Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 NOV. 18, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Olivia Markezich — Cross Country The graduate student from Woodinville, Wash., finished fourth at the ACC Champion- ships Oct. 27 in Tallahassee, Fla., helping the Irish to a runner-up team finish behind reigning national champion North Carolina State. She was among the leaders throughout the entire race and covered the 6K course in 19:38.1. It marked Markezich's second top-five finish in two years. Last year, she crossed the finish line third. Eno Nto — Soccer The junior from Derby, Eng- land, enjoyed a career night with 4 goals in No. 5 Notre Dame's 6-0 home win over No. 20 Pitt to close out its reg- ular season Oct. 27. The win was the 10th straight without a loss for the Irish. Nto finished the 16-game regular season tied for first on the team with 10 goals and second on the team with 21 points. Landon Slaggert — Hockey The senior forward from South Bend helped the Fight- ing Irish to a weekend sweep of Mercyhurst Oct. 26-27, tal- lying 2 goals in each game. He scored the opening goal and the game-winner in the 4-3 comeback win over the Lakers in Game 1. A day later in Game 2, he scored the third and fourth goals in a 5-0 shutout win. Through seven games, Slaggert had scored a team-best 7 goals. Yashna Yellayi — Tennis T h e s e n i o r f ro m H i n s - dale, Ill., was the star of the courts at the TCU Invitational Oct. 26-29, in Fort Worth, Texas. She won all three of her individual matches — all in straight sets — against oppo- nents from Kansas State, BYU and Baylor, then went 2-2 in doubles to earn the tournament's co-champion honors. In dou- bles, Yellayi and her partners split two matches against Kansas State and also split two matches against BYU to finish her weekend 5-2 overall. — 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 senior safety Xavier Watts looks like he's on his way toward hearing his name called in the NFL Draft, perhaps as early as 2024. He'll join what might be the strongest position group among Irish in the NFL. Among the five highest-graded former Notre Dame players in the NFL this season (not including specialists), according to Pro Football Focus, three are safeties. That in- cludes No. 1: Chargers safety Alohi Gilman, who leads all professional Irish with a 76.2 overall PFF grade. Gilman has missed three of his team's seven games this season with a heel injury, but he returned in Week 8 against the Bears and picked up right where he left off. He had 22 tackles, 2 passes defended, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in four games played. The other two safeties in the top five are Vikings veteran Harrison Smith and second-year Ravens player Kyle Hamilton. Smith, ranking fourth at 74.1, had 18 defensive stops so far this season. He dominated the Panthers in Week 4, totaling 3 sacks and a forced fumble. Hamilton had a 3-sack game of his own in Week 3 versus the Colts, blitzing so much that PFF listed him as a slot cornerback for that game. The Ravens line him up everywhere, and he's rewarded them with a solid season, both in tackling and in coverage. His PFF grade was 71.6. Tied for No. 2 behind Gilman at a 75.9 overall grade were Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Kora- moah and Cowboys guard Zack Martin. Owusu-Koramoah had 34 tackles and 19 defensive stops heading into November. Martin, after holding out in training camp and getting himself a significant raise, is still one of the NFL's best guards in his 10th season. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH TOUCHDOWN TYREE Notre Dame wide receiver Chris Tyree reached a landmark only two other active Football Bowl Subdivision players have achieved, according to Notre Dame media relations. Against Pittsburgh Oct. 28, Tyree became the third active FBS player to score rushing, receiving, punt return and kick return touchdowns in his college career. The two others are Northwestern senior wide receiver AJ Henning, who transferred to the Wildcats after spending three years at Michigan, and USC freshman wide receiver Zachariah Branch. Incredibly, Branch accomplished the feat in only six games. It took Henning 36 and Tyree 46. Tyree, who spent the first three years of his career as a running back, scored his first touchdown at Notre Dame on Sept. 19, 2020, against South Florida. It was his second game in South Bend. On Sept. 11, 2021, he scored his first receiving touchdown, and three weeks later, he returned a kickoff for a score against Wisconsin. With the Irish trailing 13-10 in the early fourth quarter, Tyree caught the ball inside the 5-yard line, cut up the field at the 30 and didn't look back. Notre Dame didn't either, as the Irish didn't give up the lead after that. After the punt return for a touch- down against Pitt completed the feat, Irish head coach Marcus Freeman couldn't have been prouder of No. 4. "Hard work is rewarded, and you don't know when that reward is going to come," Freeman said. "That's what I love when you see a young man like Chris Tyree that works tirelessly." — Jack Soble ACTIVE FBS PLAYERS WHO HAVE SCORED VIA PR, KR, RECEPTION AND RUSH DURING THEIR CAREER Player Team Years active Chris Tyree Notre Dame 2020-23 AJ Henning Northwestern* 2020-23 Zachariah Branch USC 2023 * Played at Michigan from 2020-22 TOP FIVE HIGHEST-GRADED FORMER NOTRE DAME PLAYERS* (VIA PFF) IN THE NFL THIS SEASON Player Team Grade Alohi Gilman Chargers 76.2 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Browns 75.9 Zack Martin Cowboys 75.9 Harrison Smith Vikings 74.1 Kyle Hamilton Ravens 71.6 * Not including specialists; through Week 8 Alohi Gilman was Pro Football Focus' highest- graded former Irish player in the NFL through October this season. PHOTO COURTESY LOS ANGELES CHARGERS