Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 OCT. 18, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Will Belle — Hockey The freshman forward from Dongguan, China, made an immediate impact with his new team with 1 goal and 1 assist in a 5-2 exhibi- tion game win over the USA Hockey National Team Devel- opment Program Oct. 3. Ironically, Belle came to Notre Dame after spending two years playing for USNTDP before joining the Irish. He scored 4 goals with 12 assists in 55 games in his final year with the developmental team. Mary Bonner Dalton — Cross Country T h e s o p h o m o re f ro m Charlotte, N.C., finished first individually at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational Oct. 3 on campus to help the Irish cruise to the team title. She covered the 5K course in 15:53.1 to pace a group of five Notre Dame runners who finished and scored in the top 10. Bonner Dalton's time was the fastest ever at the annual meet by four seconds, and was only the second sub-16 minute time in event history. Ethan Coleman — Cross Country The redshirt junior from Tumwater, Wash., finished second individually at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invi- tational Oct. 3 on campus for the first-place Irish. He covered the 8K course in 22:40.6 to pace a group of four Notre Dame runners who finished and scored in the top eight individually for a run- away team victory over runner-up Boise State. Coleman's finishing time was only 1.2 sec- onds off the race winner's (22:39.4). Ally Pinto — Soccer The sophomore midfielder from Flower Mound, Texas, scored a goal on her only shot of the game in a 3-1 victory over Louisville Oct. 3 at Alumni Stadium in South Bend. Pinto scored the game- winner in the 55th minute when she broke a 1-1 tie to lift the No. 2 Irish to their ninth straight victory and keep them undefeated and atop the ACC standings. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE Notre Dame could trip up any week in its attempt to win 10 consecutive games to make a case that it belongs in this year's College Football Playoff. But heading into Notre Dame's Week 7 matchup with North Carolina State, ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) projected the Irish as the team most likely to win its remaining games in the 2025 regular season. The FPI gave Notre Dame a 42.4 percent chance to win the final seven games on its schedule. That was significantly better than No. 2-ranked and 5-0 Miami, which was second at 29.2 percent. Notre Dame and Miami crossed paths in their season openers, and the Hurricanes came away with a 27-24 home victory. Their odds to win out weren't just a reflection of how good both teams are sup- posed to be this season. It also indicated the weakness in the ACC. The Irish and Hurricanes share four common opponents in the final seven games in their respective regular seasons: North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Stanford. All four of those ACC programs lost at least one of their first three conference games this season and were projected in a preseason media vote to finish among the bottom nine teams in the 17-team ACC. The FPI, which is intended to project a team's future performance, ranked Notre Dame fifth in the country with a rating of 21.0 through Week 6. Miami was four spots behind at 19.1. The FPI also projected Notre Dame as hav- ing a 17.1 percent chance to make the playoff and a 1.2 percent chance to win the national championship. Miami was given a 78.1 percent chance to make the playoff and 7.3 percent chance to win the national championship. — Tyler James CHARTING THE IRISH CJ CARR MAKES CASE AS BEST FRESHMAN QB IN COUNTRY The praise for Notre Dame redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr keeps coming in the first half of the 2025 season. Carr, who made his starting debut in the season opener at Miami, has drawn attention from national reporters for his efficient play in Notre Dame's offense. He completed 86 of 127 passes (67.7 percent) for 1,280 yards with 11 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in Notre Dame's first five games. Those performances were enough to land Carr in the No. 1 spot on ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill's rank- ing of the top 10 freshman quarterbacks in college football. Luginbill's list included redshirt freshman like Carr and Ohio State's Julian Sayin, who was ranked second. "Carr is one of college football's most poised quarterbacks regardless of class," Luginbill wrote. "The redshirt freshman wasn't the reason Notre Dame lost to Miami or Texas A&M — in fact, he kept the Irish in contention. Carr ranks seventh nationally in QBR (86.3) because of his decision-making and accuracy." Luginbill also wrote that Carr "has the makings of a future top-five NFL draft pick." Notre Dame hasn't had a quarterback selected in the first round of an NFL draft since Brady Quinn in 2007. Quinn was unsuccessfully recruited by Carr 's grandfather, Lloyd Carr, at Michigan. Quinn played in 12 games as a true freshman in 2003. He completed 47.3 percent of his passes (157 of 332) for 1,831 yards with 9 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Carr should pass Quinn's freshman passing yards total before the end of October. How Carr's passing numbers stack up against Quinn's 2004-06 seasons will be worth monitoring near the end of the season. — Tyler James ✦ Don't assume the post office knows your vacation or moving schedule! ✦ ALL addresses are cross-referenced with the USPS National Change of Address database. Your home address will be automatically changed to the mailing address on file with the US Postal Service. ✦ Most forwarding requests expire in 60 days and DO NOT include periodical mail. ✦ Issues are discarded at the discretion of the USPS. MOVING? To prevent missed issues, please notify the US Postal Service ASAP and verify your delivery address with your local post office. TEAMS MOST LIKELY TO WIN OUT These are the top five teams with the best chance to win the rest of their regular season games, per ESPN's FPI. Rk. Team Win Out % 1. Notre Dame 42.4 2. Miami (Fla.) 29.2 3. Old Dominion 24.3 4. Ohio State 22.0 5. Memphis 18.3 TOM LUGINBILL'S TOP 10 FRESHMAN QUARTERBACKS Heading into Week 7 Rk. Quarterback, School 1. CJ Carr, Notre Dame 2. Julian Sayin, Ohio State 3. Bear Bachmeier, BYU 4. Malik Washington, Maryland 5. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, California 6. Bryce Underwood, Michigan 7. Micah Alejado, Hawai'i 8. Brad Jackson, Texas State 9. Drake Lindsey, Minnesota 10. Mason Heintschel, Pittsburgh