Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 MAY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Lauren Beaudreau — Golf The graduate student from Lemont, Ill., led Notre Dame to a fourth-place team finish with a runner-up individual finish at the Tulane Classic March 10-12 in New Orleans. She carded a 2-under-par 70 in her opening round — her best single-round score — followed by a 1-under 71 and a 3-over 74 in the three-round event. Beaudreau led Notre Dame with a 74.4 scoring average as a senior last season. Chris Kavanagh — Lacrosse The junior attackman from Rockville Centre, N.Y., enjoyed one of the best games of his ca- reer March 9, when he finished with a career-high 8 points on a career-best 5 goals and 3 assists in a 13-10 win over Ohio State. Through seven games, he led the No. 1 Irish with 33 points on 17 goals and 16 assists. During Notre Dame's national championship run in 2023, Kavanagh led the Irish with 46 goals. Alexis Laudenslager — Softball The graduate student pitcher f ro m S a n D i e go re co rd e d two wins at in a three-game sweep of North Carolina State March 22-24. L a u d e n s l a ge r, a t ra n sfe r from Princeton, went 6⅔ in- nings, gave up 2 earned runs and struck out 8 in a 5-3 Fight- ing Irish win March 22. She then tossed a com- plete game shutout with 8 strikeouts in a 2-0 win March 24, notching her team-best ninth victory of the season. Luke Linder — Fencing The senior from Chandler, Ariz., claimed his third NCAA individual sabre title in the last four years (2021, 2023 and 2024) while helping the Irish to a national runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships, becoming the first Irish men's fencer to win three individual national titles. Linder is also only the fifth NCAA fencer of all time to win at least three individual sabre cham- pionships and the first since 2006. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE On March 27, Pro Football Focus completed its ranking of the top 10 returning college football players at each position. Notre Dame was well represented on those lists. The Irish placed six players on the top-10 lists, which were published by PFF's Max Chadwick. Junior Benjamin Morrison and senior Mitchell Evans ranked the highest among the Irish, checking in as the No. 2 cornerback and No. 2 tight end in the country, respectively. Both slotted just behind their Michigan counterparts, with junior cornerback Will Johnson and junior tight end Colston Loveland leading each group for the Wolverines. Graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III could have easily left for the NFL after his breakout 2023 season, but he returned and will be one of the best defensive tackles in the nation. He's at No. 3 on PFF's list, behind two underclassmen: Michigan's Mason Graham and Kentucky's Deone Walker. Graduate student safety Xavier Watts, who won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation's best defensive player, is ranked fourth at his position group. Graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser, who at long last will start this season after the departures of JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau, is seventh after impressing in limited reps. Just missing Notre Dame's top five relative to position group is graduate student Rylie Mills, who ranks 10th among defensive tackles. With these lists, PFF confirmed what most already knew about Notre Dame: While its offense has several intriguing pieces and breakout candidates, the de- fense blows it away in terms of established talent. Defensive coordinator Al Golden's unit has all the tools it needs to be success- ful in 2024, particularly up the middle. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH EXPERTS LIKE NOTRE DAME EARLY It's never too early to start ranking college football teams, and Notre Dame has slotted relatively high on most lists so far. After landing at No. 5 on ESPN's way-too- early top 25, the Irish were No. 7 on CBS' pre-spring practice order. CBS Sports senior writer Dennis Dodd had high praise for the team Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man has built, particularly on defense. "The Fighting Irish defense is loaded af- ter finishing fifth nationally last year [four stars bypassed the NFL Draft]," Dodd wrote. "Marcus Freeman must replace at least three starters so far on the offensive line, however. The good news is that offen- sive coordinator Mike Denbrock returns to South Bend after coaching Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels at LSU. "That's the best-case scenario for more- than-capable Duke transfer Riley Leonard, who is coming back from ankle surgery. Ten wins seems doable in Year 3 for Freeman." Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Ala- bama and Ole Miss ranked ahead of Notre Dame, respectively. All of those teams — as well as the four that followed the Irish on CBS' list, Missouri, Penn State, LSU and Mich- igan — finished ahead of Freeman's group in the final College Football Playoff rankings of 2023. Notre Dame was No. 16 then. — Jack Soble Rk. School 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Texas 4. Oregon 5. Alabama Rk. School 6. Ole Miss 7. Notre Dame 8. Missouri 9. Penn State 10. LSU Head coach Marcus Freeman's 2024 Notre Dame team has top-10 expectations. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP TOP FIVE NOTRE DAME PLAYERS IN PFF'S POSITION RANKINGS Rk. Player Pos. Pos. Rk. T1. Benjamin Morrison CB 2 T1. Mitchell Evans TE 2 3. Howard Cross III DT 3 4. Xavier Watts S 4 5. Jack Kiser LB 7 CBS SPORTS' TOP 10 CFB TEAMS As of March 1