Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1290311
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 26, 2020 9 UNDER THE DOME 3 Notre Dame players from North Carolina who will be making a return to their home state for the Wake Forest game (and later to North Carolina Nov. 27): kicker Jonathan Doerer (Charlotte), linebacker Osita Ekwonu (Char- lotte) and running back Jahmir Smith (Sanford). This also will mark the second time in four years Notre Dame will play three teams from North Carolina after having opened with Duke. In 2017, Notre Dame played at North Carolina and hosted North Carolina State and Wake Forest over a four-game span. The previous time it had three opponents from one state in the same year was head coach Brian Kelly's first season in 2010, when the Irish played Michigan, Michigan State and Western Michigan. This also marks the fifth consecutive year Notre Dame will play in the Tar Heel State: It played at North Carolina State in 2016, North Carolina in 2017, Wake Forest in 2018 and Duke in 2019. 4 Notre Dame players named to the Pro Football Focus Team of the Week for their efforts in the 27-13 victory versus Duke Sept. 12. Three of them were offensive linemen: fifth-year senior left tackle Liam Eichenberg, senior left guard Aaron Banks and junior center Jarrett Patterson. Junior cornerback TaRiq Bracy also made the All-PFF team that weekend, with a performance that included not surrendering any yardage via the pass and missing no tackles. 4.371 Million television viewers for Notre Dame's 27-13 win over Duke Sept. 12, making it the most-watched college football game to date through that weekend. According to NBC, it was the most watched Notre Dame afternoon home opener on its network in 14 years (Penn State, 6.902). Sports Business Journal also reported it was the third-highest rating for a Notre Dame game on NBC since 2015, eclipsed only by the 2018 Michigan opener (7.1 million) and 2016 Michigan State prime-time game (4.99 million). Other viewership numbers from the Sept. 12 weekend in- cluded: Georgia Tech-Florida State (ABC) at 3.522 million, Clemson-Wake Forest (ABC) with 3.461 million and Kansas State-Arkansas State (Fox) totaling 1.791 million. 22.8 Scoring average in 22 games for former Notre Dame star and current Dallas Wings stand- out Arike Ogunbowale (2015-19) to finish first in the WNBA in that category. Last season, she finished third in scoring as a rookie (19.1). Ogunbowale scored at least 14 points in every game this sea- son, with a career-high 39 versus Washington Sept. 6 and 38 against Chicago Sept. 11. Las Vegas forward A'ja Wilson finished second with 20.5 points per game. Former Notre Dame and current Wings teammate Marina Mabrey averaged 10.6 points per game. The second-highest scoring average from a Notre Dame alumnae this season was 17.7 by Phoenix's Skylar Diggins-Smith. 25/1 Notre Dame's national championship odds, per BetOnline, after the 27-13 win versus Duke. It had been 12/1 prior to the meeting with the Blue Devils, but it is still the eighth-highest among the 76 Football Bowl Subdivision teams that are slated to play this fall, with the SEC starting Sept. 26. 75 Yards gained by sophomore running back KYREN WILLIAMS on a tunnel screen in the win over Duke. That is tied for the third-longest catch and run by a Notre Dame running back, and the most in 56 years. The record by a Fighting Irish running back is 91 by Nick Eddy on a touchdown pass from John Huarte during a 17-15 victory at Pitt in 1964. In second place is a 78-yard grab by Jim Morse from Paul Hornung in a 1955 loss at USC. Tied for third is from 1924 when a pair of Four Horsemen — Harry Stuhldreher to Jim Crowley — connected on a 75-yard play in a win versus Nebraska. 283 C a r e e r N B A games played by former Notre Dame forward/ wing Pat Connaughton through five seasons, or after his Milwaukee Bucks (a league-best 56-17 record this season) were eliminated in the playoffs this month. The lone Notre Dame alumnus in the NBA, Connaugh- ton played in 67 contests this season with four starts, finishing with averages of 5.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS