Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 31, 2026 5 FAN FORUM BE HEARD! Send your letters to: steve.downey@on3.com or mail to: Blue & Gold Illustrated, P. O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702 Jonaz Walton became just the fifth Notre Dame rookie since 1972 to put to- gether back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances with 120 at North Carolina Oct. 3 and then a school true freshman-record 181 against Stanford Oct. 10. Following his record-breaking effort against the Cardinal, one poster on the message board at BlueandGold.com posed the ques- tion, "Who does Jonaz Walton remind you of?" That elicited a lot of interesting re- sponses. Below is a small sample from that conversation. SpaddyND: I want to say Reggie Brooks but I think he's faster. Maybe Frank Gore? Rockne88: Frank Gore is a good compari- son. Maybe more speed than Gore. Irishmurph: I know we need to see more, but at 7.9 YPC so far, he looks to me like a promising replacement for our 2 first-round picks. YippeeKiYay: Blend of [Jadarian] Price and agree with Frank Gore. Shades of Julius Jones. TurtleBK: He's not as north/south as [Nick] Chubb or Gore, and I'd need to see his feet in the hole as both of them excelled there. I think the Kenneth Walker comparisons are good. I see a little Tony Dorsett but need a little more razzle dazzle to fully get there. Great-looking all-around player with a lot of burst. I am a big Aneyas [Williams] fan from the offseason especially because I knew he had that sneaky [Cam] Skattebo style power and grit and receiving ability, but Nolan James has been very good in tight gaps and Walton seems to be the best all-around lead back we have through 6 weeks. I agree with popular consensus that it should go Walton with James as change-of-pace back with Aneyas in for some 3rd down and clock grind stuff to wear down the front 7. BUCEPHALUS: I believe he's shorter, but the bottom half looks a lot like Earl Campbell. Holland3636: His high school film re- minded me of Marshall Faulk. He's an excel- lent pass catcher and I can't wait to see him become the guy. o_Fenton_mobile: Over 200 yards from scrimmage. Walton can ball. Reminds me of prime Tiki Barber. mpnd07: Same build, about the same height, same running style — Barry Sanders. 51yardboot: He reminds me of Notre Dame's second-leading all-time rusher and Notre Dame's all-time leader in touchdowns scored — Allen Pinkett. Walton even wears the same uniform number: 20. Night_Hawk_ND_Fan: Darius Walker. NDGoIrish: Blend of Pinkett, Brooks, Jones and Walker. NYirish: I thought JD Price, but today he showed me something in terms of vision that had hints of JLove. Who cares though, he's really freaking good and we'll be measuring RBs against him in the future. HC92: He's Jonaz Walton. And he's a problem. Freshman Jonaz Walton burst onto the scene with back-to-back 100-yard performances against North Carolina and Stanford. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER FROM THE WEBSITE .com .com A Notre Dame Story For All Generations Dreams of Gold: A timeless story of hope, persistence, and unshakeable faith. An encouraging roadmap for how to make a dream come true. Beautifully illustrated and rooted in the hallowed traditions and spirit of Notre Dame. e perfect gift for any Notre Dame fan. Visit DreamsOfGold.com and save 20% with code BlueGold20 through 12/24.