Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME For all the angst about successfully being able to find the Notre Dame-Boston College game on televi- sion with it airing on NBC Sports Network, which is a cable channel, it ended up doing well in the ratings. In fact, the Nov. 21 Shamrock Series telecast at Fen- way Park set a network record, according to Sports- MediaWatch.com. The 19-16 Irish win had a 1.15 final rating and 2.0 million viewers, the highest-rated and most-watched college football game on NBC Sports Network. It also drew more viewers than the Sept. 26 and Nov. 14 NBC home broadcasts against UMass and Wake For- est, respectively. Compared to Notre Dame's final home game in 2014, a 31-28 loss to Louisville on NBC, numbers were down 43 percent in ratings and 36 percent in viewership. It was also the lowest rated Notre Dame telecast in prime time since a 38-10 win at Purdue in October 2011. The game marked the first Irish game televised on NBC Sports Network. — Andrew Owens NOTRE DAME-BC SETS NBCSN RECORD CHARTING THE IRISH TACKLING MACHINE CBS Sports has listed junior linebacker Jaylon Smith as the No. 2 draft-eligible linebacker for the 2016 NFL Draft should he choose to leave school early. Smith's productivity for this year's Irish team ranks far ahead of any other Notre Dame defender, in terms of total tackles. Through 11 games this season, the junior had tallied 98 stops, 38 more than fifth-year senior linebacker Joe Schmidt and senior corner- back KeiVarae Russell, who were tied for second on the team with 60. That gap averages out to 3.5 tackles per game. If Smith did return for a senior campaign, he'd rank as one of the active leaders nationally in career tackles. He checked in at No. 32 with 277 career tackles through 11 games of 2015, with 25 of the players ahead of him classified as seniors. He collected 67 stops as a freshman and 112 as a sophomore, making him the first Irish player since former star Manti Te'o in 2012 to notch at least 100 tackles in a season. During his sopho- more campaign, he also led Notre Dame with nine tackles for loss. JAYLON SMITH'S 2015 GAME-BY-GAME TACKLES Junior linebacker Jaylon Smith's 98 tackles through 11 games this season were 38 more than any other player on the Irish roster. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Opponent Solo Total Texas 6 7 Virginia 6 11 Georgia Tech 4 5 UMass 4 6 Clemson 7 9 Navy 1 4 Opponent Solo Total USC 6 14 Temple 7 10 Pitt 4 7 Wake Forest 6 14 Boston College 9 11 Total 60 98