Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 JANUARY 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME UNDER THE DOME MOVING? Call us at 1-800-421-7751 Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Jake Evans — Hockey The junior forward from Toronto scored two goals in Notre Dame's 3-0 win over Massachu- setts Dec. 3, one on a slap shot plus an empty-netter. It marked his fourth multi- point game of the season and the 15th of his career. Through 16 games, Evans ranked third on the team in points (tied with 15), goals (five) and assists (tied with 10). He is on pace to eclipse his single-season career high of eight goals. Justin Plaschka — Swimming The junior from Smithtown, N.Y., represented Jamaica at the FINA World Swimming Champi- onships Dec. 7 in Windsor, Ontario, and broke the coun- try's 100 butterfly record. He clocked in at 52.31, breaking the previous mark by more than four seconds. Last year, Plaschka was the only Irish individual competi- tor at the NCAA Championships. He tied for 20th in the 50 free (19.56), and finished 38th in the 100 free (43.58) and 41st in the 100 fly (47.26). Ann Rohrer — Cross Country After a stellar sophomore season in which she finished third at the NCAA Championships, the Mishawaka, Ind., native was named the ACC Female Cross Country Performer of the Year Dec. 7. Nine days earlier, Rohrer also was tabbed as a Honda Sports Award nominee for cross country, which recog- nizes one female student-athlete from each sport for "athletic achievement as well as scho- lastics and community involvement" through- out the year. Jackie Young — Basketball The freshman from Princeton, Ind., was named the ACC Rookie of the Week Dec. 5. In a 114-54 win over Valparaiso Dec. 4, she had a career-high 20 points, connecting on 8 of 9 shots from the field and 3 of 4 from three-point range. Through the first seven games of her Irish career, Young was averaging 9.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 22.0 minutes per contest. TOP OF THE CLASS ✦ GIMME FIVE Notre Dame's 45-27 loss to USC in this year's season finale resulted in two dubious distinc- tions. First, for only the fourth time since the start of the football program in 1887, the Fight- ing Irish lost at least eight games in one season. The 4-8 mark tied the 2-8 ledgers in 1956 and 1960 for second-most defeats in one cam- paign, eclipsed only by the 3-9 debacle in 2007. Second, Brian Kelly surpassed Lou Holtz for most losses by a Notre Dame coach. However, whereas Holtz coached 132 (100-30-2) games in 11 seasons for a .765 winning percentage, Kelly has coached 90 (59-31) in seven years for a .655 mark. Among Notre Dame's 15 full-time coaches since Jesse Harper (1913-17), Kelly's win- ning percentage ranks right in the middle at No. 8, just ahead of No. 9 Terry Brennan's .640 (32-18) from 1954-58. Here are the five worst winning percentages, with four of them occurring in the past 35 years and three in the past 20: Coach (Years) Pct. (Record) 1. Joe Kuharich (1959-62) .425 (17-23) 2. Gerry Faust (1981-85) .535 (30-26-1) 3. Charlie Weis (2005-09) .564 (35-27) 4t. Bob Davie (1997-2001) .583 (35-25) 4t. Ty Willingham (2002-04) .583 (21-15) Getting To Know … JUNIOR FORWARD BONZIE COLSON Hometown: "New Bedford, Mass." High school: "St. Andrews." Major: "Film, television and theatre." Favorite food: "Mozzarella sticks." Favorite movie: "'Space Jam.'" Favorite music: "Hip-hop." Favorite musician: "Kanye West and Drake." Favorite TV show: "'Arrow.'" Favorite part about play- ing for Notre Dame: "The energy. Just playing the game with teammates that you love, playing the game that you've loved your whole life, and playing in front of the fans. Just being at this great university, you can't take it for granted." Who's the best player you've ever lined up across from?: "[Former Duke center] Jahlil Okafor. He was probably the best. He was the hardest matchup for me. I was a freshman, and he was huge. Trying to guard him was re- ally tough on the defensive end." CHARTING THE IRISH NOTRE DAME'S FOURTH-QUARTER STRUGGLES Notre Dame's 4-8 finish in 2016 did not feature many positives, and much of the frustration stemmed from the team's inability to capitalize off strong starts. The Irish started fast in every game they played. In fact, Notre Dame's offense was the best in the country in the first quarter according to the advanced metric S&P+. According to Football Outsiders, the components for S&P+ reflect oppo- nent-adjusted components of four of what Bill Connelly has deemed the Five Factors of college football: efficiency, explosiveness, field position and finishing drives. (A fifth factor, turnovers, is informed marginally by sack rates, the only quality-based statistic that has a consistent relationship with turnover margins.) Notre Dame's first-quarter offense ranked No. 1 in S&P+. That is in con- trast to the fourth quarter, when the Irish ranked 96th in the country offen- sively. On a quarter-by-quarter ba- sis, Notre Dame's worst defensive performances came in the fourth quarter as well (ranked 63rd). The team's offensive struggles in the fourth quarter stem from ju- nior quarterback DeShone Kizer. Though he started games well — completing 72.3 percent of his passes in the first quarter — his statistics were much worse in the fourth quarter, finishing the season with a comple- tion percentage of just 48.2 with three touchdowns and an interception. Notre Dame also was ineffective running the ball in the fourth quarter, averaging just 3.53 yards per carry and tallying only two touchdowns. In the first quarter, the Irish averaged 5.28 yards per carry. NOTRE DAME'S BY-QUARTER S&P+ RANKINGS Offense Defense First Quarter 1 53 Second Quarter 56 28 Third Quarter 56 31 Fourth Quarter 96 63