Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 10, 2016 9 UNDER THE DOME 2 Junior quarterback DeShone Kizer's placement in the 2017 NFL Mock Draft by Sports Illustrated. That would make him the highest quarter- back selection from Notre Dame since 1993, when Rick Mirer was the second overall choice, as was George Izo in 1960. The No. 1 projected overall selec- tion is Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett, and the next quarterback is Clemson's Deshaun Watson at No. 4. Alabama had an amazing six players projected among the first 24 picks. 3 Notre Dame players on the 2016 roster who hail from North Carolina heading into the Oct. 8 clash at North Carolina State: fifth-year center Mark Harrell (Charlotte), junior linebacker Greer Martini (Cary) and freshman defensive end Julian Okwara (Charlotte). None of the 18 current verbal com- mits for 2017 are from Tobacco Road, even though Notre Dame is a partial ACC member in football. 5 ESPN's placement of Notre Dame in its list of "Bottom 5" college football teams after the 38-35 loss to Duke Sept. 24. The 1-3 Fighting Irish were just ahead of four 0-4 teams — Florida International, Rice, Northern Illinois and Arkansas State. Wrote ESPN: "Losing to Texas on the road? No shame in that. Losing a heartbreaker to Michigan State? Hey, welcome to the club. Losing to a 1-2 Duke team with no quarterback in the House that Knute Rockne Built? Welcome to the Coveted Fifth Spot!" 9 Preseason ranking of Notre Dame hockey by United States College Hockey Online. The Fighting Irish are in their final season of affiliation in the 12-team Hockey East before joining the Big Ten for hockey only in 2017-18. Hockey East members ranked ahead of Notre Dame in the pre- season poll are Boston University (No. 4), Boston College (No. 5) and Massa- chusetts-Lowell (No. 8), while Providence — the 2015 national champion — is No. 10. Defending national champ North Dakota is the overwhelming pick at No. 1 with 43 of the 50 first-place votes. 10 Teams in the 128-team Football Bowl Subdivision that have won a minimum of eight games each of the past six seasons (2010-15), or during the Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame. In addition to the Irish, they are (in alphabetical order): Alabama, Boise State, Florida State, LSU, Northern Il- linois, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford and Wisconsin. The Fighting Irish will face a challenge to keep that streak alive after a 1-3 start in 2016. 15 Golfweek's ranking of Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course, which opened in 1999, among the best cam- pus courses in the country. The top three featured Yale, the Taconic G in Williamston, Mass., and the University Ridge in Verona, Wis. The only others in the Midwest ranked higher than Notre Dame were Ohio State (No. 9), Michigan (No. 12) and Purdue (No. 14). 30 Times entering last Saturday's game at Syra- cuse that Notre Dame in the 20 seasons from 1997-2016 had a record that was at least two games under .500, per NDNation.com. In the previous 33 sea- sons from 1964-96, it occurred only eight times: an 0-2 start in 1978, 2-4 in 1981, 1-3 in 1985 — and five of them during Lou Holtz's 5-6 debut in 1986. 92.4 P l a y s p e r game run by head coach Ara Parseghian's 1970 Notre Dame team quarterbacked by JOE THEISMANN that finished 10-1 and No. 2 in the nation. To this day, that remains an NCAA record and a remarkable stat, considering that uptempo offenses, such as Oct. 1 Irish opponent Syra- cuse, are more in vogue. Syracuse entered the Notre Dame game fourth nationally in plays run per game with 86.0. BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS