Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 SEPT. 14, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Kyle Genenbacher — Soccer The senior defender from Farmington, Mo., scored his first goal of the season in the Fighting Irish's 2-2 Irish in a bitter in-state rivalry match at Indiana Aug. 29. Trailing the Hoosiers 2-1, the native scored the game-tying goal in the 69th minute to help lead the Irish to the come-from-behind tie. Genenbacher, a 2023 third-team All-ACC se- lection, started all 20 matches last season and recorded 7 points (1 goal, 5 assists). Brody Hartley — Cross Country T h e s o p h o m o re f ro m Walla Walla, Wash., started off his second cross coun- try season in grand fashion by claiming the individual title at the Crusader Invite Aug. 30, in Valparaiso, Ind. He covered the 6-kilometer course in 17:58.8 to win the race by about five seconds. Hartley was one of four Irish runners to finish in the top 10, slotting Notre Dame in second place behind Purdue in the team competition. Atlee Olofson — Soccer T h e s o p h o m o re go a l - tender from Austin, Texas, made a total of 9 saves while registering shutouts of Sam- ford, TCU and Butler. In the 1-0 victory over Butler in In- dianapolis Sept. 1, she made 4 critical saves to preserve the shutout and help the No. 9 Irish to their fourth straight win. In her three starts and games through Sept. 1, Olofson had yet to allow a single goal. Phyona Schrader — Volleyball With a team-high 19 kills and 29 assists through two games, the senior setter from Ankeny, Iowa, helped Notre Dame to a 2-0 start to its 2024 season. The Irish won matches against both Villanova and Santa Clara to claim the 2024 Catholic Challenge Champion- ship Aug. 31 in Santa Clara, Calif. Schrader appeared in 23 matches last year and finished the season with 148 kills and 71 assists. — 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 tormented Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman worse than all but two starting quarterbacks in college football during Week 1 — and worse than every signal-caller in the Power Four. Weigman posted an NFL-calculated passer rating of 21.5, according to Pro Football Focus, and that was the third worst in the FBS. For reference, if every pass a quarterback throws falls incomplete, their passer rating is 39.6. The Irish held Weigman to 12 completions on 30 attempts for 100 yards (3.3 yards per attempt) and 2 interceptions, one for sophomore safety Adon Shuler and one for graduate student safety Xavier Watts. His paltry completion rate of 40.0 percent is even more incredible when taking his average depth of target into account; Weigman's was 7.0, which ranked 28th- lowest out of 127 qualified quarterbacks in Week 1. Weigman was pressured on 15 drop-backs, with 12 different Notre Dame players notching pres- sures. Graduate student vyper Jordan Botelho led the team with 5 total pressures, while sophomore vyper Boubacar Traore and graduate student defen- sive tackle Rylie Mills had 2 each. Botelho posted a true pass set PFF pass-rush grade of 85.0, by far the highest on the team. He was a stud for the Irish, constantly hassling Weigman. In coverage, Notre Dame's five starting defensive backs locked down Texas A&M's wide receivers and gave up next to nothing when targeted. Junior cornerback Benjamin Mor- rison was particularly excellent — Weigman went after him 6 times and completed only 2 passes for 12 yards (2.0 yards per attempt). Not a single Fighting Irish line- backer allowed a completion, and they were targeted a combined 3 times in 30 Weigman attempts. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH MEDIA DARLINGS Notre Dame's 23-13 win over Texas A&M was the most-watched college football game of Kickoff Saturday Week 1, according to ESPN PR, with an average 8.2 million viewers (peaked at 9.3 million). And that's not all. The Irish's matchup with the Aggies was the most-watched Saturday Night Football regular-season game in two years, since Marcus Freeman's regular-season head coaching debut against Ohio State in 2022 drew an average of 10.5 million viewers. It was also ABC's most-streamed regular-season college football game ever, ESPN noted. That only lasted for a day, though, with the LSU-USC becoming the most streamed game with an average of 9.2 million and a peak of 11.1 million on Sunday, Sept. 1. The game between the Trojans and Tigers marked the second-largest audience for the annual Sunday night game since 2016 when Notre Dame and Texas drew an average of 10.95 viewers. The Irish have proven to be terrific for ratings in recent years, posting the third-highest single-game viewership of the 2023 regular season during its matchup against Ohio State, per Sports Media Watch. Notre Dame was also the eighth-most-watched team in last year's regular season by average weekly viewers, Zach Miller reported on Medium. — Jack Soble ABC'S HIGHEST-RATED GAMES ON KICKOFF SATURDAY OF WEEK 1 Rk. Game Average Viewers 1. Notre Dame at Texas A&M 8.2 million 2. Georgia vs. Clemson 7.9 million 3. Miami at Florida 6.6 million FIVE LOWEST PASSER RATINGS FOR COLLEGE STARTING QBS IN WEEK 1 Rk. Player, School Opponent Rating 1. Evan Svoboda, Wyoming Arizona State 8.3 2. Parker Awad, New Mexico State SEMO 15.1 3. Conner Weigman, Texas A&M Notre Dame 21.5 4. Aidan Chiles, Michigan State FAU 21.9 5. Nick Evers, UConn Maryland 23.6 Source: Pro Football Focus Graduate student vyper Jordan Botelho and the Irish made life miserable for Texas A&M quar- terback Conner Weigman in the season opener. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER