Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 SEPT. 26, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Maya Baker — Volleyball The sophomore setter from San Jose, Calif., enjoyed the best two-game stretch of her career when she tallied a career-high 39 assists in a 3-1 loss to Northern Ken- tucky Sept. 11 and then set another career high with 48 assists — the most for an Irish player since 2024 — in a 3-2 loss to Duquesne Sept. 12. Through seven matches this season, Baker had a team-high 177 assists and ranked third with 45 digs. Jacob Modleski — Golf The senior from Nobles- ville, Ind., finished fifth in- dividually to help the Irish to a second-place tie at the 15-team Folds of Honor Col- legiate at American Dunes Golf Course Sept. 7-9 in Grand Haven, Mich. Modleski carded a 6-under-par 207 to notch his first top-five finish of the fall season. As a team, the Irish tied with Texas for second with a 13-under 839. Georgia Tech won the event with an 18-under 834. Gabi Poretto — Soccer The sophomore defender from Lithia, Fla., scored the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over No. 24 Clemson to open ACC play Sept. 11 at Alumni Stadium. She converted a penalty kick in the 77th min- ute to secure the victory. It marked the second goal of the season for Poretto and the first game-winner at Notre Dame for the Kentucky transfer, who converted four of her five penalty tries with the Wildcats last season. Tristan Tropeano — Soccer The freshman forward from Birmingham, Ala., was the hero when he scored the only goal and the game-win- ner in a 1-0 road victory over No. 17 Clemson Sept. 11. The game was scoreless through 87 minutes when he received a nifty pass in traffic from teammate Vlad Walent and scored. It marked the second goal of the season for Tropeano, who led the Irish with 5 shots on goal through Sept. 13. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE It's early, but Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr has established himself as one of the nation's best quarterbacks through two games. Despite relatively modest counting statistics (Carr was 42nd nationally in yards per game through Week 2), the junior signal- caller entered Week 3 at No. 4 in the Power Four in Pro Football Focus passing grade. Carr's grade of 91.0 trails only Miami's Dar- ian Mensah, Missouri's Austin Simmons and Penn State's Rocco Becht, and sits just ahead of Southern Cal's Jayden Maiava. Why is PFF a fan of Carr's early season performance? In a word, consistency. According to Sports Info Solutions, Carr's passing success rate — or percentage of pass plays that generate a positive expected points added (EPA) — was eighth in the FBS at 64.0 percent through Week 2. While his "boom rate" of 28 percent was 40th, his "bust rate" of just 8.0 percent was fourth. SIS de- fines "boom rate" as the percentage of pass attempts that result in an EPA of at least 1 and "bust rate" as the percentage of plays that result in an EPA of -1 or less. In other words, while Carr isn't producing big plays at a massive rate, he's almost always putting Notre Dame in a position to succeed. "His decisions are impeccable," Freeman said. "[Against Rice], he made the right decision 99 per- cent of the time." — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH SCORING QUICKLY When senior defensive end Boubacar Traore scored a touchdown 14 seconds into Notre Dame's 52-0 victory over Rice, he set a program record of sorts. Traore, however, didn't score the quickest touchdown by an Irish player since 1960. Seven Notre Dame touchdowns were scored more quickly than Traore's 24-yard fumble return. But none of the plays that found the end zone faster than Traore came on the second play from scrimmage. The seven fastest scores all came on the opening kickoff or the first play from scrimmage in their respective games. Rice didn't use much time to open the game because it called for a fair catch on the opening kickoff and opted to attempt a pass, which fell incomplete, on the first play from scrimmage despite its run- heavy offensive scheme. When senior safety Adon Shuler laid a big hit on Rice slot receiver Davis Lane Jr. on the next play, the ball popped free and Traore picked it up without resistance. He spun around with possession and tiptoed down the sideline for a 24-yard score with a crew of teammates prepared to block for him. Traore's score became the 14th Notre Dame touchdown registered within the first 30 seconds of a game since 1960. The Irish won each of those games with such quick opening scores, which came in a variety of ways — kickoff returns (four), receiving touchdowns (four), interception returns (three), rushing touchdowns (two) and fumble return (one). The two quickest Notre Dame touchdowns since 1960 came on interception returns: a 29-yarder by safety Brandon Joseph in just seven seconds against Syracuse in 2022 and a 21-yarder by linebacker Pete Bercich in eight seconds against Northwestern in 1993. — Tyler James QUICKEST NOTRE DAME TOUCHDOWNS SINCE 1960 Rk. Player Q1 Time Play Year 1. S Brandon Joseph 14:53 INT return 2022 2. LB Pete Bercich 14:52 INT return 1993 3. RB Allen Pinkett 14:50 Rush TD 1985 4. WR Michael Floyd 14:48 Receiving TD 2010 RB Gary Diminick 14:48 Kickoff return 1972 WR CJ Sanders 14:48 Kickoff return 2016 7. CB Allen Rossum 14:47 Kickoff return 1996 8. DE Boubacar Traore 14:46 Fumble return 2026 9. WR Jeff Samardzija 14:45 Receiving TD 2005 10. CB Allen Rossum 14:43 Kickoff return 1997 TOP POWER FOUR PFF PASSING GRADES Through Week 2 Rk. Player, School Grade 1. Darian Mensah, Miami 94.1 2. Austin Simmons, Missouri 92.0 3. Rocco Becht, Penn State 91.6 4. CJ Carr, Notre Dame 91.0 5. Jayden Maiava, Southern Cal 90.6 The counting stats might not show it, but CJ Carr has been one of college football's five best quarterbacks the first two weeks of the 2026 season. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER