Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547079
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 17, 2026 11 UNDER THE DOME "He showed pace and vision as a runner, picking his way through the line of scrimmage and working to the second level. At 5-foot-9, 214 pounds, he has a compact build that is well-suited for break- ing arm tackles, with 81 of his yards coming after contact per Pro Football Focus. "The final stat line could've been even better — Walton had a long touchdown run in the fourth quarter called back for holding. The former Ri- vals300 prospect looks to be emerging in Notre Dame's running back room with the Irish getting into the meat of their regular season schedule." — Charles Power of On3 on including Notre Dame freshman running back Jonaz Walton on his list of Week 5 freshman standouts "Wide receiver Jordan Faison was a lacrosse player before walking onto this football team and turning his focus entirely to the sport. At 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, he's going to be a really good slot receiver in the pros, and he's the type of kid I'd want on my team. I love his energy, toughness and overall athleticism. Against North Carolina, Faison had 8 catches for 132 yards and 2 scores. He found himself wide open downfield on one of them, but Carr led him just a little too far; Faison tracked it, dove for it in the end zone and made a great catch. Toss in his return experience — he has 25 career punt returns — and Faison is a solid early-to-mid Day 3 guy." — ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. "Quietly, Notre Dame's CJ Carr is among the top four [contenders for the Heisman Trophy]. The Fighting Irish haven't had a marquee game yet, although they were in a tight one at North Carolina into the fourth quarter before they pulled away. Carr had five total touchdowns, four through the air and one on the ground. "Carr's odds range from +750 to +1000, putting him in a top group of contenders before the odds get significantly longer. Notre Dame plays at No. 8 BYU in two weeks and vs. No. 4 Miami a few weeks after that. Carr's Heisman chances will likely be decided by those two games. Until then, he will hover in the background." — Dan Santaromita of The Athletic "What has Notre Dame done to justify being ranked No. 3? Notre Dame found itself in a tus- sle with North Carolina in the second half. A few weeks ago, the Irish let a bad Michigan State team hang around for too long, and Notre Dame didn't look great in the first half of a win against Wiscon- sin, either. "No argument that CJ Carr is really good, and the run game stepped up against UNC, but I'd have teams like Miami, Alabama and Ohio State ahead of the Irish, based on what we've seen so far." — Blake Toppmeyer in a USA Today article on college football's most overrated teams after Week 5 "If you're simply scrolling through scores and saw Notre Dame's 37-26 win over North Carolina, you may not think much of it. The Irish beat a low- level ACC team by double digits, and quarterback CJ Carr threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns. Yawn. But if you watched the game, you know the Irish didn't seem to be clicking on all cylinders. "What's unfortunate is that Notre Dame plays a truly awful schedule outside of a game against Mi- ami in November. This isn't a situation where the Irish have to fear for their CFP candidacy, but we won't truly know what they're made of for more than a month. I just thought we'd see more pun- ishing performances from Notre Dame after what happened last year." — Ari Wasserman of On3 "I think Notre Dame could be the best team in the country. They've just been a little bit inconsis- tent and at times sloppy. They were sloppy early against North Carolina, but they win it 37-26. … The rainstorm made it kind of sloppy, and it was interesting, but 30 rushes for 166 yards [in the second half] — five and a half per [carry]. I've been wanting them to run it better. They have and did in that game." — FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt Irish On Social Media PHOTO COURTESY KARA LAWSON THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "We connected really well. … She wants to win every possession, wants to win every game, and she has no let up. That physical ability, but also the mental abil- ity to compete at a high level every pos- session, sets her apart. There's just not a lot of players that do that." — Duke head coach Kara Lawson on Notre Dame senior point guard HANNAH HIDALGO at the ACC Tipoff