Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528160
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 26, 2024 11 UNDER THE DOME "Notre Dame may be the only College Football Playoff contender booed twice at home even though they've also beaten four Power Four opponents by an average of more than four touchdowns. The Irish are peaking on defense while also playing through a crisis, ranked among the top 10 in most statistical categories while also scrambling to replace three starters lost for the season, including All-American cornerback Benjamin Morrison. The Irish are the only program in the country with a road win over a current top-15 opponent. They're also the only CFP contender to lose to a MAC school." — Pete Sampson of The Athletic "Speaking of the Fighting Irish, that victory at Texas A&M on Aug. 31 looks better and better as the sea- son progresses. Notre Dame has side-stepped the loss to NIU with four straight impressive wins and still has opportunities to strengthen the résumé against Navy, Army and USC. With this schedule, they should make the playoff as long as they get to 10 wins." — Brad Crawford of CBS Sports "I guess that's the big question everyone always asks, is how it's going to work out. I think the puz- zle pieces go together perfectly. And I know Coach [Niele] Ivey, she recruits puzzle pieces. She doesn't just recruit a whole bunch of different great players. We all fit together well." — Notre Dame sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo when asked about playing alongside star graduate student guard Olivia Miles, who is returning from a knee injury that sidelined her in 2023-24, at the ACC Tipoff in early October "Get better every day. That's it. That's the only thing I focus on. If you set an expectation for them, what if we crush it, right? What if I say, 'Let's win 20 games.' What if we go 20-0? Are we just gonna relax? We're done? We've hit our goals? No, our goal is to get better." — Head coach Micah Shrewsberry on expectations for Irish men's basketball in 2024-25 "Both the Irish and Longhorns saw freshmen be- come stars a season ago with their team leaders out with injury. Rori Harmon is back for Texas to team up with Madison Booker, and Niele Ivey can now pair Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles, returning from a knee injury. This is a dream backcourt matchup that could define which duo is meshing the best. This looks to be the best Irish team under Ivey. This game and one a week later against UConn, also in South Bend, should tell us just how good." — ESPN's Charlie Crème on the Dec. 5 matchup versus No. 4 Texas be- ing No. 6 Notre Dame's biggest game "Not only did Markus Burton average 17.5 points throughout last season, but the 5-foot-11 guard missed the freshman wall as he got better as the season went on averaging 17.8 points in ACC play. Burton is the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, and he helped the Fighting Irish win six of their final 10 games of the season. This year, Burton will need to tighten up his efficiency (42.1 percent shooting, 3.7 turnovers a game), but Micah Shrewsberry is giving rave reviews about the summer his prized sopho- more has had. "Burton will not be forced to shoulder the load as much this season as Notre Dame added experienced bigs and more shooting in the off-season. The Irish are expected to take a notable step forward this season, and for that to happen, Burton will need to be very good." — On3 national college basketball recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw on including Notre Dame sophomore point guard Markus Burton on his preseason All-ACC first team along with senior guards Hunter Sallis of Wake Forest and RJ Davis of North Carolina, senior center Maxime Raynaud of Stanford and freshman forward Cooper Flagg of Duke Irish On Social Media THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "Bryce has been tremendous. We knew he was a special player when he first got here, but he is developing faster, probably, than we all thought." — Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman on freshman defensive end BR YCE YOUNG