Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 OCT. 10, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Blake Kelly — Soccer For the second time in three weeks, the junior goaltender from Holt, Mich., earned ACC Co-Defensive Player of Week honors Sept. 22. He led Notre Dame to wins over Detroit Mercy (4-0) Sept. 15 and at No. 1 Stanford (3-1) Sept. 20. Kelly, who recorded a career-high 10 saves in the win over the Cardinal, ranked third in the ACC in save percentage (.820) and seventh in goals against average (1.03) through Sept. 28. Mae Kordas — Volleyball The sophomore outside hit- ter from Carlsbad, Calif., was a key player for Notre Dame in a straight-set blowout road win over Syracuse (25-17, 25-18, 25-14) Sept. 27. She headlined a balanced Irish at- tack with a team-best 9 kills to go along with 4 digs and 2 service aces. Through Sept. 29, Kordas rarely left the court and was second on the team in both kills (104) and points per set (3.13). Lily Joseph — Soccer The junior midfielder from Hamden, Conn., returned to Notre Dame after playing at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland and didn't miss a beat. She came off the bench and she scored a goal only three minutes af- ter subbing in during a 4-0 win over Boston College Sept. 18. Six days later, Joseph scored Notre Dame's only goal in a solid 1-1 draw on the road at No. 4 Duke Sept. 24. Rocco Salvitti — Golf The senior from Canons- burg, Pa., fired a 3-under- par 210 over three rounds to finish tied for fourth indi- vidually while helping Notre Dame to a second-place finish in the 13-team Cana- dian Collegiate Invitational Sept 13-15. Salvitti carded a 1-under 70, a 4-under 67 and a 2-over 73 in his three rounds at the Öviinbyrd Golf Club, in Ontario, to lead the Irish to their second runner-up finish in two tournaments during the fall season. — Todd D. Burlage TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE DJ McKinney is used to operating under the radar. In 2024, his best season of college football to date, he played opposite Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. Now with Notre Dame, he plays opposite the unquestioned best cornerback in the country in Leonard Moore. But very quietly, the Colorado transfer has been lights-out in his own right so far in 2026 — and then some. A third of the way through the regular season, McKinney was targeted just 5 times. He allowed a grand total of 2 receptions for 6 yards, and he took one of his targets the other way for a pick six. That comes out to an NFL-calculated passer rating of 8.3, according to Pro Football Focus. Among Power Four cornerbacks with 50 or more coverage snaps through four games, only three allowed lower passer ratings when targeted. After an injury-shortened season last year, McKinney appears to have rediscovered the form that earned him preseason first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2025. Deion Sanders — his head coach at Colorado and someone who knows cornerback play — once called him a future first-round pick. During fall camp, his current defensive backs coach agreed. "I've been very fortunate to be around a couple of first- round corners," Aaron Henry said in August. "He's in that category." There are only 32 first-round picks, so BGI makes no prom- ises on his draft stock. But McKinney has done nothing to disprove that evaluation so far in South Bend. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH IRISH EXTEND RARE RUSHING DEFENSE STREAK Notre Dame football limited its first four opponents in the 2026 season to fewer than 100 net rushing yards in each game. The Irish did the same in their 2025 finale at Stanford, which created a rare five- game streak of excellent run defense. The streak that extended through the start of this season became just the 11th such occurrence in program history since 1930 and the first since a five-game streak during the 2020 season. Stanford rushed for 86 yards in a 49-20 loss to the Irish to end the 2025 regular season, and that's the clos- est any opponent has come to 100 rushing yards in the latest streak. The net rushing totals decreased in each subsequent game during the five-game streak: 67 for Wisconsin, 64 for Rice, 44 for Michigan State and 40 for Purdue. Notre Dame's rushing defense en- tered Week 5 of the 2026 season ranked No. 5 in the FBS, allowing just 53.8 yards per game. Pro Football Focus assigned a 92.4 run defense grade to the Irish. Only eight teams received better grades. The next big test for the Irish run defense will come against BYU, which rushed for 788 yards in its first three games. If the streak continues against North Carolina, Stanford and BYU, the Irish will match the program record of eight consecutive games. — Tyler James LOWEST NFL PASSER RATING WHEN TARGETED AMONG POWER FOUR CORNERBACKS Through Week 4 Minimum 50 coverage snaps, per PFF Rk. Player School Rating 1. Therrian Alexander III BYU 0.0 2. Deshaun Lee Iowa 3.2 3. Jahlil Florence Missouri 7.8 4. DJ McKinney Notre Dame 8.3 Daryus Dixson Penn State 8.3 Fifth-year cornerback DJ McKinney allowed a grand total of just 2 recep- tions for 6 yards through the first four games of the regular season. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER LONGEST STREAKS HOLDING OPPONENTS UNDER 100 RUSHING YARDS Rk. Games Season(s) Game Span 1. 8 1993 Michigan State-Florida State 2. 7 1973 Northwestern-Navy 3. 6 1932-33 Kansas-Indiana 6 1964 Wisconsin-Navy 6 1965 Northwestern-North Carolina 6 1982 Michigan-Navy 6 2020 Louisville-North Carolina 8. 5 1941 Arizona-Illinois 5 1968-69 Navy-Northwestern 5 2004 Boston College-Oregon State 5 2025-26 Stanford-Purdue