Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541906
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2026 15 55 Years Ago: Jan. 1, 1971 & Jan. 23, 1971 On New Year's Day, No. 6 Notre Dame stunned No. 1 Texas 24-11 in the Cot- ton Bowl to end the Longhorns' 30-game winning streak. In his final game with the Fighting Irish, Heisman Trophy runner-up and quarterback Joe Theismann staked Notre Dame to a 21-3 lead in the second quarter after throwing a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tom Gatewood and then running for 3- and 14-yard scores. However, it was the Irish defense that stole the show with a "Mirror" look against the vaunted Wishbone that forced nine Texas fumbles, five of which were recovered by Notre Dame. The Irish won the turnover category 6-2. The game had been arranged as a national title matchup prior to Notre Dame's regular-season finale at Southern Cal, but when the 5-4-1 Trojans toppled the Irish 38-28, all hope for No. 1 seemed to end. However, after 8-3 Stanford surprised No. 2 and unbeaten Ohio State in the Rose Bowl (27-17), all the Irish needed was for LSU — the SEC champ that lost 3-0 at Notre Dame in November — to upset 10-0-1 and No. 3 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Alas, the Cornhuskers rallied with a fourth-quarter touchdown to win 17-12. "Not even the Pope could vote Notre Dame No. 1," Nebraska head coach Bob Devaney joked after head coach Ara Parseghian campaigned on behalf of the Irish. Nebraska ended up receiving 39 first-place votes and 946 points in the final Associated Press poll compared to Notre Dame's eight first-place ballots and 814 points to place No. 2. Twenty-two days later, senior guard Austin Carr led the Irish to an 89-82 vic- tory versus No. 1 UCLA by scoring 46 points (and 15 of the last 17) by convert- ing 17 of 30 shots from the field and 12 of 16 from the foul line. It marked the first time in collegiate athletics that a school's football and basketball teams defeated No. 1 in the same month. 20 Years Ago: Jan. 16, 2006 For the first time in its history, the Notre Dame football program permit- ted early enrollees. That meant if a high school senior accumulated enough credits to graduate halfway through his senior year, he could enroll in college that January. Many schools began that practice in the early 1990s. Three Fighting Irish recruits served as the pioneers: Indiana running back James Aldridge, Texas offensive lineman Chris Stewart and Oklahoma wide receiver George West. From 2006-15, a total of 35 — never more than five in one class nor fewer than two — early enrollees gained admission into Notre Dame. 15 Years Ago: Jan. 16, 2011 In his first full season of recruiting at Notre Dame, second-year head coach Brian Kelly welcomed five early enrollees for the start of the second semes- ter: kicker Kyle Brindza, quarterback Everett Golson, and defensive linemen Brad Carrico, Aaron Lynch and Ishaq Williams. The landing of five-star prospects Lynch and Williams in particular set off jubilation among Notre Dame faithful because no position is consistently more difficult to recruit at the school than game-changing linemen on defense. Lynch decommitted from in-state Florida State to join the Irish, while Wil- liams, who was headed for an official visit to Penn State, was intercepted by Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco in the early morning hours and changed his mind. The Lynch-Williams tandem was deemed as potentially the greatest edge rushing duo to sign with Notre Dame since Ross Browner and Willie Fry in 1973. Later that month, another five-star defensive lineman, Georgia's Stephon Tuitt, decommitted from Georgia Tech to join the Irish. UNDER THE DOME Anniversaries In Notre Dame Football History: January Quarterback Joe Theismann accounted for all three Irish touchdowns (one passing and two rushing) to lead No. 6 Notre Dame past No. 1 Texas 24-11 in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1971, ending the Longhorns' 30-game winning streak. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Notre Dame announced its annual Echoes Award winners Dec. 5. Here is the full list of honorees with some notes from Blue & Gold Illustrated. • Most Valuable Player: Junior running back Jeremiyah Love • Man of the Year: Redshirt junior offensive line- man Aamil Wagner • Defensive Players of the Year: Junior line- backer Drayk Bowen and redshirt sophomore safety Adon Shuler • Offensive Player of the Year: Redshirt fresh- man quarterback CJ Carr • Special Teams Player of the Year: Redshirt junior running back Jadarian Price • Scholar-Athlete Award: Senior linebacker Jerry Rullo • Iron Cross Award: Senior tight end Eli Raridon • Walk-On of the Year: Senior defensive lineman Kobi Onyiuke • Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year: Se- nior wide receiver Leo Scheidler • Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year: Fresh- man linebacker Ko'o Kia Blue & Gold Notes • Love is a candidate for the Heisman Trophy, the Doak Walker Award and the Walter Camp Player of the Year award. He was the easy and obvious choice to be named Notre Dame's MVP. • Wagner is a team captain and the only Notre Dame player to start all 28 games over the last two seasons. He's as standup as they come. • Perhaps a little bit of a surprise Leonard Moore was not named Notre Dame's defensive MVP, but if anyone else is going to share that honor it might as well be team captains Bowen and Shuler. • The next-most valuable player on the entire team, let alone the Notre Dame offense, might be Carr. So, it's no wonder he earned the offensive MVP nod with Love getting the overall MVP distinction. • Price would lead the country in yards per kick return if he had enough to register for the top of the list, and he's one of a handful of players in the nation with 2 kick return touchdowns this season. • Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has gone out of his way to shout out Rullo in press confer- ences before, so he must be doing something right. Clearly, he is. • Raridon is a horse of all horses from a physical standpoint, so him getting his due is status quo. The Iron Cross Award is a weight room-driven accolade. • Onyiuke is always one of the first walk-ons to get playing time at the end of blowouts. He's a Notre Dame special teams staple from start to finish. • Both ends of the walk-on spectrum filled with Scheidler and Kia earning their respective honors. Kia started getting some special teams run at the end of the season, and Scheidler got himself a couple of catches versus Syracuse. — Tyler Horka NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL ANNOUNCES 2025 ECHOES AWARD WINNERS