Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 SEPT. 26, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME UNDER THE DOME Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Ryann DeJarld — Volleyball The sophomore libero from Chicago was named the MVP of the Art Carmichael Invita- tional in Kingston, R.I., after helping the Irish win all three of their matches Sept. 9-10. DeJarld recorded 40 digs in the three contests, notching an average of 4.00 per set. She was joined on the all-tournament team by a pair of teammates — sophomore outside hitter Rebecca Nunge and junior middle blocker Sam Fry. Jon Gallagher — Soccer The junior forward from Dundalk, Ireland, delivered the game-winning goal in the 103rd minute to give the top-ranked Irish a 1-0 win over Connecticut Sept. 13. Seven days earlier, he was named the ACC Of- fensive Player of the Week and the College Soccer News National Player of the Week after posting six points in two top-25 wins. Through six contests, Gallagher was tied for the team lead with 13 points (five goals and two assists). Kaela Little — Soccer The senior goalkeeper from Tulsa, Okla., stopped seven shots to help the No. 20 Irish earn a 2-2 draw on the road against No. 2 Stanford Sept. 11. The day before, she posted her sixth shutout of the year in a 0-0 tie at Santa Clara. Little boasted a 5-1-2 re- cord, a 0.48 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage after her first eight starts of the season. Matthew Rushton — Golf The senior from Cape Town, South Africa, was the Irish's top finisher in the USF Olympic Invitational Sept. 12-13 in San Francisco. In three rounds, he shot a 1-over-par 214 to tie for fifth place individually while help- ing Notre Dame finish in a tie for fifth in the team standings. Rushton's 12 birdies during the tournament were the second most among the 74 golfers at the event. TOP OF THE CLASS ✦ GIMME FIVE Notre Dame's Sept. 17 game against Michi- gan State is one of five "Trophy Games" for the Fighting Irish in which the winner hangs on to a symbol or a form of hardware that commemo- rates the series. The first such rivalry with the Megaphone Trophy developed against Michigan State in 1949, even though the Spartans and Fighting Irish did not play from 1922-47. The two teams agreed to a continual long series starting in 1948, just before Michigan State became a member of the Big Ten in 1953. The Spartans dominated the Irish from 1950-63, winning 11 of the 12 meetings (no game in 1958), notably eight in a row from 1955-63. From Nov. 24, 2012 until Nov. 30, 2013, Notre Dame was in possession of all five tro- phies. Entering last week's Michigan State game, it held four of the five, with Stanford (the Oct. 15 opponent) the exception. Here are the five trophy games and how they came about chronologically: School Trophy (Debut Year) 1. Michigan State Megaphone Trophy (1949) 2. USC Jeweled Shillelagh (1952) 3. Purdue Shillelagh Trophy (1957) 4. Boston College Frank Leahy Bowl (1975) 5. Stanford Legends Trophy (1989) Getting To Know … JUNIOR WIDE RECEIVER COREY HOLMES Major: "Film and televi- sion." Favorite food: "Cheese- burgers." Favorite movie: "'Friday,' the original one." Favo r i te T V s h ow : " I wouldn't even say I have a favorite TV show. I just like watching football on TV." Favorite music: "I definitely listen to hip hop, but I wouldn't say I have a favorite artist in particular." Best player you've faced: "[Former Ohio State and current San Diego Chargers defen- sive end] Joey Bosa in high school football practice. He's probably the toughest. Scrim- maging against him in practice, that was cool." Favorite part about playing for Notre Dame: "Just being a part of the rich history. Knowing all the legends that played before you and all the tradition, that's the coolest thing playing for Notre Dame." What does it feel like to run out of the tun- nel: "You think about how much if an honor it is to play for Notre Dame, and how huge it is to be on this football team and actually play- ing and contributing." CHARTING THE IRISH RED ZONE CONVERSIONS A year ago, Notre Dame's red zone offense was a weak- ness. Two weeks into the 2016 season, it's shaping up to be a strength. The Irish were successful on 10 of their 11 trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line during the first two games of the season. Against Nevada, the Irish scored touchdowns on five of their six opportunities in the red zone, and sophomore kicker Justin Yoon added a 21-yard field goal on the other in the 39-10 win. Against Texas in the season opener, Notre Dame scored three touchdowns and had a field goal in five red zone chances (the other opportunity resulted in a missed field goal) in the 50-47 double-overtime loss. Junior quarterback DeShone Kizer — who threaded the needle to hit sophomore slot receiver C.J. Sanders and freshman wideout Kevin Stepherson for touchdowns against Nevada — is confident that success can last. "As long as the guys continue to make the adjustments on the ball, try to make catches in tight windows, we'll be able to score every time we're down there," Kizer said after the game. Through two games, Notre Dame is on pace to have its best red zone offense in Brian Kelly's seven seasons. Last season, the Irish scored touchdowns on just 58.49 percent of their 53 red zone opportunities — which ranked 79th in the country — and failed to score on 10 attempts. ■ Scoring Percentage ■ Touchdown Percentage 0 20 40 60 80 100 Touchdown Percentage Scoring Percentage NOTRE DAME IN THE RED ZONE 82.6 56.5 77.0 66.7 80.0 48.3 80.0 53.3 80.7 64.5 81.1 58.5 90.0 72.7 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 *2016 * Through two games