Blue and Gold Illustrated

12 NOV. 1, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Izzy Engle — Soccer The sophomore mid- f i e l d e r / f o r w a r d f r o m Edina, Minn., tallied 1 goal and 1 assist in a thrilling 4-2 comeback win for No. 2 Notre Dame over No. 5 Florida State Oct. 9 at Alumni Stadium. The Irish trailed 2-0 before scoring the last 4 goals of the match. Through games played as of Oct. 13, Engle ranked second in the country with 31 points and was third nationally with 13 goals. Jack Flanagan — Soccer The junior forward from Rancho Palos Verdes, Ca- lif., scored his first goal of the season in the 86th minute to force a 1-1 road draw with No. 8 Virginia Oct. 10 at Klockner Sta- dium in Charlottesville, Va. Through 13 matches, Flanagan had 1 goal and 1 assist, and he was tied for third on the Irish with 7 shots on goal. Sydney Helmers — Volleyball The junior outside hitter from Hebron, Ky., enjoyed a terrific two-game week- end in victories over Vir- ginia Oct. 10 and Virginia Tech Oct. 12. In a 3-0 win over the Cav- aliers, Helmers recorded a game-high 17 kills with 7 digs. Two nights later, in a 3-1 win over the Hokies, Helmers tallied a game-high 19 kills with 6 more digs. Sutter Muzzatti — Hockey The graduate student forward Okemos, Mich., who transferred to Notre Dame from RPI scored 2 goals and added 1 assist in two games — both losses — to Arizona State Oct. 10 and Quinnipiac Oct. 11. Muzzatti had an assist in the 5-3 loss to the Sun Devils and then scored the only 2 goals for Notre Dame in a 7-2 loss to Quinnipiac as part of the 2025 Icebreaker Tournament in Tempe, Ariz. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE On Oct. 12, Penn State shocked the college football world when it fired longtime head coach James Franklin. The Nittany Lions were the No. 2 team in the country Sept. 27, just months after reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals (and of course, falling to Notre Dame). Fifteen days later, Franklin was out of a job. As On3's Pete Nakos and Chris Low reported, Penn State higher-ups were skeptical that Franklin was the coach to get them a national championship. He was 4-21 against Associated Press top-10 opponents, and embarrassing losses to UCLA and Northwestern gave them a reason to pull the trigger. "They were waiting for an opening, because they knew you couldn't fire a coach who was in the semifinal of the playoff just the year before," a "source close to the situation" told Nakos and Low. In any case, Penn State has to pay Franklin the second-largest buyout in college football history: $48.6 million, which trails only the $76.8 million that Texas A&M had to pay Jimbo Fisher after firing him in 2023. The gap between No. 2 (Franklin) and No. 3 (Auburn's Gus Malzahn, $21.45 million) is large, but the gap between No. 3 and No. 4 is not. No. 4 is, as you might have guessed, the $19 million that Notre Dame owed Charlie Weis after firing him in 2009. Weis was hired in 2005, but he signed a 10-year contract extension in October of his first season. He would last fewer than half those years. After star quarterback Brady Quinn departed, Weis' record plummeted to 3-9 in 2007 before settling in at .500 his final two years. Four straight losses to end the 2009 season sealed the deal, and Notre Dame made the diffi- cult but necessary decision to eat the remainder of his contract. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH NO LONGER ROCK BOTTOM In an earlier edition of Charting The Irish, we highlighted 10 embarrassing statistics that answered the question, "Is Notre Dame really that bad on defense?" with a resounding "Yes." That version was written after the Irish started 0-2 with losses to Miami and Texas A&M. Four games later, it's time for something of a progress report. Only one of the 10 stats originally chosen remains near the bottom of the country: tackles for loss per game. The Irish average 3.67, which is tied for 132nd out of 136 FBS teams. Each of the other nine, which ranged from T-133 to 97, now range from middle of the pack to pretty good to even borderline elite. For instance, Notre Dame was tied for 119th in college football in total takeaways with just 1. It is now tied for 12th with 12, including 7 combined in wins over Boise State and North Carolina State. Other stats in which the Irish have made notable gains include sacks per game, where they have risen from T-133rd to T-34th, and pass efficiency defense, where they have risen from 103rd to 40th. And of course, in the all-important opponent points per game, Notre Dame is up to 46th after starting the season tied for 118th. — Jack Soble NOTABLE NOTRE DAME DEFENSIVE STATS Statistic Through Week 2 (Rank) Through Week 7 (Rank) TFL per game 2.00 (T-134) 3.67 (T-132) Sacks per game 0.50 (T-133) 2.50 (T-34) Opponent EPA per pass play 0.311 (132) -0.033 (63) PFF coverage grade 56.4 (120) 80.8 (T-63) Takeaways 1 (T-119) 12 (T-12) Points per game 34.0 (T-118) 20.8 (46) Opponent yards per pass attempt 8.4 (T-114) 7.1 (T-69) Opponent first downs per game 22.0 (T-107) 19.0 (T-56) Pass efficiency defense 142.78 (103) 119.34 (40) PFF pass rush grade 65.4 (97) 75.2 (T-48) TOP FIVE HEAD COACHING BUYOUTS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL Rk. Coach, School Buyout 1. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M $76.8 million 2. James Franklin, Penn State $48.6 million 3. Gus Malzahn, Auburn $21.45 million 4. Charlie Weis, Notre Dame $19 million 5. Willie Taggart, Florida State $18 million Charlie Weis received a $19 million buy- out when he was fired by Notre Dame in 2009. That figure is still the fourth- largest in college football history. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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