Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 FEBRUARY 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Carli Cronk — Swimming The sophomore from San Antonio resumed her solid season Jan. 3, after a five- week holiday break, with individual victories in the 200 freestyle (1:47.99) and the 200 individual medley (2:02.37), helping the Irish to a 162.5-137.5 dual-meet victory over host school Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. These marked the fourth and fifth individual wins for Cronk through the first four meets of the 2025-26 season. Shane Eckler — Swimming T h e s o p h o m o re f ro m Delco, Pa., notched four event wins — two individual and two relays — Jan. 3, in Irish team triumphs over Minnesota and the Univer- sity of Tampa at a three- team meet in Tampa, Fla. Eckler was a member of the victorious 200 medley relay (1:26.89) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:20.11) teams, and also claimed indi- vidual wins in the 50 freestyle (19.91) and the 100 freestyle (44.42). Izzy Engle — Soccer T h e s o p h o m o r e m i d - fielder/forward from Edina, Minn., earned more post- season honors Dec. 15, when the All-American was named one of four finalist for the 2025 Honda Sports Award for Soccer. The award winner will be announced in late January. Engle already earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors last fall after scoring 19 goals, the fifth-most nationally, and leading the con- ference with 44 points over 19 matches. Obiora Okeke — Track & Field The Hawthorne, Calif., na- tive and graduate transfer from Columbia made his Notre Dame debut in fine fashion with a victory in the weight throw Dec. 5 at the Blue-Gold Invitational. He won the event with a toss of 20.93 meters. Okeke is expected to compete in the weight and hammer throws, shot-put and discus dur- ing the 2025-26 indoor track and field season. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE The 2025 schedule for Notre Dame was filled with historical opponents. Of the five schools that have met the Irish on a football field the most times, four of them increased their totals by one last season. Navy remained in first place with 98 meetings between the two teams. Following Notre Dame's 49-10 win over the Midshipmen Nov. 8, the Irish gained an 84-13-1 advantage in the series that began in 1927. The programs will continue to meet on an annual basis, which is contracted to 2032. The 2026 matchup will be played Oct. 31 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Southern Cal continued to sit in second place with 96 meetings between the two rivals. Following Notre Dame's 34-24 win over the Trojans Oct. 18, the Irish gained a 53-38-5 advantage in the series. However, the annual series that began in 1926 and has been skipped only four times — thrice during World War II and once during the COVID-19 pandemic — will be put on pause. An agreement wasn't reached on extending the series into 2026, and the programs are reportedly looking at 2030 as the earliest year to resume the rivalry. Purdue played against Notre Dame Sept. 20 for the 89th time, which is the third-most games for an Irish opponent. The Irish won 56-30 in Notre Dame Stadium and increased their series lead to 61-26-2. Notre Dame and Purdue are scheduled to meet in each of the next three seasons in fulfillment of a deal announced in 2017. Purdue will host Notre Dame on Sept. 26, 2026. When Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh 37-15 Nov. 15, the two teams extended their series history to 74 games. The Irish hold a 52-21-1 series advantage over Pitt since first meeting in 1909. The two teams continue to play as part of Notre Dame's scheduling agreement with the ACC, with the next meeting scheduled for 2028. Michigan State, which has played against Notre Dame on 79 occasions, was the lone team among Notre Dame's top five most frequent opponents not on the Irish's 2025 schedule. The two teams haven't played each other since 2017, but they will meet next season to start a two-year, home-and-home series. The Irish, who hold a 49-29-1 series advantage since 1897, are set to host the Spartans on Sept. 19, 2026. — Tyler James CHARTING THE IRISH MAKING THE GRADE When Notre Dame football handed out its annual team awards in early December, the Irish named junior linebacker Drayk Bowen and redshirt sophomore safety Adon Shuler as its Defensive Players of the Year. But just about anyone outside of the program would have given that award to sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore. Moore, who was one of three Jim Thorpe Award finalists for the best defensive back in college foot- ball and one of four Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalists for the best defensive player in college football, became a unanimous All-American later in December for receiving first-team honors from the five historically recognized All-America teams. Moore, who was named the 2024 FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year, will be a candidate for more accolades in his junior season. What Moore may struggle with accomplishing in 2026 is besting his season-long defense grade from Pro Football Focus. Moore, who started and played in 10 games this past season, received a 92.0 de- fense grade for his performance in 2025. That's the highest season-long defense grade PFF has given to a Notre Dame starter since it began assigning season-long grades in 2014. Moore surpassed linebacker Te'von Coney's 2018 grade of 91.8 for the top spot. Prior to the 2025 season, the four highest season-long defense grades for the Irish from PFF belonged to defenders on the 2018 team that made a College Football Playoff appearance in the four-team format. Defensive tackle Jerry Til- lery (91.6), safety Alohi Gilman (91.6), and cornerback Julian Love (90.6) joined Coney with defense grades above 90 that season. Moore, who received an 88.4 grade as a freshman in 2024, is the only sophomore to crack the top 10 list of Notre Dame's best season-long defense grades from PFF for Irish starters. Moore tallied 31 tackles, 5 intercep- tions, 7 passes broken up and 1 forced fumble in 2025. He returned one of his team-high 5 interceptions for a touchdown. — Tyler James NOTRE DAME'S TOP SEASON-LONG PFF DEFENSE GRADES Rk. Name, Pos. Cl. Year Grade 1. Leonard Moore, CB So. 2025 92.0 2. Te'von Coney, LB Sr. 2018 91.8 3. Jerry Tillery, DT Sr. 2018 91.6 Alohi Gilman, S Jr. 2018 91.6 5. Julian Love, CB Jr. 2018 90.6 6. Jarron Jones, DT Gr. 2016 90.4 7. Howard Cross III, DT Gr. 2023 89.8 8. Xavier Watts, S Gr. 2024 89.7 Sheldon Day, DT Sr. 2015 89.7 10. Jaylon Smith, LB Jr. 2015 89.4 NOTRE DAME'S TOP FIVE MOST FREQUENT OPPONENTS Rk. School Games Vs. Notre Dame 1. Navy 98 2. Southern Cal 96 3. Purdue 89 4. Michigan State 79 5. Pittsburgh 74