Print Edition for The Observer for Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Community recalls Bourbon Street attack
Students shared their experiences following deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans prior to Sugar Bowl
By LIAM KELLY AND SOPHIE HANAWALT Notre Dame News Editor and Associate News Editor
Notre Dame students who traveled to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl expected to ring in the new year with hope and excitement. Instead, they were met with fear and terror in the early hours of Jan. 1 when a terrorist drove a truck down Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring 35. Although no Notre Dame students were injured or killed during the attack, many were in the area at the time.
Avery Pitstick, a senior in Breen-Phillips Hall, stayed at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street, just outside where the perpetrator was ultimately killed by police after exchanging
fire.
Pitstick said she returned to the hotel around 2 a.m. and was asleep when the attack occurred, but was awoken by her mom at 4 a.m. when an alarm went off in the hotel, telling residents to evacuate.
At first, Pitstick thought it was a fire alarm, but she realized things were more serious when she saw a law enforcement officer in the lobby of the hotel with a gun drawn. Officers then made Pitstick and other residents exit the back of the hotel via the valet exit and stand on the curb on a side street, before making them move again. Later, a bystander alerted her to what had happened.
“As we’re walking to this next
ND Law Clinic aids Catholic charter school Art department hosts holiday sale
A view of Eck Hall of Law, as seen from Notre Dame Avenue, which houses the Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic. The Clinic has provided legal aid to to the first online Catholic charter school.
By MEGAN CORNELL News Writer
For the past few years, the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has aimed to become the nation’s first religious charter school but has faced a slew of legal challenges in doing so.
Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Mouran Religious Liberty Clinic, working with Notre Dame alumnus Michael McGinley, provides legal representation and consultation to St. Isidore.
St. Isidore’s mission is to pave the way for Catholic education to be more accessible to families who cannot afford religious private schools, especially in
By FIONN NAGEL-MURRAY News Writer
The long-running Notre Dame Art Sale broadened its focus last semester, exhibiting the work of a wider variety of students and faculty members. Last semester’s “Holiday Sale” began in the second-floor gallery of Riley Hall on Dec. 10.
The sale had traditionally been pottery-oriented since its inception in the 1970s by professor emeritus William Kremer, but this year has been expanded to include everything from ceramics to prints.
The event was coordinated by teaching scholar in ceramics Coleton Lunt, whose goal was to expand the sale to the whole Art, Art History & Design (AAHD) department.
“It was a lot of work to change everything, because we had all this infrastructure set in place, but I think it’s working out well now
that we’ve got it all set up,” said Lunt, “It’s really nice to have all the mediums represented.”
Lunt, who completed a master of fine arts at Notre Dame before joining the faculty, also credits the new department chair, professor James Collins, with providing new energy to the department. “He’s come in from film, television and theater, and he’s making a lot of really great, positive changes. He’s making a real positive impact on our department, so we’re really grateful,” Lunt said.
The sale displays both abstract and practical art. Bowls and platters, fired in both wood and gas kilns, are showcased around the edges of the room, while in the center sits a colorful series of non-figurative 3D works. Also on that central table lies a packet of Oreos, or so one might assume without
LIAM KELLY | The Observer
JONATHAN KARR | The Observer
Yellow caution tape closes Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Day following a deadly terrorist attack early that morning. The Sugar Bowl game against Georgia was subsequently pushed back to Jan. 2.
Policies
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Anastasia
junior
“10/10.”
Allison
Jordyn
Alexa Mulroe senior Pasquerilla West Hall “100%.”
Today’s Staff
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do, however, recognize that we will make mistakes. If we have made a mistake, please contact us at editor@ndsmcobserver.com so we can correct our error.
MARIELLA TADDONIO
New Orleans
location, this woman comes up to my mom and is like, sobbing, shaking. She’s going, ‘I just saw dead people. I just saw it. There’s blood everywhere,’” Pitstick recounted.
Pitstick said she and her family found another hotel to stay at after sitting on the curb for about an hour. They returned to get their belongings in the morning.
“It felt really surreal all day. It still feels kind of weird, like it doesn’t feel like we were actually right there,” Pitstick said. “We just got so lucky that we were all in the hotel … I almost stayed out later that night, and I would have been right there probably when I was coming home.”
Olivia Klusas, a freshman in Pasquerilla West Hall from St. Louis, flew to New Orleans on the morning of New Year’s Day. She was aware something had happened before boarding the plane, but didn’t know the full extent of the attack. She said she felt afraid from being bombarded with the information upon landing and having to piece everything together.
Lauren Wiltz, a freshman in Pasquerilla West Hall from Lafayette, Louisiana, began driving to the game on the morning of New Year’s Day
with her family, despite already knowing the attack had occurred. She shared that her dad was hesitant to go, but her mom, who loves football, insisted they went.
“Around halfway there, we got the notification that the game was postponed, which I was pretty thankful for because I was kind of nervous,” Wiltz said.
Despite living near New Orleans, Wiltz was not immediately worried as she figured they would not have been on Bourbon Street at that time. She later found out, however, that one of the victims was a family friend who lived nearby. She said the area was extremely devastated by the loss.
“It was a couple days where people were just kind of somber, a lot of people cancelled their plans, there were services at local churches as well as efforts for the victims such as blood drives,” she said.
Stephanie Hernandez, a junior in Welsh Family Hall, who was on Bourbon Street shortly before the attack, was born and raised in New Orleans. She explained that because of this, she typically wouldn’t do tourist activities, but had a friend visiting who wanted to go to Bourbon Street.
“If it wasn’t this whole big crowd of Notre Dame people in New Orleans, I probably would
have done something else, because when you live here, you know there’s something that happens on Bourbon Street on major holidays every single year,” Hernandez shared. “It’s just a place to avoid.”
Hernandez’s group was on Bourbon Street from midnight until around 3 a.m. and said everything was “completely fine.”
When they decided to leave, they went to their car, parked on Canal Street nearby. On the way back, she said, her friend wanted to return to Bourbon Street, but her brother said he had a bad feeling and insisted they keep walking on Royal Street, a nearby residential road.
“It’s crazy to think about if we had listened to my friend and been on Bourbon,” Hernandez added.
Hernandez estimated the attack happened while they stopped for food across from Bourbon Street, but she didn’t hear anything as they were inside. When they went to leave, Canal Street was closed, and she described seeing cars all over Bourbon Street and flashing lights everywhere.
“We didn’t think it was anything serious, because, again, when you’re from New Orleans, you’re used to it,” Hernandez said.
They began to hear what had happened from her brother’s
spouse, who works at a hotel on Bourbon Street and called them on their way home.
“When we woke up, it was all over the news … on one hand, I wasn’t too freaked out, because again, this is something that unfortunately happens in New Orleans. At the same time, I was seeing it a lot more this time, with not only my hometown friends and family posting about it, but all of Notre Dame. I couldn’t go anywhere or do anything without seeing updates, which really scared me,” Hernandez said.
Students said they noticed an increased security presence at the game.
“When we went into the city the next day, though, it was really comforting to be there, honestly, because I do know it from being young there, and I’ve never seen that much police protection in my life,” Wiltz said. “I think I saw more police than I saw people.”
Students expressed mixed feelings about the game being played at 3 p.m. the next day.
“I was really happy it got moved to the next day. I think that was a great decision,” Pitstick said.
Pitstick also said she appreciated how the tragedy of the previous morning’s events was memorialized at the game.
“We had the moment of silence beforehand, the football team
ran out with the American flag, and then everyone was chanting USA after the Star Spangled Banner. It felt like people understood the gravity of what had happened,” she said.
Klusas said the game was somber and was impressed with the Sugar Bowl’s acknowledgement of what had happened and advertisement of initiatives to help the victims, including a blood drive.
“They made sure that what had happened was not forgotten,” she said.
Hernandez said many of her friends who had come for the game ended up leaving. She said she debated selling her ticket, but ultimately decided to go since she knew there would be heightened security.
On the quick turnaround from the terrorist attack to the game, Hernandez said, “it was weird. Everything was super uneasy and everyone was shaken up about the whole thing. I don’t think it’s completely right that they had this big football game the day after, but at least they took extra precaution and I understand rescheduling it further would have been hard.”
Contact Liam Kelly at lkelly8@nd.edu and Sophie Hanawalt at shanawal@nd.edu
“Ten Years Hence” is listed as BAUG 30210, MSMG 60350 or MBGR 60210 and is open to any Notre Dame or Saint Mary’s undergraduate or graduate student.
• No prerequisites
• No exams, quizzes or textbooks
• Eight lectures on select Fridays
• One research paper See your academic advisor or your department chair for additional details. For lecture dates and speakers, visit Mendoza.nd.edu
Author Jill Christman visits Saint Mary’s
By MADYSON CASIANO Staff Writer
Dec. 9 marked the fall installment of the Saint Mary’s English Department’s Visiting Writers Series of 2024. Jill Christman, an author and professor at Ball State University, visited Saint Mary’s Monday night for a reading and signing of her book “If This Were Fiction: A Love Story in Essays.”
The night began at 6 p.m. with attendees speaking to peers, professors and Christman herself prior to the reading. Light refreshments and appetizers were provided for guests.
“We always hope that the visiting writers can connect with our students who are here majoring in creative writing, but also more broadly to speak to them about what it means to live a life in the arts and what it means to write,” professor Rebecca Lehmann, coordinator of the series, said.
As attendees settled into their seats, Christman read from her essays accompanied by a slideshow presentation. An array of creatures flashed
Law clinic
rural areas like Oklahoma. The Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa started their efforts to found the school in the wake of the rise in virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They are trying to find ways to serve more kids, especially in a largly rural state like Oklahoma, where a lot of times kids can’t get to a Catholic school, there are limited educational options, and so this school, a virtual school, would enable them, through the charter school program to reach more kids that would otherwise not have the gift of a Catholic education,” Notre Dame Law School professor Nicole Garnett said.
Most recently, St. Isidore’s petition was blocked by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. In June the court ruled that
on screen. From sloth to vampire bat to an “Ohio bat,” Christman paired her anecdotes to her many adventures with animals.
When questioned about her inspiration for “If This Were Fiction: A Love Story in Essays,” Christman said, “I didn’t want to just put a bunch of essays between two covers. So when I started to think about it, I realized that the book overall was kind of a love story, first to my fiance
the charter school was unconstitutional because “the expenditure of state funds for St. Isidore’s operations constitute the use of state funds for the benefit and support of the Catholic Church,” violating the First Amendment.
On Oct. 8, the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Clinic and St. Isidore filed a petition for certiorari asking the United States Supreme Court to consider the case.
The central question for the Supreme Court will be whether charter schools like St. Isidore are more similar to private or public schools, and as such, whether they are eligible to receive public funding. Like private schools, charter schools offer students greater freedom to explore different areas of study; many charter schools cater to specific immigrant groups or students hoping to specialize in areas of study like STEM or the
who I lost in a car accident, to my husband and my kids, and mostly to myself.”
Alongside her book, Christman read from her newest essay “Spinning Webs in Space.” The room was filled with laughter at her anecdotes and retelling of her childhood.
Throughout the night Christman gave advice from her experience as a writer.
“I’ve been writing essays for nearly 20 years now,”
arts. However, like public schools, charter schools are entirely funded by the state.
“[St. Isidore] is a private religious organization. It would hire its own staff; it would set its own rules. It would receive public funds. But, you know, Oklahoma has a program that gives public funds in different ways to private schools. So that’s really what’s at issue,” Garnett said.
Notre Dame Law School’s case rests on the belief that charter schools are similar to private schools. The Religious Liberty Clinic cites the 2022 Carson v. Makin case where the Supreme Court ruled that a Maine law preventing state-sponsored private school scholarships for religious schools was unconstitutional.
“In 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States had an important decision called Carson v. Makin, and in that decision, says that
Christman said. “I have two objectives for my students that I hope that they will learn and they are: stay curious and pay close attention. When you bring these two things to your writing, you cannot go wrong.”
She referenced the difficulty of maintaining a persistent work ethic when writing.
“You don’t feel like you’re going to write the book that day, right? Just think in terms of this one frame. What am I
if the government chooses to create a school choice program to enlist private entities, private schools, to participate, it can’t exclude religious schools. So it’s kind of a non-discrimination principle that the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution prohibits government discrimination against religious schools and parents who would choose them for their children,” Garnett said.
As the petition for certiorari has been submitted, the liberty clinic now waits for a response from the Supreme Court.
While waiting for a response, the clinic will continue to work on other religious liberty projects, Notre Dame Law School professor and director of the Religious Liberty Clinic John Meiser said.
“A lot of [our work] involves just advising or counseling religious organizations on
going to write? I’m going to write this thing I’m looking at, I’m going to look at the palm of my hand. I’m going to describe it for five minutes. So that’s another thing that I would do is like, think small and then those things accumulate. And then begin to see the connections between them. And then before you know it, you’re writing.” Christman said.
After the event, attendees gave their reviews.
“I’m such a fan of her work, actually,” Lehmann said about Christman. “I love the way that her essays bring the real world into bigger contemplations of what it means to be a person today.”
“I really liked it. I came with a completely open mind,” said Catherine Whittier, a senior at Saint Mary’s. “I liked how fun [Christman] was and personable and entertaining. She made me laugh and it makes me want to buy her book and read it and see what more she has to say because it was so interesting.”
Contact Madyson Casiano at mcasiano01@saintmarys.edu
questions they have about structural matters, tax matters, legal liabilities and all sorts of things like that. We have students who work with asylum seekers, like the immigration system for people who maybe are fleeing religious persecution in their home countries, and then we represent them to try to get asylum in the US so they’re not sent back,” Meiser said.
The religious liberty clinic benefits not only organizations like St. Isidore; the students working with the clinic receive class credit and also gain real-world legal experience and casework.
“Our students get involved in a lot of different legal matters that, in one way or another, serve religious freedom or help religious organizations sort of live out their missions,” Mesier said.
Contact Megan Cornell at mcornell@nd.edu
taking a second glance. While the objects definitely bear an uncanny resemblance to Oreos, they are in fact meticulously sculpted from bronze. The cookies are the work of Keith Kaziak, teaching scholar in sculpture at the University.
This is the first time associate professor Justin Barfield has been involved
in the art sale. He contributed a series of prints that examine the effects of human consumption, many of which were informed by his experiences observing the impact of pollution on wildlife in his home state of Louisiana.
“We ended up saving a few animals,” said Barfield.
“That event kind of stuck with me, so I started making prints as a way to show people the effects that you
have as a person, [that] what you do with your trash has a domino effect.”
Barefield was sitting at the sales desk during the first few hours of the event on Dec. 10. He was joined by Kristoffer Johnson, teaching scholar in photography. “Oh, it’s been great [so far]. Great traffic. We’re selling lots of pieces,” Johnson said.
One of the many who stopped by the Riley Gallery in the morning was Russ
Blaschko, whose wife is an Inspired Leadership Initiative student. He shared that she has found a new love for art through the program, so he wanted to stop by to show his support for the department.
“The ceramic is just beautiful,” Blaschko said, “It’s just amazing what’s in everyone’s creative abilities.”
All proceeds from the art sale went directly to the artists.
Editor’s note: a previous version of this story was published online Dec. 11.
He thinks he might get involved in art at some point himself. “There’s something inside me. I don’t know what it is. [It’s] probably pretty rough and pretty rudimentary, but there’s a piece of art in all of us,” he said.
Contact Fionn Nagel-Murray at fnagelmu@nd.edu
MADYSON CASIANO | The Observer
Jill Christman of Ball State University speaks at a reading and signing of her book “If This Were Fiction: A Love Story in Essay.” The event took place in the Stapleton Lounge at Saint Mary’s University on Dec. 9.
Joe Rudolph
Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Who are the ‘Bigs?’
“Faith, family and friendship. These are the three demons you must slay in order to become a successful business person.”
As a finance major, not a day goes by where the words of Monty Burns do not echo in my head. Clearly, many business leaders in our country appear to see Mr. Burns as their role model in commercial enterprise.
You’ve heard of Big Pharma. They, like several corrupt government agencies, sell drugs. But what gave them the title, “Big?” They became something the Romans popularized. They created an empire. Demand for licit drugs skyrocketed in the 1970’s gave pharmaceutical companies a massive profit incentive: create, sell and keep the customer coming back for more. Drug sales have steadily risen over the past 50 years, with more rates of chronic disease, mental illness and of course, medical prescriptions for drugs than we’ve ever seen before.
So what exactly did Big Pharma do to solidify their empire? They created and sold of course, but after that? They lied. They convinced the American public that drugs were their only cure for all their problems. They instituted a facade which dictated that a reliance on faulty medications and sometimes ineffective drugs was absolutely imperative for a healthy life. As a result, the United States naturally consumes the most pharmaceutical drugs out of any other nation on earth. Subsequently, we ranked 60th in global health and have one of the highest rates of obesity in the world.
Big Pharma, Pfizer, Toys “R” Us and other evil corporate empires have all risen to power using the same method: create, sell, then manipulate, lie and extract. Thus it’s no surprise that
across the diversity of society, one statute has remained resolute: more business = more bad.
Every new development in our culture is simply just a realignment of monetary incentives. All this does is simply allow someone way up top to profit from what we think are our own decisions. The question we must ask ourselves, then, is who else is profiting from the newest meats of our cultural stew?
I’d like to take the rest of the space allotted to me and reveal other “Big” empires which may be lurking in our extractive commercial society today. Such a quest is not challenging. All one must do is follow the money.
Who profits from Taco Bell? Big Toilet Paper. No other entity could be more correlated with the operational success or failure of Taco Bell. Clearly an agreement must have been brokered between the two corporations, perhaps by force. Big TP’s army of animated grizzly bears who can’t seem to discuss anything else on live television turn fierce when TP sales decline. Tangentially, Big Bathroom also indulges in said profits.
Who spread the lie that red meat was bad for us, while also spreading the dangerous fib that seed oils concentrated from common vegetable extracts are heart healthy, when in reality they cause terrible bodily inflammation? Big Vegetable.
Who profits from both the decreasing participation in organized religion and the increased usage of crystals and stones in order to find an incomplete and incorrect sense of spirituality? Big Rock.
Who generates revenues by popularizing New York City as both a massive tourism attraction and the king of fruits at your local supermarket? Big Apple.
Who invented Martin Luther so that instead of distributing wine at the Sacrament of the Eucharist, people would instead gulp down sippy cups of juice at their religious services? Big
Grape Juice.
Who profits in London from murders and unjust executions? Big Ben.
Who profits from the sale and consumption of alcohol? Big Vomit.
Who profited from the Prohibition Era, which led to less household fights and also fewer nights out with the boys? Big Marriage. Slightly based.
Who profits from scientists trying to explain the creation of the universe? Big Bang.
Who profits from the existence of liberals? Big Buzz Cut and Big Hair Dye.
And conservatives? Big Gun and Big Fast Food.
Who made sunblock so delicious, urging us to buy more of the product, even though the dangerous chemicals it contains are absorbed into our bloodstream? Big Sunscreen.
Who profits from the restriction of weightlifting equipment and the unlawful rearrangement of Rockne Memorial Gym which limited weightlifting opportunities? Big Run.
Who profits from the sale of illicit narcotics in the United States, including fentanyl, heroin, crack cocaine and LSD? The CIA and FBI - Big Government then?
Who turned Christmas into a consumerist nightmare instead of a celebration of Jesus’ birth and Our Lady’s deliverance of Christ the Savior? Big Devil. Unbased.
Who made cigars taste so delicious and savory and testosterone-enhancing? Big Latin America. Or someone, I’m not really sure actually. My only point here is that some Bigs are pretty awesome.
To file a complaint, reach out at jrudolp3@nd.edu. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
It doesn’t matter you went to Notre
Now that I’m almost out of here, I figure it’s probably time I tell you it doesn’t really matter that I went to Notre Dame.
This isn’t to say that I don’t count my lucky stars every day that I wound up here, in a place like this. This isn’t to say that I haven’t met some of the most brilliant, kind people here. This isn’t to say that I don’t love it here or that I don’t cry on command when I link arms with my peers to sing the alma mater at the end of a football game or mass.
This is to say that it’s one thing to be proud to attend this institution or believe there is something really special happening here (there is, indeed, something really special happening here). But it is another thing to believe that Notre Dame people are superior to people who attended other, less elite universities (or did not attend university at all). It is another thing to conflate pride with arrogance.
But more on that later.
ACT I: The best of Notre Dame
It’s sophomore year, and I’ve just gotten my heart ripped out of my chest outside of a Glee Club house party (naturally) on the phone with this guy I swore I was in love with. When I hang up the phone, I go into the party and try to pull it together, but everyone is convinced that I am high as a kite (see: post-cry puffy, bloodshot eyes). One girl sees past the bloodshot eyes and asks me, “Have you been crying?” I tell her, “Yes.” This is when she guides me to the stairwell where we sit. She comforts me, consoles me, listens to me, wipes my tears and gives me the best advice I’ve ever been given. She’s a Notre Dame girl, but she wasn’t always a Notre Dame girl. She was a Gateway like me and attended Holy Cross College freshman year. I think to myself, surely she is the best of Notre Dame. It’s senior year, and I am crying in an elevator in Main Building on the way to class. My friend asks me what’s going on, so I tell her my dog is dying. Then, the other person in the elevator, a faculty member, whispers, quietly, “I’m so sorry.” I reply, “Thank you.” It is the first time I have felt seen in weeks — because I have been so busy trying to be strong, crying only between classes or in the shower or in my room where no one can see me. I think in this moment, perhaps this is the best of Notre Dame — this faculty member who knows nothing about me, someone just sharing an elevator with me, offering a small, gentle nod of support.
When I think of Notre Dame, I think of moments like these. Gentle nods of support from strangers and friends. I think of a love I never deserved. I think of the way in which our mission to promote the common good infiltrates all our spaces, from CJs to Duncan to the Main Building elevator. Here, we take care of each other.
ACT II: Who is Notre Dame for?
This question comes up in conversations at the Backer when Notre Dame students argue that Holy Cross and Saint Mary’s students shouldn’t have gotten tickets to the National Championship. This question comes up when Marshall University or Northern Illinois beat us (badly) in football, inviting more discourse on the school’s average SAT scores than the cold hard truth that the Bison and the Huskies simply played better than us that day. This question comes up when Notre Dame boys decorate their dorm rooms with “No Smicks allowed” posters or scoff at other four-year institutions for not being as “elite” as Our Lady’s.
This question, “Who is Notre Dame for?” is one that I’ve been thinking about and wrestling with since I got here in 2021 to begin my Gateway year at Holy Cross College. It’s a question that used to irk me. I used to think that Notre Dame was not for me — because people told me and treated me like I didn’t belong. Boys at parties would look at me sideways as I explained to them my status as a guaranteed transfer student or my life at Holy Cross. I wondered if I was made to feel different from the average Notre Dame student, or if I really was. If maybe I just wasn’t good enough, and that’s why I didn’t get in “the normal way.” It’s taken years for me to realize that I was always good enough, that where I go to school never defined me. That it isn’t everything.
I know it’s not everything because I’ve met the most brilliant, most kind people at Holy Cross College and Saint Mary’s. I know it’s not everything because our subway alumni are just as strong as our regular alumni. I know it’s not everything because success is so subjective and attending an elite university won’t automatically guarantee you a good career or long-term happiness or a life of virtue.
I know it’s not everything because, frankly, not everyone at Notre Dame will actualize Father Sorin’s vision to “be a powerful force for good in the world,” and yet many who attended other institutions (or did not attend university at all) will.
ACT III: The Notre Dame Way
It’s senior year, and I am arguing with someone over whether
Dame
or not Holy Cross and Saint Mary’s students should have gotten student section tickets to the National Championship game. I argue, “We’ve all been cheering on the Fighting Irish; they are just as much a part of Notre Dame as we are.” My opponent says, “No, they aren’t. They didn’t get into Notre Dame.”
This is when I ask the question “Who is Notre Dame for, then?” They say, “For people who got in.”
I tell them that Notre Dame is for everyone. I tell them that is the Notre Dame way. I tell them “What happened to love thy neighbor as thyself? Are Holy Cross and Saint Mary’s not our neighbors?” I tell them “What makes people who don’t go to Notre Dame so different from those who do?” I tell them “I didn’t get into Notre Dame the first time I applied. Am I not worthy?” I tell them “It really doesn’t matter that you went to Notre Dame.”
I told them a lot of things. I fought and fought and fought, and then I got a glass of water and left.
What I wish I could have said is that as far as I’m concerned, if you look down on anyone for the school they attended, for the schools they did or did not get into when they applied their senior of high school, for the opportunities they were and were not afforded in their lives, perhaps you are missing the point.
Because surely, when we play like champions and beat Ohio State this coming Monday, we don’t look left and right at our brothers and sisters and wonder about their SAT scores or the colleges they did or did not get into or their long list of extracurriculars or leadership roles from high school or their estimated starting salary or their class rank.
The Notre Dame that I believe in is one that welcomes all. One that does not discriminate, gatekeep, kick people out, tell people they are not good enough. The Notre Dame that I believe in is not reserved for the small percentage of students who get in. The Notre Dame that I believe in is for everyone who wants to further the common good.
Notre Dame is someone you hardly know wiping your tears in the stairwell of a house party, a stranger showing you a small act of grace in an elevator. That’s the Notre Dame way. That’s the Notre Dame that I’ll say I went to.
Kate Casper is a senior at Notre Dame studying English with minors in digital marketing and Italian. She strives to be the best waste of your time. You can contact her at kcasper@nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Kate Casper Outsider Instincts
Jackson Lang Letters from The Wanderer
Adam and Eve … and Steve (Jobs)!
To anyone perceptive enough to grasp the meaning of this fable, Far in the East, underneath the shadow of the inexpressibly elegant “mountains on high” and nestled rather inconspicuously between four separate streams in the lush “valley of innocence and bliss,” there lay a garden. Or so it was rumored. No man, woman or animal had successfully traversed this terrain in more than two eternities, and as such, the secrets of the garden had been all but lost to humankind; its unending beauty merely a fantastical myth. That was, until a lone pigeon returned from this land with a neatly rolled-up note — a note which revealed once more the lost wonders of the garden, while also professing a grim forewarning about the direction of humankind. This note, which I imagine you are most eager to ascertain the contents of, reads as follows:
In the garden, there was woman and there was man (I put woman first this time to avoid being labeled “sexist,” which, of course, I am … not). Also in the garden, amongst the birds, the fish, the wild animals and the infinite plethora of vibrant botanical life, there grew two sturdy trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Pleasure. Neither woman nor man were permitted to eat the fruit of the latter, for on the day that they did, they would surely die. Of course, neither woman nor man understood the meaning of death, for at this time, they still dwelled in the “valley of innocence and bliss” that all of us exist in before coming to know the tragedy of life — for is there anything more terrifying than to know that one is alive?
So woman and man went on living happily for a while, frolicking through the golden fields of wheat, ––––ing underneath the shade of the weeping willow, cupping their hands and drinking from the “stream of vitality,” which flowed softly, yet steadily; its waters of the purest essence known to man. Life in the garden left nothing to be desired, yet the human condition is such that a lack of desire leaves woman and man feeling vaguely dissatisfied and directionless — if the Kingdom has already been obtained, what then is the point of being in the first place?
So man, unconsciously bothered by this “perfect” nature of the garden, set off to make life less perfect for himself and for woman, because, as stated, man would rather see to it that perfection is an unattainable ideal towards which he can strive, rather than a presently actualized state of being. So man strolled for a while, eventually nearing the outskirts of the garden, where the shadows cast by the towering peaks of the “mountains on high” rendered everything perpetually shady, and where the rivers tumbled down the mountains with that untamable force of nature that elicits utter reverence.
It was here, underneath the garden’s thick canopy, that man encountered serpent. The serpent introduced itself as Steve, though it did not ask for man’s name — it already knew that man was called Adam. The serpent requested that man follow it to a place that contained respite for all of man’s disquietudes, and man, eager to quell the ethereal emptiness which stirred inside of him, obliged the serpent’s request. So they went, and soon arrived at a small clearing, hidden somewhere deep in the forest. In this clearing stood a lone tree, rather small and unremarkable, if not for the fruit which dangled temptingly from its otherwise barren boughs. The fruit was strange, thought man. It resembled an apple, though its shape was almost geometric, and omitted a bright, almost unnatural glow — unnerving, but also alluring. Man stepped closer; the serpent hissed.
“This is the Tree of Life.”
“No,” replied man. “The Tree of Life is in the center of the garden. I’ve seen it myself.”
“But what kind of fruit does the Tree of Life produce? Mangos? Pomegranate? Olives? Surely those fruits pale in comparison to the fruit which grows from this tree.”
“What is it?” inquired man.
“Plea-s-s-s-s-sure,” hissed the serpent. “Eat of this fruit, and your soul will know only happiness for all the days of your life.”
“I thought happiness didn’t come from fruit?”
“Oh, but this isn’t any fruit,” uttered the serpent. “This is a most s-s-s-s-strange fruit.”
With that, man’s curiosity was piqued — he reached out, took the fruit and ate of it. Immediately upon doing so, man’s mind was transformed; it began to dance with a kind of sick, synthetic delight,
for the fruit touched man in ways more pleasing than even the gentle caress of woman and sang out in melodies softer and more harmonious than that of the mourning dove and meadowlark. And all the while, yet satisfied from the nourishment offered by this strange, unnatural fruit, man wanted more. And the serpent was well pleased with its work. Upon returning to woman, man offered her a bite; she hesitated, suspecting that this peculiar object man held out before her was fruit from the Tree of Pleasure. But man was convincing; he told her of the wondrous stirrings inside of his soul (but really, his mind) upon taking from the tree, and better yet, he told her of the fruit’s everlasting effect — never did its supply of sensory gratification run out, so long as one continued to satiated oneself. So woman, trusting in her partner — bone of bone and flesh of flesh — took of the fruit, and was unsatisfied and continued to take.
From that moment onwards, both woman and man lived only for pleasure. Their time once spent frolicking and ––––ing and basking in the glory of the garden was now devoted exclusively to the worship of this most tempting fruit. Soon enough, woman and man forgot that they were in the garden altogether; their gaze transfixed on that dim, beguiling glow; their souls frozen in a state of terminal, unrectifiable hypnosis. For this fruit I speak of was indeed fruit from the Tree of Pleasure, and it vanquished the once-eternal souls of humankind. Now, you might be asking: what kind of fruit is this, that can spark such spiritual calamity? Well, dear reader, I regret to inform you that you, too, are victim of its seductive properties. You are so hypnotized, in fact, that all this time you’ve spent guessing at what this fruit might be, you failed to realize that you’ve been staring right at it. Don’t believe me?
Flip over your phone. What do you see?
T.W.
Jackson is an aspiring philosopher and nomadic freespirit. He is currently wandering through an alpine meadow somewhere in Kashmir, pondering the meaning of life. If you would like to contact him, please send a carrier pigeon with a hand-written note, addressed to “The Abyss.” He won’t respond. (Editor’s Note: you can contact Jackson at jlang2@nd.edu)
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
On seeking novelty
Christmas break marks a period of unwinding and relaxation before life resumes at breakneck speed. It is also stained by loss. I pray for President Carter and his family, the victims of the New Orleans attack and the victims (both living and dead) of the California wildfires. The start of 2025 is marred by tragedy. In the words of President Josiah Bartlet from “The West Wing,” “The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels.”
Every New Year’s Eve, I have two traditions. First, I listen to an episode of John Green’s podcast, “The Anthropocene Reviewed.” It is about the famous song, “Auld Lang Syne.” The “Old Long Since” (or, Good Old Days) is a celebration of the previous year and hope for what will come. The song remains one of my favorites as 2024 was an eventful year: The end of life in a school to which I had grown accustomed, the end of high school and the end of some friendships while renewing others. I entered a new world. In what was the most adventurous of my life to date, the song is a reminder to give myself grace and compassion. To “take a cup of kindness yet,” as the song’s lyrics implore. My second tradition pairs with the podcast.
I listen to the Irish Rovers’ cover of the song and think about my previous year. Sometimes, I journal. Other times, I reflect on the collection of small happenings whose only common trait is the calendar year. It is tricky to balance pride in success and a desire to improve failure. As the owner of what is normally a one-track mind, I lean into challenging myself for the future without appreciation for the present.
The fall semester was not long in a temporal sense, but it sure felt that way. The novelty contributed to a semester where “it felt like five years” (in the words of my friend). I felt extreme discomfort braving new life experiences paired with immense satisfaction in my day-to-day life. My fascination with that phenomenon inspires this column. It inspires me to seek novelty in the present, rather than surrender to the drudge of daily life.
After this journey, I have arrived at a new mountain. As I look up at the cliff face, it looks equally hazardous to the one I climbed last semester. It will not be an easy climb.
However, I turn around and see the mountains that dot the landscape below me. Many of them once seemed tall and frightening. Analogies like this one (which I first heard in a talk by Robin
Roberts) tend to break down quickly, especially if you ask if small challenges are mole hills and big ones are mountains. What defines a challenge? What makes it big or small? This variability means that the way anyone views their accomplishments will be distorted, and the salve of self-reflection is the only means by which we can create a somewhat objective view of where we came from and where we are going.
After finally figuring out 2024, I am back to square one. I can not say what will happen in my first spring semester or 2025. I refuse to speculate. As I enter my first calendar year of semi-independence, I will not wait for “the new” to arrive on my doorstep. Instead, I will “seek novelty.” I will climb the next mountain and seek out another.
Duncan Stangel is a first year global affairs major at Notre Dame. Currently residing in Alumni Hall (the center of the universe), he hails from the small town of Cumberland, Maryland nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. When he’s not saving kittens from trees, you can find him stumbling to Debart with a caffeine source in hand. Contact at dstangel@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Duncan Stangel The Center of the Universe
By LUKE FOLEY Scene Copyeditor
Not to flex, but I’m kind of a Nosferatu expert. Last semester, I became very familiar with the 1922 original as part of my German History Through Film class, which I highly recommend if you’re looking for a fun and engaging way to complete your Integration core. As I learned about the film and its historical context, I grew skeptical of what director Robert Eggers was trying to accomplish with his remake. The original seemed inextricable from the post-WWI trauma that birthed it. However, as I sat in my local theater over break to watch the film, my skepticism faded as I became entranced by Eggers’ fresh and insightful take on Nosferatu. Eggers reframed the story around the eternal struggle between good and evil, intellect and concupiscence. In doing so, he’s crafted one of the richest Christian films to emerge from mainstream Hollywood.
For those unfamiliar with the basic story of Nosferatu, it is about a couple, Thomas and Ellen, whose lives are disrupted when Thomas goes to a remote castle to assist the mysterious Count Orlok with a property purchase. Thomas discovers that Count Orlok is the vampire Nosferatu, who then brings death and terror to their town as he seeks out Helen’s affection. Eggers, however, has largely crafted a new story from these basic plot beats. Ellen and her demonic romance with Nosferatu are now the main focus of the story. Thus, Eggers has transformed “Nosferatu” into a psychosexual drama blown up to supernatural proportions. Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen superbly handles the greater importance of her character in the story. She is absolutely transfixing in the role; her performance is full of terrifying physicality and emotional desperation. It is a career-making turn for her, and I am incredibly excited to see
what she does next.
This new interpretation turns “Nosferatu” into a chilling meditation on original sin. It explores humanity’s dark impulses that rebel against reason and incline us toward evil. St. Paul’s words in Romans 7:15 — “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” — capture this struggle. Nosferatu is terrifying not just because he is evil, but because he reveals the evil within humanity due to original sin. He is the personification of sin, tempting us to give in to our evil desires that only make him more powerful and us weaker. We see that in how he exploits Thomas’ greed and careerism to invade Germany by way of real estate business. And we especially see that in the way he exploits Hellen’s disordered concupiscence. Her fractured psyche oscillates between her demonic lust for Nosferatu and her love for Thomas, epitomizing the perennial battle humanity faces in its fallen nature. We all have disharmony between our lower and upper faculties, and this inner rupture leads us to stray away from good and disobey reason. Nosferatu wants Helen to believe any attempt at good is futile and that she should just succumb to the darkness within herself. But despite our fallen nature, goodness is still possible in this world, and it is most present in the loving relationships we have with one another. This is what makes the film’s ending so powerful and poignant, as we see Helen choose love and emulate Christ’s atoning work on the cross for all our sins.
We see characters throughout the film struggle to grapple with the very real spiritual battle between good and evil. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s portrayal of a brash skeptic perfectly exemplifies the secular mentality. Though attacked by critics, I found his performance compelling; his materialistic worldview blinds him to the supernatural stakes, rendering him callous toward Ellen and powerless against Nosferatu. Refusing to
acknowledge the darkness inside us only weakens our ability to resist it. This repression is what ultimately unleashed Nosferatu, as society prohibited Helen from properly treating her inner turmoil, rendering her vulnerable in the wake of Thomas’ departure. Nosferatu can only be defeated when people confront him with faith and supernatural wisdom. Professor Franz, wonderfully played by Willem Dafoe, is an eccentric occultist who, while not a full Christian, is able to acutely identify the spiritual battle Ellen is facing and the true danger Nosferatu represents. Additionally, the Christian Romani that Thomas encounters in Transylvania are able to ward off Nosferatu and heal Thomas’s wounds through prayer and genuine faith. While I emphatically love what Eggers has done with the story, I am more ambivalent about the film’s visual direction. Set in 19th century Germany, Eggers’ penchant for historicity brings the period alive with sumptuous set design and costumes. Moreover, the mise-en-scène frequently provides evocative and chilling imagery. However, the cinematography disappoints. Gone is the bold German Expressionist look of the original film; most of “Nosferatu” has flat, uninspired lighting that adds nothing to the atmosphere. Though ultimately serviceable, it lacks the visual flair to match the richness of Eggers’ vision.
“Nosferatu” surpassed all my expectations. Not only did it prove itself to be a worthwhile remake of the iconic original, but it also transformed the story into an incisive Christian psychological thriller. This film goes beyond banal platitudes about faith or didactic proselytizing to fearlessly wrestle with our fallen nature. With this film, Eggers continues to assert himself as a singular talent in Hollywood.
Contact Luke Foley at lfoley2@nd.edu
By JAYDEN ESPINOZA Scene Copyeditor
In 2024, The Killers’ debut album “Hot Fuss” turned 20 years old, housing generation-defining tracks like “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine,” “Smile Like You Mean It” and “Somebody Told Me.” But if you’re a Zoomer reading this and thinking to yourself “Hmm, they sound familiar,” you likely know them from the pregame classic “Mr. Brightside.” To honor the anniversary of “Hot Fuss,” as well as the universal love and acclaim it receives, I took it upon myself to listen to see if time has eroded The Killers’ relevance (though technically, this was a relisten, if you count my mom playing it on CD in the car when I was a child). Almost immediately after pressing play and hearing “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” begin, the project felt foreign in the same way that Canada does. This is to say that while discussions of lovers’ quarrels, first heartbreaks and jealousy are not strictly limited to the genre of rock or period of the early aughts, even though you might squint and find
that the storytelling here seems similar, at its core, it is not in the voice of myself and my peers.
The grunge influence and angst throughout this album sets it apart from the sounds of the decades preceding and following its release, even in “All These Things That I’ve Done,” which revolves around Brandon Flowers’ (the frontman of The Killers) frustrating relationship with the Mormon faith. At times he refuses the ambiguity that becomes central to The Killers’ storytelling, proclaiming “I got soul, but I’m not a soldier” in reference to his desire to be one with the Mormon community without needing to be in opposition to those who are different than himself. The album came at a time when the eldest millennials were reaching 25, the dreaded “quarter life crisis,” and the youngest of the bunch were in the (equally dreaded) early stages of puberty. On either side of the spectrum, these periods are thought to represent a shift, one being the end of childhood and entry into adolescence while the other is the tumbling into the real world; a world that is radically different from the world in which they grew up and that
only grows more alien.
In many ways, I almost want this project to continue to feel unrelatable, for the frustrations of young adulthood to be some obscure concept only characteristic of the generation that precedes mine. As 2025 begins, however — and TikTok loves to remind me — Gen Z are the new millennials. We’re no longer the new kids on the block: life and adulthood are no longer foreign concepts, and neither are the emotional frustrations that come with growing up, which make albums like “Hot Fuss” feel fresh even decades after release.
Now, millennials, I still wouldn’t say that I completely understand you yet. I can still navigate social media trends and updates without missing major references and unfortunately don’t have a mustache tattoo on the inside of my finger. But as I watch your favorite media become classics, I look forward to the opportunity to see the same happen with mine.
Contact Jayden Espinoza at jespino4@nd.edu
MARISSA PANETHIERE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RUN
Irish trounce Indiana in first 12-team CFP game
By BEN HICKS Sports Writer
Notre Dame football made its return to the College Football Playoff Friday evening under the bright lights of Notre Dame Stadium, welcoming in-state rival Indiana to South Bend for a muchanticipated first round showdown. Under the Golden Dome and in sight of Touchdown Jesus, “The House that Rockne Built” would be the site of the Irish and Hoosiers’ 30th all-time meeting, as well as the first ever on-campus postseason game in college football history.
Tale of the tape
Despite just 200 miles of separation between the two institutions, their respective football programs hold distinctly different histories. While 137 seasons of football in Bloomington have yielded a mere three bowl game victories, two conference championships and one 10-win campaign (this year), the Catholic institution in the northern part of the state has been responsible for revolutionizing and popularizing the college game across the nation. Starting with Knute Rockne in the 1920s, Notre Dame has captured 11 national championships and seven Heisman Trophies, while cultivating the most recognizable brand and largest fanbase in the United States.
Following just three Big Ten wins over the prior three seasons, Indiana hired head coach Curt Cignetti away from James Madison to usher in a new era of Hoosier football. Cignetti “just wins,” and that’s what they have done this year. Outside of a Week 13 defeat to Ohio State in Columbus, Indiana bludgeoned everyone on its schedule as it cruised to an 11-1 regular season. Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke steered the offense in the regular season with 27 touchdown passes to just four interceptions. The graduate student from Oakville, Canada, earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors following his lone season in Bloomington, after starting 45 games in four seasons for the Bobcats.
The strength of the Indiana defense was the front seven, with no player shining brighter than defensive lineman Mikail Kamara. The redshirt junior who transferred from James Madison ranked 12th nationally with 10 sacks, while earning All-Big Ten Second Team and All-American Third Team honors. The Ashburn, Virginia, native was also a finalist for the Bednarik Award, which goes to the best defensive player nationwide.
2024 marked Marcus Freeman’s third season at the helm in South Bend. Freeman was a standout linebacker at Ohio State prior to rising up the ranks as a defensive assistant before landing the Notre Dame gig at just age 35.
Head coaches Frank Leahy, Ara
Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz all won national championships in their third seasons, amplifying the pressure on Freeman to improve upon winning 19 games in his first two years.
The Irish opened their 2024 campaign with a program-defining win over Texas A&M at a hostile Kyle Field, before suffering a shocking home defeat to Northern Illinois just one week later. Instead of folding in the face of adversity, Notre Dame proceeded to play near-flawless football for the final 10 games of the season, culminating in a 49-35 rivalry win at USC to clinch a playoff berth.
Notre Dame has played a tough brand of football all season long, dominating the trenches on both sides of the ball. Star sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love has reached the end zone in all 12 games, while graduate linebacker Jack Kiser and graduate defensive tackle Rylie Mills captained an Irish defense that finished third nationally, which impressively allowed under 14 points a game.
The stars were out in full force Friday, as ESPN’s College Gameday visited campus for the first time this season, hosting a special afternoon show on Library Lawn. 1987 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown presented the colors pregame, while comedian and Irish super fan Shane Gillis was seen in a suite with legendary running back Jerome Bettis.
It was also the first Friday night home game for Notre Dame since Oct. 5, 1900, as well as the first game inside Notre Dame Stadium not broadcast by NBC since the 1990 season. Despite these differences, the Irish still donned their traditional blue and gold threads, even with rumors of a blackout permeating all week long.
How it happened
Seventh-seeded Notre Dame won Big 12 referee David Alvarez’s opening coin toss and deferred its choice to the second half, leading graduate student Eric Goins to kick off into a dark December sky to begin the 2024 College Football Playoff (CFP).
The high-powered offense of 10th-seeded Indiana, which ranked second nationally in points per game, opened from the 25-yard line following Solomon Vanhorse’s fair catch. Despite five opening-drive touchdowns in their 12 regular season contests, the Hoosiers went backwards en route to a three-and-out to begin the game.
The punt from James Evans set the Irish up at their own 41-yard line, where they made their first mistake of the evening. On his second play of scrimmage, senior quarterback Riley Leonard fired a pass that was tipped up by defensive lineman James Carpenter before being easily plucked out of the air by cornerback D’Angelo Ponds. Carpenter, a redshirt senior transfer who followed Cignetti from James Madison, was a finalist for the 2024 Burlsworth Trophy,
which is awarded annually to college football’s best player who began their career as a walk-on.
The start of the second Hoosier drive didn’t fare much better, as a third-and-14 had Notre Dame Stadium buzzing before Rourke connected down the left sideline to junior receiver Elijah Sarratt for 28 yards, extending the possession into the red zone. Two-time All-American Xavier Watts then left his imprint on the game, as he intercepted Rourke’s overthrow at the two-yard line, saving Notre Dame from an early deficit. The graduate safety from Omaha, Nebraska, hawked his sixth interception on the season, giving him 13 total over the last two years.
Speaking with the media postgame, Freeman praised his star defender’s leadership. “He communicates, gets guys lined up and takes the ball away. He plays the way that we need him to,” he said.
Love then took matters into his own hands, tying Josh Adams for the longest run in Notre Dame program history, as he rumbled 98 yards to open the scoring, giving Notre Dame the early 7-0 advantage. Junior left guard Billy Schrauth cleared a gaping hole for Love’s 16th touchdown of the season, which was also aided by a key perimeter block from graduate receiver Beaux Collins.
“He wasn’t gonna catch me. I knew I was finna score,” a tired Love, who would finish with 108 yards, said postgame.
“Once he creased the gap, I just headed to the sideline because I knew he was gone,” Leonard added.
Freeman addressed the importance of Love’s big run, assessing, “Coming off the interception on our last drive, that run was huge for the confidence of our entire team.”
Offensive coordinator Al Golden agreed with Freeman. “The line did a nice job executing, wiping out the frontside and walling off the backside. And then there goes 4. You give the guy an inch and he takes a mile. He does something incredible every week.”
The Irish defense forced another punt from Evans, the New Zealand native, which set up a nine-minute, 15-play, 83-yard drive to double the lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter. The drive was capped off by a fiveyard throw over the middle from Leonard to senior receiver Jayden Thomas. It was the longest scoring drive all year for Notre Dame, topping the eight-minute touchdown drive in the second quarter against Georgia Tech back on Oct. 19.
The two sides traded punts before the crimson and cream attack finally gained some ground on the Irish defense. The backfield tandem of Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton, who united to record over
1,500 rushing yards on the season, each got involved to move Indiana to the 16-yard line of Notre Dame with 3:30 to play in the first half. After initially lining up to go for a fourth down, Cignetti called a timeout and sent out his kicking unit. Nicolas Radicic converted his 10th field goal of the year, cutting the Irish lead to 14-3.
Leonard then masterfully conducted a rapid, no-huddle possession for the Irish, setting up South Carolina graduate transfer kicker Mitch Jeter with a 49-yard try to end the half. Notre Dame’s kicking unit had been successful on just eight of 18 tries throughout the season, worst in the FBS, and Jeter had been battling a hip injury for over a month. Nonetheless, a perfect operation was punctuated by a confident strike from Jeter, and the Irish entered the locker room holding a 17-3 lead.
“To go out and do it from distance in the cold weather gave him and the unit a lot of confidence moving forward,” Freeman said.
A reverse on the kickoff allowed the Irish to begin the second half in plus territory, but a false start penalty doomed the drive and the Irish were forced to punt. The Irish defense remained stout, and the offense utilized the short field to set up a short field goal try for Jeter. But special teams coordinator Marty Biagi had more tricks up his sleeve, bringing out the swinging gate formation, causing Cignetti to burn a timeout immediately before the snap. Jeter then knocked through his second field goal of the evening, extending the Irish lead to three possessions at 20-3.
Jeter would have a third attempt, this time from 37 yards out, blocked early in the fourth quarter, yet Indiana questionably decided to punt the ball away on the succeeding fourth-and-11 despite the three-score deficit with time winding down.
The blue and gold then milked the clock away on the ground with carries from Love and junior running back Jadarian Price, before Leonard launched a beautiful downfield pass, which sophomore receiver Jordan Faison reeled in at the one-yard line for a 44-yard gain. Leonard called his own number on a read option two plays later, slamming the final nail in the Hoosiers’ coffin.
Leonard was impressed with the throw, saying sarcastically, “It would have been up there with my best if he could have gotten in the end zone.”
Despite coming up short there, Faison would finish the night with seven catches for 89 yards after dropping his first traget of the night. Speaking with the media postgame, he said, “You can’t let drops affect you because the ball is going to keep coming your
way. I was fortunate to make plays late.”
With the Irish dropping off in coverage, Rourke converted multiple third downs, leading the Hoosiers down the field. He found senior receiver Myles Price on a swing route for Indiana’s first touchdown of the night, and after a successful conversion, the score was 27-11.
Indiana would recover the ensuing onside kick, and Rourke connected with Omar Cooper for a 23-yard score. This time the conversion was no good, Collins recovered the onside attempt for Notre Dame and the clock finally struck midnight on Indiana’s Cinderella 2024. The 27-17 triumph moved the Irish to 24-5-1 all-time in the series and also marked the program’s first major postseason win since the 1994 Cotton Bowl Classic.
Defensive coordinator Al Golden wasn’t concerned about the lack of resistance towards the end of game, claiming, “I’m not worried about it. We gotta finish better, but the game was in hand and we didn’t want to show anything too elaborate.”
“I want them to celebrate tonight because they worked incredibly hard for this. You don’t get enough time in life to enjoy moments like this,” Freeman said. In the end, Notre Dame outgained the Hoosiers 394-278. Rushing yards were 193-63 in favor of the Irish. “Our defensive line battled. They made all of their yardage really difficult,” Freeman said.
The nearly 81,000 fans inside Notre Dame stadium made noise from start to finish, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the Irish.
“I’ve never been a part of an environment like that. It was special. The crowd made an impact in that game,” Freeman said.
Golden seconded the head coach, saying, “It was awesome. You could feel the energy, and execution fuels emotion. What a great environment.”
The players were fired up by the crowd as well, and as Kiser noted, it didn’t just start at kickoff.
“When you walk in there and the crowd is going nuts before we even play a snap, you have to capture that momentum,” he said. “Hopefully that energy can become the standard here.”
Love and Watts agreed. “It was a special experience. You can’t match having the fans help you in a game like that,” Love said. “The crowd was pumped. I think the towels were a good addition,” Watts added.
Editor’s note: The original version of this story was published online on Dec. 21, 2024.
Contact Ben Hicks at bhicks2@nd.edu
Happy Birthday: Pick up extra work,
a
business, or invest more time and
in
and skills this year. Venturing into different territories will
you discover what’s trending and applicable to your
well-being. Trust the math when budgeting and saving for something you long for. You are overdue for a change, and participating in something fun, refreshing, or mentally stimulating is favored. Your numbers are 5, 17, 21, 26, 33, 37, 44.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Getting involved in something physical can be exhilarating but also dangerous if you aren’t physically ready to give your all. Take care of timesensitive paperwork and bureaucratic or health issues. Once you’ve put such matters behind you, enjoying downtime with friends, family, or your lover will be easier.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You can run but can’t hide. Stop putting matters off and burning energy worrying when taking care of business; it will set you free. Take a heartfelt approach, ask experts, and put whatever is plaguing you to rest. It’s time to start anew and to find what makes you happy.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Indulgence is the enemy. Keep your feet firmly planted and your mental outlook practical. The choices you make today will shape what’s to come. Focus on home, family, and creating a safe place for you and those you love. Gather the facts and initiate whatever helps keep you on track.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Put everything you’ve got into getting ahead. Refrain from letting anyone sidetrack or push you in a direction that doesn’t offer substantial benefits. Think outside the box, and you’ll devise a plan that suits your needs. Follow your heart, rejuvenate, revise, and continue your plans.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Refuse to let your emotions take over or cause you to make an inappropriate decision. Take hold of what’s possible and makes sense and resume down the path that leads to peace of mind. Sitting with what you have is sometimes better than a replacement with no track record.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Take a moment to plan your day and to ensure you get to spend quality time with people who make you happy or stimulate your mind. A networking event will help raise your expectations and encourage you to do your best. Say no to temptation and indulgent behavior.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Assess what’s happening around you and distance yourself from anything or anyone draining your energy instead of benefiting from your help. Place more time and effort into expanding your knowledge and experience and delving into a pursuit or project that excites you. When one door closes, another will open.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Live, learn, and laugh. How you spend your time matters, and by making choices that resonate with you mentally, physically, and financially, you will put your mind at ease and discover something about yourself and what you can do that helps you advance. Self-improvement and personal growth are favored.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Take a moment to figure out who is on your side and who isn’t. Expect nothing, and you won’t be disappointed. Stay focused on what’s best for you and walk away from drama and people trying to tempt you to do something you shouldn’t. Choose personal growth over excessive behavior.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Take what you offer on the road and see what sort of interest you can muster up. A little charm and discipline, along with imagination and showmanship, will grab the attention of potential buyers. Attending conferences and workshops and participating in networking events will help build momentum.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Find an opening and use your voice to get what you want. Change begins with you, and mastering the art of convincing others you have something they want to be a part of will help you stabilize your position and domestic environment. Pay to play and play to win.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Get out and do things that excite you. Participate in a rally or volunteer for something that resonates with your soul and do your best to make a difference. Someone you encounter will offer a lucrative suggestion. Don’t hesitate to deepen your involvement with those who make you feel alive.
Birthday Baby: You are robust, captivating, and precise. You are attentive and distinctive.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RUN
Irish overcome the unthinkable, beat Georgia
By TYLER REIDY Sports Writer
Just less than four months ago, when Notre Dame football turned the page from the disastrous Northern Illinois loss to the longest active win streak in college football, chaos loomed large.
Questions about extinguished postseason dreams and program legitimacy swirled, but the Irish didn’t need to waste time answering them. They just had to start winning.
Eleven straight games worth of winning brought Notre Dame down to New Orleans to ring in the New Year against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. When the Irish landed in Louisiana on Sunday evening, they never could have imagined beating Georgia amid a state of emergency.
But that’s precisely how the week played out.
Wednesday morning’s attack on Bourbon Street left the team confused and emotional. The Sugar Bowl game received an unprecedented, 19-hour postponement. Rather than huddling as teammates on the Caesars Superdome turf on the night of New Year’s Day, Notre Dame’s players spent designated family time as sons and brothers.
Once again, this time in a much more human way, head coach Marcus Freeman and company sought stability as bedlam filled the Big Easy.
“[The players] had to still get ready for this game with the natural emotions that come into each individual that happened after the tragedy,” Freeman said. “I’m proud of the way they prepared. They stayed steady, and they went out and they did a great job.”
“There’s things in life that — they’re unpredictable. And the ability to handle those unpredictable things determines the success,” he added.
Once Thursday afternoon arrived, Notre Dame needed only one play to prove its readiness. To start a game contested predominantly at the line of scrimmage, junior linebacker Jaylen Sneed broke through and planted Georgia running back Trevor Etienne for a two-yard loss. The Irish and Bulldogs would combine to lose seven yards on their opening drives, and off went the fourth and final College Football Playoff semifinal.
Georgia, operating with backup quarterback Gunner Stockton at the helm for his first collegiate start, settled in on its second trip. Stockton dealt six straight completions, briskly moving the Bulldogs into the red zone. However, their first play inside the Irish 20 accomplished two of Marcus Freeman’s defensive keys to victory: stop the run and create takeaways. Etienne fumbled on a helmet-to-football hit by sophomore safety Adon Shuler, resulting in a recovery by sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry, a Louisiana native.
As a scoreless first quarter gave way to the second, Notre Dame’s defense made another valuable stop deep in its own end. The Bulldogs opened drive three with a 67-yard passing strike that should have put it at the Irish 11, but an inactive Georgia player’s sideline interference penalty moved the play’s outcome back to the 26. Georgia’s offense hardly moved after that and settled for a field goal.
Engineered by a 32-yard jaunt by senior quarterback Riley Leonard, the Irish answered with a 44-yard kick on the ensuing drive. Then, with 39 seconds remaining in the first half, Jeter added a 48-yarder to put Notre Dame up 6-3.
Less than a minute of game time later, the Irish would have a 20-3 lead and the spark of RJ Oben to thank. Throughout the regular season, the graduate defensive end’s production in South Bend never matched the summer expectations attached to his name as he transferred from Duke. If Oben didn’t make amends with his strip-sack of Stockton on Notre Dame’s first play from scrimmage with the lead, he sure came close.
“No matter the role that’s determined for him, he puts everything into it,” Freeman said of Oben. “When you have the mindset and you have that work ethic, good things like what happened today happen to you.”
Leonard, a teammate of Oben’s at Duke and now at Notre Dame, used a Henry Ford quote to describe the edge rusher’s relentless work ethic and belief in himself: “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
Inspired by Oben’s success and sensing vulnerability on the part of Georgia, Leonard put the very next play in the end zone. His fastball over the middle found graduate wideout Beaux Collins for his first and only catch of the game, a touchdown from 13 yards out that extended the Irish lead to 13-3.
Even with momentum squarely on his team’s side, Freeman made sure the Irish kept attacking. In his postgame press conference, he harped on remaining aggressive rather than merely surviving to start the second half.
Before that message could even pass through gold helmets and hit Irish ears, Notre Dame scored again. Another graduate transfer receiver, Jayden Harrison, ran the second half’s opening kickoff 98 yards to paydirt. The awardwinning return man tallied the fourth kick return touchdown of his career by veering past a wave of tacklers at the 20 and following a convoy of teammates the rest of the way down the right sideline.
“I saw a white jersey in between red that whole time,” Harrison recalled, praising his blockers.
Though Georgia, a team known to overcome deficits, answered
with a 32-yard passing score five minutes later, Notre Dame remained composed. The Irish, after falling short on a fourth-down attempt at midfield, hushed an intensifying Bulldog crowd with a fourth-down stop on the following defensive series.
The fourth quarter began with a 47-yard make from Jeter, who shined for a second straight postseason game after going on an injured, 1-for-5 field goal-kicking skid to end the regular season.
Just like he did when Notre Dame scored 23 points to beat SEC opponent Texas A&M in August, Jeter went 3-for-3 with a trio of makes from 40-plus yards to help topple Georgia.
“If we expect to continue to move forward in the College Football Playoff, it’s gonna take all three phases,” Freeman said.
“And we feel strongly about all three phases.”
All three phases would factor in once more to put the game on ice midway through the final quarter. First, with the Irish still up 13, graduate safety Rod Heard II broke up a Georgia pass bound for the end zone on fourth down.
Then, after its offense went threeand-out, Notre Dame added to its list of special teams fakeouts. On fourth-and-1 at the Irish 18, the entire Notre Dame punting unit lined up, sprinted off the field and gave way to the offensive personnel. That forced Georgia to make a similar, but far less organized,
substitution.
With zero time to think about a hard count from Leonard, Georgia’s defensive line jumped offside, resulting in an Irish first down. Only Notre Dame would move the chains inside its own 20 by deploying a line change fit for Compton Family Ice Arena.
“That’s gotta be one of our edges — that we are going to be an aggressive group and not fear making mistakes,” Freeman pointed out.
After two more Leonard rushing first downs drained the clock, Notre Dame’s defensive depth fittingly slammed the door. Junior defensive tackle Donovan Hinish, a second-stringer, sacked Stockton to set up victory formation on the other side of the ball. Down their four best players up front by the end of Thursday’s game, the Irish still wound up with four sacks and only 62 rushing yards allowed against Georgia.
“We’re not in this position unless everybody in this program gets their job done,” Freeman said. “I’m so proud of this program, the team, for the work they put in to obtain the result that we got tonight.”
Editor’s note: The original version of this story was published online on Jan. 3, 2024.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
JONATHAN KARR | The Observer
Graduate linebacker Jack Kiser hits Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton as he attempts to throw the football during Notre Dame’s 23-10 defeat of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Jan. 2, 2025. The Irish defense had four sacks in the victory.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RUN
On timely plays, Irish reach national title game
By TYLER REIDY Sports Writer
Notre Dame football will play for a national championship.
And isn’t the game the Irish used to earn that opportunity just so fitting?
Thursday night’s Orange Bowl put sixth-seeded Penn State in the driver’s seat again and again. Throughout the first half, the Nittany Lions punished Notre Dame in the trenches. Down the stretch, Penn State received multiple opportunities to drive down the field and leave Miami with a win.
But in its lowest moments, Notre Dame found a way. The path to a 27-24 victory sounds a lot like the journey the Irish have taken to reach this point — seemingly out of the postseason picture after Week Two and from that moment on needing to deliver each and every week just to stay alive.
Well, they’re alive, and now they’re 60 minutes away from the program’s first national title since 1988.
“So proud of this group. What a gritty performance, and they found a way when it matters most to get their job done,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. “Penn State’s a heck of a football team … It was a tough matchup, but these guys were resilient. They found a way to make a play when it mattered the most.”
The deciding play put graduate kicker Mitch Jeter in the spotlight for the biggest field goal attempt of his life. From 41 yards away, he lined up his shot to give Notre Dame a lead in the final 10 seconds. His teammates appeared anxious, yet their faith in Jeter remained unwavering.
“We all knew the kick was gonna go in,” senior quarterback Riley Leonard said.
Though the kick briefly faded right, the winds of college football glory brought it back through the uprights.
A kick for the ages. A trip to the national championship. A far cry from Notre Dame’s situation with 90 seconds to play in the first half.
At that point, Penn State led by a 10-0 score. The Nittany Lions had just gashed Notre Dame for a 15play, 90-yard touchdown drive that spanned more than seven minutes, battering the depleted Irish front with successful run play after successful run play. Meanwhile, the Notre Dame offense had done next to nothing, punting twice and throwing an interception.
As the Irish, already down freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp for the night with an ankle injury, settled into a two-minute drill at their own 40, the bad went worse. Leonard took a crunching hit that knocked him into concussion protocol. Behind the play, graduate right guard Rocco Spindler suffered an injury of his own, forcing him out of the game.
Getting outmatched badly in the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame called upon backup quarterback
Steve Angeli. The junior did all he could, throwing for 44 yards on six completions to set up a 41-yard Jeter field goal before halftime.
Still, Notre Dame’s prospects remained dicey, as twice during the drive Irish offensive linemen whiffed on blocks that put Angeli dangerously close to lost fumbles.
“It was a seven-point game, but it didn’t feel like that going into the locker room,” Freeman recalled.
“As I told the offensive staff and the team in the locker room, we’ve gotta be able to run the ball, and we’ve gotta be able to stop the run. That’s not changing. We said that going into the game, and we’re saying that at halftime.”
To aid that gameplan, halftime cleared up Leonard’s situation, and he returned at quarterback to start the second half.
“I think our medical support team, first and foremost, did a really good job,” Leonard said.
“We definitely took our time and evaluated my numbers from this summer when I took a brain test [compared] to what I performed in the tent.”
Operating with injuries on both sides of the line of scrimmage — some from Thursday night, some from earlier in the season — Notre Dame appeared a new team in the third quarter. The Irish took the ball first and marched for an eight-play touchdown drive that featured seven rushes, the last a three-yard scoring plunge from Leonard. Typical third-down running back Aneyas Williams starred on the drive, combining for 51 yards on a downfield catch and a red-zone run.
On the other side, Penn State didn’t complete a pass to its wide receivers all night, so Notre Dame’s secondary could play closer to the line of scrimmage to assist a struggling defensive line. The first Nittany Lion drive of the half ended with a massive tackle by sophomore cornerback Christian Gray on a third-and-two run play. The next finished on a third-down sack from graduate safety Rod Heard II.
With the game still tied at 10, Notre Dame had momentum and made good on it. The Irish, who converted on 11 of their 17 third downs overall, went three-forthree on a go-ahead drive that bled into the start of the fourth quarter. Sophomore Jaden Greathouse and senior Jayden Thomas made key third-down plays from the wide receiver position, moving Notre Dame down to the goal line. There, Leonard lined up next to sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love, who had struggled through practice all week with a lingering knee issue, for first-and-goal at the two.
“He was banged up, and he is a tough individual,” Freeman said. “The statistics maybe weren’t there in the first half, but him being out there means something to everybody on that offense and everybody on our team.”
Love got the carry and started left. Zion Tracy hit him low in the backfield, turning his back to the
end zone, but he kept his footing. Nevertheless, three more Nittany Lions, including Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Abdul Carter, met him at the line of scrimmage. With his feet stopped at the two, Love leaned forward, reaching the ball over the plane while dragging Zakee Wheatley on his back for an improbable touchdown.
“It speaks volumes to the heart he has. He gave everything he had to this place,” Freeman said. “He did not have to play today, and nobody would’ve batted an eye. But he put team in front of himself and how he felt, and we’ve got a whole bunch of guys like that in the locker room, and that’s why we’re in this position.”
Penn State answered on the following drive, as quarterback Drew Allar used sizable completions to tight ends Tyler Warren and Khalil Dinkins to set up a seven-yard Nicholas Singleton touchdown run — tie game at 17.
On the next play, Leonard threw his second interception of the game. The Dani Dennis-Sutton takeaway meant the Irish had thrown two picks for the first time since the Northern Illinois loss. Five plays later, Singleton went in from seven yards out again for his third touchdown of the night, this one giving Penn State a 24-17 lead with less than eight minutes to go.
Penn State had seized momentum, and the Irish needed to do something about it. With some help from the Hard Rock Stadium playing surface, they sure did. On a snap from Notre Dame’s 46-yard line, Greathouse caused his defender to slip with a move off the line of scrimmage, leaving him all alone down the right sideline. Leonard found him, and Greathouse made one more juke to turn his third catch of the drive into Notre Dame’s longest passing touchdown of the season. In the final five minutes, the game went into a 24-24 deadlock.
Allar and the Nittany Lions had the first chance to go win the game on offense, but they couldn’t acquire a first down. Leonard and the Irish came close on the ensuing drive, but a third-down sack kept them just shy of field-goal range with 49 seconds left.
The Penn State offense had the ball again with two timeouts and 45 seconds remaining. Singleton ran to the 30 for a first down before Allar made a disastrous decision that put Notre Dame in a clear position to win. As the pocket caved in, Allar tried to bounce the ball at the feet of his receiver over the middle to keep the clock stopped. But the pass sailed, and Gray laid out for perhaps the most important interception in the modern history of Notre Dame football.
“I didn’t really think about anything after I caught the ball,” Gray said. “I just knew I was blessed, and I felt God over me after I caught the ball.”
“That’s what Christian Gray does,” Freeman added. “He makes plays when it matters the most.”
Set up at the Penn State 42 with 33 seconds left, the Irish didn’t need to do much.
“We knew we wanted to get the ball as close to the 30-yard line as we could. If we could’ve went down and scored, we would’ve,” Freeman discussed. “But we knew, at this moment, let’s get the ball at least to the 30, and, if we’re not gonna score a touchdown, let’s run as much time off the clock as we can.”
With a third-down completion to Greathouse, a 100-yard receiver for the first time in his career on Thursday night, Notre Dame eventually reached the Penn State 23. A dozen seconds remained, and Jeter took the field to send the Irish to the national championship game.
“He’s just a confident guy, man. There is no moment too big for Mitch Jeter,” Freeman said. “I had a lot of confidence in him in that
moment [that] he was gonna do exactly what he did, and he did a great job at doing it.”
Penn State’s last-ditch laterals went out of bounds, and the game went final: Notre Dame 27, Penn State 24.
In just a week’s time, the Irish have won both the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl. They’ve outlasted all conference champions, silencing many narratives about their place in big games and the college football landscape. But the men in the gold helmets are proving something more meaningful than that this postseason.
“The biggest thing is just, culture wins,” Leonard said. “You see a lot of talented guys across our locker room, but you can see that anywhere in the country. But at the end of the day, it’s [about] which guys are putting their bodies on the line for the man next to them. Nobody’s thinking about draft stocks or next year — anything about individual glory. We’re all thinking about the man beside us, and we’ve proved throughout the season that culture wins, and it’s a special place for a reason.”
That special place can bring home a 12th national championship with 60 more minutes of superior football. Only Ohio State, Freeman’s alma mater, stands between the Irish and the ultimate prize.
“We’ve gotta get healthy and get back to work for one last guarantee,” Freeman said.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, where Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech on Oct. 19, will host that guarantee. The Irish will play for a national championship at 7:30 p.m. on Monday night.
Editor’s note: The original version of this story was published online on Jan. 10, 2024.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
MARIELLA TADDONIO | The Observer
Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love reaches the ball over the goal line during Notre Dame’s 27-24 defeat of Penn State in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Jan. 9, 2025.
ND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
High-flying Irish set to host No. 17 Georgia Tech
By TYLER REIDY Sports Editor
Right now in the ACC, it’s Notre Dame women’s basketball and everybody else. In the AP Poll, the Irish sit 11 spots clear of their next-highest inconference mate at No. 3 in the nation.
Notre Dame (14-2, 5-0 ACC) has already done plenty to set itself apart, beating three top-five teams, outlasting current No. 14 North Carolina on the road and taking care of business against Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest and Clemson in league play.
This Thursday, the Irish will have another chance to solidify their status with a home matchup against No. 17 Georgia Tech (15-2, 3-2 ACC).
The Yellow Jackets, under sixth-year head coach Nell Fortner, won their first 15 games of the season but have lost their last two to unranked Virginia Tech and Louisville. Meanwhile, Notre Dame carries in a ninegame win streak, extended by Sunday’s 67-58 win at Clemson.
How is Hannah?
Sunday’s question for Notre Dame centered around the team’s ability to perform without superstar Hannah Hidalgo. The sophomore guard rolled her ankle late in last Thursday’s defeat of Wake Forest and missed a game for the first time in her collegiate career at Clemson.
Based on how Irish head coach Niele Ivey broke down her staff’s game plan for Hidalgo’s injury, she should have a good chance to return soon, if not against Georgia Tech.
“Just really cautious,” Ivey described after Sunday’s game. “Just being extra careful [and] making sure she gets that proper rest, and then we’ll assess her this week.”
The loss of Hidalgo, the second-best scorer in the country with 25.7 points per game, certainly put a damper on Notre Dame’s offense, but the Irish anticipated that and locked in defensively. Despite matching a season low with 67 points and making an uncharacteristically poor three of 14 three-point attempts, the Irish carved out an important road win in what could have been a moment of vulnerability.
From junior guard Cassandre Prosper making a spot start and blocking three shots to graduate forward Liatu King recording another double-double with 11 fourth-quarter points, Notre Dame’s entire cast of characters took one more responsibility to fuel the win.
“Everybody stepped up and
did something well,” Ivey said. “A lot of contributions from the entire team. We were down a body, [so] everybody stepped up and did a little bit more.”
Still, Ivey and company would love nothing more than to see Hidalgo healthy and back on the floor for a top-20 matchup. Last year as a freshman, Hidalgo registered her career high with 35 points against Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
The ever-consistent Liatu King
Though Sunday’s performance without Hidalgo certainly opened some eyes, Liatu King still might be one of the nation’s most underappreciated players. Now 15 games into her first season at Notre Dame, she’s comfortably averaging a double-double with 13.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per contest. When healthy for the entire game, she’s collected 10 or more rebounds in all but one matchup this season, doing it again on Sunday.
“I thought Liatu did a great job [for] the entire game being poised,” Ivey said. “...She was tremendous. She’s just getting better and better.”
“You’ve just gotta be ready for whatever the circumstances [are],” King said after the Clemson win. “We’ve just gotta be ready, and that’s what I came in and tried to do today.”
On Tuesday, King became
the fifth Irish player this season to receive USBWA National Player of the Week recognition. Heading into Thursday she remains atop the ACC in field goal percentage and ranks fifth nationally in rebounds per game.
Westbeld continues to progress
Now three games into her graduate season after returning from a foot injury, forward Maddy Westbeld has shown steady improvement with each passing day. After going scoreless in her debut two Sundays ago at North Carolina, she totaled 14 points and six rebounds against Wake Forest, hitting a second-chance buzzer beater before halftime.
In Sunday’s win, Westbeld played a season-high 24 minutes, overcoming a slow offensive start to hit a massive three-ball in the fourth quarter and finish the day with eight points.
“Every game, I think she’s getting better and better. I think she’s getting more comfortable, just trying to find her spots,” Ivey said. “ She’s been out, so she’s still kind of finding her way with her presence, her body and her movement.”
Far and away Notre Dame’s most experienced homegrown player with 123 career games in blue and gold, Westbeld should see her role increase a step further on Thursday.
A litmus test for Georgia Tech
We’re all about to find out just how well Georgia Tech can hang with the ACC’s and the nation’s best. A national tournament qualifier just three seasons ago and a Sweet Sixteen team the year before that, the Yellow Jackets spent 2022-23 and 2023-24 in a light rebuild, going 11-25 in conference play.
Even during that time, Georgia Tech had two excellent young guards to build around in Tonie Morgan and Kara Dunn. But even as they both finished on the All-ACC Second Team last year, they didn’t have much help. Now, they do.
Dani Carnegie has arrived in Atlanta as one of the top freshman guards in America, averaging 15.1 points per game to complement Dunn’s 16 and Morgan’s 13.1. Despite Carnegie’s ability, Coach Fortner has rolled out virtually the same starting lineup for each game since opening night, having the freshman come off the bench. Zoesha Smith, a key addition to the starting five, brings experience as a graduate transfer from Georgia while averaging 7.6 points with 6.4 rebounds per game.
Georgia Tech’s unbeaten start included ranked wins against No. 21 Oregon, No. 14 North Carolina and No. 23 Nebraska. The Yellow Jackets won both the Hawaii
North Shore Showcase before Thanksgiving and claimed their SEC/ACC Challenge matchup against Mississippi State. However, they’re now facing adversity for the first time thanks to a 105-94, double-overtime loss to the Hokies last Thursday and a 69-60 setback against the Cardinals on Sunday.
The Yellow Jackets also went without a dynamic player in their Sunday game, as Carnegie sat out for the first time all season with a hamstring injury. The availability of her and Hidalgo come Thursday night will go a long way in determining just what kind of a chance Georgia Tech has against the Irish.
With Carnegie in the mix, we know Georgia Tech’s offense can run with Notre Dame’s. The Yellow Jackets average 82.4 points per game, just 5.4 short of the Irish. The problem for the Ramblin’ Wreck is that they similarly rank just behind Notre Dame in almost every category on both sides of the ball. Only in terms of turnover margin do the Yellow Jackets clear the Irish, but that may not hold up against Notre Dame’s steal-happy defense.
Notre Dame will oppose Georgia Tech at 6 p.m. inside Purcell Pavilion on Thursday.
Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu
JONATHAN KARR | The Observer
Graduate guard Olivia Miles leaps for a layup during Notre Dame’s 100-64 defeat of Wake Forest at Purcell Pavilion on Jan. 9, 2025. Miles and the Irish enter Thursday’s top-20 matchup against Georgia Tech having won nine consecutive games and with a perfect record in ACC play.
