Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 DECEMBER 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Axel Kumlin — Hockey The junior defenseman from Stockholm, Sweden, earned three-star recogni- tion on when he tallied 1 goal and 2 assists in a 5-3 loss to No. 4 Minnesota Nov. 23 at the Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend. Kumlin scored on a power play goal in the first period to give the Irish a 1-0 lead, then as- sisted on the second and third goals in the sec- ond period to tie the game at 3-3, before the Gophers mounted their game-winning push. Phyona Schrader — Volleyball The senior setter from An- keny, Iowa, recorded her 11th triple-double of the season in a hard-fought five-set victory over Virginia Tech Nov. 22 in Blacksburg, Va. She finished the match with 19 kills, 22 as- sists, 16 digs, 2 blocks and 1 service ace in helping the Irish to their second straight win after they lost 11 straight matches. Heading into the final three matches of the season, Schrader led the Irish with 269 kills and 473 assists. Izaiah Steury — Cross Country The Pleasant Lake, Ind., junior earned All- America honors with a 24th- place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships Nov. 23 at the Thomas Zimmer Cross Coun- try Course in Madison, Wis. S t e u r y t ra v e r s e d t h e 10,000-meter course in a personal-best time of 29:17.1 while helping Notre Dame to a 10th-place team finish. The top 40 finishers in the men's and women's races each earned All-America honors. Erin Strzelecki — Cross Country The graduate student from Fort Wayne, Ind., earned All-America honors with a 37th-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships Nov. 23 in Madison, Wis. She covered the 6,000-meter course in 20:02.9 to pace the Irish and help the team to a 16th-place finish. This marked the second straight season that Strzelecki earned All-America honors after she also finished 37th in the race last year at Char- lottesville, Va. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE Through Week 14 of the college football season, Notre Dame was the No. 1 team in the nation in scoring margin. The Fighting Irish outscored their opponents 478-163 during their 11-1 regular season, an aver- age of 26.3 points per game. Not far behind Notre Dame was Ohio State (24.6) and Indiana (24.5) of the Big Ten, and Texas (23.2) of the Southeastern Conference. Top-ranked Oregon (19.8) of the Big Ten rounded out the top five. Notre Dame has prided itself this season in not just beating each opponent on its 57th-ranked schedule per the ESPN Football Power Index, but leaving no doubt. Head coach Marcus Freeman would tell you that it's about winning every rep. Freeman's group has been better than most teams at running up the score when the game is in hand, which has led to the top point differential in college football. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN In the aftermath of Notre Dame's loss to Northern Illinois Sept. 7, it was easy to think, "It's over." The Irish — then ranked No. 5 in the country in the Associated Press Top 25 — had just suffered one of their worst losses in program history. From the outside looking in, all hope seemed lost. But on paper, Notre Dame could still accomplish everything the coaches and players wanted to in 2024. "Yeah, this is awful. But like, Game 2," graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III said that day. "We got 10 games left, at least. … We literally just started the season. So we're done, and that's it. But that's not us, and I know that's not us, so we're gonna come out strong next week." The Irish came out strong the next week, demolishing Purdue 66-7. And they didn't look back. On Nov. 26, the College Football Playoff Selec- tion Committee made it official. Notre Dame climbed all the way back to No. 5 in the country, according to the AP, CFP and coaches polls. The Irish did it by ripping off nine straight wins, beginning with Purdue. Most recently, Notre Dame massacred Army in a 49-14 game that was probably not as close as the score indicated. "We felt [the body of work] overcame what was a troubling loss to Northern Illinois," CFP Selection Committee chairman and Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel said. "We all thought that was not the Notre Dame that we've seen and we've looked at, what hap- pened against Northern Illinois." The Irish have proven, regardless of what happens next, that NIU was an anomaly. They now have the ranking to show for it. — Jack Soble TOP FIVE FBS TEAMS IN AVERAGE SCORING MARGIN Through Week 14 Rk. School Margin Record 1. Notre Dame 26.3 11-1 2. Ohio State 24.6 10-2 3. Indiana 24.5 11-1 4. Texas 23.2 11-1 5. Oregon 19.8 12-0 NOTRE DAME'S AP POLL RANKING SINCE WEEK 1 Wk. Rank Previous Result 1 W at Texas A&M No. 5 2 L vs. Northern Illinois No. 18 3 W at Purdue No. 17 4 W vs. Miami (Ohio) No. 16 5 W vs. Louisville No. 14 6 BYE No. 11 7 W vs. Stanford No. 12 8 W vs. Georgia Tech No. 12 9 W vs. Navy No. 8 10 BYE No. 10* 11 W vs. Florida State No. 8* 12 W vs. Virginia No. 6* 13 W vs. Army No. 5* * Notre Dame earned the same ranking from the College Football Playoff Selection Committee Celebrations like this one with graduate stu- dent wide receiver Beaux Collins (right) and freshman running back Aneyas Williams have become commonplace for Notre Dame. Through Week 14, the Irish had the best scoring margin (26.3 points per game) in the country. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER