Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1535097
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SUMMER 2025 27 minutes, Gray intercepted Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava and took it 99 yards for a pick six. In doing so, he clinched Notre Dame's trip to the College Football Playoff. Forty days later, he intercepted Penn State quarterback Drew Allar with 33 seconds left in the Orange Bowl, setting up a game-winning field goal that sent the Irish to the title game. And 10 days after that, Smith beat him on third-and-11. Notre Dame sent an all-out blitz at Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, but the Buckeyes picked it up. Gray couldn't catch up to the best wide receiver in college football, and that closed the curtains on Notre Dame's season. "Unfortunately, Ohio State got the best of me," Gray said. "I ain't gonna lie. It was a good play by them in every way." Over three months later, he's prepared to make sure third-and-11 doesn't define him. "I use it as a motivating factor," Gray said. "I mostly pray to God about it and try to use my swagger. It works out on the field, and I'm get- ting better every day." Gray will start at field cornerback once again in 2025, opposite sophomore Leonard Moore on the boundary. Field was new to him a year ago; he moved from boundary in the hopes of start- ing alongside Benjamin Morrison. In August 2024, he won the job. Since corner became her son's primary po- sition, Shonda Gray noticed he had what she called "DB brain." Over time, Shonda Gray came to believe her son was created to play corner- back. The events of Jan. 20 and the days imme- diately following it only strengthened her belief. "He's always been that kid that never held onto the negativity," Shonda Gray said. "He is the kid that finds the happiness and joy and moves on." As he went through interviews in April, Gray spoke with the same confidence and excitement that reporters were used to seeing in his first two years with the program. It's obvious that third- and-11 is in the past. ✦ Gray's interception of Penn State quarterback Drew Allar with 33 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter set up Notre Dame's game-winning field goal to put the Irish in the national title contest. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER "He's always been that kid that never held onto the negativity. He is the kid that finds the happiness and joy and moves on." GRAY'S MOTHER, SHONDA