Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 OCT. 7, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Ava Lange — Volleyball The freshman outside hit- ter from Playa Del Rey, Calif., helped Notre Dame notch a pair of ACC wins at home versus Boston College (3-2) Sept. 22 and Syracuse (3-0) Sept. 24. Against Boston Col- lege, she paced the Irish with 17 kills and added 4 digs. Against Syracuse, she compiled 6 kills and 4 digs. Through nine games, Lange had 94 kills and 26 digs, and was second on the Irish with 102 points. Wyatt Lewis — Soccer The sophomore midfielder from St. Charles, Mo., scored the first goal of his career in a 3-1 win over Virginia Sept. 22 in South Bend. The important goal came in the 45th minute right before halftime, and it gave the No. 15 Irish a 2-0 lead. Lewis, who has played in all nine games and made three starts this season, became the seventh different Irish player to find the back of the net this season. Josh Methner — Cross Country The senior from Mount Prospect, Ill., earned ACC Cross Country Male Per- former of the Week honors Sept. 19, after he won the in- dividual title in the National Catholic Invite meet Sept. 15 at Notre Dame. Methner finished the five- mile race with a personal-best time of 24:04.8, nearly 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, to help pace Notre Dame to the team title. Kiki Van Zanten — Soccer With the No. 10 Irish trailing No. 6 Duke 1-0 in the second half and time winding down, the graduate student mid- fielder from Buffalo Grove, Ill., scored the game-tying goal in the 86th minute, only about 90 seconds before sophomore midfielder Leah Klenke tallied the game winner for Notre Dame in a thrilling 2-1 comeback vic- tory at Durham, N.C. Through nine games, Van Zanten had 2 goals, 2 assists and 6 points on the season. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE After Notre Dame's matchup with Duke, the Irish are halfway through their 2023 regular season. And with the obvious No. 6 being Stanford, whose résumé includes a home loss to FCS Sacramento State, here are Notre Dame's five most difficult remaining opponents with six games to play. No. 1 is also fairly clear: USC looks every bit like the offensive juggernaut it was billed to be in Year 2 of head coach Lincoln Riley and quarterback Caleb Williams. The Trojans rank eighth in the country in ESPN's Football Power Index with a rating of 20.6. Louisville received more votes than Clem- son for the Sept. 24 Associated Press Top 25, but the Tigers check in at No. 17 in the nation with an FPI of 14.1 on the strength of their defense. The Cardinals were 23rd nationally with an FPI of 11.6. Rounding out the top five are Pitt (48th, 3.1) and Wake Forest (66th, -0.8), with Stan- ford (100th, -8.4) a distant sixth. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH OFFENSIVE EXTRAVAGANZA? Efficiency might be the name of the game when Notre Dame visits Louisville on Oct. 7. The Irish and the Cardinals entered Week 5 as two of the top six teams in college football in offensive yards per play. Notre Dame, led by graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman (10.7 yards per passing attempt) and junior running back Audric Estimé (7.7 yards per rush), sat at No. 6. Incredibly, both those marks trail Louisville graduate student quarterback Jake Plummer (11.5) and redshirt junior running back Jawhar Jordan (9.6). The Irish saw their numbers drop slightly against a stout Ohio State defense in Week 4, while Louisville had its first big test in Week 5 against North Carolina State, a common opponent. Notre Dame defeated the Wolfpack 45-24 in a lightning-delayed game on Sept. 9. With an explosive play-action passing game in the second half and Estimé's 80-yard run earlier in the game, Notre Dame averaged 7.5 yards per play against the Wolfpack in Week 2. In front of Louisville and Notre Dame, there's a very clear top two. Washington and USC, at 9.2 and 9.0 yards per play, respectively, are led by perhaps the two Heisman Trophy favorites at the moment. Washington features quarterback Michael Penix Jr., while USC's signal-caller is the defending Heisman winner, Caleb Williams. Miami and UCF come in behind them at 8.0 and 7.9 yards per play, respectively. Just behind the Irish, LSU (7.3), Ken- tucky (7.2), Oregon (7.2) and New Mexico State (7.2) round out the list. Here's an interesting fact: Of the top-10 teams in yards per play, eight acquired their starting quarterback in the transfer portal. A ninth, New Mexico State with Diego Pavia, went the junior college route. — Jack Soble TOP 10 COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAMS IN YARDS PER PLAY Through Week 4 Rk. Team Yds./Play 1. Washington 9.2 2. USC 9.0 3. Miami 8.0 4. UCF 7.9 5. Louisville 7.7 6. Notre Dame 7.3 LSU 7.3 8. Kentucky 7.2 Oregon 7.2 New Mexico State 7.2 NOTRE DAME'S FIVE MOST DIFFICULT REMAINING OPPONENTS ACCORDING TO ESPN'S FOOTBALL POWER INDEX Through Week 4 Rk. Team (Record) FPI 1. USC (4-0) 20.6 2. Clemson (2-2) 14.1 3. Louisville (4-0) 11.6 4. Pittsburgh (1-3) 3.1 5. Wake Forest (3-1) -0.8 Quarterback Caleb Williams and the Trojans led the nation with a scoring average of 55.0 points per game through Week 4. PHOTO BY MEG OLIPHANT