Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 9, 2024 9 UNDER THE DOME No. 2 Was where graduate student safety XAVIER WATTS ranked among Notre Dame's inter- ception leaders since 1996 through Week 8 of the 2024 season. Watts' 10 picks trail only Shane Walton's 11 over the past 29 years. Here are Notre Dame's interception leaders since 1996: Rk. Player (Years) Interceptions 1. Shane Walton (1999-2002) 11 2. Xavier Watts (2020-24) 10* 3. Benjamin Morrison (2022-24) 9* Benny Guilbeaux (1996-98) 9 5. Robert Blanton (2008-11) 8 Matthias Farley (2012-15) 8 Cole Luke (2013-16) 8 Kyle McCarthy (2006-09) 8 Mike Richardson (2003-06) 8 A'Jani Sanders (1997-99) 8 Tom Zbikowski (2004-07) 8 * Through Week 8 of the 2024 season 3 Of NCAA.com's 13 best early nonconference women's bas- ketball games featured Notre Dame: Nov. 23 at USC, Dec. 5 vs. Texas and Dec. 12 vs. Connecticut. Only defending champion and No. 1-ranked South Carolina and Iowa State are featured in more, with four each. "USC and Notre Dame both have rich tradi- tions with rising stars in the game," Autumn Johnson of NCAA.com noted. "This matchup features strong recruiting classes and dynamic players. With Notre Dame's storied program and USC's resurgence, expect a competitive game that will showcase March Madness vibes." 7 Years between instances of two Fighting Irish teammates compiling 7 or more rushing touchdowns in Notre Dame's first seven games of the season. Senior quarter- back Riley Leonard (10 rushing scores) and sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love (7) achieved that feat this year. The last time it happened was in 2017 when junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush (10) and junior running back Josh Adams (8) did it. Wimbush and Adams went on to tally 14 and 9 rush- ing scores, respectively, with Wimbush's representing a single-season school record for a quarterback. 8 Notre Dame hockey alumni were on NHL open- ing-night rosters when the 2024-25 season began in mid-October: defender Andrew Peeke, Boston Bru- ins; defender Dennis Gilbert, Buffalo Sabres; center Jake Evans, Montreal Canadiens; defender Spencer Stastney, Nashville Predators; left wing Anders Lee and center Kyle Palmieri, New York Islanders; right wing Bryan Rust, Pitts- burgh Penguins; and defender Ian Cole, Utah Hockey Club. 12th Was where ESPN's Charlie Creme ranked Notre Dame graduate student forward Liza Karlen on his list of the 12 newcomers — freshmen and transfers — who will make the biggest impact during the 2024-25 season women's college basketball season. "With Maddy Westbeld sidelined to start the season with a foot injury, Karlen becomes a crucial addition for the Irish," Creme noted. "Karlen averaged 17.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game at Marquette, playing for former Notre Dame guard Megan Duffy. While Karlen isn't quite the shooter or defender that Westbeld is, she's close, and has put up comparable numbers in her four-year career." 13 Blocked kicks by the Notre Dame special teams unit since the start of the 2022 season through Week 8 of the 2024 campaign — the most in the nation among Power Four programs, just ahead of Georgia Tech (12) and South Carolina (12). Coordinator Brian Mason's unit led the nation with 7 blocks in 13 contests in 2022, and his replacement Marty Biagi has followed that up with 6 in the span of 20 games. 44 Consecutive matches is the unbeaten streak for the Notre Dame men's soccer program in contests that it scored the first goal of the game. Through the Fighting Irish's 5-0 win over Illinois-Chicago on Oct. 22, they are 36-0-7 dating all the way back to the 2021 season. The last time the Irish lost a match after scoring first came against Michigan State in a 4-3 defeat on Sept. 14, 2021. 54th Is where Notre Dame men's basketball was ranked by Matt Norlander in CBS Sports' top 100 And 1 best teams for the 2024-25 season. In addition, sophomore point guard Markus Burton was listed at No. 64 on CBS Sports' list of the top 100 and 1 best players entering the 2024-25 season. "Here's a big swing," Norlander noted. "It was a slog in Year 1 under Micah Shrewsberry, as anticipated, but I'm tagging the Irish to be one of the more surprising high- majors in the months ahead. Shrews was able to retain four starters, the most important being point guard Markus Burton (17.5 ppg, 4.3 apg, 3.3 rpg at 5-foot-11). Burton gets to play beside a utilitarian transfer who should fit like a glove: Princeton guard Matt Allocco. "ND brings back guys who don't have big Q scores but are highly valued on that campus: Tae Davis, Braeden Shrews- berry and J.R. Konieczny. The Irish are going to punch above their weight and steal a few games as a home underdog. The program's been on fire recently with some big-time recruiting wins. "Notre Dame will likely be a projected NCAA team a year from now, but in this bridge season I like Shrewsberry's crew to go from 13 wins to at least five more than that in '24-25." 56.1 Percent odds for Notre Dame to make the College Football Playoff following its 6-1 start, down slightly from its season-opening 58.5. In ad- dition, their odds of winning the title dropped slightly from 5.0 to 4.8 percent. "Heading into 2024, Notre Dame appeared to have two major games in the first eight weeks: at Texas A&M in Week 1 and vs. Louisville in Week 5," ESPN's Bill Con- nelly noted. "The Fighting Irish won both, but their playoff odds are basically the same as when the season began. Why? The Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois, of course. "Combined with the fact that upcoming opponents Florida State and USC are a combined 4-10, the upset loss eliminated basically all margin for error from the Irish's schedule. They still have solid playoff odds primarily because they have a decent chance of winning out, but neutral-site games against both Navy (Week 9) and Army (Week 13) look infi- nitely trickier than they did at the start of the season. The Irish have looked the part of late, but another slip-up could be devastating." ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER