Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 FEBRUARY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Izzy Engle — Soccer Even three weeks after the Irish women's soccer season ended, the hardware contin- ued to pour in for the freshman phenom from Edina, Minn. After tying for second nationally this season with 19 goals — the most for a freshman player nationally since 2014 — Notre Dame's star forward/midfielder surprised nobody when she was named the Top- DrawerSoccer.com Freshman of the Year Dec. 19. Engle also earned second-team All-America honors after leading the Irish with 39 points. Danny Nelson — Hockey The sophomore forward from Maple Grove, Minn., was a standout for the United States during winter break at the IIHF Junior World Championships in Ottawa, On- tario. He recorded 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists) to help Team USA win the gold medal. Nelson scored 2 goals in a 5-1 win over Latvia Dec. 28, tallied the game-winner in a 4-1 triumph over Canada Dec. 31 and found the back of the net once in a 7-2 win over Switzer- land in the quarterfinals Jan. 2. Jadin O'Brien —Track and Field The versatile graduate student from Pewaukee, Wis., opened her indoor season in terrific fashion at the Blue-Gold Invi- tational Dec. 6, with individual wins in three different events. She captured the top spot in the 60-meter hurdles (8.30), 300-meter sprint (38.85) and the shot put (14.91m) to pace all Irish athletes at the Loftus Center. O'Brien began this season as the two-time de- fending NCAA indoor pentathlon champion after claiming those honors in 2023 and 2024. Matthew Roou — Soccer Less than a month after the senior from Germantown, Wis., claimed ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors for his work on the field, the star forward earned first-team Academic All- America honors from College Sports Communicators Dec. 10. Roou led the ACC in points (32) and goals (14), the most goals for a Notre Dame player in eight seasons. And now, he is one of only nine Irish players all-time to earn first-team Academic All-America status. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love has produced the first 1,000-yard rushing season for the Irish since current Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams eclipsed that mark for Notre Dame in both 2020 and 2021. Heading into the Penn State game, Love's 1,076 yards ranked 18th on Notre Dame's all-time single-season chart. More impressively, though, he accomplished that feat while logging just 148 carries. That is the fewest among the other 13 Irish players — five did it multiple times, including three- time 1,000-yard rusher Allen Pinkett from 1983-85 — that have reached that cherished running back milestone. Love's average of 7.3 yards per carry ranks second among all single-season 1,000-yard rushers in school history, be- hind only Reggie Brooks. In 1992, Brooks averaged 8.0 yards on 167 carries en route to 1,343 yards (which ranks fifth on the school's all-time single-season list). Behind Love, Josh Adams produced 6.9 yards per carry on his way to 1,430 yards — second on the school's all-time list — in 2017. Only two other 1,000- yard Irish rushers have aver- aged more than 6.0 yards per carry: Lee Becton at 6.4 with 164 rushes for 1,044 yards in 1993 and Audric Estimé at 6.4 with 210 attempts for 1,341 yards in 2023. — Steve Downey CHARTING THE IRISH NOTRE DAME AMONG THE MOST VALUABLE COLLEGE ATHLETIC PROGRAMS Notre Dame was ranked No. 6 on CNBC's list of the 75 most valuable college athletic programs. Notre Dame, which was the only school not affiliated with either the Big Ten or SEC in the top 15, was given a valuation of $969 million after earning $224 million in revenue in 2023. Due to their massive media rights deals, the SEC and Big Ten dominated CNBC's list. In aggregate, the SEC is worth $13.3 billion, an average of $832 million per school; followed by the Big Ten at $13.2 billion, an average of $734 million per school; the ACC at $9.6 billion, an average of $562 million per school; and the Big 12 at $6.7 billion, an average of $420 million per school. "Ohio State University is the most valuable athletic program, worth an estimated $1.32 billion," CNBC noted. "The Buckeyes had $280 million in revenue in 2023, the most of any school. Other fac- tors that helped propel the Buckeyes to the top of the rankings are an alumni base of over 600,000, a fan base of more than 11 million, boosters that donated nearly $60 million last year, and a football team that routinely has attendance of over 100,000 at its games." — Steve Downey Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love's average of 7.3 yards per carry in 2024 ranks second among all single-season 1,000-yard rushers in school history. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Rk. School Valuation Revenue 1. Ohio State $1.32B $280M 2. Texas $1.28B $271M 3. Texas A&M $1.26B $279M 4. Michigan $1.06B $230M 5. Alabama $978M $200M 6. Notre Dame $969M $224M 7. Georgia $950M $210M 8. Nebraska $943M $205M 9. Tennessee $940M $202M 10. Oklahoma $928M $199M 11. Penn State $924M $202M 12. Southern Cal $923M $212M 13. LSU $916M $200M Rk. School Valuation Revenue 14. Florida $865M $189M 15. Wisconsin $838M $198M 16. Clemson $800M $196M 17. Oregon $780M $151M 18. Arkansas $776M $167M 19. Kentucky $775M $174M 20. Auburn $772M $195M 21. Iowa $747M $167M 22. Michigan State $740M $171M 23. Stanford $687M $180M 24. Florida State $673M $170M 25. Illinois $665M $148M HERE IS THE TOP 25 ON CNBC'S LIST OF THE 75 MOST VALUABLE COLLEGE ATHLETIC PROGRAMS: TOP FIVE IRISH 1,000-YARD RUSHERS IN YARDS PER CARRY Rk. Player, Season Carries Yards Yards Per Carry 1. Reggie Brooks, 1992 167 1,343 8.0 2. Jeremiyah Love, 2024 148 1,076 7.3 3. Josh Adams, 2017 206 1,430 6.9 4. Lee Becton, 1993 164 1,044 6.4 Audric Estimé, 2023 210 1,341 6.4