with the most recent matchup being a 28-20 victory at Penn on Nov. 5, 1955. The Irish and Quakers squared off six times from 1930-55. The Irish also played Drake (eight times from 1926-37), South Dakota (five times from 1913-17), Butler (three times from 1911-23), Dartmouth (twice from 1944-46), Princ- eton (twice from 1923-24) and Valparaiso (once in 1920). 231.7 Passer rating for gradu- ate student Sam Hart- man versus Navy Aug. 26, which was the ninth-best single-game mark for an Irish quarterback since 1996. It also repre- sented the third-best passer rating for an Irish QB in a season opener, behind only Malik Zaire (250.9, sixth all time) versus Texas in 2016 and Tommy Rees (239.0, eighth) against Temple in 2013. €150,000,000 Euros (roughly $163 million) was estimated to be generated by the Notre Dame-Navy game for the Irish economy and Dublin, per the Irish Mir- ror. Nearly 40,000 of the 49,000 in attendance — including a record 39,176 United States citizens per Sports Business Journal, the largest number of Americans to travel abroad for a sporting event —made the trip to Ireland for the game. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY JOHN CROTHERS