Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 16, 2024 9 UNDER THE DOME 0.89 Goals per game for Notre Dame freshman midfielder/forward Izzy Engle en route to being named the ACC Women's Soccer Freshman of the Year. That figure led the ACC and was tied for third nation- ally through Nov. 4. Engle's 16 goals in 18 matches are tied for the eighth-most by an Irish fresh- man. She also ranked second in the ACC and ninth nationally with 33 points, making her one of only two players in the ACC with 30 or more points on the year (Cal's Karlie Lema was the other with 38 on her way to ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors). Engle was also named first-team All-ACC alongside her teammate, junior defender Leah Klenke. Fellow Irish freshmen Annabelle Chukwu and Lily Joseph were named to the third team. Notre Dame dominated the ACC All- Freshman Team list by earning four of the 11 spots, with Engle, Chukwu and Joseph being joined by Ellie Hodsden. That foursome rank first, second, third and fifth, respectively, on the team in total points, and were responsible for 35 of the Irish's 45 goals. 1 Former Notre Dame player — offensive tackle Joe Alt of the Los Angeles Chargers — was named to CBS Sports' 2024 NFL Midseason All-Rookie Team. "Alt was the first offensive lineman selected in April, and he's played like someone deserving of that distinction in the first half of his rookie season," Chris Trapasso noted. "Dominant? Not necessarily, but the former Notre Dame blocker with immense height and athleticism has surrendered a mere 6 pressures on 208 pass-blocking snaps and mostly done well paving lanes for the Chargers' ground game." 1st Player in ACC history to have a triple-double in three different seasons is Notre Dame graduate student guard Olivia Miles — who put up 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the Irish's season-opening 105-61 over Mercyhurst Nov. 4 — per ESPN Stats & Info. According to OptaSTATS, she is also the only NBA, WNBA, or Division I men's or women's player in the last 25 years to miss an entire season and then have a 20-point triple-double in his or her first game back. Miles' four triple-doubles are already a Notre Dame record — Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jackie Young are tied for second with two each — and rank second in ACC history, behind only Maryland's Alyssa Thomas' six from 2011-14 (before the Terrapins moved to the Big Ten). 7 Touchdowns for Notre Dame during its 51-14 triumph over Navy at MetLife Stadium Oct. 26 was more than both the New York Jets (5 in three games) and New York Giants (1 in four games) combined for on that field through Week 8 of the NFL season. No. 40 Was the ranking for Notre Dame sophomore point guard MARKUS BURTON on ESPN's list of the 100 best players in men's college basketball heading into the 2024-25 season. He was the lone Irish player included on the list. "Burton gave ND fans a reason to smile in a 13-20 season — Mi- cah Shrewsberry's first year in South Bend," ESPN noted. "The [6-0] guard, averaged 17.5 PPG as a freshman, finishing with 20 points or more in 11 games. If he can become a consistent threat from the three-point line (30 percent), the All-ACC third-team pick could mature into one of the expanded conference's best players." 80.0 Percent stop rate — the percentage of a defense's drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs — for Notre Dame through Week 10 of the college football season, per ESPN. That ranked fourth in the nation, behind only Tennessee (80.5), Army (80.3) and Texas (80.2). "Last year, national champ Michigan finished No. 1 with a stop rate of 81.6 percent in its games against FBS opponents," ESPN's Max Olson noted. "The top 25 teams in the final 2023 stop rate standings won a total of 249 games, with seven earning conference titles. Great teams find a way to get stops in critical situations." Here is the top 10 through Week 10: Rk. Team Games Stop Rate Pts./Drive 1. Tennessee 7 80.5% 0.98 2. Army 7 80.3% 1.24 3. Texas 8 80.2% 0.90 4. Notre Dame 8 80.0% 1.04 5. Ohio State 8 79.1% 0.97 6. James Madison 7 76.2% 1.37 7. Iowa State 7 75.9% 1.36 8. Indiana 8 75.9% 1.38 9. Alabama 8 74.7% 1.33 10. Ole Miss 8 74.7% 1.21 No. 91 Is where guard Matt Allocco, who came to Notre Dame from Princeton, was ranked in CBS Sports' top 100 and 1 transfers to know entering the 2024-25 men's college basketball season. "This is one of the best fits in the portal," Isaac Trotter of CBS Sports noted. "Allocco is a pure hooper. The Princeton transfer is so comfortable playing mismatch-hunting basketball, which is a staple of Micah Shrews- berry's game plan. He shot over 40 percent from downtown on both off-the-dribble three-pointers and catch-and-shoot treys. He's also super comfortable getting to his midrange jumper or slicing his way to the rim. The decision-making is a nice benefit, too. Allocco has to get stronger to make his drives more impactful. He's also not the most explosive dude on the floor, but the wiggle is real. Allocco is a needle-mover, and Shrewsberry should have some fun cooking up some open looks for him to feast." +600 Odds for Notre Dame to win the NCAA women's basketball national championship — the fourth-best in the country — at the start of the season per ESPN BET. South Carolina tipped off as the clear-cut favorite at +175, followed by Connecticut and USC (both at +415), the Irish and Texas (+850), Those five schools were the only ones to have odds shorter than 10-1 (+1000) at ESPN BET. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER