Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 PRESEASON 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME NUMBERS AND QUOTES GRAPHIC COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS No. 4 Was where ESPN ranked Notre Dame Stadium on its list of the top 25 venues in college football. ESPN surveyed 14 of its college football writers to deter- mine the rankings. "No parameters, no criteria," ESPN noted. "Writers were asked to submit their top 20 stadiums in order. We then awarded points: 20 for first-place votes, 19 for second and all the way down to one point for a stadium voted No. 20." Here are the top 10 college football stadiums in ESPN's poll: Rk. Venue (Year Built), School Points 1. Tiger Stadium (1924), LSU 247 2. Rose Bowl (1922), UCLA 209 3. Michigan Stadium (1927), Michigan 182 4. Notre Dame Stadium (1930), Notre Dame 175 5. Beaver Stadium (1960), Penn State 172 6. Husky Stadium (1920), Washington 151 7. Ohio Stadium (1922), Ohio State 149 8. Camp Randall Stadium (1917), Wisconsin 133 9. Bryant-Denny Stadium (1929), Alabama 115 10. Neyland Stadium (1921), Tennessee 112 Since opening in 1930, Notre Dame Stadium has hosted some of college football's most significant teams, play- ers, coaches and moments. But the venue is known as much for what lies just beyond its northern edge as for what's inside. "Since fall 1964, the 'Word of Life' mural on the univer- sity library tower has welcomed ball carriers to the north end zone. Known as 'Touchdown Jesus,' the mural depicts Jesus Christ with his arms raised, similar to the touchdown signal. Located a little more than a football field away from the Knute Rockne Gate, where Notre Dame players enter for each game, Touchdown Jesus is visible from a portion of seats in the south part of the stadium and is frequently shown in camera shots of Notre Dame contests." — Adam Rittenberg on Notre Dame checking in at No. 4 on ESPN's list of the top stadiums in college football 94 Was the overall rating given to Notre Dame junior cornerback BENJAMIN MORRISON by EA Sports College Football 25 video game. That put him in as the 12th-best player in the country according to EA. Only 16 players nationwide earned an overall of 94 or higher. Three other Irish players made the top 100: Graduate student safety Xavier Watts came in with an overall rating of 92, placing him 28th nationally. Se- nior tight end Mitchell Evans and graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III both notched ratings of 90. EA placed Evans as the 74th-best player in the country and slotted Cross 77th. Eight opponents on the Irish's fall slate also made the list: Virginia safety Jo- nas Sanker (92 rating, No. 39), Louisville cornerback Quincy Riley (92, No. 40), USC center Jonah Monheim (92, No. 41), Louisville defensive end Ashton Gil- lotte (90, No. 72), Purdue safety Dillon Thieneman (90, No. 83), Florida State defensive end Patrick Payton (90, No. 87) and Texas A&M defensive end Nic Scourton (90, No. 88). [Benjamin] Morrison is special in his own right. In our poll about the top returning [draft-eligible players], Morrison was ranked in the top three by four of five NFL scouts. He's 6 feet and 196 pounds, boasts 4.4 speed and has 9 interceptions in two years. 'Morrison is just so well-coached and technically savvy,' said an AFC East area scout. 'I love watching him mirror receivers because he ends up running the route for them.'" — ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER