Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546555
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 19, 2026 11 UNDER THE DOME THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "The Fighting Irish return the best corner in the country, Leonard Moore, but beefed up the position group with the addition of McKinney, who had a strong 2024 season at Colorado but was hampered by injury down the stretch in 2025. McKinney is joining an experienced, talented team that has its sights on a national title." — Antonio Morales of The Athletic on listing fifth-year cornerback DJ MCKINNEY as Notre Dame's most intriguing newcomer "This is the greatest university in the country, and you're playing the greatest sport in America. And so it's a huge deal, as in I'm super grateful to be here and be the starting quarterback at Notre Dame. I get to come out here every day and play with my best friends and hang out and be in the locker room and be one of the guys. It is a big deal in that way. "Other people ask that question: Is it a big deal from the outside perspective? And from that way, no. It's noise at the end of the day. What matters is the guys in that building and the opinions that they have of you." — Notre Dame junior quarterback CJ Carr (Chicago Tribune) "The first half wasn't pretty — and there's plenty to work on — but the Irish got a gut-check moment against Wisconsin in Lambeau Field on [Sept. 6] that not a lot of other title contenders did. The defense — particularly in the secondary — lived up to the hype as one of the most elite units in the country, but the offense was pedestrian at best before finding its stride in the second half. "This year, Notre Dame is guaranteed a spot in the CFP as long as it finishes in the committee's top 12 on selection day. The Irish would have to collapse to be excluded, but if they were to lose to both BYU and Miami, they would again open the door for debate." — Heather Dinich of ESPN on Notre Dame after Week 1 "Who is the best player on the nation's best defense? That would be Moore, who could be a top-10 NFL draft pick and the first corner off the board in the spring after three seasons of college. He earned the highest Pro Football Focus grade of anyone at his position last year, at 91.6, and that's after a stellar 88.4 grade as a freshman on the national runner-up team. The Round Rock, Texas, product is long (6-foot-2), strong (195 pounds) and savvy (7 interceptions and 18 passes broken up in 26 college games). Throw at him at your own risk, opposing QBs." — Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated on Notre Dame junior cornerback Leonard Moore "I didn't love the run game — that was some- thing that I just thought, and maybe this was a fool's errand on my part, that Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price were fantastic, but you know they've got that offensive line back and they're going to have more threats on the outside and they should be able to run it just the same. It was not the same. Price and Love were dynamic, and that's going to be an issue for them at some point. "Now, who's going to exploit that on their sched- ule? That remains to be seen. Is it BYU? Maybe. Is it Miami? Certainly. But Notre Dame's schedule is just so light that I don't know if we're going to know a lot about Notre Dame until we get into the playoff." — Joel Klatt of FOX Sports on Notre Dame "Disdain for the Fighting Irish will come easy this season — and not because they are flawed. Quite the opposite, actually. Notre Dame is once again positioned as a legitimate national championship contender with a top-end roster, a favorable path to the playoff and the type of preseason hype that immediately puts a bull's-eye on its back. … "The Irish are no longer the program that gets mocked for merely making major bowls. They've become a consistent playoff participant with a ros- ter capable of beating anyone. That shift changes the conversation. When you're winning double- digit games annually and recruiting at an elite level, people stop feeling sorry for you and start rooting for your downfall." — Brad Crawford of CBS Sports on Notre Dame accepting the "villain" role for the 2026 season "There are plenty of personnel-related reasons to fall in love with Notre Dame, whether it's quar- terback CJ Carr or the fact that the Irish may have the best secondary in college football. We know Notre Dame is going to be far more talented than anyone on its schedule. But the mentality — 'leave no doubt' — is moving, particularly after the way the Irish felt snubbed from CFP contention at the end of last season. Coach Marcus Freeman has driven reminders of missing the CFP into his team's head all offseason, and now Notre Dame comes into this season not only out to win but to punish its opponents." — Ari Wasserman of On3 on Notre Dame's "mentality" being the best thing about its team heading into the 2026 campaign Irish On Social Media PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER