Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 26, 2024 9 UNDER THE DOME 1st Is where Notre Dame women's basketball was predicted to finish in the ACC in the preseason poll voted on by the 79-member Blue Ribbon Panel. The Fighting Irish last won the league with a 15-3 regular- season league mark during the 2022-23 campaign. 3 Media outlets — CBS Sports, The Athletic and Sporting News — had Notre Dame graduate student safety Xavier Watts on their midseason All-America teams. He was the only Irish player to be honored. "The 2023 Nagurski Trophy winner may not match last season's 7 interceptions, but he's been arguably more consistent for one of the nation's top de- fenses," The Athletic noted. "Watts has 21 tack- les, 2 interceptions and 5 pass breakups, playing a leading role for a banged-up defense that ranks fourth in yards per play allowed and fifth in pass efficiency. He'll be even more vital now with preseason All-American cornerback Benjamin Morrison out for the season." 7 Straight games with a touchdown — rush- ing or receiving — for Notre Dame sophomore run- ning back JEREMIYAH LOVE, after he produced a 39-yard scoring run against Stanford Oct. 12. Love was one of just 13 players in college football who entered the end zone in every game he played this year through Week 7. His touchdown streak began with a 13-yard scoring recep- tion against Oregon State in the Sun Bowl in the final contest of the 2023 campaign. Per unofficial research done by the South Bend Tribune, five Fighting Irish players have scored at least 1 touchdown in eight straight games over the last 20 seasons: running backs Kyren Williams (2021) and Jonas Gray (2011), quarterback Brandon Wimbush (2017), and wide receivers Golden Tate (2009) and Jeff Samardzija (2005). Wimbush and Samardzija ran off their streaks from the start of the season, while Williams, Gray and Tate closed out their careers on eight-game runs. You have to go all the way back to 1998 to find an Irish player who has a longer streak. That year, running back Autry Denson scored a touchdown in 10 consecutive contests to open the season. 10th Was where CBS Sports slotted Notre Dame men's basketball to finish in the 18-team ACC during the 2024-25 season. That is also where they slotted in the ACC's preseason media poll. In addition, sophomore point guard Markus Burton was named to the five-man preseason All-ACC team. Burton's average of 17.5 points per game is the third-highest return- ing scoring average in the ACC behind North Carolina's RJ Davis (21.2) and Wake Forest's Hunter Sallis (18.0), who were also on the preseason All-ACC team along with Duke's Cooper Flagg and Miami's Nigel Pack. "Micah Shrewsberry made a prediction after his first season at Notre Dame ended last March with a loss to Georgia Tech in the first round of the ACC Tournament, promising that the Irish will not return to the ACC Tournament on a Tuesday again," Gary Parrish of CBS Sports. "To avoid that fate, Notre Dame will have to finish in the top eight of the ACC standings, which is far from a guarantee even if the Irish should be better thanks to the return of four starters — most notably Markus Burton, who averaged a team-high 17.5 points and 4.3 assists in 33.8 minutes per game last season. "He'll be joined again by Braeden Shrewsberry, Tae Davis and J.R. Koniec- zny, giving Notre Dame the kind of roster retention lots of schools struggle to achieve in the transfer-portal era." 20th Is where ESPN's Mel Kiper ranked Ben Morrison on his Big Board for the 2025 NFL Draft at the time of his season-ending injury. In addition, ESPN NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid released an updated 2025 NFL mock draft and projected that Morrison would be selected at No. 22 overall by the Washington Commanders. However, Reid did note that, "Pro teams will keep an eye on the medicals, though; Morrison was recently ruled out for the season with a hip injury, which could cause his stock to drop." 27 Career rushing touchdowns for Notre Dame senior quarterback Riley Leonard, after he scored 8 in the first six games of the season. Through the first seven weeks of the 2024 season that was the second most among all ac- tive FBS signal-callers. Leonard's 8 rushing touchdowns ranked second among all Power 4 quarterbacks and was tied for fourth among all FBS quarterbacks. In addition, he led all Power Four quarterbacks and ranked seventh among all FBS quarterbacks in rushing yards per game (67.5). Here are the top 10 active FBS quarterbacks in career rushing touch- downs through Week 7: Rk. Player, School Touchdowns 1. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon 30 2. Riley Leonard, Notre Dame 27 3. Dequan Finn, Baylor 26 4. Garrett Greene, West Virginia 25 5. Jalen Milroe, Alabama 24 Will Howard, Ohio State 24 7. KJ Jefferson, UCF 23 Bryson Daily, Army 23 Taylen Green, Arkansas 23 10. DJ Uiagalelei, Florida State 21 48th Was where ESPN ranked graduate student cornerback Jordan Clark, who transferred from Arizona State to Notre Dame in the offseason, among college football's top 50 newcom- ers (transfers and freshmen) at midseason based on impact. He was the only member of the Irish to make the list. Senior quarterback Riley Leonard — who made the move from Duke to Notre Dame in the offseason — was No. 12 on the preseason list, but was not included on the midseason edition. "Clark has been an excellent addition for Notre Dame's defense as its nickel cornerback." ESPN's Eli Lederman and Max Olson noted. "The sixth- year senior and son of NFL great Ryan Clark has allowed just 38 passing yards and no touchdowns on 136 snaps in coverage and has proved to be a great tackler in space with 10 stops. His instincts and lead- ership have boosted an Irish unit that ranks among the top 10 in FBS in scoring defense and passing yards per attempt." ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER