Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530074
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2024 9 UNDER THE DOME 2nd Pair of teammates in the past 25 years — Tennessee's Candace Parker and Alexis Hornbuckle did it in 2007 — to each tally 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists against an Associated Press top-10 opponent was Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo (24 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 steals) and Olivia Miles (20 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists) in a 74-61 victory at then- No. 3 USC Nov. 23. The duo of Hidalgo and Miles scored or assisted on 63 of the Fighting Irish's 74 points (85.1 percent) to pro- duce Notre Dame's first double-digit road win over an Associated Press top-five opponent since February 2014 (88-67 over No. 3 Duke). For Hidalgo, it marked her 10th career game with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals — the most in Division I over the past 25 seasons, per Notre Dame media relations. 3 Power Four running backs, per Notre Dame media relations, had posted a game with at least 130 rushing yards on fewer than 10 carries through Week 13 of the 2024 season: V i rg i n i a 's X av i e r Brown (9 carries for 171 yards at Coastal Carolina on Sept. 21), Baylor's Dawson Pendergrass (6 for 142 vs. Oklahoma S t a t e O c t . 2 6 ) and Notre Dame's J E R E M I YA H LOV E (7 for 130 vs. Army Nov. 23). Love — who is the only FBS running back to have rushed for 850 yards while averaging 7.0 yards per carry, scoring 10 rushing touchdowns and compiling 150 receiving yards — is just the fourth Irish running back to achieve 130 or more yards on fewer than 10 carries since 1950, joining Ricky Wat- ters (9 for 134 vs. Navy on Nov. 4, 1989), Reggie Brooks (9 for 157 vs. Northwestern at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sept. 2, 1992) and Josh Adams (8 for 159 vs. Miami [Ohio] on Sept. 30, 2017) on that exclusive list. Eight other Irish players have eclipsed 100 yards on fewer than 10 carries since 1950: Larry Parker (6 for 102 vs. Purdue on Sept. 26, 1970), Mark Green (9 for 102 vs. Navy on Oct. 31, 1987), Rodney Culver (4 for 104 vs. Stanford on Oct. 6, 1990), Joey Goodspeed (4 for 109 at Arizona State on Oct. 10, 1998), Andrew Hendrix (6 for 111 vs. Air Force on Oct. 8, 2011), Dexter Wil- liams (6 for 124 vs. Temple on Sept. 2, 2017), Tony Jones Jr. (7 for 102 vs. Bowling Green on Oct. 5, 2019) and Chris Tyree (6 for 109 vs. Syracuse on Dec. 5, 2020). 5 Wins for Notre Dame by 35 or more points this season — tied for the second most in a season in program history, per ESPN.com. 6 Straight wins — tied for the fourth-longest streak in the Associated Press poll era — for Notre Dame football against ranked opponents: 48-20 over No. 10 USC on Oct. 14, 2023; 40-8 over No. 21 Oregon State in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 29, 2023; 23-13 at No. 20 Texas A&M on Aug. 31, 2024; 31-24 over No. 15 Louisville on Sept. 28, 2024; 51-14 over No. 24 Navy on Oct. 26, 2024; and 49-14 over No. 18 Army on Nov. 23, 2024. It is the first time the Fighting Irish have won six consecutive games against ranked opponents since 1992-93: 57-7 over No. 9 Boston College on Nov. 7, 1992; 17-16 over No. 22 Penn State on Nov. 14, 1992; 31-23 at No. 19 USC on Nov. 28, 1992; 28-3 over No. 4 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1993; 27-23 at No. 3 Michigan on Sept. 11, 1993; and 31-24 over No. 1 Florida State on Nov. 13, 1993. That six-game streak came to end with the stunning 41-39 loss to No. 16 Boston College a week after the Irish knocked off top-ranked FSU. 11-4 Record for Marcus Freeman against ranked opponents since he took over as the Fighting Irish's head coach. The 11 victories versus ranked opponents by Freeman are the most for an Irish head coach in his first three seasons in charge. Freeman's predecessor, Brian Kelly, was just 4-8 against ranked foes — following a 42-13 loss to then-No. 11 Alabama in Week 11 — since leaving Notre Dame for LSU. 17 All-time appearances — and its second in three years — in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the Notre Dame women's soccer program after it advanced there this year with a pair of wins against SEC teams. First, the Irish dispatched No. 5 seed Kentucky 3-1 in the second round Nov. 22, and then they blanked No. 1 seed Mississippi State 2-0 on its home field in the round of 16. In the process, the Fighting Irish became the first team to score on the Bulldogs' (19-3-0) home pitch all season and the first to earn a win there as well. It also marked the first time Notre Dame toppled a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since the 2010 season, which was the last time the Irish won a national championship. However, the Irish (14-4-4) fell 2-0 to No. 3 seed Stanford in the Elite Eight Nov. 29 in Palo Alto, Calif. 49 Or more points scored by the Fighting Irish in back-to-back games against teams ranked by the Associated Press or the College Football Playoff for the first time, per CBS Sports. Notre Dame outscored No. 18 Army and No. 24 Navy 100-28. +107 Points differential for Notre Dame football in points off turnovers through 12 games this season. The Fighting Irish led the nation in turn- overs gained (28) and have earned 141 points off of turnovers compared to their opponents' 34 points off 12 turn- overs. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER