AGENTS OF CHAOS
JORDAN CLARK FEATURE
Jordan Clark: On the field and behind the mic
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
On Saturdays, you’ll typically find Notre Dame graduate safety Jordan Clark roaming the Irish defense. As the football team’s starting nickelback, Clark does a little bit of everything, handling run support responsibilities and coverage of interior receivers.
Off the field, he’s even more than that. Occasionally, he stops by Murphy’s Ice Cream Shoppe on Angela Boulevard and takes on another role: podcast host. Since finalizing his move from Arizona State, where he played for the past five years, to Notre Dame in December, Clark has combined a career after football with the game he loves now.
It all started in the spring when Clark sat down with Shaun Crawford, a safety at Notre Dame from 2015 to 2020. Crawford hosts Varsity House Podcast, which provides “exclusive access and authentic conversations with some of the most notable figures in sports” according to the show’s website. Recently, stars like Kyle Hamilton, Julian Love and Arike Ogunbowale have joined Crawford. In March, it was Clark who spoke with Crawford for nearly an hour on Notre Dame football, philosophy and favorite spots around campus.
“We just had a great conversation, and he felt like [podcasting] was something that I could possibly be good at,” Clark recalled. “He’s looking to give guys a platform [and] looking to give guys an opportunity to maximize their time in college — and obviously me being here [to] maximize my Notre Dame experience. And we felt that a podcast would be a great way for me to meet people and to put something in the media portfolio … Ultimately, it’s been really cool.”
Clark is now three episodes deep in his own show, The Irish Scoop, which runs under the Varsity House umbrella. He’s already featured junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison, sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love and graduate safety Xavier Watts as guests, bringing Notre Dame football fans closer to the names they know and love. The show has also helped Clark build connections at Notre Dame and pursue a post-football career in the media, much like his father Ryan has since retiring from a 13-year NFL tenure in 2014.
For as amiable as Jordan Clark may appear behind the microphone, he means
business on the gridiron.
One of the most experienced players on Notre Dame’s team, Clark flies around the field, laying hard hits and making key pass breakups. Sometimes, Clark gets into the Irish defense, a “physical and violent” one as he described it too much for his own good. Two weeks ago, he got mixed up with Louisville wide receiver Chris Bell and offered a headbutt that earned the Irish a 15-yard penalty.
Some players wouldn’t buy into the teaching moment that followed during the week, but Clark gets it. He came to Notre Dame to learn and develop as much as he could in one year’s time.
“If you feel like you need to handle something, there’s ample opportunity to do it in between whistles,” Clark said. “That’s what I talked to Coach [Freeman] about — just being a little bit more composed in that situation. Obviously, you never want to let anyone disrespect you, but ultimately we want to win football games. Moving forward, I’ll definitely look at situations like that and
things like that with that mindset.”
“I just can’t cost my team 15 [yards],” Clark simply said of his mistake.
Fortunately for the Irish, Clark far more often takes yardage away from the opposing team. In that same Louisville game, he made a couple of big plays early on that showed off his positional range. On one occasion, he lost a step on his receiver downfield but recovered nicely to break up a deep ball at the goal line. On another, he stepped up in the flat with perfect timing to deliver a huge hit on the running back.
Thanks to the wealth of experience he picked up during five seasons in Tempe — and the intensity of Notre Dame’s practices — Clark shows up ready to go.
“The way that we prepare every week, we go all out. And I go to Notre Dame — I play against the really good players in practice,” Clark said. “So when you get in the game you’ve gotta move around, you’ve gotta do something different, it’s not nervewracking. You don’t feel out of place because the speed of
the game is not what it is in practice.”
Moving around is always integral to the nickelback’s style of play, but that reached an even larger degree for Clark in the Louisville game. During the week leading up to the game, junior cornerback Jaden Mickey announced his intentions to transfer. Sophomore cornerback Christian Gray, who typically starts, never saw the field due to an injury. That thrust Clark into a more coverage-heavy workload, one that he and the Irish defense handled well enough to secure a 31-24 win.
“Guys know every single position. They sent me out there to do it, but I felt like anybody could’ve went out there and played corner,” Clark said.
“That’s just how we prepare. That’s our mindset in our room, and our coaches do a great job of preparing us for those moments.”
If it were up to Clark, he would probably want to try every other position in the secondary. He’s a student of defense and its intricacies.
During his appearance on Varsity House Podcast, Clark
shared the moment that he identified Notre Dame as the best fit for him. While visiting the school with his father, Jordan met defensive coordinator Al Golden and stepped into his office. There, Golden showed the two of them a sheet on which he has kept track of everything he’s learned about defense over the course of his career. Jordan was amazed. His father, an NFL defensive back for more than a decade, was “mesmerized,” as Jordan put it.
Now that he’s a part of Notre Dame’s elaborate and elite defense, it’s the simple things about Golden’s scheme that mean the most to Clark.
“I love that he lets us compete. He trusts us … and his calls are reflective of that,” Clark said.
Notre Dame trusts Clark, and Clark trusts Notre Dame. Whether it’s on the set at Murphy’s or on the field at Notre Dame Stadium, he has complete confidence that he’s in the right place.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
GRAY NOCJAR | The Observer
Graduate student safety Jordan Clark stares down the fallen receiver in Notre Dame’s 23-13 victory over Texas A&M at Kyle Field on Aug. 31, 2024. Clark has been a top performer all season on an Irish secondary that is among the best in the entire country.
Notre Dame Ave opens
City carried out ‘top to bottom reconstuction’ of the street
By LIAM PRICE Viewpoint Editor
Though the Notre Dame class of 2028 once again broke the mold of admissions selectivity, the road to the dome actually just got a little easier — that is, if you are a pedestrian or cyclist.
Notre Dame Avenue reopened to traffic at the end of Sept. after construction, slightly delayed from its original plan to be open by the Notre Dame football team’s first home game. The project is part of South Bend’s Northeast Neighborhood Plan, which also
Pizza, Pop and Politics
discusses immigration
By JULIET MULLALLY
News Writer
On Wednesday evening, Luis Fraga, professor of transformative Latino leadership and director of the Institute for Latino Studies, and Erin Corcoran, executive director of the Kroc Institute for Peace Studies and associate teaching professor, held a discussion on the political implications of immigration. The discussion is part of the “Pizza, Pop and Politics” series, run by ND Votes and the Klau Institute for
Civil & Human Rights.
Fraga opened by calling attendees to take a step back and consider the issue of immigration from a nonpartisan approach.
“I ask you to position yourself as a citizen or a resident of this country who wants to make an investment in the country,” Fraga said.
He then presented United States census data, showing that the population of those who identify as white has dropped about 26% since 1970, while the Latino population
grew about 17% and the Asian population grew about 7%.
“The groups associated with historical marginalization have an increased capacity to achieve power, prestige and state within the United States,” Fraga said. “The country is changing.”
While data showed an increasing Latino population, Fraga went on to present data on the growing Latino turnout gap in the United States. He explained there are increasing
CFSS director Daniel Horan speaks on spirituality
By BERHAN HAGEZOM
News Writer
On Wednesday, the Center for the Study of Spirituality (CFSS) at Saint Mary’s College hosted a lecture titled “What is Spirituality, and How Do We Study It?” led by Daniel Horan, director of the Center. Horan
recently left the priesthood, rescinding his vows to the Franciscan order last week. Guests attended the conference in person in the Carroll Auditorium as well as online. The lecture is part of a celebration of the CFSS’s 40 years of establishment at the College, with a two-week-long series
of events featuring various special guest speakers.
Julia Feder, assistant director of CFSS and professor of religious studies, began the event by discussing CFSS’s history and the center’s goals. “Founded in 1984 by
see CFSS PAGE 4
Washington Hall to finish renovation
By ELLA FLYNN News Writer
Since May 2024, students and visitors may have noticed utility trucks and construction signs surrounding Washington Hall. The historic building has undergone a major renovation during the past few months and is scheduled to be completed by Friday, Oct. 19.
Washington Hall sits next to the Main Building as one of the most historic buildings on Notre Dame’s campus. It was built in 1881 to replace
the Music Hall that burned down in 1879. Ornate artwork lined most available surfaces in the auditorium, depicting the Greek god Dionysus, lavish laurel wreaths and a portrait of George Washington, the building’s namesake. This was the work of Louis Rusca and Luigi Gregori, a late professor at the University and famous Vatican painter who also painted the Basilica and the Main Building.
Sofia Nelson ‘25 has fond memories of the building
see RENOVATION PAGE 4
Group advocates for insurgent love
ing “coast-to-coast” to bring “revolutionary
By SOLEDAD CASTELLANOS News Writer
Tuesday night the Saint Mary’s Little Theater hosted the “Revolutionary Love” tour with author, lawyer and civil rights activist activist Valarie Kaur. Accompanied by musicians Sonny Singh, Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa-Baker and Qais Essar, the onstage group of four performed traditional songs and story telling from the Sikh religion. According to the tour’s website, it aims to “energize
hearts, build community bonds, and ignite courageous action rooted in love.”
Facilitating the event was religious studies professor Molly Gower, who invited Kaur and her team to visit the College. Tour coordinator Anusha Mehar explained her call to join the tour.
“This ‘call’ is not just now, it is a call across cultures, across timelines in our shared collective
LIAM PRICE | The Observer
The new route along Notre Dame Avenue, completed at the end of September includes raised intersections to protect pedestrians.
AYNSLEE DELLACCA | The Observer Activist, lawyer and author Valarie Kaur is currently on tour, travel-
love” to the country.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY:
What
Milan Rei Booker senior Off-campus
“Oovoo
Hayle Jean Baptiste senior Breen-Phillips Hall
“Oovoo
Have
Because of an editing error, a story that ran in Wednesday’s paper about St. Joseph’s Beach misattributed the final quote. McKenna Powers, not Veronica Ballinger, discussed the sailing team’s beach-going habits.
Friday
2024 Presidental
Campaign: A Debate
Carey Auditorium
1:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Debate of current political issues. Free.
Concert: Notre Dame
Orchestra
Leighton Concert Hall
8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Symphony orchestra performance.
Saturday
Pumpkin Painting
Contest
Siegfried Dining Hall
4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Holy Cross two day event.
Children’s Choir
South Bend Farmer’s Market
11 a.m. - 12 p.m
Choir concert with sacred songs of joy.
Sunday
Scooby-Doo (2002)
DeBartolo Performing
Arts Center
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Movie showing of liveaction Scooby-Doo. Rosary for Life
Jennifer Scheuer speaks on ‘Herbaria’ artwork
By SYDNEY EIDELBES and MONICA SCHAFER Staff Writers
Saint Mary’s College hosted a lecture on Thursday, Oct. 10 led by Jennifer Scheuer, an assistant professor of printmaking in the Rueff School of Design, Art and Performance at Purdue University.
Scheuer is a visual artist and printmaker. Her art addresses the themes of history, plants, the body and healing. She is a recipient of the 2022 DeHaan Artists of Distinction Award through the Indianapolis Arts Council. Throughout her lecture, Scheuer talked about her long-held interest in paper sculpture and book arts. Her new focus in her creative endeavors has led her to her exploration of artist books.
Scheuer’s studio practice utilizes collections, archives and research.
“I view my artistic practice as that of a researcher. My work develops from talking with historians, reading books and visiting gardens and museums,” she said.
Scheuer described her work as cyclical, with several recurring themes throughout her collections.
“Each of the prints and drawings that I create, develops from texts and source materials,” she said. “It also has to do with structure and order and organization, which are significant in my interest as an artist, and the relationship to plants. Much of my interest is discussing ideas of healing spirituality and archives through the language and
narrative of plants.”
Her work is drawn from English medical writer William Cole, who associated his work with the corporeal human body to plants, suggesting that “the flesh of a plant was like skin, the fibers were like nerves and the juice was like blood.”
Continuing to explain her exploration of the connection between plants and the human body, Scheuer said, “And while this looks like folklore, there’s many curious scientific connections that also exist. And research continues to explore the use of plants in medicine.”
Though her works are based on her extensive research, Scheuer’s goal is not scientific illustration.
“Rather, the drawings hold narratives and cues and symbols, and a sense of bodyness,” she said. The process of creating her
compositions influenced Scheuer to take her work in another direction.
“I thought about other ways I could describe this phenomenon in a certain sense of truthfulness and wonder,” she said.
Scheuer explained her curiosity inspired her to turn to the medium of photography.
“I stepped away from the historical, and I began to document plants that look bodylike, and parts of the body that look plant-like,” she said.
She used the collection to depict interspersing images of the environment to create a setting that was both human and plant.
Scheuer’s ideas can be summarized with the doctrine of signatures, the pseudoscientific belief that various herbs or plants which resemble a specific part of the body can treat whatever sickness is harming
that body part.
“The doctrine of signature’s functions is a sort of visual language that has the potential to be recognized by the individual,” she said. “It’s also a theory about philosophical questions about the invisible and visible links between our bodies and the earth.”
She concluded her lecture by describing her art as a conversation about spirituality. “I use this story of plants and the doctrine of signatures and intent to talk about universality, about suffering and healing,” she said.
Scheuer’s works will be displayed in the Moreau Gallery at Saint Mary’s College from Oct. 2 through Nov. 7.
Contact Sydney Eidelbes at seidelbes01@saintmarys.edu and Monica Schafer at mschafer01@saintmarys.edu
histories. We are witnessing genocidal campaigns, political policies and practices enacted by leaders that are valuing power over people and racial disparity across the nation,” she said.
Kaur presented the Sikh value of unity and argued the desire for ”revolutionary” love was intrinsic to human beings.
The audience was invited to share in the sign of respect of covering their heads and removing their shoes during the presentation when Sikh wisdom was being shared.
During the event, Kaur retold the story of the origin of the Sikh religion, the life stories of Guru Nanak and
Guru Hargobind Sahib. She concluded with the story of Hargobind Sahib’s escape from imprisonment with 52 others, each holding onto a tassel on his cloak.
Throughout the storytellings, the musicians played a reimagined form of various Sikh prayers, with Singh performing vocals.
Before the event, Singh explained the core principles of the Sikh community.
“In the Sikh community, the spiritual and the political are intimately linked. And so if we consider ourselves spiritual people, if we consider devotion and oneness important to us, regardless of our faiths, then fighting for justice and liberation is one of the ways that we have to worship,
right? Because if that divine light is in everyone then it’s our responsibility to stand up for all people,” he said.
Using this foundation, Kaur and her team developed a “compass of love“ which encourages users to implement ”see no stranger,” ”tend the wound” and ”breath and push” into their daily lives and the way they interact with others. The compass was introduced and explained to the audience after the storytellings.
“We must care for others the way we care for ourselves. We’re interdependent. We are an ecosystem, and we can’t do it alone,” she said.
Kaur highlighted her latest book titled Sage Warrior as well as the accompanying album by Singh with the same name, which explores the traditional tales of Sikh history through the perspective of the female characters.
After Kaur and her peers finished their performance and lecture, the audience was invited to read an account of a revolutionary love experience from a former audience member. In turn, audience members filled out their own account of experiencing the revolutionary love for future tour attendees in upcoming cities. Finally, Kaur left goers with one last sentiment: “Do your part.”
Valarie Kaur and her team will be continuing their tour across the country with their next stop being in Chicago Oct. 9 and their final stop taking place in New Orleans Oct. 27.
Contact Soledad Castellanos at scastellanos01@saintmarys.edu
Immigrants
numbers of eligible Latino voters but a disproportionally low growth in the number of actual Latino voters.
“That’s a challenge for democracy. That’s a challenge for the country. There is an untapped Latino electorate,” Fraga said.
Fraga detailed the unexpected consequences, or the “inclusion paradox,” of the growth in the Latino population and electorate, including the electoral capture of the Latino population, symbolic mainstreaming by candidates and policy targeting.
He then discussed the United States’ history of intermingling the issue of immigration with issues of race, making it difficult to only talk about the issue of immigration and propose solutions.
“The issue of immigration is often confused to be an issue about race,” Fraga said.
He addressed the misconception that Latinos come from mostly outside of the United States, mentioning that 94% of Latinos under 18 in the U.S. right now were born in the U.S.
He ended his part of the discussion by asking attendees and the wider U.S. population, “Do we want to continue a legacy of divisiveness? Do we want a legacy of suspicion? Or do we want the legacy of leaving a country that we are proud of?”
CFSS
Dr. Keith Egan, with support from the Sisters of the Holy Cross and Saint Mary’s College, the Center for the Study of Spirituality offers programs that promote the engagement between faith and reason and the connection between mind, body and spirit. As an academic center, it is a hub for scholarly and public engagement, which draws on intellectual resources in the Catholic and broader Christian tradition,” Feder said.
During his talk, Horan discussed spirituality and how it relates to religion. He focused mainly on what spirituality is and how the term has come to be more accepted over time in the Catholic community and in non-religious contexts.
Horan said spirituality is “actually a fairly simple innovation, at least as it pertains to matters of religious experience.”
He also discussed the differences in the Catholic Encyclopedia’s use of spirituality from 1912 to 1915, where there were zero mentions of spirituality to “just a few decades later, in 1970 when the revised edition of the new Catholic Encyclopedia was published, you would find at
Corcoran then discussed the substance of immigration law and policy, using her background as a lawyer and employee in the U.S. Senate working on immigration reform.
She began by framing that the issue used to not be divided along party lines.
She said about 80% of the pathways people used to take are gone and is now a cap on legal immigration in the U.S., making the process even more difficult for those trying to immigrate to the U.S.
“People could be waiting in line for upwards of 25 years if they are from certain countries,” Corcoran said. “Our current system of immigration is broken.”
Corcoran noted the U.S.’ declining birth rates and growing aging population leave labor needs in our economy that will not be filled by U.S. workers, but there is a demand for immigrant workers.
“Pretty much every economist will agree that immigrants are a net positive, economically speaking,” Corcoran said.
She noted the increased number of people crossing the southern border daily, recently upwards of about 10,000 people, and the increased number of women and children.
“We need to talk about the reason that people are coming over. Increasing barriers just reroutes the flows if we don’t address the reasons that people are coming over. The new
least eight articles [with] the heads of which included spirituality as subject matter.”
Horan also provided anecdotes to explain how spirituality has developed as an academic discipline, including one where a colleague of his friend stated “theology is to spirituality as cheese is to Cheese Whiz.”
During the final section of the lecture, audience members were invited to ask questions and engage in a dialogue with Horan. The questions drew upon Horan’s work and opinions about spirituality and how it can be more widely accepted by religious spaces in non-religious contexts.
One participant asked what people mean when they say they are spiritual but not religious.
Horan said he believes people “might mean something different in their experience”, but they “fundamentally mean that they are uncomfortable identifying with institutional religious groups.”
Horan said that for people in religious institutions concerned about this, “I would say, why is it that the stories you tell, the doctrine you articulate, the rules you establish and the communities you build don’t align with that experience of the divine, these people who identify as spiritual but not religious?”
He said this is a learning
routes place immigrants in a much more dangerous situation,” Corcoran said. “Until we address some of the root causes for why people are coming, they are going to continue to come here.”
She also touched on the fact that, historically, immigration has always been seen as a federal issue, but a lack of congressional action over decades has made certain states try to make it a state issue. Lack of action has also emboldened the executive branch to take authority, but under the Constitution, Congress is the only one that can make permanent change.
She addressed the concern and myth that immigrants are criminals and burdens on our social welfare system. She said criminality is lower for immigrants compared to residents born in the U.S. and most crimes are race-on-race crimes.
The session ended with a question-andanswer session with attendees and the professors about topics such as Asian immigration, a recent bipartisan immigration bill, Trump’s threats of mass deportation and the media’s influence on immigration perception.
Corcoran had a last call for people to “see immigrants as a human with human dignity. This will bring us closer to turning the narrative.”
Contact Juliet Mullally at jmullall@nd.edu
experience for religious communities to be a part of, rather than something to entirely reject, especially for the future of Christian spirituality.
Another participant commented on her experience with a homeless person and how that encounter shaped how she considers herself to be a spiritual person.
“Within the Christian tradition, one of those key elements of spirituality was transformation, that it’s not enough to stop with, like you said, me and Jesus, or be in a silo, or that this is just for me to feel good, right? But instead, in order for it to be Christian spirituality, it should change us toward and for something, and that toward is community and others, and for is at least as the gospel leaves it in the breaking of the kingdom of God,” Horan said.
The next event in the series of programs celebrating the CFSS’s 40 years of establishment is a lecture titled “Courageous Hope in Precarious Times” featuring guest speaker Fr. Bryan Massingale. This event will be held Nov. 12 at 7 p.m., both in-person at Carroll Auditorium and livestreamed through online registration.
Contact Berhan Hagezom at bhagezom01@saintmarys.edu
Renovation
during her time in PEMCo. The building is, she admitted, not without its faults. She recalled the curtain being broken during all of the musical shows she performed in, and stories of a bat that threatened to cancel a rehearsal.
“I remember there were big swooping paintings. They were beautiful, but very old and faded,” Nelson said.
A lot has happened to the building in its 143-year history, including a 1956 renovation in which Notre Dame painted over the artwork with primarily beige artwork.
But now, the auditorium is being restored. Companies Conrad-Schmitt Studios and Ziolkowski Construction have been working since May 20, putting up scaffolding, uncovering the murals and touching up on paint.
This has involved a lot of guess work for the companies. Renovators have looked to an 1895 photograph of the auditorium as a guide to restoring the paintings and piecing together the images that remain.
Bryon Roesselet, a senior artist and architectural conservator for Conrad Schmitt Studios, said in a Notre Dame Magazine article from August, “On the ceiling, I expected if we were really lucky, there’d be maybe 40 percent of (the 1890s decor) still there, and we’re closer to 80 or 90 percent.”
Kat Van Vleet, the facil-
ND Avenue
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
include improvements to South Bend Avenue and Hill Street.
According to the project’s principal planner Michael Divita, the project was jointly funded by hotel and motel tax revenues, the city of South Bend, Visit South Bend, Mishawaka and a contribution from Notre Dame.
“One of the goals of that plan was to create a more walkable, bikeable area, but more specifically, to link the University to downtown South Bend with a high quality bike path connection,” Divita said. “When you make those trips comfortable, you encourage more people who maybe in the past would say, ‘I’m just going to drive’ to instead say, ‘this is really easy and fun even to do that.’”
In the words of the project’s senior engineer, Charlotte Brach, the city has carried out “top to bottom reconstruction” of the street. This includes water main replacement, separating a storm sewer, reworking curbs and implementing a protected bike lane with raised intersections.
That last feature, Divita
ity manager for Washington Hall and Stepan Center and assistant director in the Student Activities Office, is impressed by the grand scale of the renovation.
“I have worked in Washington Hall for more than twenty years and have been present for previous work in this building, but I’ve never seen a renovation project of this scale,” she said.
This transformation involves more than just the paintings. The auditorium is also receiving a broad upkeep including new flooring, new seats and new house lighting and speakers. This has brought a third company, TPC Technologies, onto Notre Dame’s campus to work on lighting and install new speakers.
The space will soon be open for student groups to be able to enjoy it. Saint Joseph High School will be the first group using the space to put on its traditional annual play. The first University student group production will be the cultural show, “Asian Allure,” on Nov. 1 and 2.
“We average at least one event a week during the academic year, ranging from musicals and dance shows to residence hall events and cultural shows. There’s something on our calendar for just about everyone. We’ve been supporting the arts in the heart of campus for more than 140 years and will continue to do so for many years to come,” Van Vleet said.
Contact Ella Flynn at eflynn6@nd.edu
explained, is now along the entire route between Notre Dame and South Bend.
“Rather than what a typical intersection is, where if you are a pedestrian, you would ramp down to the streets across the street, back up on the other side, here pedestrians go straight across, and the car is ramping up to the sidewalk level and then back down,” Divita said. “That lends to the priority of the people outside the motor vehicle, so it helps from a safety perspective, again giving pedestrians a little bit more presence there.”
Brach stressed the potential of improved safety between the University and downtown South Bend.
“One of the things that kind of blew my mind when we started this process, looking at the route, was learning that it’s only a mile and a half,” Brach said. “Hearing that mile and a half [figure], that’s an easy walk, but it doesn’t didn’t feel easy before just because there wasn’t that safe space for pedestrians and cyclists to be. And now I will say I’ve noticed that it feels much shorter.”
Contact Liam Price at lprice3@nd.edu
Pizza bagels divide Alumni
This past Sunday, Alumni Hall opened its iconic restaurant Dawg Pizza for the first time this academic year.
They are known for serving Michelin star pizza bagels, a culinary craft worthy of a million laurels and high praises! The rollout was stunted, however, by an ongoing revolution caused by higher prices.
Dawg Pizza manager and Alumni Hall senior Thaddeus Lipinski announced the service’s new partnership with a student startup called CARI. This is an online card processing company. Dawg Pizza allegedly instituted the partnership in an effort to make the online ordering process easier and keep track of orders and sales which were being lost in the previous manual ordering structure.
CARI uses Stripe to process online transactions, a software which allegedly simplifies online financial payments for businesses. Stripe takes a transaction fee of 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per domestic charge. This means that orders for Dawg Pizza have skyrocketed in price, as Alumni Dawgs are forced to pay an additional forty-seven whole cents per order of Dawg Pizza to cover carrying costs for the app.
At approximately 11 p.m. Sunday night, former Alumni Hall president James Baird led a march through the hall carrying a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. Baird was followed by current copresident Guy Maiorano, who sported a cardboard sign which stated “f*** the co-presidents.” Not sure why he was revolting against himself here, to be honest, but we’ll move on.
The revolution has also led to mass abuse of the DawgMail
email chain in Alumni Hall. Two RA’s chipped in Sunday night, urging students to “vote with your wallets” and not to “give in to Big Pizza.”
Sophomore Anthony Lucatuorto, “The Dorm Philosopher,” sent a 459-word essay in response to and in support of Baird’s post-march email. His thesis was that the app partnership of Dawg Pizza “violates the moral codes of Aristotelian Virtue Ethics, Kantian Deontology, and Utilitarianism.”
Do these kids have nothing better to do with their time?
Anyway, in a Wednesday email asserting that “we are not crooks,” Lipinski defended Dawg Pizza’s transition to CARI and explained the fee. He argued that CARI helped Dawg Pizza track sales, retain their revenue and operate at a profit, writing that if they were to “work under the framework of last year’s Dawg Pizza, there would not be Dawg Pizza.”
Quickly, Alumni divided between support for the Hall Administration and Hall Revolution.
While RA Jordan Pavlock responded to the email chain in support of Lipinski, Baird replied quickly: “Fake news + L + ratio. Checkmate. El Prez wins again.”
Several attempts to overthrow Alumni Hall’s current leadership have already been executed. Rebels fired mists of vinegar through spray bottles. Some residents have called this travesty “the greatest threat to democracy since the downfall of Zahm.” Hundreds of students were wounded. We’re still confirming whether it was blood or pizza sauce on the walls of Alumni Sunday night.
Baird and several assailants have launched a campaign against what they perceive to be a “satanic tax,” threatening wide-scale revolution if their requests are not met. Signs condemning these unjust taxes have been thrown up all across the
sections of the hall. Several posters and online graphics have phrased a slogan reading, “47 cents Makes No Sense.” Many emails sent through the Alumni thread have insinuated that a call to arms is necessary to break the chains of oppression. Memes are abundant.
A “Save Democracy” survey was administered to the student body of Alumni on Monday, asking residents who they would support to lead the dorm as President. The current co-presidents, Maiorano and junior James Walsh, received less than 5% of the vote, only beating out the “Joe Biden” option.
In second place, junior Ryan “KILLA” Murray received 32%, while “#BringBackBaird” received 61%. But due to the fact that the first 30 votes were all in favor of Baird, we cannot confirm the integrity of this election.
Many Alumni Dawgs are struggling to understand such hikes in Dawg Pizza prices despite evidence of lower inflation and cheaper prices in other areas of the economy. Many Alumni Dawgs, in other words, suspect that corruption and manipulative business practices are being enforced.
This is an ongoing revolution, and an ongoing non-news story. A protest aligning with the time of this story’s deadline was underwhelming, but loud enough to probably annoy some of the dorm’s more studious dawgs and impassioned enough to provide some nice photos for the online article.
Anyway, The Observer has better things to do than continue reporting on it.
This is an abbreviated version of the column. You can read the complete version online at ndsmcobserver.com. You can contact Joe at jrudolp3@nd.edu and Liam at lprice3@nd.edu.
The balance sheet of the CIA
A balance sheet is a statement of assets, liabilities and the capital of a business. To put it simply, a balance sheet reveals a company’s levels of cash, debt and equity. Here’s how it works: Assets = liabilities + shareholder’s equity.
Any journal entry must ensure that this equation balances out.
Debits record what comes into the entity. Credits record what goes out or what the entity owes.
Balance sheets exist so investors can see the financials of a company. But don’t you think it is interesting that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is not required to release a balance sheet? They receive $17.5 billion from the federal government annually, and not a single living soul outside of the operation will ever know where that money went or how it was recorded on their financial statements.
The CIA has been privately held since its inception in 1947 but, as a hopeful investor, I look toward the horizon. And so, if the CIA ever becomes a publicly traded stock, it is my duty as a diligent potential shareholder to find out what its balance sheet has looked like over its history so I can make a more educated investment decision, should the opportunity ever arise.
1947:
During World War II, Nazi scientists developed lethal technologies categorized as biowarfare. This included genetically modified mosquitoes, injections that could kill individuals in seconds, several types of noxious gasses and more. At the Nuremberg Trials, several Nazi scientists were sentenced to death. Others, however, were a bit more lucky.
The CIA started to develop biomedical weapons on their own, but they wanted to know more. So, instead of idly watching the conviction of renowned Nazi killers, they hired them to work for the U.S. government. Because their area of study was thought to be dubious in America, the CIA set up several sites in Europe where they could develop deadly bioweapons and test them on unsuspecting people or captured USSR spies.
Balance sheet journal entry:
Here, there is an increase in non-cash assets. But remember, the equation must balance out. In this case, liabilities would also increase because the CIA hired massive security threats. Using the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the journal entry would be as follows:
Debit - Nazi Scientists receivable.
Credit - National Security Crisis payable.
Indeed, shareholder value would have increased with the hiring of Nazi scientists with a promise of solid future earnings.
1961:
The CIA organized and executed a failed coup in Cuba known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion. This coup was carried out in an attempt to dethrone and kill Fidel Castro and suppress the influence of communism in Latin America. The failure of this invasion led to a significant decrease in CIA share value.
Balance sheet journal entry:
Debit - Failed coups receivable.
Credit - Spread of communism payable.
Credit - $50 million of military-industrial complex funds payable
The decrease in imperialist market capitalization caused them to miss their earnings expectations, leading to a decrease in stock price. Cash and non-cash assets, along with retained earnings, would have dropped at that time.
1984:
Cocaine trafficking from Nicaragua to the United States by the CIA generated revenues of $60,000 per kilo, leading to annual revenues of an estimated $15 million a year from 1984 to 1996. It was later found through public hearings initiated by the FBI and the Department of Justice that several Central Intelligence agents were involved in a conspiracy to harbor Nicaraguan cocaine into the United States during the Latin American nation’s civil war. However, no CIA agents were prosecuted.
Balance sheet journal entry:
Debit - Cocaine receivable.
Credit - Bribes payable (bribes were administered to government officials, who then ruled that no federal agents were
involved in drug trafficking. In other words: “The Government did not do something bad.” - The Government).
Revenue generation of $15 million for 12 years equates to a $180 million industry. This increased market cap, leading to a massive jump in CIA share value.
2004:
Journalist Gary Webb was an investigative reporter who reported on the Nicaraguan drug funneling scandal by publishing a series of three articles in the San Jose Mercury News. The CIA denied the accusations and attacked the newspaper, causing Webb’s Editor-in-Chief to revert on the paper’s claims and back the federal agency’s narrative instead. Still, Webb persisted, publishing a book in 1998 that expanded on the CIA’s longstanding effort to funnel crack cocaine into the United States and cover it up.
Though revenue streams were consistent, these reports made the CIA look bad. To beat earnings, improve the public’s opinion and keep their shareholders happy, the CIA took what they believed to be necessary action.
In 2004, Webb was found dead. Government doctors investigated the incident. They found two bullet wounds in the side of his head, and — logically so — ruled his death as a suicide. Conveniently, the CIA was subsequently no longer under threat of exposure.
Balance sheet journal entry:
Debit - Retained secrets.
Credit - Assassination framed suicide payable.
Credit - Accurate reporting.
Everything in this article is all verifiable. But not everything that happened is in this article. If I die under mysterious circumstances in the next ten years, now you all know why: I may have used my GAAP principles incorrectly.
This is an abbreviated version of the column. You can read the complete version online at ndsmcobserver.com. To file a complaint, reach out at jrudolp3@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this inside column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Joe Rudolph and Liam Price Viewpoint Columnist and Viewpoint Editor
Joe Rudolph
Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino
In defense of huddled masses
Immediately after former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance circulated the lie that Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, the small town was bombarded with national attention. It only took a few days for schools to close, buildings to evacuate and state troopers to mobilize because the Haitian communities were getting a series of bomb threats. The Proud Boys, a white nationalist hate group, marched through the streets and the Ku Klux Klan distributed fliers saying that Haitian immigrants are “disease-ridden and filthy.” Springfield was plunged into racialized, bigoted discourse — all because JD Vance decided to “create a story” to win political points.
While the rumors of Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating cats and dogs are completely false, it is impossible to ignore immigration’s significance in this year’s election. It is a favorite issue for the Trump campaign, with Trump mentioning undocumented immigrants at every turn to manufacture fear in his base in hopes that they hit the polls on Nov. 5. Immigration is also polling as one of the most important issues for many voters going into this election cycle. Unfortunately, the discourse surrounding this issue is, at best, uninformed and, at worst, extremely xenophobic.
There is a perception of immigrants as bad for the American economy — whether that is by taking American jobs, draining our resources or not pulling their weight. In reality, these ideas are not accurate. Tarek Hassan of Boston University found that when the United States has more immigrants, there is more local economic growth. The average wages of both citizens and noncitizens raise as a result. In a working paper, Hassan and his team found that since 1965, immigrants may have added 5 percent growth in wages across the country. Additionally, researchers at
George Mason University found that immigrants coming into a country can bring down inflation by mitigating sudden labor shortages — an issue that is at the forefront of this election for the vast majority of voters. These workers contribute 17 percent of the national GDP, a proportionally higher share than their population. Undocumented immigrants alone pay an extremely significant amount in taxes. In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid almost $100 billion in mostly federal taxes, but also in state and local taxes. They often do not benefit from the results of these taxes by paying $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes in 2022. None of these services can be accessed by undocumented immigrants. The American economy would not be as robust as it is today without immigrants. Taking them out of the equation would be catastrophic.
The Republican Party has also fed into the prevailing idea that immigrants do not contribute to our communities when that is just not the case. Despite popular perception, undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and drug crime and one quarter the rate of native-born citizens for property crimes. Additionally, more than 18 percent of healthcare workers in the U.S. are immigrants, filling huge shortages across the country. Three in four undocumented immigrants were essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the past few years, one in five undocumented workers are in the construction industry, growing and strengthening our roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructure. Our communities would not be as safe, healthy and strong as they are today without immigrants’ contributions.
Mass deportations of immigrants would take away these benefits that come with their presence in the United States, making it harder for Americans to thrive when costs of living are already through the roof. However, it is important to not downplay the economic hardships facing Americans like those in Springfield. Healthcare and housing costs are high, while public safety
feels diminished. Nevertheless, scapegoating people looking for a better life by spreading racist rumors is never the answer. Solutions for those struggling to get by financially lie in policy — not exclusion. For instance, Kamala Harris is proposing an initiative to give first-time homebuyers up to $25,000 to help with their down payments to bring housing costs down and extend the $35 cap on insulin and $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket spending for seniors to all Americans. To combat the humanitarian crisis at the border, Harris plans to pass the bipartisan border bill that adds technology to stop fentanyl and other drugs and adds 1,500 agents at the border. These common policies will create a safer and prosperous America for everyone — not just the select few that Donald Trump’s Republican Party say we should care about.
All of the economic and community benefits that come with immigration are too big to ignore. However, rejecting immigrants through closed borders or mass deportation does not just endanger the American economy or American communities, it is a threat to the very soul of our nation. College Democrats of Notre Dame will not stand for anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy because we are unwaveringly dedicated to American values of freedom, diversity and inclusion. The United States was founded by immigrants. The University of Notre Dame was founded by immigrants. Despite the wishes of Trump’s GOP, Americans cannot and should not tell immigrants “sorry, we’re full.” We will always stand with Lady Liberty in welcoming all people “yearning to breathe free.”
The College Democrats of Notre Dame have agreed, along with the College Republicans of Notre Dame, to write a bi-weekly debate column in The Observer’s Viewpoint section in the name of free, civil discourse in the 2024 election cycle. You can reach out to the College Democrats at cdems@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
An ode to a Honda Civic
Allison Abplanalp
Under Further Scrutiny
Should you hear a distant low rumble followed by the smell of gasoline permeating through the crisp fall air, do not fear. It’s not the collapse of a nearby power plant, but rather me starting the engine of my 2003 Honda Civic. My car has been turning heads since it rolled onto campus at the start of the semester thanks to its distinctive age and striking resemblance to the 34th President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower. Yet unlike General Eisenhower, my car is still going strong. Both my car and I celebrated our 21st birthdays this past month. But it may have partied a little too hard because when I went to pick up my friend from the airport on Sunday, my car wouldn’t start.
When a car has been kicking as long as my Honda Civic, it becomes hard to accept that the end has arrived. You always think it has one more mile to drive, one more curb to hit and one more red light to run. Luckily, my car can and will do all those things again because after jumping the battery, it was back to its usual self. But it gave me a good scare. Although I spent most of high school hating having an old car, I’ve become rather fond of it.
There are several distinctive factors that I would dearly miss should I have to upgrade one day. Much of the interior is held together by superglue, giving it that homey DIY feel that HGTV watchers chase, while the lack of legroom in the back row brings my passengers closer together. It smells like it’s burning gas as though it’s trying to melt the ice caps. But despite this,
its gas mileage is second only to my brother’s Toyota Prius (those Japanese car manufacturers know how it’s done). My favorite feature is the beautiful display of maintenance lights constantly flashing, creating a colorful mosaic on my dashboard. The spirit of my Honda Civic reminds me that it’s not the destination, nor the journey. It’s the joy of making it to the destination without my car breaking down.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of my Honda Civic is the Maroon 5 CD that plays on repeat. Manufactured in 2003, it does not allow for an aux. Whenever I say this people always tell me there are ways to get around the lack of an aux, and believe me, I have tried them all. But in my moment of defeat (buying a cassette tape aux adapter without realizing my car does not have a cassette player), something wonderful happened. Out of options, I wandered into Goodwill, searched the CD rack and picked up the only album I recognized: Songs About Jane. I placed the CD in my car and listened as the nasally voice of Adam Levine filled my car speakers. In the three years since I bought that CD, it has played hundreds of times without interruption. On the car ride up to campus I set the record for most continuous listens in one drive, singing along to a full six run-throughs of the CD. Yet each time the CD starts over and I hear the first guitar notes of Harder to Breathe, I can’t wait to give it another listen.
After jumping my car on Sunday and successfully reviving it, my belief has been reaffirmed that I will never have to buy a new car because my Honda Civic is invincible. I cannot envision a life without it. If one of us goes down, we are going down together. This will probably be when the battery dies while I’m on the highway.
But that date is far in the future. Cars these days don’t compare to my trusty 2003 Honda Civic. Amidst the fancy models parked in Wilson Lot, my 2003 Honda Civic, with its sexy taupe finish, rusted rim and minor dent from when my grandma backed into it, stands as a testament to the true durability of cars manufactured during Y2K.
Hearing all this, you may be tempted to steal my car. It doesn’t help that I already told you what it looks like and where it is parked. If you do attempt a grand theft auto, make sure to turn off the air conditioning before merging onto the highway. It has trouble reaching high speeds while running the AC. Alternatively, instead of stealing my car, you could let me know if I ever leave my lights on (which happens frequently).
Considering the touch-and-go condition of my car, it is uncertain if it will survive the trip back home for fall break. Should my car break down on the way back, I would be perfectly content to assimilate into the closest town to where my car breaks down or live out my final days on the shoulder of the highway. So if this is the last article I write, just know I am happily stranded somewhere along Route 31, jamming out to Maroon 5 in my beloved Honda Civic.
Allison Abplanalp is a junior finance and accounting major. If she could change one thing about the English language, she would make “a lot” one word. Her least favorite month is March because every year she is devastated when she fails to pick the perfect March Madness bracket. You can contact Allison at aabplana@nd.edu. The views expressed in this inside column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
WHY GABRIEL LABELLE IS UP NEXT
By JACK HORTON Scene Writer
The “Saturday Night” movie poster alone was enough to get me excited about this one. With the 50th season of SNL currently underway, the Jason Reitman film follows the first episode of “Saturday Night Live” in 1975. Comedy kings like Chevy Chase, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd are depicted in this upcoming film that will be widely released in theaters Oct. 11. While the movie features a large cast (I’m particularly excited for Dylan O’Brien as Aykroyd), the famed SNL writer and producer, Lorne Michaels, is played by the lesser-known Gabriel LaBelle. Despite opposition from others within the production, Michaels is tasked with driving the premiere forward and tries to navigate a tumultuous opening night of potential pitfalls.
Who is Gabriel LaBelle? The 22-year-old actor from Vancouver played parts in “The Predator” (2018) and the TV show “American Gigolo” (2022) before his first major role in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fablemans” in 2022. He plays a young Sammy Fableman inspired by Spielberg’s childhood
memories. This performance garnered significant attention and marked him as a potential rising star in the coming years. After this film, he co-starred in the modest teen movie success “Snack Shack” (2024) earlier this year. LaBelle plays Moose, a charismatic and enjoyable best friend to the protagonist whose charisma jumps off the screen.
Let’s say that you could buy stocks in actors and actresses just like the stock market. For LaBelle, all analysts would indicate a buy on his stock. While early recognition from Spielberg in “The Fablemans” was a positive first step, this buy rating is largely due to his recent performance in “Snack Shack”. His frenetic energy as Moose blew the other actors off the screen. From the opening gambling scene, it’s clear that his best friend A.J. (played by Conor Sherry) does not possess the same charm as Moose, a continuous theme throughout the movie as the pair fix up a local snack shack and stumble into adventures together. His performance is reminiscent of Corey Feldman as Mouth in “The Goonies” (1985). Even though he’s not the story’s hero, he
wins over the audience with quotable one-liners and funny reactions. From young Sammy Fableman to the ever-energetic Moose to Lorne Michaels, he’s already displaying acting versatility for someone in their early twenties.
This upcoming role is likely LaBelle’s most challenging one yet. The young actor is tasked with leading a movie full of experienced actors about the beginning of one of America’s most beloved TV shows. SNL’s staple in American entertainment will likely draw his biggest crowd yet. This role is much different from LaBelle’s previous characters and shows how quickly he is ascending the ranks of young actors in dramatic and comedic roles. This impressive range gives him several career paths to explore in years to come. While he has had success in the past, “Saturday Night” will give LaBelle a chance to showcase his talents as a leading man, likely leading to higher celebrity status and leading roles in the near future. It’s time to learn his name. Gabriel LaBelle is up next.
Contact Jack Horton at jhorton6@nd.edu
By MARGUERITE C.J. MARLEY Scene Copyeditor
This weekend, the theater department of Saint Mary’s will present “The Play That Goes Wrong” — they do everything right.
The show starts right when you enter the theater. The “tech crew” wanders through the auditorium, asking audience members if they’ve seen a missing Duran Duran CD and even asking people to come on stage to help “fix the set.” Then, the “director” of the production, Chris, comes out and welcomes the audience to the Drama Society of Sacred Sisters Polytechnic College’s production of “The Murder at Haversham Manor.”
Unfortunately, everything starts to go awry almost immediately. Mistaken props, doors that jam and broken mantel pieces are just a few of the issues that the Drama Society has to deal with. Half the set falls, to the point where the cast has to hold up props with their teeth, and the detective is forced to “write down” clues on a vase with a set of keys. One of the actors is basically doing sign
language to remember her lines. One of the actors even faints halfway through the show and is carried off stage by several crew members.
The show’s interactive nature is a crucial element that keeps the audience both engaged and entertained. The performers’ seamless incorporation of the audience adds an extra layer of excitement and spontaneity, making each performance unique and memorable. Even during intermission, the entertainment continues. It’s also riddled with crew members having issues. From getting tangled in cords to throwing beach balls into the audience, the tech crew just can’t seem to get their stuff together. All of it is hilarious, and it’s a testament to the ensemble that they kept me entertained long enough to forget to use the restroom during the intermission.
Julia Zusi’s performance as the director/inspector is a standout, and her Irish accent is just as impressive as it was in “The Seafarer” last spring, further enhancing the audience’s sense of being part of the performance.
There were more spit takes than I would have
liked; they’re good spit takes, but I just find them gross. The sword fight was great and so was the prop work in general (even if the props kept breaking). The set was incredibly detailed, and I would love to know how so many parts of it can “break” so realistically and be reset to break again the next night. Though I did sometimes find it hard to see what was an actually mistake and what was staged, I guess that’s less of a problem and more of a testament to the actors’ ability to pretend like everything’s fine no matter what happens.
Although a play going “wrong” feels like a concept that could get old quickly, it never does. They always know how to take it up a notch to the point where I was coughing from how much I was laughing.
The show will be performed Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. as well as Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the O’Laughlin Auditorium at Saint Mary’s. Tickets are free for students but must be reserved in advance.
Contact Marguerite C.J. Marley at mmarley2@nd.edu
HOCKEY
Irish open 2024 at St. Lawrence and Clarkson
By RYAN MURPHY Sports Writer
After a season-opening exhibition victory over the National Team Development Program (NTDP) last week, Notre Dame hockey begins its regular season on the road this weekend in northern New York. The Irish will face off against St. Lawrence on Friday (7 p.m., ESPN+) and Clarkson on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPN+).
Irish name captains
On Thursday, Notre Dame named graduate transfer forward Ian Murphy and senior forwards Justin Janicke, Grant Silianoff and Tyler Carpenter captains for the 2024-25 season. Unlike last season, when Landon Slaggert wore the lone “C,” the Irish are calling this year’s captaincy a “collective leadership position.”
“I’m making the final decision to make this more of a collective leadership approach,” Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson said. “We will have captains, but I’m expecting above and beyond those four guys we have another six to eight guys that potentially could step up.”
Jackson said he chose to create collective leadership after speaking with Boston Celtics general manager and former head coach Brad Stevens.
HCC SOCCER
During his time as head basketball coach at Butler, Stevens did not name captains, opening opportunities for any player to step up as a leader. Stevens visited with Notre Dame head coaches last year and has ties with Notre Dame basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry.
Knuble expected to return Jackson told the media Wednesday that sophomore center Cole Knuble is expected to return to the lineup after sitting out the exhibition. Notre Dame planned to start the Philadelphia Flyers draft pick on its power play and penalty kill but ultimately held him out of the game against the NTDP for precautionary reasons.
Knuble will add a scoring punch to a lineup that scored five goals over the NTDP last Friday. Trailing 2-1 in the third period, the Irish reeled off four consecutive goals to put the game out of reach. Graduate transfer forward Blake Biondi scored twice in the 5-2 win, both times on the power play. Notre Dame hopes to average three goals a game this year for the first time since 2022. It will need sophomores like Knuble, graduate transfers like Biondi and the power play to click to achieve that goal.
No surefire starter in goal
As expected, Jackson demurred on naming a starting netminder for this weekend’s games amidst a three-way competition for the job. Freshman Nick Kempf, junior transfer Owen Say and returning junior Jack Williams each played a period against the NTDP. Say allowed both NTDP goals but also made the most saves with 12. Kempf and Williams faced challenging shots, but not to the same extent.
“Two of the three are going to get games,” Jackson said. “I’m waiting to see how guys perform over these next three weeks. These non-conference games are important, but they are also opportunities for us to work on our game and also identify which guys are gonna play key roles.”
Jackson did not explicitly confirm which two of the three would get starts.
Irish make first visit to Appleton Arena
When Notre Dame begins its regular season Friday, it will do so in one of the most unique venues around college hockey.
Opened in 1952, Appleton Arena seats just 3,200 on its pew-like benches and makes for an intimate viewing experience. The arena recently underwent renovations to
enhance the player and fan experiences.
The Irish will face a Saints team that returns eight of its top nine scorers and is off to a 2-0 start to the season. St. Lawrence topped RIT, a perennial Atlantic Hockey contender, in overtime on Saturday. It beat Canisius 5-2 on Sunday. Though he did not score in either contest, junior Felikss Gavars led the team in goals last season with 13. Gavars also brings a unique big-game experience to the team as a frequent member of Latvia’s World Championship and World Junior Championship squad.
St. Lawrence has not eclipsed 20 wins in nine seasons and hopes to finish above .500 for the first time under sixth-year head coach Brent Brekke. Brekke has guided the team to double-digit wins in each of the last three seasons after going 4-27-5 in his first year.
J. F. Houle era begins at Clarkson
Notre Dame wasn’t the only program whose offseason was dominated by coaching news. After 13 years at Clarkson, former head coach Casey Jones left the program for conference rival Cornell. Jones will take over at his alma mater next season after the imminent
retirement of Cornell legend Mike Schafer, who has been with the Big Red since 1995.
Clarkson filled its coaching vacancy by stealing J.F. Houle from the pro ranks. Houle had served as the head coach of Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, for the past three seasons. Houle played at Clarkson from 1993 to 1997 before returning to Potsdam to start his coaching career as an assistant in 2003.
Houle inherits a team that has underwhelmed in the last few seasons. Clarkson has failed to make the NCAA tournament over the last four seasons despite three straight appearances from 2018 to 2020.
The biggest change Houle will have to wrangle is his goaltender room, which saw wholesale turnover during the summer. With three netminders departing, Houle added two transfers, graduate student Ethan Langenegger and sophomore Marcus Brännman.
Both goaltenders saw action in Clarkson’s seasonopening games last weekend. The Golden Knights defeated Canisius 2-1 last Saturday but lost to RIT 3-2 on Sunday.luck, Fielding Yost.
Contact Ryan Murphy at rmurph22@nd.edu
Saints take a loss and a tie against Olivet
By CLAIRE WATSON Sports Writer
Both the Holy Cross men’s and women’s soccer teams faced the Olivet Nazarene Tigers on Tuesday, with the men’s team taking a close 2-1 hit against the Tigers while the women’s team pulled a 1-1 tie.
Starting early on to gain the lead over the Tigers, sophomore defender Abigail Fouts scored
SMC GOLF
the first goal for the Holy Cross women’s team at the 2:24 time mark with an assist from freshman defender Avery Peters. The Tigers responded later in the first half with a goal of their own made by Alaina Bahr with an assist from Hailey King at the 39:52 time mark.
With no other goals made in the second half, the final score was tied at 1-1. Olivet Nazarene outshot the Saints 16-7 and also
totaled more shots on goal (9-3).
The Saints women’s team now prepares to face off against St. Ambrose at home with kickoff set for Saturday at noon.
Meanwhile, after a hardfought game, the Holy Cross College men’s soccer team took a 2-1 loss against Olivet Nazarene.
The Tigers started out early in the first half, making their first goal at the 5:22 time mark thanks to Mounir Azzam and
an assist from Carter Beckman.
The Tigers kept the momentum going as they made their second goal at the 20:18 time mark thanks to Nathan Schmidli and an assist from Azzam to put them up 2-0 over the Saints.
The Saints started to make a comeback heading into the second half of the game, making their first goal at the 52:56 time mark with the help of senior midfielder Isa Sayeed and an
assist from senior forward Isaac Filippo. With this goal, the score was 2-1 in favor of the Tigers, but with the Saints unable to find the back of the net, the Tigers finished the game with a 2-1 win.
The Saints will play St. Ambrose at home at 2:30 p.m. University this Wednesday, Oct. 9.
Contact Claire Watson at cwatson01@saintmarys.edu
Belles triumph in two MIAA Jamboree events
By CLAIRE WATSON Sports Writer
This past week, the Saint Mary’s golf team finished first in their second and third Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Jamboree competitions. With three jamboree victories, the Belles are on the inside track to top postseason seeding.
MIAA Jamboree #2
Hosted locally at the Elbel
Golf Course in South Bend, the Belles took their first win of the week in the MIAA Jamboree #2 competition. Freshman Melanie Maier led on the course for the Belles as she shot 75 (+3) and finished tied for second while also adding a birdie on the sixth hole. Junior Breana Harrington finished in fifth place after shooting a 76 (+4), senior Katelyn Tokarz finished her day in sixth place after shooting a 80 (+8) and sophomore Colleen
Hand finished the top 10 for the Belles as she carded an 81 (+9).
Senior Georgie Kersman and freshman Ella Notaro finished out in the top 30, placing 28th as they each carded an 87 (+15).
MIAA Jamboree #3
Keeping their momentum going heading into Jamboree #3, the Belles continued to win, taking home a third Jamboree victory.
Maier continued to lead the
Belles as she took first place in the competition, shooting a 73 (+1) that included three birdies throughout the course. Hand took second place for the Belles as she shot a 74 (+2), had two birdies and eagled at the eighth hole. Junior Julia Lizak finished inside the top five for the Belles as she took fifth place after carding a 78 (+6) and having three birdies of her own.
Harrington and Tokarz followed in the top 20 as they
both finished in 15th place after carding 83’s (+11). Notaro was the last competitor for the Belles, finishing in 45th place after having a final score of 90 (+18).
The Belles will finish out their fall season as they head to Angola, Indiana for their fourth and final Jamboree competition hosted by Trine University this Wednesday, Oct. 9.
Contact Claire Watson at cwatson01@saintmarys.edu
Happy Birthday: Put your energy into conquering your dreams, and refuse to let anger deter you from reaching your objective. Opportunity is present; all you must do is
the
and apply it where it will pay the highest return. Travel, learn, get back to
and revive what’s most important to you. Make personal and domestic changes that ease your mind and allow you to do what makes you happy. Your numbers are 3, 10, 17, 24, 36, 39, 45.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take care of unfinished business. It’s difficult to move forward when living in the past. Don’t rely on or trust others to do what’s best for you. Opportunity begins by taking the initiative and making things happen. Start with personal growth and strategy that fits your needs.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Follow through with your intentions. Stop worrying about what others think or do, and concentrate on accomplishing your goals. Personal improvements will offer a unique perspective regarding possibilities and opportunities. Step up; make your voice heard, and your actions make a difference. Romance is in the stars.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Pay attention to detail. Dedicate more time to gather information and map out your plans. If you rely on others, disappointment will prevail. Make yourself available and see matters through from beginning to end. Keep your personal information, passwords, and plans to yourself. Your actions will impact onlookers.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): It will be easy to fuel an argument; choose your words wisely. A kind gesture will make life easier and change your perspective regarding rules and regulations. Networking functions will result in a worthwhile connection. Selfimprovement will encourage a new look, healthier lifestyle, and innovative plans.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Use your wit, charm, and intellect to get what you want. Keep your opinions and plans to yourself until those you deal with reveal their true colors and beliefs. Protect your home, possessions, and meaningful relationships from outside interference. Align yourself with those offering equal opportunities.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Participate in events that offer guidance and encouragement. The information you gather will impact your perspective and help devise a strategy for your lifestyle and prospects. Personal gains and partnerships will unfold if you follow your heart and lend a helping hand. Romance is in the stars.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take pride in your work. Pay attention to detail and channel your energy into getting positive results. Look for opportunities and shun negativity and procrastination. Set the stage for success and surpass your expectations. Eliminate what no longer works and replace it with good vibes, people, and prospects.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Spread your wings and fly. Make a choice to engage in talks that offer a unique perspective regarding lifestyles and ways to use your skills, experience, and knowledge. Refuse to act on second-hand information. A thorough investigation before making a change will save you time and money.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Address financial matters before penalties apply. Review investments and shared expenses and consider how to lower your overhead and make your dollar stretch. Use your connections to gather information to help you implement a healthier lifestyle. A discussion will turn into a proposal. Invest time, not cash.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Give yourself a chance to digest information before you respond. Look at every angle and consider the pros and cons. A change may be tempting, but before you follow someone else’s lead, determine if it’s right for you. A lifestyle change will encourage better health and relationships.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Opportunities are within reach. Verify information, rules, and regulations, and set boundaries to ensure you live and invest within your means. Participating in functions that offer insight into better health and investments will point you in the right direction. Don’t take a risk with your health.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Get physical; engage in activities that make you feel good about yourself and your appearance. Additional confidence will help you attract people who have something to offer. Love is on the rise, and participating in events that lift your spirits will set the stage for an interesting encounter.
Birthday Baby: You are outgoing, helpful, and opportunistic. You are conscientious and kind.
FOOTBALL
Checking in on Notre Dame’s opponents
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
Last weekend, while Notre Dame took its first bye of the season, college football just so happened to cannibalize itself. Ranked teams like No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 9 Missouri, No. 10 Michigan, No. 11 USC, No. 22 Louisville and No. 25 UNLV all lost. No. 6 Miami (Florida) needed a remarkable comeback to avoid another upset at Cal. As a result of it all, Notre Dame rose into the coveted top 12 at No. 11.
With so much attention on the rest of the sport now, let’s see where Notre Dame’s dozen opponents stand right now.
Texas A&M
Lost to Notre Dame on Aug. 31 (23-13)
When Notre Dame faced the Aggies, who were ranked 20th at the time, in Week One, Texas A&M didn’t look all that impressive. Upon watching their offense struggle mightily against the Irish, people began to wonder whether the Aggies started the season ranked too highly.
Last week put that notion to bed.
Texas A&M was responsible for one of the aforementioned upsets, annihilating Missouri at Kyle Field. The 41-10 victory moved the Aggies to 4-1 on the season with additional SEC wins at Florida and against Arkansas at a neutral site. Their defense has emerged as a strength, allowing no more than 23 points in any game this season and sacking Missouri six times. Texas A&M also ran all over the Tigers, following the lead of running back Le’Veon Moss who has 609 rushing yards on the season and scored three touchdowns last week.
Now ranked 15th in the nation, the Aggies are back in the playoff conversation but have difficult home dates upcoming against No. 13 LSU and No. 1 Texas.
Northern Illinois
Defeated Notre Dame on Sept. 7 (16-14)
Remember when Northern Illinois spent two weeks in the AP Top 25 after beating Notre Dame? Well, the fever dream of playing Week Two’s Irish football disaster as a “quality loss” dissipated in a hurry. The Huskies lost to Buffalo and NC State by single scores in back-toback weeks, swiftly handing the title of “mid-major team to beat” over to Boise State. Last week, Northern Illinois moved to 3-2 with a 34-20 defeat of UMass. Basically, Northern Illinois is back to what it should be — a very, very bad loss for Notre Dame. Running back Antario Brown hasn’t been great since totaling over 200 scrimmage yards in South Bend.
Quarterback Ethan Hampton, who held his own at Notre Dame Stadium, has thrown four picks in the last three weeks. Northern Illinois enters the thick of MAC play this week.
Purdue
Lost to Notre Dame on Sept. 14 (66-7)
The Boilermakers looked awful against the Irish and remain so. Purdue is 1-4 on the year and most recently lost another blowout at Wisconsin by a 52-6 score. This is a bad Big Ten team that won’t mean anything on Notre Dame’s resume in the long run.
Miami (Ohio)
Lost to Notre Dame on Sept. 21 (28-3)
The RedHawks, who entered their Week Four loss to Notre Dame at 0-2, also haven’t done anything of note since facing the Irish. Quarterback Brett Gabbert and the Miami offense have remained inefficient in a defeat of UMass and a loss to Toledo, matching their look at Notre Dame Stadium. Barring a strong run in MAC play, the RedHawks won’t offer much value on Notre Dame’s strength of schedule.
Louisville
Lost to Notre Dame on Sept. 28 (31-24)
Notre Dame’s recent victory, initially a top-15 win, has since diminished in quality. Louisville fell to 3-2 last weekend, losing at home to SMU with a defense that appeared staggeringly overmatched. The Cardinals did hit a few shot plays through the air, perhaps easing some concerns that may have surfaced when Notre Dame’s secondary allowed them to do the same.
Louisville has several chances ahead to both assist Notre Dame positionally and become a better-looking Irish win. The Cardinals will face No. 6 Miami (FL) and No. 10 Clemson, two teams ranked ahead of the Irish, within the next month.
Stanford
Visiting Notre Dame on Oct. 12
The Cardinal have been frisky at times (see their Week Four win at Syracuse) and can run the ball well enough to give Notre Dame some trouble. However, Stanford yet again has a revolving door at quarterback and has been kicked around in recent weeks. Stanford’s last two opponents, Clemson and Virginia Tech, have beaten it by a combined score of 71-21.
Georgia Tech
Facing Notre Dame at a neutral site on Oct. 19
Just over a month ago, when Georgia Tech defeated No. 10 Florida State in Dublin and started 2-0, the Yellow Jackets picked up steam as a legitimate threat on Notre Dame’s schedule. With more recent losses to Syracuse
and Louisville, those talks have quieted down. However, the Yellow Jackets got to 4-2 last week with a 2414 defeat of Duke and still carry a dangerous element of toughness. Haynes King is a dualthreat quarterback who went toe-to-toe for stretches against Georgia last year. When he and running back Jamal Haynes, who totaled 128 rushing yards last week, are finding space, Georgia Tech can get downhill and cause trouble.
Navy
Facing Notre Dame at a neutral site on Oct. 26 Wait. Is Navy actually the mid-major to beat? The Midshipmen, believe it not, are 5-0 and have been an offensive powerhouse, scoring 34 points or more in every game. Quarterback Blake Horvath has feasted on the ground (10 rushing touchdowns!) while giving Navy a legitimate passing threat. If he continues to play at his elite level, Notre Dame definitely won’t have a pushover game at MetLife Stadium two weeks from now.
Florida State Visiting Notre Dame on Nov. 9
Florida State’s first half has been a surreal watch to say the least. In just six weeks’ time, the Seminoles have nosedived from a 10thranked College Football Playoff contender to a likely non-bowl-eligible team. They are 1-5 with only a 14-9 defeat of Cal populating the win column. That’s all you need to know about Florida State’s season. Last week, the Seminoles made the change at quarterback from DJ Uiagalelei to Brock Glenn but put up less than 22 points for the sixth consecutive game. Will Florida State bring even a small piece of what it once was to South Bend next month? I suppose we’ll have a better idea of that after the Seminoles go to Miami and face the sixth-ranked Hurricanes on the final Saturday of October.
Virginia
Visiting Notre Dame on Nov. 16
Like Navy, Virginia has also looked better
than expected to start.
The Cavaliers are 4-1 with decent wins against Wake Forest and Boston College. They haven’t done anything extraordinarily well so far — they just find ways to win. When the passing game dries up, the rushing attack intensifies … and vice-versa. We’ll get a good look at exactly what Notre Dame’s Senior Day has to offer when Virginia goes to Clemson on Oct. 19 and Pittsburgh on Nov. 9.
Army
Facing Notre Dame at a neutral site on Nov. 23
It’s the year of the service academies — at least those on Notre Dame’s 2024 schedule.
Army is also 5-0 and has looked even better than Navy, averaging 38.8 points scored per game and 9.8 points allowed per contest.
Bryson Daily, who can hold his own as a passing quarterback, has 10 rushing touchdowns on the season and has run for 100-plus yards in four straight games.
USC Hosting Notre Dame on Nov. 30
Like Louisville, USC looks strikingly different after taking a second loss this past week. The Trojans, already holding one quality win against LSU and an understandable loss at Michigan, went up to unfamiliar territory and fell to Minnesota on Saturday. Quarterback Miller Moss did not look good at all, passing for only 200 yards and two interceptions.
The Trojans have at least played a bit better on defense this year, although that’s a low bar to clear. That development may also come naturally with transitioning to the Big Ten. Being in the Big Ten also gives USC ample opportunity to rebound. The Trojans will have their first shot at doing that Saturday against Penn State.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
The Black Knights are playing great football and still have two bye weeks between now and the Notre Dame game thanks to the mid-December ArmyNavy game.
RICHARD TAYLOR | The Observer
Sophomore linebacker Drayk Bowen walks off in celebration after a getting a massive sack on quarterback Brett Gabbert in Notre Dame’s 28-3 victory over Miami OH at Notre Dame Stadium on Sep. 21, 2024.
Notre Dame defense: The golden standard
By NOAH CAHILL Associate Sports Editor
Now entering his third year as the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Al Golden has cemented himself as one of the best defensive play callers in college football. His unit finished the 2023 season as one of the best in the country, ranking first in pass efficiency defense (94.91), second in red zone defense (.706), fourth in pass yards allowed per game (154.2) and eighth in total defense (282.9). Returning several core players, including Bronko Nagurski winner graduate safety Xavier Watts and fellow First Team All-American selection graduate defensive lineman Howard Cross III, Golden’s group has continued to excel. And while talent has played a role, Golden has set his guys up for success all season.
Losing defensive leader JD Bertrand at linebacker last season, Golden inherited a talented young core to rotate in his place beside graduate student Jack Kiser. Junior Jaylen Sneed, sophomores Jaiden Ausberry and Drayk Bowen and freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa have all gotten a run at the position, each showing flashes at different times.
Sneed had a strong performance in the opener against Texas A&M, shooting gaps in the run game all night with five tackles, including a tackle for loss. Ausberry was one of the few bright spots in the Northern Illinois loss, logging six tackles, three solo stops and a crucial pass breakup. Bowen broke out against Louisville with a career-high five solo tackles, a TFL, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Viliamu-Asa responded from a terrible blunder in pass coverage against NIU to
haul in his first career interception against Purdue and was just named to On3’s Midseason True Freshman All-American Team. For each of these highs, there have been lows along the way, but Golden has done an exemplary job developing this young core. When asked about the group in Tuesday’s post-practice press conference, he expressed his outlook on their progress.
“Just keep improving,” Golden said. “We’ve identified some things we need to fix. Obviously [we] had a little chance to breathe last week and see how people were attacking us. We think there are some things that we can do to help them become better, become more productive. Just continue to prepare, make the game small through your preparation, play fast and enjoy the battle.”
The emphasis on playing fast has been evident all season. Even
when the group has struggled to read out run plays, particularly some of the misdirection designs against NIU, the speed at which it plays has never been in question. Golden has harnessed the group’s athleticism and honed its understanding of opposing offenses. His development is why the arrow continues to point up from week to week.
In the press conference, Golden stayed modest when asked how he causes hesitancy in the minds of opposing offensive coaches.
“I don’t think anybody’s hesitant. I think we’ve faced some really good offenses and some great coordinators,” Golden said. “In terms of how other people call the game, we’ve seen everything in the first five games.”
His assessment of the opposing offenses may be generous, but it is not far off regarding Louisville,
with the Cardinals ranking 15th in total offense for the season. Golden’s defense is doing more than just slowing these offenses down, however. It ranks in the top 15 for just about every important metric: eighth in opponent points per game, 14th in yards per game, seventh in points per play and 10th in yards per play to name a few. More importantly, it has delivered in massive moments, shutting down the Aggie offense for four quarters in the season opener and overcoming multiple field-position disadvantages from Irish turnovers to defeat Louisville. Golden’s first statement regarding the hesitancy he causes is up for debate. His third-down blitz packages have given offensive coordinators problems all season and have led to multiple stops in high-leverage moments. For the year, opponents have converted only 28.6% of their third downs against the Irish, his play-calling being a huge reason why.
What makes the achievements of Golden’s defense all the more impressive is the adversity it has had to overcome in the health department. Already entering the season down senior reserve tackle Gabriel Rubio, the Irish then lost graduate student vyper Jordan Botelho for the season against Purdue. The group got even thinner when sophomore vyper Boubacar Traore tore his ACL in the first half against Louisville.
“I still like the rotation,” Golden said. “I’d also like to see some other guys step up and earn some more playing time.”
He went on to stress the importance of getting more contributions across the entire defense, especially down the stretch of the season. For as good of a job as he’s done, there remains the threat that at some point, a group gets stretched too thin.
Looking ahead to Stanford, Golden discussed what he expects from the matchup and the respect he has for the Cardinal offense.
“They present a lot of different challenges to you,” Golden explained. “Every play is a challenge. An alignment challenge, a shift challenge, a motion challenge. We have to do a good job adjusting to that.”
He knows all too well, especially after what happened in 2022, how important it is not to look past this game.
“We know what’s at stake, and we know what’s coming in here,” Golden said.
Through five games, Notre Dame’s defense under Golden has picked up exactly where it left off last season. Given a bye week to recover and go to the drawing board, expect him to have the Irish defense ready on Saturday.
Contact Noah Cahill atncahill2@nd.edu
ND MEN’S SOCCER
Irish looks to rebound against North Carolina
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
The two-week cycle of huge matches at Alumni Stadium continues for Notre Dame men’s soccer. First, it was a 1-0 loss to Stanford, currently the No. 5 team in the country, on Sept. 14. Then, the Irish toppled No. 12 Clemson, the defending national champion, by a 2-1 score on Sept. 27. Coming up on Friday night, Notre Dame will face another top-tier ACC foe, No. 7 North Carolina.
The Irish enter this match in highly unfamiliar territory, having lost back-toback games for the first time in nearly two years. Notre Dame dropped a 2-1 result at Syracuse on Saturday before Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to Michigan at home dropped the Irish to 5-3-3 overall. Notre Dame’s College Cup teams of 2013,
2021 and 2023 never lost consecutive matches, and the RPI rating of No. 48 currently attached to the Irish suggests they need to make a move if they have any hopes of postseason success.
Right now, it feels like Notre Dame just needs a well-rounded game to restore momentum. Even in their five wins, the Irish did not play a game in the neighborhood of perfect. When the offense surged against Chicago State and Trine, the defense couldn’t uphold clean sheets against inferior opponents. When the defense limited quality adversaries Stanford and Michigan to one goal, Notre Dame couldn’t find the finishing touches to earn draws at worst. Wins aren’t always meant to be pretty, especially in the game of soccer, but the great teams have it all come together now and
again. That hasn’t happened yet with Notre Dame.
Last season, it was nearly North Carolina that opposed Notre Dame in the College Cup semifinal. After taking national champion Clemson to penalty kicks in the ACC Championship match, the Tar Heels knocked off Memphis and Hofstra to reach the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal round. However, North Carolina failed to protect home field and ended its season on a 1-0 loss to Oregon State, who fell to Notre Dame by the same score one round later.
The postseason run marked North Carolina’s fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and its 23rd in the last 25 years. The Tar Heels have regularly competed for national titles since the late ‘80s, reaching the summit in 2001 and 2011. This
year, North Carolina is once again in position to vie for the College Cup crown with a record of 7-1-3. The Tar Heels got off to a tremendous start, going unbeaten through the end of September with a huge win at No. 16 Duke on Sept. 13. They took their first loss of the season on Friday’s 3-2 result at No. 12 Clemson but rebounded nicely with a 3-0 win against the College of Charleston on Tuesday night. At 3-1 in ACC play, North Carolina sits behind only Pittsburgh and Stanford in the conference standings. Speaking of that trio, only Pitt and Stanford have a lower goals against average than North Carolina among ACC teams. The Tar Heels have conceded only eight times in 11 games this season, presenting as one of the top defensive units in the conference. Redshirt junior
goalkeeper Andrew Cordes, who shined last year with an .861 save percentage, leads the ACC with six shutouts. Up front, Friday’s matchup will feature a duel between two of the ACC’s top five scorers. On the Notre Dame side, senior forward Matthew Roou still leads the conference in goals (11) and points (22). North Carolina graduate forward Martin Vician, a former Harvard talisman from Slovakia, ranks fifth with eight goals and 17 points. Vician has picked up his game lately after a slow stretch to end September, scoring in each of North Carolina’s last two matches.
North Carolina and Notre Dame will begin play inside at Alumni Stadium at 7 p.m. on Friday night.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
DECLAN HUGGINS | The Observer
Freshman forward Stevie Dunphy strides past his defender during Notre Dame’s 7-1 defeat of Trine at Alumni Stadium on Oct. 1, 2024. Dunphy logged 10 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Michigan and has featured off the bench for the Irish all season, managing two points in his nine appearances. His first Notre Dame goal came in a 2-1 win over Clemson.
KEYS TO VICTORY
Keys to Victory: Notre Dame vs. Stanford
By MATTHEW CROW Sports Writer
As far as bye weeks go, last week was about as successful as Notre Dame could have hoped for. One of the most chaotic, upset-filled weeks in recent memory, highlighted by Vanderbilt stunning No. 1 Alabama and No. 25 Texas A&M — over whom the Irish secured a crucial win over in their season opener — dominating No. 9 Missouri, opened the door for Notre Dame to jump three spots up in the AP Poll to No. 11 and firmly position itself back in College Football Playoff contention without even having to play a game. Meanwhile, the Irish got a much-needed week of rest following a hard-fought win at home over Louisville and should come out of the break much fresher and healthier across the board.
But now, Notre Dame can no longer rely on other teams to help it continue to climb the rankings. The onus is back on the Irish to handle business themselves as they return to action on Saturday afternoon to host a slumping Stanford in a rivalry game at Notre Dame Stadium. Here are three ways the Irish can earn their fourth straight win and claim the Legends Trophy for the second year in a row.
Set the tone early Notre Dame’s tendency under Marcus Freeman to follow up big wins with poor performances has been well-documented and a frequent source of criticism for the third-year head coach. After opening this season with an impressive win in College Station, the Irish returned to South Bend for their home debut only to be upset by Northern Illinois. Last year, Notre Dame battled to a gutsy road victory against No. 17 Duke but was easily handled by Louisville the following week. And in 2022, the Irish impressed by taking down No. 16 BYU in Las Vegas in the Shamrock Series game. One Saturday later, they were shocked at home by the very Stanford team they will face off with this weekend, who finished that year 3-9 after defeating the Irish.
On Saturday, Notre Dame will take the field on the heels of a critical win over then-No. 15 Louisville, opening the door for talk among fans and media alike about the potential for another disappointing sequel. Facing a Stanford team that has struggled greatly as of late — having lost its last two games by a combined score of 71-21 to fall to 2-3 — the Irish will want to put that narrative to bed straight away by getting off to a strong start on both sides of the ball.
Ironically, Notre Dame opened the matchup with Louisville in the exact opposite way, losing a fumble on the opening kickoff and falling into a 7-0 hole just seconds later. During that game,
the Irish were able to remain focused and even things up with a long touchdown drive before eventually rattling off 21 unanswered points in the first quarter alone, but they’d rather avoid being in that position altogether against Stanford.
Scoring a few early touchdowns or forcing a turnover in the opening minutes of Saturday’s game would help Notre Dame shake off any lingering bye-week rust and energize a home crowd that may come into the game fearing the worst. If the Irish can connect on a few big plays and jump out to a two-possession lead in the first quarter, they should have the talent and momentum on their side to cruise to a comfortable win.
Feature Mitchell Evans in the passing game
A key, somewhat under-the-radar story from the bye week could be the improving health of tight end Mitchell Evans. The senior was Notre Dame’s leading receiver last year before missing the final four games of the season after suffering a torn ACL, and he showcased his game-changing receiving ability during a threeweek stretch against ranked opponents Ohio State, Duke and
Louisville in which he totaled a combined 17 receptions for 280 yards. After participating scarcely in the season opener against Texas A&M, Evans has played more in each of Notre Dame’s last four games but was clearly still in the process of recovering from the injury, playing limited snaps and totaling just 82 yards in the four games.
The bye week allowed Evans a full extra week to continue his rehab process and inch closer to full-strength, and his return to being Notre Dame’s most explosive and impactful weapon through the air could provide the spark that the Irish passing attack has been looking for all season. Freeman spoke about Evans’ recovery process on Monday.
“It takes time. The more time that he has to get himself to his full potential is crucial,” Freeman said about Evans during his weekly press conference. “This bye week was crucial for him.”
When healthy, Evans has elite hands that allow him to absorb nearly any pass that comes his way and possesses a combination of speed and strength that makes him a walking mismatch for opposing defenders, in addition to being an
impactful blocker. In short, he could be the perfect go-to target for senior quarterback Riley Leonard, both in quick pass situations and for deep routes over the middle of the field. If Evans — coming off of two extra weeks of rest and recovery — can have a big day, it should pay dividends for the Irish offense.
Apply defensive pressure
Notre Dame’s elite defense is at its best when it plays aggressively, and the Irish defense should be looking to attack against a Stanford offensive line that has struggled to hold up against pressure in recent weeks. In a 40-14 loss to Clemson, the Tiger defense lived in the backfield, recording four sacks, 10 tackles for loss and forcing Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels into making illadvised throws that resulted in three interceptions. Last week, in a disappointing 31-7 defeat at home against Virginia Tech, it was a similar story. The Hokies’ dominant defensive line totaled five sacks and 12 tackles for loss, and Virginia Tech forced two turnovers in the form of an interception and a recovered fumble.
The Irish boast one of the nation’s strongest front sevens and can take advantage of a faltering Cardinal offensive line by
bringing a steady dose of pressure. If Notre Dame can get into Stanford’s backfield early and often, the Irish should be able to limit the rushing attack and make the Cardinal’s quarterbacks — who have combined to throw nine touchdowns and seven interceptions on the season — uncomfortable throughout the game.
From there, the Irish can turn to their ball-hawking secondary to make key plays and get the ball back into the hands of the Notre Dame offense, a unit that has struggled with consistency at times and would benefit from starting a few possessions with strong field position. Notre Dame ranks inside the top 15 nationally with seven interceptions on the season (despite the bye week) and is ninth in scoring defense, ceding less than 13 points per game. By bringing the heat defensively and coming away with possession-ending plays like sacks or interceptions, the Irish can effectively stifle a Stanford offense that has already been overwhelmed by weaker defensive units and keep the Cardinal out of the end zone for most of the afternoon.
Contact Matthew Crow at mcrow@nd.edu
RICHARD TAYLOR | The Observer
Sophomore defensive end Boubacar Traore powers past the offensive tackle in Notre Dame’s 28-3 victory over Miami OH at Notre Dame Stadium on Sep. 21, 2024. Against the RedHawks, Traore tied the team lead in tackles with five and tallied a career-high two sacks.
GAME PREDICTIONS
Football beat picks: Notre Dame vs. Stanford
By Observer Sports Staff
Noah Cahill
Notre Dame jumped three spots in the AP Poll, up to No. 11, without playing any football last weekend. The Irish sat back as the college football world was shaken by several upsets, headlined by Vanderbilt’s victory over No. 1-ranked Alabama. After getting some much-needed recovery time amidst the growing health concerns on both sides of the ball, the Irish will look to avoid a similar outcome in South Bend on Saturday approaching their 38th all-time matchup with rivals Stanford.
The Cardinal have sputtered out the gate at 2-3, losing their last two games to Clemson and Virginia Tech by a combined score of 7121. Their defense has been torn apart early, surrendering 358.6 yards per game and 17 touchdowns through its first five. They have fared a bit better on the other side of the ball, utilizing the legs of quarterback Ashton Daniels and funneling passing game work to star receiver Elic Ayomanor, who has hauled in 24 receptions for 317 yards and three touchdowns this season.
The Irish defense got even thinner against Louisville when sophomore vyper Boubacar Traore suffered a torn ACL in the first half. With that said, they should have more than enough to handle this Cardinal offense, especially with the expected return of sophomore cornerback Christian Gray. Senior quarterback Riley Leonard and the passing attack showed encouraging signs against Louisville and will have a prime opportunity to take another step forward against a Stanford secondary that contributes to the 115thranked passing efficiency defense in the country.
I see a routine victory for a Notre Dame team that will come out sharp and prepared from the opening kickoff. It won’t be overlooking this game, especially after what happened in 2021.
Stanford 14, Notre Dame 42
Matthew Crow
We’ve now seen the Irish take down two top-20 opponents this season, but they’ll be looking to follow up this big victory much better than
they did the first time around. Last week’s bye came at an opportune time for Notre Dame, who received some help in the national polls and got the chance to heal up after a string of hard-fought games. While the Irish carry a significant amount of momentum and positive energy on their side following three straight wins, Stanford’s season has been heading in the exact opposite direction. The Cardinal opened the season well and picked up an impressive road win against Syracuse but have been blown out by Clemson and Virginia Tech over the last two weeks to fall to 2-3.
Most of their struggles have come on the offensive side, as they scored just 21 points across those two games and failed to make much happen on the ground or through the air. That plays into the hands of Notre Dame, who should give Stanford fits defensively all afternoon. It should also take some pressure off of the Irish offense, who will be looking to recapture the magic it found while rattling off 21 unanswered points in the first quarter against Louisville behind a steady diet of runs and an efficient quick passing game from Riley Leonard. Sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse had his best effort of the season in Notre Dame’s last outing. Another strong performance from Greathouse, along with big outings from graduate wideout Beaux Collins — who was unusually quiet against Louisville — and a healthier senior tight end Mitchell Evans should help Leonard get over the 200 passing yards mark for the first time in an Irish jersey.
Last time Stanford visited South Bend in 2022, they came away with a shocking upset victory in a game that took place immediately after Notre Dame knocked off a ranked opponent. The circumstances may be similar on Saturday, but I see this Irish team coming out of the gates hot and improving to 5-1 behind dominant defense and timely offense.
Stanford 13, Notre Dame 31
Annika Herko
Last week went about as well as it possibly could go for a team not actually playing. The Irish moved up three spots, and top-ranked
teams ahead of the Irish fell to opponents they really had no business losing to. All of a sudden losing to Northern Illinois in Week Two looks less bad. With SEC favorites Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri all with one loss, it makes Notre Dame’s path into the College Football Playoff a bit more clear.
If, and only if, it wins out.
Stanford has been struggling in its first season in the ACC, as expected. The Cardinal are 2-3 with wins over Cal Poly and Syracuse. Notre Dame is Stanford’s first of two ranked opponents this season. They will play Louisville in a few weeks. The Cardinal is 105th in the nation in the passing game, and even with several injured players on defense, Notre Dame should be able to take care of business.
Stanford 17, Notre Dame 35
Madeline Ladd
The 38th meeting between Notre Dame and Stanford carries a bit of extra intrigue this year, as the Cardinal arrive in South Bend as new members of the ACC. Despite this, Stanford still isn’t great. However, we sadly do remember what happened the last time the Cardinal made a trip to Notre Dame Stadium.
This year, Stanford has struggled, coming off
consecutive blowout losses to Virginia Tech and Clemson. With an underwhelming defense ranked 72nd overall and an abysmal 121st in passing yards allowed, this weekend could provide Riley Leonard an opportunity to get the passing game on track.
The offensive line will need to step up and give Leonard time to make smart, efficient throws — something it has continually struggled with. Stanford’s offense doesn’t pose a major threat, though, as it is ranked 72nd in rushing and 105th in passing. But, the return of mobile quarterback Ashton Daniels could give Notre Dame’s defense something to worry about — especially with injuries to key linemen like Boubacar Traore and graduate student Jordan Botelho.
With the CFP still in sight, the Irish can’t afford to let Stanford hang around. No fumbles on kickoffs, no dumb penalties and no playing down to the competition. Most importantly, they need to improve their dreadful third-down conversion rate, as they are currently ranked near the bottom of Division One. Marcus Freeman has a strong record after a bye week (3-0). Let’s make it four.
Stanford 10, Notre Dame 38
Tyler Reidy
The last two weeks have punched Stanford in the mouth, and it’s not getting any easier this week. The Cardinal still have little to no certainty at the quarterback position, and that’s no spot to be in against an elite defense like Notre Dame’s. What I’m interested to see, though, is how the Irish handle this game mentally. It’s become known that Marcus Freeman’s teams are prone to struggle on the heels of success. Last week, while on the bye, Notre Dame saw chaos break out around college football and moved back into the national top 12. Will the Irish use that blood in the water to play even hungrier or lose their sense of urgency now that they’re back in playoff position?
I lean toward the latter here with respect to Stanford’s win at Syracuse a few weeks back. The Cardinal can keep it close — heck, they beat the Irish in South Bend just two years ago. But if Notre Dame can avoid untimely turnovers and chunk plays allowed on defense, the two items that made for an uncomfortable first half in Palo Alto last year, this game won’t be close. Expect an efficient afternoon from Riley Leonard as the Irish handle business. Stanford 10, Notre Dame 34
RICHARD TAYLOR | The Observer
Senior quarterback Riley Leonard hands it off in the backfield to senior runningback Devyn Ford in Notre Dame’s 28-3 victory over Miami OH at Notre Dame Stadium on Sep. 21, 2024.