Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 SEPT. 18, 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 Jack Casey — Soccer The sophomore midfielder played a cru- cial role in No. 9 Notre Dame's 1-0 win at UConn Sept. 2. With the score knotted at 0-0, Casey set up senior forward Jeff Fa- rina for the game-winning goal and his first assist of the season. Casey appeared in 18 matches for Notre Dame in 2016, and tallied one goal and three assists. Brooke Littman — Soccer The sophomore goalkeeper from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., to- taled 22 saves in her first six starts this season. She allowed more than one goal only once during that stretch, a 2-0 loss at Iowa Aug. 27. Littman, who did not see any game action as a rookie in 2016, posted three shutouts while helping the Irish to a 3-1-2 start. Rebecca Nunge — Soccer The junior outside hitter from Newburgh, Ind., was named the ACC Co-Player of the Week Sept. 4. She was also named MVP of the BGSU/ Toledo Invitation on the weekend of Sept. 2 after leading the Irish to vic- tories over Virginia Com- monwealth, Bowling Green and Toledo. In those three matches, Nunge posted 29 kills on 63 attempts for a hitting percentage of .429. Ryan Schweizer — Cross Country The sophomore from Urbandale, Iowa, helped the men's squad place second over- all at the Crusader Open Sept. 1 by turning in a sec- ond-place time of 18:14.5 in the men's six-kilometer race. Schweizer finished right behind Irish freshman Yared Nuguse (18:09.3), and just ahead of freshman Vincent Zona (18:16.3) and sophomore Tyler Keslin (18:16.7). TOP OF THE CLASS ✦ GIMME FIVE In this year's opener against Temple, Notre Dame Stadium's official new sellout number, be- cause of the Campus Crossroads Project, was listed at 77,622. It is currently advertised as the sixth different official capacity mark that has been charted by the stadium since its opening in 1930. In reality, though, it varied from 1930 until 1966. There were only 14,751 in attendance for the first home game in the new structure in 1930, a 20-14 win over SMU to begin head coach Knute Rockne's final national title campaign. The first capacity audience — 50,731 —was not charted as such until a 16-14 defeat to USC under first- year Fighting Irish head coach Hunk Anderson on Nov. 21, 1931. The home game "capacity" crowds fluctuated from 1930-96, with a high of 61,296 in a 24-6 loss to Purdue on Oct. 6, 1962. It wasn't until 1966 that the school used 59,075 as its official sellout number. That capacity held for the next 30 years, or until the structure was expanded for the start of the 1997 season. Here are the five "official" attendance marks used by the school the previous 50 years from 1966-2016: Rk. Years Capacity 1. 1966-96 59,075 2. 1997 80,225 3. 1998-99 80,012 4. 2000 80,232 5. 2001-16 80,795 Getting To Know … FIFTH-YEAR SENIOR TIGHT END DURHAM SMYTHE Hometown: "Belton, Texas." High School: "Belton." Major: "Sociology." Favorite Food: "A nice steak." Favorite Place to Eat In South Bend: "Macri's." Favorite Movie: "'Old School.'" Favorite Music: "Alternative rock." Favorite Musician: "Dave Grohl." Favorite TV Show: "'Entourage.'" Favorite Part About Playing For Notre Dame: "I think the people that I've met throughout my experi- ence here are the best in the country — the faculty, the friends that I've met here and the coaching staff that's been around. That, first and foremost, has been great. The second thing is just representing the people that have come before. I think it takes a little while to understand that." Who's The Best Player You've Ever Lined Up Across From?: "My redshirt freshman year I played a little bit in the Florida State game and there were a lot of two-tight-end sets. I was matched up with Jalen Ramsey a lot. He was incredibly hard to block and run routes against." CHARTING THE IRISH NOTRE DAME'S RECORD AGAINST ACC MEMBERS In September 2012, Notre Dame agreed to become a full-time member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in all sports but football. While the Fighting Irish maintained their football independence, they did agree to play five games against ACC schools annually (for scheduling purposes, they have played six one year and four another). This week, the Irish face their first ACC foe of 2017 when they travel to the Northeast to take on Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Later this season, they have home games against North Carolina State and Wake Forest plus road trips to North Carolina and Miami. To date, the Irish are winless against three ACC members: Louisville (0-1), Virginia Tech (0-1) and North Carolina State (0-2). Clemson (1-2) and Florida State (2-6) also have notched winning records against Notre Dame. The Irish have posted a 7-4 mark against ACC squads the past two sea- sons, and have fashioned a 9-7 overall record the past four years. Here is how the Irish have fared against current members of the league all time: THE IRISH VS. THE ACC Team Record Pct. Wake Forest 3-0 1.000 Virginia 2-0 1.000 North Carolina 17-2 .895 Georgia Tech 28-6-1 .814 Miami (Fla.) 18-7-1 .712 Pittsburgh 48-21-1 .693 Syracuse 5-3 .625 Boston College 14-9 .609 Duke 3-2 .600 Clemson 1-2 .333 Florida State 2-6 .250 Louisville 0-1 .000 Virginia Tech 0-1 .000 North Carolina State 0-2 .000