Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 SEPT. 23, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Angelo Marcon — Golf The senior from San Francisco finished tied for second individually with an even-par 213 in helping Notre Dame to the team title in the Folds of Honor Colle- giate Sept. 4-6 at Grand Ha- ven, Mich. Marcon shot his best scores in the first and final rounds of the three-round event, card- ing 2-under-par 69s in each. He recorded 12 birdies for the tournament, including five in the final round. Maddie Mercado — Soccer The graduate student for- ward from San Diego scored the first goal of the game in a 3-0 win at Bowling Green Sept. 10 in the final noncon- ference match of the sea- son for the No. 11 Irish. She scored her goal in the 35th minute of the first half. Through seven games this season, Mercado was tied for the team lead with 3 goals and 7 points, and she led the Fighting Irish with 10 shots on goal. Daniel Russo — Soccer The senior forward from Jackson, N.J., scored the game-winning goal in a hard-fought 3-2 win over Clemson at Alumni Stadium Sept. 9 in South Bend. With the game tied 2-2, he curled a free kick just inside the far post to put the No. 20 Irish in front for good. It was the first goal of the season for Russo, who led Notre Dame with 6 goals in 2022. Phyona Schrader — Volleyball The junior setter from An- keny, Iowa, helped Notre Dame to the Irish Invitational title by recording 10 kills in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Oklahoma Sept. 9 at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. She also led the Irish with a .400 hitting percentage and added 2 blocks against the Sooners. Schrader was tied for third on the team with 34 kills (1.70 per set) through six matches. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE Look through the Winsipedia page for Notre Dame and Ohio State and you'll quickly confirm that they're two of the most accomplished college football programs of all time. Between the two schools, they own or share the lead in six of the 12 statistical categories on the website. Ohio State has all-time record, first-round NFL Draft picks and weeks in the Associated Press Top 25. Notre Dame has consensus All-Americans and total NFL Draft picks. They're tied for the all-time lead in Heisman Trophy winners with 7. Seven is also the number of all-time matchups between the two storied programs. Notre Dame came out on top in 1935 and 1936, but Ohio State enters this week's matchup with a five-game winning streak. John Cooper's Buckeyes beat Lou Holtz's Irish in 1995 and 1996, by scores of 45-26 and 29-16, respectively. Eventual Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George, who visited Notre Dame as Tennessee State's head coach Sept. 2, gained 210 rushing yards and ran for 2 touchdowns in the fourth quar- ter to seal the 1995 win. Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl (shortly after the 2005 season). In a marquee quarterback matchup, the Buckeyes' Troy Smith outplayed Notre Dame's Brady Quinn. The Ohio State wide receiver duo of Ted Ginn Jr. and Santonio Holmes combined for 13 receptions, 291 receiving yards and 2 scores. One day short of a decade later, Notre Dame and Ohio State met in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, and the Buckeyes came out on top again. Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott ran 27 times for 149 yards and 4 touchdowns. Finally, in the 2022 season opener, Ohio State beat Notre Dame 21-10 in a defensive battle. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH Notre Dame and Ohio State have at least one thing in common: After two weeks for most of the country and three for the Fighting Irish, they had two of the 12 best pass defenses in college football, in terms of opponent yards per passing attempt. Ohio State ranked ninth, having allowed a rate of 4.62 yards per attempt against Indiana and Youngstown State. Notre Dame was 12th, giving up 4.81 yards per attempt to Navy, Tennessee State and North Carolina State. Memphis was No. 1 in the country by a significant margin at 3.15 opponent yards per attempt, hav- ing faced Bethune-Cookman and Arkansas State so far this season. Georgia was second at 3.93, and Syracuse, Air Force, Michigan State, Army, Sam Houston, Marshall, Clemson and Minnesota rounded out the rest of list. Despite the poor competition, Ohio State fea- tures a dangerous back seven led by junior cor- nerback Denzel Burke. According to Pro Football Focus, Burke has been targeted 10 times and al- lowed only 2 receptions for 24 yards while notch- ing with 3 passes broken up and 1 interception in the Buckeyes' first two contests. Quarterbacks targeting Burke produced a passer rating of 0.0. On the Notre Dame side, sophomore corner- back Benjamin Morrison picked up right where he left off last year. Quarterbacks completed only 4 of 9 throws for 37 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception in the Irish's first three games this season. Both passing offenses in this game are potent, but the secondaries will make them work for it. — Jack Soble Last year, the Buckeyes held on to beat the Fighting Irish 21-10 in Columbus, Ohio, to extend their win- ning streak in the all-time series to five. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER FBS OPPONENT YARDS PER PASSING ATTEMPT LEADERS Through Sept. 9 Rk. School YPA 1. Memphis 3.15 2. Georgia 3.93 3. Syracuse 4.07 4. Air Force 4.13 5. Michigan State 4.28 6. Army 4.40 7. Sam Houston 4.42 8. Marshall 4.59 9. Ohio State 4.62 10. Clemson 4.72 11. Minnesota 4.74 12. Notre Dame 4.81 THE LAST FIVE NOTRE DAME-OHIO STATE GAMES Year Score 2022 Ohio State 21, Notre Dame 10 2016 Ohio State 44, Notre Dame 28 2006 Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 20 1996 Ohio State 29, Notre Dame 16 1995 Ohio State 45, Notre Dame 26