Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2024 13 IRISH ON SOCIAL MEDIA UNDER THE DOME PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Hate the Fighting Irish if you must, but the feeling of playing in front of 'Touchdown Jesus' is too good to pass up. The tra- dition, pageantry and lore of Notre Dame is unlike anything else in college football." — Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports on the reason why you should play with Notre Dame in EA Sports College Football 25 7th Was where ESPN slotted Notre Dame in its updated future team power rankings (2024‑26). The Irish were also listed seventh in its future defense power rankings (up from 12th in 2023), ninth in future quarterback power rankings and 12th in the future offense rankings (up from 17th). Georgia was No. 1 in the future team power rankings, followed by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 8 LSU, No. 9 Florida State and No. 10 Penn State. Notre Dame has the look of a win- now program. That's only because it has spent the past two seasons relearning what one looks like. [Marcus] Freeman can view this all as pressure or opportu- nity, although it's probably both. Bottom line, he has a roster built to make a run." — Pete Sampson of The Athletic 21 Coaches across the country — including Notre Dame's MARCUS FREEMAN — were included on the preseason watch list for the 2024 Dodd Trophy, which is given annually to a successful head coach who stresses the im‑ portance of scholarship, leader‑ ship and integrity. Those are the three pillars in the coaching phi‑ losophy of Bobby Dodd, a Georgia Tech legend who logged a head coaching record of 165‑64‑8 for the Yellow Jackets from 1945‑66. Notre Dame has only had one win‑ ner of the award since its inception in 1976. Brian Kelly won it in 2018. The Irish's schedule is both a benefit and liability. On one hand, they play only four projected top- 30 teams, and they're rather evenly spaced out (Games 1, 5, 9 and 12). They don't need to be in fifth gear or have a perfect QB situation every week. "On the other hand, they rank only 51st in SP+ strength of schedule, meaning they might need to go 11-1 to feel totally safe in the CFP race. Losing in Week 1 at Texas A&M would elimi- nate most of their margin for error." —Bill Connelly of ESPN $250 , 000 Was awarded to the Notre Dame athletic depart‑ ment to put toward its Student‑Athlete Scholarship Fund after it won the 2023‑24 Men's Capital One Cup. Fighting Irish men's teams tallied 103 points — making them the only men's program in the country to eclipse triple digits — en route to win‑ ning the school's third Cup title (2014, 2022, 2024) on the men's side. Florida and Stanford are the only other schools to win three on the men's side. The 103 points — 60 points for lacrosse finish‑ ing No. 1 in the final national poll, 36 for soccer coming in at No. 2, six points for fencing finishing No. 2 (fewer points than soccer because it is a coed sport) and one for swimming and diving for its 10th‑place finish at the NCAA Championships — represent the most the Fighting Irish have ever recorded in the Men's Capital One Cup. 13 Colleges had at least two players selected in the first 10 rounds of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft in July: Florida State (four), LSU (four), Miami (three), Oklahoma State (three), Texas (three), Virginia (three), Wake Forest (three), Mississippi State (two), Missouri (two), Notre Dame (two), South Carolina (two), Tennessee (two) and UCLA (two). The Fighting Irish baseball program had both of its players taken on Day 2: shortstop Jack Penney went No. 147 overall in the fifth round to the De‑ troit Tigers and pitcher Jack Findlay, despite miss‑ ing the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, went No. 231 overall in the eighth round to the St. Louis Cardinals. We have every intention in the world and every desire to keep that USC-Notre Dame game going for as long as it possibly can. Everything we've heard from USC and the people we've been talk- ing to over the course of the last year and beyond is they're gung ho as well." — Notre Dame director of athletics Pete Bevacqua (The Athletic)