Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529460
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 23, 2024 11 UNDER THE DOME "The top four classes aren't unexpected — three bluebloods [Duke, UConn and Kentucky] and John Calipari [who is now at Arkansas]. But not far behind that group are two schools [Notre Dame and LSU] that aren't regulars in this space. And, both classes aren't done. The Fighting Irish are squarely in the mix for top-five prospect Nate Ament, while the Tigers are in pursuit of Chris Cenac Jr." — Jeff Borzello of ESPN on Notre Dame men's basketball's 2025 recruiting class "We just went berserk. Once he was in the end zone we just went crazy, really crazy. … I'm just so thankful for them giving a small-town Wyoming kid a chance. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a memory of a lifetime." — Jim Talich on being present to watch his son, sophomore safety Luke Talich, return his first career collegiate interception 79 yards for a touchdown — the first -ever touch- down scored by an Irish player who was born in the state of Wyoming — in Notre Dame's 52-3 win over Florida State Nov. 9 (Cowboy State Daily) "Despite being natural in-state rivals, the two schools haven't met since 1991, though they've scheduled a two-game series for 2030 at Notre Dame and 2031 in Bloomington, Ind. Yet a dream scenario could have the Irish and Hoosiers meeting in the playoffs, a battle for state supremacy that would pit a traditional national power against college football's ultimate Cinderella. It might seem far-fetched to think the state of Indiana could be the center of the college football universe for a day, but these are crazy times we live in." — Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune on the possibility of Notre Dame and Indiana playing each other in the College Football Playoff "Two first-round upsets? We have Ole Miss beat- ing Penn State and Notre Dame taking out Indiana. The Rebels likely would be favored against BYU in the Fiesta Bowl if it comes to this matchup, but it is a trip out West. Notre Dame would make its first trip to Pasadena, Calif., since 1925 to face the Ducks. It would be cool to see those gold Irish helmets com- ing out of the tunnel at the Rose Bowl." — Sporting News' Bill Bender on his Nov. 10 CFP projections "In Leonard's first two starts for Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish averaged just 18.5 points and lost to Northern Illinois. In the seven games since, they've averaged 44 points per game. Starting with Week 3, Leonard ranks seventh in QBR, combin- ing minimal risk (1 interception and only 6 sacks in that span) with great mobility (562 non-sack rushing yards, seventh nationally). The Irish don't produce a lot of big plays, but they're physical and relentless. They may have a couple of tricky games remaining, but they've given us no reason to doubt them since NIU left town." — ESPN's Bill Connelly "Notre Dame's offensive tackles are not excelling, which was expected after losing Joe Alt and Blake Fisher to the NFL. The Irish have been forced to start true freshman Anthonie Knapp after Charles Jagusah's fall camp injury. Knapp has allowed 14 pressures, four sacks and five penalties, though he shows promise for the future. With the College Football Playoff on the line, Knapp's inexperience could become an issue against top-tier edge rush- ers, but these reps should pay off for him next sea- son. — Blake Brockermeyer of CBS Sports on Notre Dame's biggest position of need being left tackle "How would you rate Notre Dame's depth with- out Riley Leonard, Jordan Clark, Rod Heard II, RJ Oben, Beaux Collins, Kris Mitchell, Jayden Harrison and Mitch Jeter? They haven't all been hits, but Notre Dame's portal recruiting has clicked at a much higher percentage than its high school recruiting. It's easier to have good depth when you're able to fill in holes with college players on the open market. Credit Notre Dame for being smart about how it's invested." — Pete Sampson of The Athletic Irish On Social Media THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "She impacts the game in both ways — her quickness and speed and tenaciousness. I'll be interested to see if that's still as on display with Olivia Miles back. The fact that she's smaller — it has no impact whatsoever. It's probably an ad- vantage for her. She plays so hard. She's so smart, and she puts herself out there. She hunts down the steals. A lot of kids, they're content to run back on defense and play defense because the coach told them to. She plays defense like she loves it." — An anonymous coach's scouting report for Notre Dame sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo, who was ranked as the No. 4 player in the country heading into the 2024-25 season by The Athletic PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER