Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2024 11 UNDER THE DOME IRISH ON SOCIAL MEDIA 3 Teams finished the 2023 college football season among the top 10 in both scoring offense and scoring defense: Georgia, Oregon and Notre Dame. The Bulldogs were fifth in offense (40.1 points per game) and fifth in defense (15.6 points allowed a contest), the Ducks were second in offense (44.2) and ninth in defense (16.5), and the Fighting Irish were seventh in offense (39.2) and seventh in defense (15.9). It marked the first time that Notre Dame finished a season ranked in the NCAA's top 10 for both scoring offense and defense since 1973, when the Irish were eighth in scoring offense (35.8) and third in scoring defense (6.6). 8.57 Is Notre Dame's average ranking in seven way-too- early top 25s that were released in January for the 2024 college football season, which is slightly higher than its average preseason ranking of 9.67 from 2018- 23. USA Today had the Fighting Irish the highest at No. 6, followed by The Athletic (No. 7), Sports Illustrated (No. 8), Bleacher Report (No. 9), CBS Sports (No. 9), ESPN (No. 10) and Pro Football Focus (No. 11). 16.2 Points per game for Notre Dame point guard Markus Burton through 24 games this season. That led the ACC and ranked fourth nationally among freshmen through Feb. 7. Adrian Dantley (18.3) and Troy Murphy (19.2) are the only Irish rookies to average more. Burton is one of four ACC players averag- ing at least 16.0 points and 3.5 assists per contest as of Feb. 7. Viliamu-Asa is a 6-foot-3, 233-pound linebacker whom the Notre Dame staff is very excited about. He's a middle linebacker but moves like an outside linebacker. He can impact the game in a variety of ways, whether it's in coverage, run stop or getting after the quarterback. "He led his team in tackles this season with 114, and also had 1 interception, 3 pass breakups and 13 tackles for loss. Viliamu-Asa should be someone who sees the field very early in his career given his production and how well he is suited to be an every-down linebacker." — ESPN staff writer Tom VanHaaren on including Notre Dame signee Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa on his list of 12 true freshmen to know in 2024 He's one of the best football players in my 21 years as a head coach. His intelligence is the No. 1 thing. His ability to understand the position and his relentless pursuit to the football is beyond my imagination how someone can play that well. … "If he were a Madden-created player, he'd be [rated] a 99, because every- thing he does is at the top of the lane." — Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro on Notre Dame linebacker signee KYNGSTONN VILIAMU-ASA, who was tabbed as The Los Angeles Time's Player of the Year in Southern California high school football PHOTO BY KYLE KELLY