Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 NOV. 21, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME UNDER THE DOME Moving? Let us know! Call us at 1-800-421-7751 Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Anders Bjork — Hockey The junior forward from Mequon, Wis., was named the Hockey East Player of the Month for Oc- tober. During Notre Dame's first month of play, he tied for the national lead in points with 16. As of Nov. 2, Bjork had scored seven goals and added nine assists through eight games. In his career with the Irish, he has 73 total points (26 goals and 47 assists). Jon Gallagher — Soccer On Nov. 8, the junior forward from Dundalk, Ireland, was the third Irish player in four seasons to be named the ACC Offen- sive Player of the Year, join- ing Harrison Shipp (2013) and Patrick Hodan (2014). He was also named to the All-ACC first team along with senior defender Brandon Aubrey. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Gallagher led the league in both points (31) and goals (12), and was tied for second with seven assists. Hazem Khazbak — Fencing The junior foilist from Lexington, Ky., helped the Irish compile a 4-1 record against some of the nation's top teams at the Elite Invitational Nov. 5 in Philadelphia. He posted a 6-0 record to help Notre Dame knock off NJIT, Princeton, Yale and North Carolina. During his Irish career, Khazbak has an overall re- cord of 24-9 (a .727 winning percentage). Kaleigh Olmstead — Soccer On Nov. 4, the senior forward from the Woodlands, Texas, was named first-team ACC — her first career league h o n o r. S h e w a s N o t r e Dame's leading scorer dur- ing the regular season with 11 points (three goals and five assists). A few days later, Olmstead earned a spot on the ACC Women's Soccer Championship All-Tourna- ment Team. In Notre Dame's 2-1 loss to North Carolina in the semifinals Nov. 4, she netted her fourth goal of the year. TOP OF THE CLASS ✦ GIMME FIVE Equanimeous St. Brown has put himself in esteemed company among Notre Dame sopho- more wide receivers. Entering the Shamrock Series game against Army Nov. 12 in San An- tonio, St. Brown's eight touchdown receptions tied him for 21st overall in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He also was fourth among sopho- mores, behind only Texas Tech's Jonathan Giles (12), Bowling Green's Scott Miller (10) and Middle Tennessee's Richie James (nine). In the Notre Dame record books, St. Brown is now tied with 1966-68 star Jim Seymour, a future first-round NFL Draft pick, for the fifth most TD catches by a sophomore. He is on pace to finish No. 2, with 2013-15 star Will Fuller maybe out of reach. The top five: Player (Year) TD Catches 1. Will Fuller (2014) 15 2. Golden Tate (2008) 10 3t. Thom Gatewood (1969) 9 3t. Michael Floyd (2009) 9 5t. Jim Seymour (1966) 8 5t. Equanimeous St. Brown (2016) 8* * Has at least three more games Getting To Know … SOPHOMORE WIDE RECEIVER CHRIS FINKE Hometown: Kettering, Ohio. High school: Archbishop Alter. Nickname: "The Slippery Fox." Favorite food: "Chicken. It's versatile." Favorite movie: "'Catch Me If You Can.'" Favorite TV show: "'Impractical Jokers.'" Favorite music: "I switch it up. I go old stuff, '70s, coun- try and some rap." Favorite part about play- ing at Notre Dame: "I just love all the guys around here and being with my teammates. I love all the coaches and I've made some great friendships. There's a lot of camaraderie." Toughest player you've ever faced: "Ever? I don't know. [Senior linebacker] James On- wualu is pretty good on the cover down, re- routing stuff. He's pretty tough to beat." CHARTING THE IRISH TIGHT END PRODUCTION With Alizé Jones in the fold, it appeared as if Notre Dame's tight end posi- tion was making a comeback. But when the sophomore was suspended for the season due to academic reasons, the position took a hit and the produc- tion has continued to decline. Through nine games, Notre Dame's tight ends — senior Durham Smythe and junior Nic Weishar — had a combined nine catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Smythe, the regular starter and more of a receiving threat than Weishar, had seven of those catches for 71 yards and both touchdowns. Jones was Notre Dame's leading receiver at tight end last season with 13 receptions and 190 yards. (Smythe played in just three games last year because of injury.) This year, Notre Dame quarterbacks have thrown 278 passes, but just 19 have been gone to tight ends (14 to Smythe and five to Weishar). Against Miami and Navy, Smythe was looked to near the goal line. He nearly caught a game-winning touchdown against Miami before fumbling on the 1-yard line, and he scored from eight yards out against Navy. Still, the 11.1 receiving yards per game Notre Dame tight ends are averag- ing this season continues a slow decline at the position during head coach Brian Kelly's tenure. From 2010-12, Ty- ler Eifert was a huge part of the Irish passing game, posting a career-high 803 yards in 2011 as a junior. In 2013, it was Troy Niklas tallying 498 yards, and in 2014 Ben Koyack had 317 yards. All three players are currently in the NFL. Here's a look at the tight end produc- tion during Kelly's seven seasons. Tight End Production In The Brian Kelly Era 2010: 54.8 2011: 63.5 2012: 61.5 2013: 51.5 2014: 24.9 2015: 17.9 2016: 11.1 yards per game Like Us On Facebook @blueandgoldillustrated Follow Us On Twitter @BGInews