Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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6 NOV. 15, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TROPHY TALK (1) There does not seem to be a planned trophy to be awarded to the winner of the long Notre Dame- Clemson home-and-home series; (2) There seems to be little effort to renew the annual Notre Dame-USC game. Therefore, why not shift the Jew- eled Shillelagh Trophy (awarded to the winner of the ND-USC game), which the Irish now possess (for eter- nity?), to the winner of the Notre Dame-Clemson game? Go Irish! Theodore Kuhlmeier San Antonio, Texas That is an interesting idea, Mr. Kuhlmeier. In reality, though, we are not sure that would work. The Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy has been awarded to the winner of the annual Notre Dame-Southern Cal football rivalry game since 1952. A new jeweled ornament is added to the foot-long shillelagh — a traditional Irish club, made from oak or blackthorn saplings from Ireland — after each game to signify the vic- tory: emerald-studded shamrocks for Notre Dame wins and ruby-studded Trojan head for Southern Cal wins. It should be noted, though, that Notre Dame has also played for two other Shillelagh trophies in their history: one with Northwestern and one with Purdue, the latter of which is still in use today. So, why not just start a new Shillelagh trophy for the series with Clemson? DYNAMIC DUO Why doesn't Notre Dame play Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price together in the backfield on a least a few plays? Andy Kelly '68 Mr. Kelly, there is no doubt that us- ing both Love and Price at the same time would be one way to force de- fenses to make some difficult choices. This summer, head coach Marcus Freeman hinted at doing just that this season. "We have to utilize every person in that room, and that might mean having more than one running back on the field at one time," Freeman said on ESPN's "Vibe Check" podcast in late July. However, the only time we have seen it so far this season was in the opener at Miami when the duo was on the field at the same time for a few plays. Surprisingly, during that 27-24 loss to the Hurricanes, Love and Price com- bined for a season-low 20 touches. Since that game, Love and Price have formed one of the most dy- namic duos in college football. Offensive coordina- tor Mike Denbrock says the pair balance each other perfectly, calling them "a really good yin and yang" producing big things for the offense. I asked my colleagues about this, and Eric Han- sen noted that using Love and Price together is something that Denbrock "has in his holster" and that we could see it again at some point down the stretch if they feel it gives them a tactical advan- tage against a future opponent. FAN FORUM BE HEARD! Send your letters to: steve.downey@on3.com or mail to: Blue & Gold Illustrated, P. O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702 If it already wasn't evident, it became clear during Notre Dame's 25-10 win at Boston College that the Irish have an issue with their kicking game. They missed three kicks — two extra points and one field goal — that cost them six points (when you factor in a missed two-point conversion that was attempted after the first missed point-after try). All options are on the table for Notre Dame to solve the kicking crisis. Here is what some Irish fans had to say about the matter on our message board at BlueandGold.com. Rockne1988: I posted Saturday night that they probably are going to have to get a sports psychologist involved with the kickers. I can't imagine what the ND nation will be like if a game came down to a FG!?!?! And now add in the extra point try?!?! Oh, dear Lord. The_Juniper_Run: 2 suggestions I would give as a former HS kicker: 1. Change the spot on extra points. Kicking from the center is usually ideal, but lining the ball up with one of the goalposts can put a kicker into a different mindset when he's in a funk. 2. Have the kickers watch a short video about something terrible going on in the world and then direct a donation toward alleviating that problem. Seriously. It's one thing for a sports psychologist to try to convince a kicker to ignore the pressure. It's something very different to have a stark reminder that there really are much more important things in life than whether or not the ball goes through the uprights. Java65: God Bless Freeman but this is, and has been, 100% mental. Kicking an XP has nothing to do with physical or these kids would never have kicked in HS. Burnette was 38 of 39 in 2024. The goalposts don't get smaller nor do they use a different football at UNC. Schmidt has kicked probably 100 XP in HS. IMO, hand the kicking duties to Schmidt and stick with him. If he misses 5 FGs in a row, keep with him. The worst thing to do is to keep switching between kickers. Irishchef3: You need to ask the question why two years in a row is ND starting kicker injured? Kickers getting injured is rare. And Notre Dame handpicked Noah Burnette in the portal, and now he can't even kick an extra point is pure insanity. Zero excuse for it! Also ND's staff recruited Erik Schmidt and offered him a full scholarship at ND. So, considering both realities, how is it 8 games into a season ND can't even kick an extra point? I am not even talking about kicking field goals which is a whole different discussion. An extra point is the layup of football. Just take one of the three kickers and make him the extra point kicker only. Just concentrate on one thing. Mickey82: One suggestion: With all this worry and pressure it might do well to have the holder be light about it and just say something like "Bang it through, (name)!" just make it light and let the kicker relax some. Don't let the holder say something like "It's all right, let's go." Got to take some pressure away and keep it light. There's no belief these guys can't do it, again keep it light and take some pressure away, just keep talking light and don't let the kicker start getting in a funk. FROM THE WEB .com .com JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT BLUEANDGOLD.COM! Sign up for just $1 for the first seven days! The Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy is covered with emerald-studded shamrocks for Notre Dame wins and ruby-studded shamrocks for Southern Cal wins. FILE PHOTO