Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 11, 2017 9 UNDER THE DOME BY THE NUMBERS ✦ Sponsored by: NotreDameTickets.com 2 Notre Dame offensive linemen were named to the Associated Press Preseason All-America Team Aug. 22, with senior left guard Quenton Nelson on the first team and fifth-year senior left tackle Mike McGlinchey on the second unit. The Fighting Irish have not had two offensive linemen earn AP All-America honors in the same year since 1993, when left tackle Aaron Taylor was a consensus first- team selection and the Lombardi Award winner, while center Tim Ruddy was on the second team. 5 Tight ends projected to be used in various capaci- ties for Notre Dame this season: fifth-year senior Durham Smythe, senior Nic Weishar, junior Alizé Mack, and freshmen Brock Wright and Cole Kmet. If all five catch a pass this season, that would tie the most players to do so in one season at that position. In 2004, the five tight ends that combined for 48 catches were Anthony Fasano (27), John Carlson (six), Jerome Col- lins (six), Marcus Freeman (five) and Billy Palmer (four). All five played in the NFL at least one season, with Fasano now in his 12th year. 16-5 Record for the Fighting Irish against Southeastern Conference teams in Notre Dame Stadium, prior to hosting the University of Georgia for the first time Sept. 9. This applies to teams that were actually in the SEC at the time of the game, not in later years. The breakdown is 4-2 versus Georgia Tech, 3-1 versus LSU, 3-0 versus Tulane, 2-2 versus Tennes- see, 2-0 versus Alabama, and 1-0 apiece versus Mississippi and Vanderbilt. Georgia Tech and Tulane left the SEC in the 1960s. 34 Players from the state of Georgia, by our count, who have seen action for the Notre Dame football team throughout history, including current seniors TYLER NEWSOME (Carroll- ton) as the punter and quarterback Montgomery VanGorder (Buford) as the holder on placekicks. However, the Peach State has been trending up since the turn of the century. In the 17 recruiting classes since 2001, Notre Dame has signed a minimum of one player from Georgia in 12 of them, and has a verbal pledge for 2018 from Marietta, Ga., four-star safety Derrik Allen, ranked the nation's No. 82 player overall by Rivals. 521 Career tackles by 1978-81 Notre Dame linebacker Bob Crable, a school record that does not even include two bowl games in which he played. No. 2 is his predecessor, Bob Golic (1975-78), who recorded 479 with three bowl games not included. Crable was feted during the Notre Dame-Temple game Sept. 2 for his induction into the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2017. 2,833 Passing yards by 1993 NFL rookie Rick Mirer at Seattle as the No. 2 overall pick while starting all 16 games. That is easily the record by a Notre Dame alumnus as an NFL rookie. DeShone Kizer, who would have been a senior with the Fighting Irish this season, will take aim at that standard after he was declared the opening-game starter for the Cleveland Browns. Kizer would be the first former Notre Dame quarterback to start as a rookie in the NFL opener since Mirer. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA