Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/601719
IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS I t was a strange afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium. Through three quarters, fifth-year senior tight end Chase Hounshell had as many catches (one) as elite junior wide receiver Will Fuller. The Irish ran only 27 plays in the game's first 42 minutes and 20 seconds. During that span, seven of the 21 points came from an interception return for a touchdown and another seven on a 98- yard touchdown run. An NCAA record was set, but not a desirable one. Wake Forest punter Alex Kinal's 323rd career punt made him the all-time leader for a distinction few teams would want. Virtually the only normal result of the day was another Notre Dame win. With the 28-7 victory over Wake For- est, Notre Dame's seniors departed with a 21-3 career mark at home — tied for the most wins over a four-year stretch by any Irish class. On a day when No. 1 Clemson strug- gled at Syracuse and No. 8 Oklahoma State barely slipped past Iowa State, and the No. 6 (Baylor), No. 7 (Stanford), No. 9 (LSU) and No. 10 (Utah) teams all lost, Notre Dame won again. A Fond Farewell Defensive lineman Sheldon Day and the rest of Notre Dame's senior class will depart with a 21-3 home record, but their top accomplishment might still be on the way. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA SENIORS HONORED In alphabetical order, these were the 27 players feted on Senior Day at Notre Dame: * Scholarship player eligible possibly in 2016 DB Travis Allen RB Josh Anderson S Nicky Baratti* WR Chris Brown WR Cam Bryan WR Amir Carlisle CB Connor Cavalaris LS Scott Daly* DL Sheldon Day DB Matthias Farley LB Jarrett Grace* OT Mark Harrell* TE Chase Hounshell* DL Jarron Jones* C Nick Martin DL Patrick Mazza S Eamon McOsker DE Romeo Okwara S Nick Ossello RB C.J. Prosise* CB KeiVarae Russell* S Avery Sebastian* LB Joe Schmidt S Elijah Shumate H/LS Hunter Smith OT Ronnie Stanley* S John Turner*