THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING NOTRE DAME, SAINT MARY’S AND HOLY CROSS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2025 | VOL. LX, NO. 32
Irish shred Panthers in GameDay showdown
By Chris Dailey Sports Writer
On a perfect day for football in the Steel City, Notre Dame notched an impressive 37-15 ranked win over No. 22 Pitt. The Irish’s dominant play silenced the Panthers’ vibrant head coach Pat Narduzzi. The win also adds another impressive mark to Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff resume.
The game started off cagey. Pitt’s initial possession ended with a monstrous sack from junior defensive end Joshua Burnham. The 6-foot-4 mammoth of a human being powered through the Panthers’ lackluster offensive line before clobbering Pitt’s talented freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel to the ground. Sophomore safety Adon Shuler added an equally impressive hit that sent shockwaves around Pittsburgh just a few plays prior.
To the dismay of the large contingent of Blue and Gold faithful nestled in the upper decks at Acrisure Stadium,
Notre Dame’s offensive unit was able to carry the momentum of the defense into its opening drive. The Irish worked the ball into field-goal range. However, freshman Erik Schmidt’s attempt hooked wide right.
One Panthers three-and-out
later, Notre Dame’s superstar junior running back Jeremiyah Love exploded on the Irish’s first play of the drive for a 56-yard touchdown. After racing through a hole opened by Notre Dame’s star-studded offensive line, Love cleverly twirled around
Students and faculty react to November elections
By David Murphy News Writer
Local and state elections were held throughout the United States, including gubernatorial elections for Virginia and New Jersey on Nov. 3 and the mayoral election in New York City on Nov. 4. These elections resulted in major Democratic victories and represent a shift away from decisive Republican victories in the 2024 voting cycle. In Virginia, former Democratic congresswoman Abigail Spanberger defeated her Republican opponent and current lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, by a 15.2% margin. In New Jersey, Democrat representative Mikie Sherrill emerged victorious over former Republican representative Jack Ciattarelli by a
NEWS | PAGE 2
LEO creates research
margin of nearly 14%.
Democrats have also swept the lieutenant governor and attorney general offices in that state, with attorney general nominee Jay Jones ousting incumbent Jason Miyares despite controversial texts that spoke of violence against Republicans that were leaked during the campaign.
At the mayoral level, the highly publicized election for mayor of New York City resulted in a victory for selfproclaimed democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, becoming the city’s first Muslim mayor and the youngest mayor in a century. He defeated Independent candidate and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, carrying over half of the vote.
OPINION | PAGE 5
Donald the Duck?
Columnist Grayson Beckham discusses Trump’s declining influence in the GOP.
Notre Dame students expressed mixed feelings about the results. College Democrats released an official statement regarding the results, writing that Americans chose “freedom over fear” and “affordability over authoritarianism” this November.
“The 2025 elections were not only historic for Democrats but for progress itself,” Notre Dame College Democrats wrote in an official statement. “Members of Notre Dame’s College Democrats were involved in each of these races and are leading the fight for equality, human dignity, and justice. Americans are ready for a more affordable future and less divisive politics; Democrats will continue to deliver.”
see “Elections” on page 4
SCENE | PAGE 7
Daniel Caesar
“Son of Spergy” is just as good as his previous albums, but completely different.
boasting the third-ranked rushing defense in the country, giving up just shy of 81 yards per game on the ground.
After the game, Freeman spoke of Love’s explosive playmaking ability against the stingy Panthers’ rush defense, saying, “Man, it was like a fight. Grit, every yard. Then also, Jeremiyah is going to break one. That’s what he does. He’s going to break a tackle and make a play.”
an oncoming defender before racing to the house.
The play deservingly generated a ton of buzz on social media, with many labeling Love as a Heisman candidate.
The run is made even more impressive considering Pitt marched into the top-25 clash
With the touchdown, the Irish took a 7-0 lead. Just 10 seconds later, that lead was doubled on the first play of Pitt’s drive as Heintschel was picked off by freshman safety Tae Johnson. The young safety took it to the end zone directly in front of the previously-rowdy Pitt student section. From that moment on, the atmosphere within the stadium was different. The rambunctious cheering turned into a hopeful, reserved one before eventually falling flat as the game moved along.
see “Football” on page 10
ND hosts first AI summit
By Zander Daigle and Claire Lee News Writers
The Office of the Provost, Notre Dame Learning and the Lab for AI in Teaching and Learning (LAITL) hosted a faculty and student summit on artificial intelligence at the IDEA Center on Friday afternoon.
According to the Technology and Digital Studies Program, the purpose of the summit was to “build mutual trust between faculty and students around the evolving role of AI in education ... clarify assumptions about the purpose and appropriate use of AI in teaching, learning, and assessment ... understand what’s working and what’s not from both faculty and student perspectives, and explore the ‘why’ behind
SPORTS | PAGE 10
ND basketball
Notre Dame’s first road game came down to the final shot at Ohio State.
those perception ... [and] reflect on the meaning of a Notre Dame degree in an AIdriven world.”
G. Alex Ambrose, the director of LAITL, said, “Eightyeight people attended. So, I think there’s something to say about faculty and students wanting to be together.”
The summit is the first event of its kind at Notre Dame. However, town hall meetings with faculty members and undergraduate research panels with students and faculty were facilitated in the past, according to Ambrose.
“Events like today, bringing students and conversations across colleges are important,” Ambrose said.
Introductory remarks from the summit program coordinator, Megan Rogers ’22 and see “Summit” on page 3
SPORTS | PAGE 11
ND women’s soccer
Charlie Codd’s brace helped the Irish advance in the NCAA Tournament.
MARIELLA TADDONIO | The Observer
Junior running back Jeremiyah Love (4) carries the football during Notre Dame’s 37-15 defeat of Pittsburgh at Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 15, 2025. Love finished the game with 147 rushing yards, 56 coming on a score.
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LEO bridges research and nonprofits
By Chloe Hanford News Writer
Nearly 14 years ago, Notre Dame professors of economics Bill Evans and Jim Sullivan sat down for a conversation with Fr. Larry Snyder, then CEO of Catholic Charities USA, and discovered an opportunity for academics and nonprofits to join forces to find evidence-based solutions for poverty in America.
conversations that made it clear that there was tremendous potential for academics and non-profits to partner to build evidence around what are the most effective ways to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations … The ‘aha’ was the realization that that wasn’t happening.” They wondered how researchers and nonprofits with similar interests could overcome obstacles to partner with each other.
program director Hannah Darr explained, “One thing that’s unique about LEO is that we primarily do randomized controlled trials, which is like the highest level of evidence.”
programs. Darr shared that this year, LEO secured a gift from a donor to replicate the Padua program in South Bend, the first-ever gift of its kind.
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Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunity, co-founded by Evans and Sullivan in 2012, partners academic researchers with nonprofits to help evaluate the impact of their poverty alleviation programs. LEO’s team of faculty, graduate and undergraduate researchers generates evidence for what programs are most effective at helping individuals in need. Nonprofits and policymakers can use this data to decide where to direct their resources.
Recalling the conversation with Snyder about how Notre Dame economists could support their mission where the idea for LEO was born, Evans said, “I asked [Snyder], ‘What are the five projects that are run in the Catholic Charities Network that are having the most impact right now?’ And he said, ‘Well, we don’t know that.’”
Sullivan added, “That led to a whole series of
From there, the idea for LEO emerged.
“Poverty is complicated,” Sullivan said. He described LEO’s role as being “a matchmaker to bring academics and providers together to better understand how to fight poverty.”
LEO’s 100-plus projects consist of partnerships around the U.S. in the areas of education, health, housing, criminal justice, economic mobility and other emerging focus areas. For each project, LEO matches academic researchers with service providers to conduct a study to evaluate the impact of their poverty-alleviation programs.
LEO is currently working with Thread, a program that builds mentor networks for low-performing and at-risk students in Baltimore City Public Schools to help increase high school attendance and graduation rates. LEO is evaluating the impact of this program on participants’ high school completion, employment, postsecondary enrollment and criminal involvement.
LEO’s strategic partnerships
In a randomized controlled trial, researchers compare the outcomes of individuals who participated in a program with a control group who did not participate. Because of nonprofits’ limited resources, they cannot serve every person who comes to them. Randomized controlled trials select program participants via a lottery to measure the effectiveness of the program while avoiding the results from being impacted by other factors.
“I think it gives us a lot of credibility when we try to scale it or try to take it to policy makers,” Darr said.
A recent example of LEO’s work is with Padua, a comprehensive case management program in Fort Worth, Texas that matches families in need with case managers who work with them over several years to identify their needs, form goals and connect them with resources to achieve long-term stability.
LEO’s evaluation of Padua found evidence of a 67% increase in the probability that unemployed participants would be working full-time after the intervention and a 64% increase in housing stability amongst those who previously lacked stable housing.
Having evidence for these results helped LEO replicate and scale its evaluation to other
Sullivan noted that undergraduates play a “critically important role” in LEO’s work.
Rohan Jaipuria, a junior majoring in economics from Kolkata, India, started as an intern for LEO the summer following his sophomore year. He spent the summer in South Bend working with one of LEO’s researchers.
“Every intern’s experience is unique,” Rohan said. He applies his economics skills to build data sets using Stata software and explores how projects can ethically integrate AI into their workflow. Other interns put their marketing skills to work for LEO.
When asked about his experience, Rohan said, “I gained a perspective on what exactly I want to do when I graduate and how I should do it,” noting his aspirations to “create something maybe back in India that will help solve poverty.”
Evans recalled choosing LEO’s acronym, saying, “We wanted LEO to be the abbreviation because of Leo XIII’s encyclical on Catholic Social Teaching … Now we have Pope Leo XIV, and next year is our fourteenth anniversary, so maybe we can have the Pope on campus.”
Contact Chloe Hanford at chanford@nd.edu
Courtesy of Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunity
The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities held its Fall Weekend at McKenna Hall on Sept. 19, 2025 to celebrate progress made by the group. The gathering brought together LEO students and faculty to hear stories from their leadership and Poverty Research Fellows.
Organizations unite to petition the national debt
By Marie Stier News Writer
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve and Fiscal Challenge Club set up a booth on Library Lawn for students to sign a petition recognizing the national debt and advocating for a sustainable fiscal future. As a part of their “Debt Dogs” event, the club grilled hot dogs and invited students to pet a therapy dog as they signed the petition.
The Federal Reserve and Fiscal Challenge Club held their event in concurrence with the Notre Dame chapter of Up to Us, a campaign striving to engage college students by addressing the national debt. For four
Summit
Continued from page 1
Ron Metoyer, vice president and associate provost for teaching and learning, began the summit.
Rogers explained that the summit “addresses the use of AI in education but also long-standing problems like how to incorporate the voices of students and faculty directly into institutional decision making.”
The summit was structured with three rounds of personal reflection and group discussions and two rounds of ideation on possible solutions to mitigate AI concerns. Faculty and students were grouped by major or department, with an average of two faculty and three students per table.
A digital workbook guided participants through answering questions and encouraged deeper analysis to identify their personal perspectives on AI in education.
Some examples of these guiding questions were, “What do you truly want to gain from your
weeks, the club has been hosting events to raise awareness about the national debt, aiming to obtain more signatures than competing schools. The school with the most signatures receives $10,000 in funding for their competitions and other club activities.
Max Sombong, a sophomore in the club, believes it is important to inform students on the national debt because of how it contributes to how the government determines its budget.
“We spend money on paying off interest to other countries on the national debt, so for every $10 that you spend, one goes to paying off interest on the national debt. And why does that matter? Well, the
experience at Notre Dame?”
“When was the last time you walked away from a course feeling like you truly learned?” and “What is your biggest fear when it comes to AI and education?”
After this, tables held group discussions with participants sharing a diverse range of perspectives on the role and purpose of AI in education.
“Many people use AI as a critical topic to blur the fact that we have similar needs we want to fulfill, and I think that seeing through that fog is what’s really important,” sophomore computer science student Kristofer Ulanday said.
Ulanday also said that the computer science and engineering department “had positive thoughts on the usefulness of AI for already known knowledge and repetitive tasks, but had overwhelmingly negative thoughts on how AI removes the learning process.”
Marianne Cusato, director of Notre Dame’s Housing and Community Regeneration Initiative, shared concerns about
thing is, the federal budget says we’re forced to pay that, which means we don’t have flexibility in our options to pay for things like defense or education,” Sombong said.
Sombong noted that, regardless of political perspective, a high national debt restricts how policymakers can allocate resources.
“It restricts flexibility in discretionary spending, and especially with political polarization right now, there’s certain parties that want certain things, and they won’t have as much leeway to give some [spending] to others,” Sombong said.
Meghan Theall, a freshman in the club, highlighted how a high
the usage of AI in social and academic contexts.
“I think it’s going to make us worse at critical thinking, relationships and interacting with other people,” she said. “So the risk is that we lose our ability to think and we lose our ability to understand reality and relate to each other.”
Freshman Sophia Edels, double majoring in marketing and finance, also shared her thoughts.
“I’ve seen a lot of ways that AI is a resource, but also has negative implications,” Edels said. “In my writing in the age of AI class, we’re exploring the ways that AI can enhance writing and multimedia.”
“The changes from AI are inevitable, but the education field and learning process are always changing as well,” Edels added.
Cusato discussed the changes to her curriculum and her grading procedures for her classes.
“I’m changing how I teach seminar courses by not assigning papers, because I’ve conducted informal polling of students,
national debt affects international economies in addition to U.S. spending.
“The national debt is $38 trillion and it’s really important for our economy that it doesn’t increase. Having a really high national debt actually decreases the valuation of the U.S. dollar, which is really important. The U.S. dollar is the base currency for a lot of different countries, so they actually lose faith in the dollar and it devalues our currency if our debt is really high,” Theall said.
Freshman Heather Kowalczyk had never heard of the Federal Reserve and Fiscal Challenge Club, but after learning more about the
national debt, signed the petition.
“As a college student, I think it’s important that we know about the national debt because the way the government addresses the national debt is very relevant to us. Being aware of different policies or ways that they address it can affect our futures and job markets and the economy,” Kowalczyk said.
“We pay taxes right to the federal government, so knowing how they use those taxes to pay for debt and how our actions with other countries can get us into more debt or help lower the debt is very important.”
Contact Marie Stier at mstier@nd.edu
ZANDER DAIGLE | The Observer Faculty and students are seen discussing their thoughts on AI, with around two faculty members and three students in each table.
revealing that many of them would have a paper written by AI,” she said. “So we have to be creative in how we’re engaging and make sure that from the faculty point of view, we’re structuring our courses in a way that is engaging, meaningful and connecting with students.”
Ulanday discussed the importance of personal accountability
when using AI. “Think about AI’s use cases and how it can benefit you, but, most prominently, take personal responsibility for your learning and your relationship with the world,” he said. “AI is a tool that should expedite monotony, not learning. As a student, it’s both exciting and terrifying to see the effects of both outcomes daily.”
Ambrose advised students to double-check AI policies with professors to ensure appropriate use.
“Make sure to think very personally and ethically with professors to figure out where AI should and should not belong, if, when, and how it should complement learning,” he suggested.
At the close of the summit, Rogers said she hopes that the ideas shared by faculty and students can be passed on to various departments and decision makers.
“I think Notre Dame is a very well-positioned school to tackle this challenge because of our focus on ethics and about doing the right thing, students doing the right thing and faculty doing right by their students. I have so much hope that Notre Dame will be able to figure this out and then we can share it with other schools,” Rogers said.
Contact Zander Daigle at zdaigle@nd.edu and Claire Lee at clee35@nd.edu
Author explores China’s global finance power
By Will Prisco News Writer
The Keough School of Global Affairs hosted a lecture titled, “Managing Debt and Development: How China’s Financial Statecraft Works in Latin America,” on Tuesday afternoon, with approximately 40 community members in attendance.
The presentation was provided by associate professor of political science and international affairs Stephen Kaplan, where he focused on China’s financial ties with countries in Latin America that are economically at risk. Kaplan’s lecture closely paralleled the ideas in his book, “Globalizing Patient Capital: The Political Economy of Chinese Finance in the Americas,” which provides an in-depth analysis of the sudden burst in Chinese lending to Latin American governments.
Kaplan began the lecture by explaining the origins of China’s rapid rise as one of the world’s top creditors, attributing this sudden development to the 2008 financial crisis, in which many western lenders withdrew from the financial market while China
Elections
Continued from page 1
Other students were less optimistic. Mason Stanley, a junior and former Graham Hall resident from Virginia, said although he had been unable to submit his application in time to vote, he would’ve picked Republican nominee EarleSears because of his stance on education and crime.
“I was a big fan of the last governorship under Youngkin and I also tend to vote along conservative Republican lines, so I’m not a huge fan of some of the things that Democrats have been doing in Virginia as of late,” he said. “That being said, I think it is very much par for the course … I think a lot of people were expecting Spanberger to win the race.”
Jake Engelhart, a Siegfried Hall sophomore originally from New York, expressed concerns about Mamdani’s victory in New York City, citing business and financial disagreements.
“Some of the things he [says] I just don’t believe in or don’t think he has good intentions,” Engelhart wrote. “Biggest thing I foresee is billionaires and Fortune 500 top players moving out of the city, as the tax burden will choke them out.”
David Campbell, a political science professor and director of the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative, spoke on what Democrats can learn from the results.
“I actually think the lesson for the Democrats is less the policy positions … and more the emphasis on affordability, because that’s the common thread
firmly exerted its financial influence.
“While Western capital was retreating, China saw an opportunity to expand its financial footprint,” Kaplan said.
Through large amounts of lending from policy banks such as the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, China began rapidly financing infrastructure, energy and industrial projects all over the world, specifically in Latin America.
These loans, however, were remarkably different from those in Western countries. Unlike the United States or the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China tends to avoid imposing strict policy conditions, such as economic reforms that often come with Western loans.
Kaplan pointed out that, instead, China takes a different route and pursues their loans through a process called commercial conditionality. When China provides loans, they typically expect the borrower to work with Chinese companies, use their machinery or implement their technology in the projects that are funded.
from Mamdani in New York and then both the governor’s races in New York or in New Jersey and Virginia,” Campbell said. “These are candidates who are all focused on affordability, even though their particular policy proposals are going to differ — especially Mamdani, who is going to differ from the two governors.”
Mamdani’s status as a strong progressive voice within the Democratic Party, combined with his victory over Cuomo in the Democratic primary and now general election, has raised questions about the
“It’s less about forcing policy change and more about creating commercial opportunities for Chinese firms,” Kaplan said. The lecture also explored the broader geopolitical implications of China’s financial ties with Latin America and how that may affect future global cooperation. China’s expanding role in global finance significantly raises its global influence, particularly as it encourages the use of its currency in other countries.
For example, Argentina uses Chinese renminbi instead of U.S. dollars to pay off a portion of their IMF debt. This was a significant development that highlighted the effects of China’s growing influence in this space.
Kaplan’s research shows a complex reality, as though China’s loans might not have the same strict measures compared to those in Western countries, they nevertheless have strategic goals in mind. This includes supporting Chinese industries and ensuring China’s rise on the global stage. For countries in Latin America, China’s financial ties offer both opportunities and uncertainties in the region.
party’s direction going forward. However, political science professor Jeff Harden, who specializes in public policy diffusion and state politics, wrote that he did not anticipate the November results will significantly influence national politics.
“I am sure these elections will affect local politics in these states, but I do not anticipate them making big changes to national politics beyond the current news cycle,” Harden wrote. “And despite the considerable press coverage of Mamdani, I do not see him shifting the
The lecture concluded with Kaplan pointing out that Latin American governments are forced to navigate a difficult reality, as they attempt to balance their growing financial ties with China with their relationship to many Western countries, including the United States.
“So again, rather than being a source of competition, it’s a way for
party in the immediate term. At a minimum, he would need to begin governing and show evidence of success first.”
The approval rates of President Donald Trump were raised during the cycle. They sit at 42.3% as of Sunday according to RealClear Polling, an average of 15 polls from various news outlets and research groups. It is the lowest average Trump has received in his second term in office.
According to Campbell, while the numbers may have played a role, he emphasized it would take more than opposition to
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China to play a two level game, right? Where it’s still extending bilateral loans oriented towards expanding strategic and commercial Space internationally,” he said. “But then the ability to use IMF as a financial backstop and often timing bilateral loans to be able to do that.”
Contact Will Prisco at wprisco@nd.edu
Trump for Democrats to win electoral victories.
“There’s definitely some reaction to Trump, however, this is the thing to keep in mind. I do not think the lesson of this election is that all a Democrat has to do is run against Trump in order to win,” Campbell said. “I think all of these winning candidates have demonstrated that it wasn’t enough to run against Trump, but they had to be for something as well and the three of them demonstrated that.”
Contact David Murphy at dmurph23@nd.edu
Megan Brown
Associate Professor of History Swarthmore College
Thursday, November 20 at 5:00 p.m.
Hesburgh Center Auditorium
Open to the Notre Dame Community and the Public
WILL PRISCO | The Observer
Professor Stephen Kaplan speaks on “Managing Debt and Development: How China’s Financial Statecraft Works in Latin America.’
Donald the duck? Trump has lost his power
By Grayson Beckham Columnist, “Citizen Gray”
Amid the faux Republican primary in 2024, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made a noble but ultimately hopeless run for the Republican nomination. Being a political creature, I watched the primary debates mostly for my own personal gratification (or torture). In the September debate, Christie criticized Trump’s absence in the primary debates, saying, “If you keep doing that, no one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore. They’re gonna call you Donald Duck,” before smugly grinning at the Shakespearean brilliance of his pre-planned zinger.
Unfortunately for Christie, his comment made him a laughingstock, with Christie suspending his presidential campaign just three months later. I never forgot Christie’s “Donald Duck” comment and, incidentally, I believe that it applies now more than ever. While Christie initially used it to criticize Trump for “ducking” the debates, the reality has already come that Donald Trump is a “lame duck” president. Definitionally, a lame duck president is one who has lost reelection or is not eligible to run again. The term is often used to describe the three-month window between the presidential successor’s election and inauguration, with the president lacking any real political influence. Just two weeks into a historically terrible month for Trump, it’s appearing that his lame duck status has arrived earlier than expected.
With the Democratic Party’s resounding victory a few weeks ago in several statewide races, congressional Republicans are showing more of a willingness to defy the president than they have previously. With the budget uncertainty stemming from the government shutdown, Trump called on Senate Republicans to abolish the filibuster. Majority Leader John Thune called the idea a non-starter. Several key Republicans denied Trump’s call to block a vote on the release of the Epstein files, as four Republicans joined the Democratic Party in signing a discharge petition to force a vote on their release. The four Republicans are all pain fully familiar with the MAGA movement; Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace all re sisted the White House’s pres sure campaign.
Last Friday afternoon, Trump began retaliating. In a 300word Truth Social post, he withdrew his support for Marjorie Taylor Greene, calling her a “Congresswoman” (quotes included) who is “wacky” and a “ranting Lunatic.” Who would have imagined the day that one of Trump’s key election-denying allies would lose his favor?
An argument can be made that since November 2015, Trump has been the strongest individual political figure in America. Even following his 2020 defeat, his endorsement and policy preferences continued to be the driving force in the Republican Party. For instance, it was his voice that killed the bipartisan border bill early last year, a bill that included many policy concessions
to congressional conservatives. If Trump, as an incumbent president, lacks the whipping authority he had as a candidate, what message is sent regarding his next three years in office?
We’re likely to see Trump’s personal influence on party and congressional politics continue to erode. And the Republicans are likely to benefit from the soft launch away from Trumpism. As my representative to the House of Representatives, Thomas Massie aptly said, “But, I would remind my colleagues that [the impending Epstein files] vote is going to be on your record for longer than Trump is going to be president.”
The Epstein issue is a losing issue for Trump. The files already released by the House Oversight Committee have implicated
Trump in ways more explicit than ever. There are now emails on record from the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that claim the president is the “dog that hasn’t barked … [Victim] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.” Well Jeffrey, Donald Trump is now being mentioned. The late Epstein referenced how “dirty” the president’s actions were, claiming in a different email, “i am the one able to take him down.”
As the 45th and 47th president continues to become more embattled, his once-immutable endorsement and policy influence will continue to erode.
Members of his administration are now openly addressing their own political ambitions, giving
observers the clearest view into a post-Trump Republican Party. Trump’s lesson is one from which we should all learn — Father Time is undefeated.
Most importantly, we now know that not even Trump is immune from the lame duck effect. The post-Trump world has not quite arrived, but we’re getting a peek into what it may look like. Perhaps the New Jersey bard was right to call President Trump “Donald the Duck.” He was just two years early.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Contact Grayson Beckham at gbeckham@nd.edu
‘Chronically online’ out, intellectualism in
By Sienna Stephens Columnist, “Not Your Average Post”
Within the last decade, a significant portion of modern life has been lived behind screens. The concept of being “chronically online” within social media platforms has become the default setting for younger generations, serving as their primary source of entertainment, interaction with others and, most importantly, influencing identity and lifestyle formation. Being “chronically online” is viewed as almost aspirational in terms of joining the newest micro-trend on TikTok, accustoming oneself to the latest aesthetic cycle or being in touch with the current terminology of “brainrot.”
This doomscrolling lifestyle in modern culture has prioritized a way of life that emphasizes perpetual scrolling, encouraging constant consumption and stimulation, yet discourages creation and reflection. It produces a strange sense of duality in
individuals who are both overstimulated and intellectually malnourished.
I see this in the way people are not only becoming passive thinkers, but also passive humans. We are living according to trends that expire after their free trial, shaping our personalities and identities to align with whatever the online community approves of at a specific moment in time.
It also results in a generation that is hyperconnected to the internet and emotionally disconnected from the world, turning our brains to autopilot as we go about our day. If the internet once promised the freedom to create, pursue and find ourselves, then why is it that humans are fundamentally more unfulfilled with their lives than before?
Against the backdrop of being chronically online, the emergence of intellectualism is rising not as a niche movement or current online trend, but as a cultural revolution. At the core, intellectualism is one’s
conscious decision to pursue a life of learning and curiosity, a desire to understand the world and improve critical thinking and the human condition beyond the use of algorithms.
While many make the argument that intellectualism is rooted in elitism and following the internet’s romanticization of academia, that is not the case. It is rather rooted in self-respect and the pursuit of participating in one’s life rather than becoming an observer of others. To pursue the intellectual life in today’s society means to refuse the effects of online culture and digital noise to regain a sense of self. Intellectualism values the discerning mind, one that desires depth in rather than distraction from the outside world.
This shift is being seen across society with the emergence of long-form online content like video essays on YouTube that challenge our short attention spans, the push for participation in hobbies such as reading and writing,
desire for intellectual discourse and deep conversations among other humans, renewed interest in the complexities of the humanities and the overall growing rejection of current trends in culture and social media.
People are tired of the endless trend cycles that only last a certain amount of time, tired of curating a persona both online and offline instead of cultivating a personality, and they are tired of living through their phone screens instead of living through actual experiences.
The news is that people want to learn, not because they are forced to or because they must, but rather because they want to feel alive again in a world that glorifies an online presence.
Intellectualism offers a form of fulfillment that digital life cannot replicate. It comes from the satisfaction of understanding a topic deeply, from developing real skills and losing yourself in knowledge and
art of growing in literacy and intellect.
While some might view living an intellectual life as restrictive, pushing away the need for online activity, this lifestyle is expansive. Detaching oneself from the internet creates the mental space for genuine thought and reflection.
As I consider what it means to live an intellectual life grounded in both intention and offline presence, I build on Richard Taylor’s recent column, “The joy of knowing: intellectual life at Notre Dame.” He offers an honest reflection that the intellectual life begins with personal choices and a genuine desire for truth.
A fulfilling life of intellectualism can appear differently to each individual, but it retains certain elements: return to true presence in society, attention to one’s own life and chasing personal pursuits beyond the classroom.
see “Intellectualism” on page 6
DIONE QUIAMBAO PAHILAN | The Observer
Intellectualism
Continued from page 5
Some examples of this can be reading widely without the distraction of a cellular device, pursuing one’s interests with serious intent, learning for the sake of enrichment, engaging in complex questions and conversations and most importantly experiencing
the world around us without the pressure to document it through social media. I am not trying to argue that all consumption of social media is harming the human brain. The problem lies in the imbalance it has created. Digital spaces were meant to enrich our lives, not consume them. As digital platforms shift from online tools to environments that take away
OPINION
both our time and intellect, the costs become impossible to ignore. Instead, when you follow the overlooked truth that learning makes life feel vivid again, you start to chase your curiosity and see the world through a new lens. You rediscover the pleasure of thinking without distractions, reading without rushing and becoming someone
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
who understands rather than quickly scrolls past. Intellectualism is not a new trend, it’s a shift in one’s values and life. It signals a collective desire to live a life with intention instead of living in someone else’s. People are starting to wake up to the reality that their attention is their most valuable resource and that the internet was designed to diminish it.
The future belongs to those who want to live fully, not through a phone screen, but through knowledge and true ambition in the world.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Contact Sienna Stephens at sstephens01@saintmarys.edu
Think of the hard of hearing this Thanksgiving
It’s that time of year when we’re preparing for the holidays, and what do we picture when we imagine the holidays? Big gatherings, lots of people, usually gathered around a table to share meals. If you close your eyes and imagine the sounds coming from that scene, perhaps it’s a mixture of clinking glasses, dishware, children and conversations. And yet, how can we tell all of these sounds apart, and then choose to focus on the person we’re chatting with? Researchers call this process of separating out sounds from a messy cluster auditory scene analysis, a process that requires not just our ears, but also our brain.
Now imagine who’s at this table. If you’re having a big family gathering, you may be fortunate enough to have some grandparents joining you at your table. Or perhaps you have a relative who had an ear infection as an infant, a family member who works at a construction site or someone who served in the military. All of these groups of people may be particularly susceptible to hearing loss, although it can go undiagnosed by many. A recent article estimating the national prevalence of hearing loss in the U.S. found that although roughly 65% of older adults in the U.S. had at least mild hearing loss (think of finding it hard to follow along with whispered conversations), only 29% reported using hearing aids. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.5 billion people have some form of hearing loss.
In short, it is likely that someone at your table is hard of hearing, a term
that is used by those with mild to severe hearing loss to describe themselves. But why should we care?
While we might be tempted to think that a decrease in ear function is the main contributor to hearing loss, there is a rich history of research that tells us that the difficulties that people face in noisy environments are not merely due to an ear that doesn’t function in the typical way. Consider a home game at Notre Dame Stadium, or even just walking into Duncan Student Center at lunchtime. How much harder is it to have a conversation in those settings than it is to have one in a quiet dorm room? If you imagine yourself straining in those spaces to have a conversation, or that you feel drained after trying to have one, that is an illustration of added listening effort. When we have to exert ourselves to meet the demands of listening, researchers call the amount of exertion one’s listening effort.
Research suggests that when the speech environment is not clear, we recruit additional brain regions to help understand complex speech. Although we may understand everything just the same, we have to work extra hard to do so. This is doubly true for the hard of hearing, who already have a lower-quality representation of sounds, and now have to work harder to figure out what is being said.
The thing is, our listening effort can only be maintained for so long. At some point, either our mental resources will be tapped out while trying to keep up in conversation, or we
will lose the motivation to keep that amount of effort up. Both declines in resources and motivation can lead to declines in listening effort ex erted. In my anecdotal experiences listening to various hard of hearing community members speak in my classes, they talk about not want ing to go to certain venues or attend certain events because they don’t feel that they can meaningfully engage. This lines up with research views that suggest that hearing loss in older adults is associated with in creased social isolation.
So what can we do about this? There are a couple of simple things to consider when having conversations in noisy spaces:
Use visual cues. A long line of re search shows us that a lot of audi tory information is influenced by concurrent visual signs (a sound il lusion known as the McGurk effect is a great example!). In cases where sound signals are less clear, we tend to rely more on visual information to help interpret sounds. This can be using your hands to indicate what you’re speaking about, facing the other person so they can see your mouth when you talk, and so on.
Indicate when the topic of conversation has shifted. Humans are incredibly good at predicting words based on prior context, which makes processing new information more efficient overall. However, this also means that for someone who might not be able to pick up sounds as well, they can’t tell when their predictions are wrong, so they might continue to mishear words based on the prior
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
think the last thing isn’t as important, but this makes what we say really hard to hear. If someone asks what you said, try your best to repeat the point. Saying something like “oh, that wasn’t important” leaves the listener wondering what was said and how much they could have missed, as well as feeling unimportant.
Look out at the rest of the group every so often. Is someone sitting around not being engaged by conversation, or with a strained look or a blank stare on their face? If we’re not looking at someone’s face, we usually can infer their participation in conversation by them speaking up, but a person who cannot keep up
conversation the same way others can. These people also tire of repeating “I can’t hear” as their way to be involved.
Regardless of whether someone at the table is hard of hearing or not, we all have to exert listening effort in noisy situations, including on campus. We can make the holidays, and public areas as a whole, a more accessible space for everyone if we make some small changes to how we have conversations with each other.
Vanessa Chan-Devaere Assistant teaching professor, Department of Psychology Nov. 14
Cultivating the virtue of love in light of AI
This is the fourth installment of Meghan Sullivan’s series about DELTA, Notre Dame’s faith-based framework for a world of powerful AI.
Today we’re going to dive into the third letter of DELTA: L, which stands for love.
For Jews and for Christians, love is the very foundation of ethics. Scripture commands us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.” These commands point to our profoundly relational nature: We are made for community.
As many of us realized too late in the era of the internet and social media, however, the technology
that promised us the potential of unprecedented human connection also has the power to profoundly distort our relationships with others.
We see this in the growing popularity of AI companion bots.
Tech executives such as Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg have proposed that AI companions are the solution to the loneliness epidemic, with the power to alleviate the social anxiety and struggles of millions. But with these chatbots, there is no human on the other side of the glowing screen. It’s a product — sometimes a sycophantic product, and sometimes a very addictive product.
“Ghostbots” take this a step further. This AI-powered technology
can analyze text messages, emails, photos and videos from a loved one who has died, and use that data to create an interactive digital companion that simulates that person. While this may seem like a wonderful innovation to help us process our grief, this technology threatens to make us dependent on these shallow copies of our loved ones, stunting our ability to develop the real, meaningful connections with others that we need to flourish.
These are challenging times for the virtue of love. The loneliness crisis, the deterioration of civil discourse and the fragmentation of our communities all highlight our deep need for sincere, loving connection with others. Frankly,
humans have never been good at following this particular commandment. And we’re in a downward spiral right now. What is it going to mean for us to cultivate the virtue of love in light of AI and our rapidly developing technology?
Unlike the relentlessly affirming, dopamine-producing interactions we can have with chatbots, relationships with real humans are messy, imperfect and sometimes cause us pain. As anyone who has ever experienced rejection and loss knows, we make ourselves tremendously vulnerable when we open ourselves in love to another human being. But the work that those relationships require teaches us to more fully
know ourselves.
We can’t satisfy our loneliness through digital means. In working to love other people — our friends, family, mentors, strangers and yes, even our enemies — we can collectively move toward a more beautiful, just world.
Each of us is loved by the God who knew us before we were even formed and who has an amazing plan for our lives. No digital companion can offer us that, and we shouldn’t settle for anything less.
Meghan Sullivan Professor of philosophy and director of Ethics Initiative and the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good Nov. 16
DIONE QUIAMBAO PAHILAN | The Observer
By Jiya Patel Scene Writer
Daniel Caesar has a unique approach to modern music. The rare space he occupies focuses on the subtlety and nuance of art over the spectacle. Unlike a lot of “trendy” artists of this time, he focuses on the softness of his lyrics rather than flashy production. He transforms vulnerability into something intentional. He doesn’t just write or produce songs — he creates emotional environments. With his new release, “Son of Spergy,” he invites us into his most personal one yet.
Released in late October, “Son of Spergy” marks a shift for Caesar. Unlike delicate and sensitive “Freudian” or introspective “NEVER ENOUGH,” this album manages to do something completely new. Partly inspired by his father, the album incorporates soul and acoustic warmth to create something familiar and grounded. It’s rooted in the ideas of faith and where we come from, paying homage to our roots and history.
The delivery of this album is unlike anything else Caesar has released. Rather than utilizing constant teasing or a spectacle of a rollout, he came
Daniel Caesar has done it again
in with the simple and direct intention of expressing what he wanted to say. He was able to create 12 unique tracks that step away from the idea of romantic longing and toward the ideals of identity. He’s no longer wallowing in pity about the past but has a newfound clarity for his experiences which he incorporates as he looks to the future.
Here are three tracks — it’s
extremely difficult to narrow it down — I believe deserve a listen:
“Rain Down (Feat. Sampha)”
As the opening track of the album, “Rain Down” incorporates rainfall textures, gentle piano tones and Caesar’s signature vocals to create something soft, yet full of expression. Sampha adds warmth to the
song to create a work that feels sacred. It sets the tone for the rest of the album: creating a space that is reflective and full of intention.
“Touching God (Feat. Yebba & Blood Orange)”
This track manages to be reflective and warm without feeling overly heavy. Its unique aspects come together to become what I believe is the best
track of the album. He discusses themes of gratitude and how they get undermined by doubt. The oscillation between these two forces, gratitude and doubt, allows listeners to understand how he maintains a sense of intimacy and love while considering deep and existential questions.
“Sins of the Father (Feat. Bon Iver)”
The emotional centerpiece of the song has Caesar confronting the pressure of expectations that come from past generations and the difficult grace that must be maintained to understand those who shaped you. The song is raw and honest, telling stories through a heartfelt performance.
“Son of Spergy” departs from Caesar’s earlier work, but proves that no matter what themes he discusses, he is a timeless artist. No matter what style he adopts, he manages to create a space where tenderness, honesty and curiosity coexist. His music isn’t built on longing but an understanding of what the future holds.
Contact Jiya Patel at jpatel6@nd.edu
Luke Spehar performs for Moreau students
By Mara Hall Scene Writer
With the new Moreau FirstYear Seminar curriculum, students are required to attend three co-curricular events. For one of these events, focused on the theme of rest, Moreau hosted Luke Spehar, a Catholic musician, to play a concert at Legends of Notre Dame on Nov. 13.
The night began with a few words from William Mattison, the Moreau program’s faculty director, who noted his love for Spehar’s work, which began with listening to him while on retreats with the Alliance for Catholic Education. As Spehar picked up his 12-string guitar, he explained that he was going to play “Holy Ghost” as “an invitation to let the Holy Spirit come into this space.”
The second song played was “To Saint Michael.” Spehar reflected that this song was “freaking scared right out of me,” as he considered what it meant for there to be a devil in the world.
“Any time we open our heart to anything good, true or beautiful, anything that would increase the faith, hope and love in our hearts, any time we even open up to the possibility of that, there is an evil that would do whatever it could take to distract you from receiving those beautiful gifts
from the Lord,” Spehar said. He started the song by plucking the strings, then transitioning into strumming, all while maintaining an impressively fast tempo. The 12-string guitar and quick tempo gave the music an almost Irish sound that was quite impressive. Unfortunately, some of the enunciation of the lyrics was lost as a result of the speed.
Spehar’s voice is very impressive. While speaking, his deep voice has a scratchy, rough quality, but this melts away when he begins to sing. While singing, he stayed very
close to the microphone.
Next, Spehar exchanged his 12-string guitar for a classic 6-string. The third song was “Which Road.” This song grappled with the uncertainty of the future, reminding students that everyone is “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
The refrain of this song emphasized the struggle of having uncertainty about the future, and highlighted how, to live by faith, one must turn to the Lord over and over again with each challenge one encounters.
The refrain goes, “I’ve come
to find that I learn slowly, / and most of the time / the hard way. / I’m meant to move, but / I tend to linger and stay. / Show me now / which road I should take today.”
The rest of the set focused on the virtues of faith, hope and love, with one song for each.
The song for faith was “The Plan.” Spehar reflected that faith manifests through actions. He emphasized the theme of rest by encouraging students to rest when angsty. While he conceded that such an instruction is difficult to follow, he suggested that it is
easier when one steps into life with Jesus, even though it is difficult.
This song told the story of God’s knowledge of and plan for our lives through a beautiful extended metaphor of chess.
For hope, Spehar added a harmonica and sang “Love Songs and Lullabies,” dedicated to his wife. He shared the story of feeling pulled between the love of his life and his career that keeps him on the road.
For the love section, Spehar brought out the bass guitar and sang “Be Still.” This is Spehar’s most streamed song, with 1.47 million streams on Spotify, and it highlights Spehar’s skill with dynamics. Finally, the set closed with “Joshua (Strong and Courageous),” emphasizing the way that rest takes courage, and featuring lyrics like “When my doubts feel as tall as the walls of Jericho, / I hear your words calling out.” This song also featured the impressive range of Spehar’s voice.
While Moreau had advertised that admission was capped at 200 students and warned students to arrive early to secure a seat, there were lots of empty chairs and only about 100 students present.
Contact Mara Hall at mhall27@nd.edu
DIONE QUIAMBAO PAHILAN | The Observer
DIONE QUIAMBAO PAHILAN | The Observer
Key moments from Notre Dame’s blowout of Pitt
By Ellie Collins Sports Writer
In a November showdown of two ranked teams with playoff aspirations, No. 9 Notre Dame proved superior in all aspects of the game in its 37-15 victory against overmatched No. 22 Pittsburgh at sold-out Acrisure Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Irish jumped on Pitt from the outset, building a 14-0 firstquarter lead and eliminating any potential momentum for the Panthers. Notre Dame combined a plethora of big plays with persistent and relentless intensity to control the game from the outset.
Touted Panther freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel struggled to generate any consistent threat versus an ever-improving Irish defense that held the prolific Pitt attack below 10 points until the game’s final play. Head coach Marcus Freeman clearly had his team ready for what amounted to a must-win game for the Irish. Here are key moments from the win that propelled Notre Dame to 8-2.
Jeremiyah Love sets the tone early with his 56-yard touchdown run
On their second possession of the game with 8:16 left in the first quarter, the Irish took over at their own 44-yard line. Junior running back Jeremiyah Love quickly got to work, adding to his Heisman reel. He cut up the middle and then made an electrifying spin move to avoid Panther safety Kavir Bains-Marquez before turning on the jets to outrace fellow safety Javon McIntyre. The run rivaled those
of Pitt Heisman-winning running back Tony Dorsett, who was in attendance at the game. The score gave the Irish an early lead that they would never relinquish.
Freshman safety Tae Johnson makes it 14-0 on next play from scrimmage
On the ensuing kickoff, Pitt gained a semblance of momentum with a strong return by wide receiver Deuce Spann to its own 44-yard line. However, that blip of positive play quickly ended. On the first snap of the drive, Heintschel threw a quick underneath pass intended for wide receiver Cataurus Hicks. Freshman safety Tae Johnson perfectly read the route and took his interception back 49 yards untouched to give the Irish two touchdowns in 10 seconds of game time.
The one-two punch of Love and Johnson clearly staggered Pitt and set the tone for the rest of the game. Heintschel found it difficult to gain any traction against a thriving Notre Dame secondary. On the day, the Irish intercepted the freshman twice and broke up eight passes.
Irish defense holds Pitt to field goal after CJ Carr interception
Standout quarterback CJ Carr had his own freshman struggles on Saturday, including an illadvised pass across the middle intended for senior tight end Eli Raridon that Bains-Marquez picked off and returned 49 yards to the Notre Dame 12-yard line on the first play of the second quarter. The Panthers desperately needed a touchdown, given
the 14-point deficit and the golden opportunity for a short-field score. After Heintschel gained six yards on a first-down quarterback draw, the Irish defense stiffened and forced two incompletions. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi elected to kick a field goal instead of going for it on fourth-andfour, and backup Pitt kicker Sam Carpenter converted the 24-yard chip shot to put the Panthers on the board. The field goal cut the Irish lead to 14-3.
Malachi Fields makes sensational touchdown catch
Irish senior transfer Malachi Fields made a spectacular onehanded catch over two Pitt defenders for a 35-yard gain on the final play of the first quarter, as the heady Carr took advantage of Pitt jumping offsides to attempt a deep shot. However, BainsMarquez picked off Carr on the next play as aforementioned. Later, in the second quarter as the two-minute timeout approached, Carr clearly intended to let the clock wind to a timeout unless he was able to draw Pitt offside. Three seconds before the timeout, Panther defensive end Jaeden Moore invaded the neutral zone, and Carr again looked to Fields for a big play from the Pitt 25 on second-and-six. Fields outleapt Pitt cornerback Allen Bryant and hauled in another amazing catch at the Pitt oneyard line, landing in the end zone to give the Irish a 21-3 lead entering the locker room.
Love races 22 yards on fourth-and-two on opening second-half drive
The Irish entered the second
ND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
half hoping to break the game open with the opening drive. Fellow junior running back Jadarian Price put the Irish in good position with a 43-yard return to the Notre Dame 46yard line, continuing his trend of big returns. The Irish crossed midfield but faced a fourth-andtwo from the Pitt 46-yard line. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock decided to put the ball in the hands of arguably the best playmaker in the sport. Love took the handoff and appeared to be boxed in by Pitt defenders. Love quickly made a jump cut outside and sprinted 22 yards down the sideline for the first down.
Six plays later, Carr again found Fields for a score. While not as impressive as his earlier one, the eight-yard run and catch by Fields pushed the lead to 28-3 and, for all intents and purposes, eliminated any chance for the Panthers given the Irish’s defensive prowess.
Defense comes up with another stop in the red-zone
After the second score by Fields, Heintschel and the Pitt offense put together its best sustained drive of the day. Pitt marched 74 yards on 14 plays, but the Notre Dame defense once again held inside the 10yard line. The Panthers earned a first-and-goal from the twoyard line after standout Irish sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore was flagged questionably for pass interference in the end zone.
Pitt could not create any push in the ground game and eschewed the run after Moore stuffed Pitt
running back Ja’Kyrian Turner on first down. Then, on fourthand-goal, Heintschel completed a short pass to Panther wide receiver Raphael Williams Jr. that was initially called a touchdown on the field. However, after a lengthy review by the ACC officiating crew, Williams was ruled down at the Notre Dame halfyard line.
After Pitt pick-six, Adon Shuler intercepts twopoint attempt and scores
Like Heintschel, Carr fell victim to the pick-six after Notre Dame’s goal-line stand. Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles jumped in front of a screen pass intended for freshman wide receiver Micah Gilbert and walked into the end zone for the easy 10yard score, cutting the Irish lead to 28-9. Narduzzi elected to go for two to cut the deficit to three touchdowns.
Sophomore safety Adon Shuler dispelled any such notions and scored two points of his own. He intercepted a Heintschel pass and weaved through a bevy of would-be tacklers with the assistance of a horde of Irish defenders on his way to a return score that was over 100 yards. It capped a tremendous effort by the Irish first-team defense, as it scored eight points of its own on the day and limited the Pitt offense to only three points. Pitt’s only offensive touchdown came on the final play of the game with Shuler, Johnson, Moore and the rest of the Irish regulars standing on the sideline.
Contact Ellie Collins at ecollin9@nd.edu
Irish fall in ranked matchup against Michigan
By Harrison Brown Sports Writer
No. 18 Notre Dame had its first ranked battle of the season as it traveled to Detroit, Michigan, to play No. 14 Michigan in the Shamrock Classic on Saturday. Both teams entered undefeated and had dominated to begin their seasons.
In last year’s NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame hosted the Wolverines during the second round. The Irish prevailed in the previous matchup, winning 76-55 and advancing to the Sweet 16, where they faced TCU. Even though it has been less than a year since the two programs last faced each other, Notre Dame is a completely different-looking team. Junior guard Hannah Hidalgo is the only player who was in both last year’s and this year’s starting lineups. On the other hand, Michigan retained three
out of its five starters.
The Wolverines came out hot, scoring the first seven points of the game. Graduate guard Vanessa de Jesus put the Irish on the board, sinking two free throws. The team struggled shooting in the first period and was 4-16 from the field and 0-7 from three. On the other side, Michigan sophomore Syla Sword’s nine points led her team to a 17-10 lead after a quarter.
Notre Dame had the first points of the second period off a layup from senior guard Cassandre Prosper. The momentum would not last long as Michigan quickly answered back with a layup of its own. The Wolverines would maintain control for most of the quarter, with a 29-19 score by its end.
The Irish were not able to quell their cold shooting in the first half, going 10-30 on field goals and just 15% from beyond
the arc. Meanwhile, their opponents connected on 50% of their threes and 47% of their shots overall. Senior guard KK Bransford led the first-half scoring charge for Notre Dame. She had a game-high 12 points, but would be facing a 46-29 deficit to start the second half.
Olivia Olson was determined to silence any chance of an Irish comeback. The sophomore had the first points of the half on a pull-up jumper, quickly followed by a 3-pointer. Olson was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points, with six in the third quarter.
In the final quarter, Michigan continued to outpace the Irish, leading them 28-12. At the final buzzer, the Wolverines had a commanding 93-54
lead, completely flipping the script from last season in the rematch.
Prosper was both the top scorer and top rebounder for Notre Dame with 17 points and eight boards. She has averaged 18.5 points per game this season, the second most for the Irish. Just behind her was Bransford, who had 15 points of her own.
The win for the Wolverines was largely due to their defense’s ability to stifle Hidalgo. Notre Dame’s superstar guard was coming off a historic 44-point, 16-steal performance, but the Wolverines held her to just 12 points on 4-21 shooting. Through the first three games of the season, Hidalgo averaged 34.3 points,
the highest in the nation.
The Wolverines completely dominated the rebounding battle, hauling in 50, compared to just 28 for the Irish. In the three wins this season, Notre Dame had averaged over 14 more rebounds than its opponents.
The Irish have another tough matchup incoming as they host the No. 8 USC Trojans. In the NCAA Tournament last season, USC lost in the Elite Eight to the eventual national champion, UConn. Even with junior guard JuJu Watkins out with an injury, the Trojans will be a tough opponent for a Notre Dame team looking to get back into the win column.
Contact Harrison Brown at hbrown23@nd.edu
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Do you have a hidden talent?
Raul Hernandez freshman Keough Hall
“I play the saxophone.”
Charlie Heinz freshman Baumer Hall
“I am a people person with the ability to adapt my humor.”
Daniel Parilo senior Knott Hall
“I’m good at competitive Pokemon.”
Notre Dame and Michigan State skaters battle during the Spartans’ 4-1 defeat of the Irish on home ice Saturday evening. Army ROTC cadets who rappelled from the rafters prior to the game watched the scrum.
CROSSWORD | WILL SHORTZ
Naasei Lynn junior Coyle Community in Zahm Hall
“I am better than average at baking.”
Carter Moses sophomore Coyle Community in Zahm Hall
“I can shake my eyes.”
SOCIAL MEDIA POLL
Have an idea for a poll? Email dstangel@nd.edu
What should Notre Dame football be ranked?
THE NEXT FIVE DAYS
Want your event included here? Email news@ndsmcobserver.com
Monday
‘Religious Liberty, Immigration, and the Catholic Church’ Bishop Rhoades discusses religion and immigration in the U.S. McCartan Courtroom 12:30 - 1:45 p.m.
Tuesday
23rd annual Baraka Bouts tournament Women’s boxing tourament to fund schools in Uganda Dahnke Family Ballroom 7 - 11:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Play: ‘Making Physics Viral’ The 2025 Christmas Lecture with Tatiana Erukhimova Century Center in Downtown South Bend 6:30 - 9 p.m.
Thursday
Play: ‘John Proctor Is the Villain’ FTT student performance of Broadway show DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Friday
Concert: ‘Tragedy and Triumph’ ND Symphony Orchestra presents a late fall concert DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 8 - 9:30 p.m.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
DECLAN HUGGINS | The Observer
Football
Continued from page 1
Both teams traded possessions for the rest of the quarter. Burnham found great success in the pass rush, adding another sack to his collection and tallying three tackles.
To open up the second, freshman quarterback CJ Carr threw an uncharacteristically dangerous ball. The pass was picked off by Pitt senior Kavir Bains-Marquez with a lengthy return following. Although the Panthers were once again uninspiring on the offensive side of the ball, they were able to settle for a field goal to at least remove any possibility of a shutout.
The Irish responded with a methodical, eight-minute drive, chewing the clock through a pounding brand of football. Eventually, nestled just one foot shy of the goal line, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock opted to
pass on fourth and goal. The decision backfired as Carr rolled right and couldn’t connect with senior tight end Eli Raridon.
However, the offense had a chance to remedy its mistakes after Pitt once again went three-and-out. On first down and 10 from the Pitt 29, Pitt jumped offsides. With the free-play opportunity, Carr heaved a ball for senior wide receiver Malachi Fields.
The former Virginia star came down with it, providing the Irish with a 21-3 lead that they carried into halftime.
The play wasn’t Fields’ only big-time play of the half. On the last play of the first quarter, Fields made an otherworldly 35-yard one-handed grab.
“He made some huge contested catches,” Freeman said on Fields. He continued, “We got them to jump offside a couple times, and we were able to throw it up. That 50/50 ball was a 100/0 ball. He was able to make those plays when he did, and that’s
what we expect out of him.”
For the most part, the Irish dominated the second half. They controlled the clock, squandering any chance the Panthers had at mounting a comeback. Fields found the end zone once again early in the third. Pitt responded off of a well-timed interception from Rasheem Biles on Notre Dame’s next offensive possession. Backed up at the 15-yard line, Carr’s intended screen to freshman wideout Micah Gilbert was jumped and returned for a touchdown.
If that play gave Pitt any sense of hope, Adon Shuler’s subsequent 107-yard picktwo on the Panthers’ twopoint conversion attempt diffused it all.
The Irish’s final touchdown came early in the fourth quarter courtesy of a fiveyard run from Carr. In the final five seconds of the game, Narduzzi called a timeout with Pitt on Notre Dame’s 21-yard line to the surprise of most in the stadium. Out
ND MEN’S BASKETBALL
of the break, the Panthers snapped the ball quickly, and tight end Malachi Thomas galloped into the end zone to put a bow on the game and move Pitt into double digits.
“I wanted to go celebrate, but here’s what I’m thinking. To each their own. You know what I mean? I don’t ever comment on another program. But also, I don’t even have time to think about that. Like, they called a timeout, ‘OK guys, let’s get them stopped.’ That’s my challenge with my guys. I don’t know exactly what happened on the last play and how they scored on it,” Freeman said on the action-packed finish to the game.
Regardless of how the game ended, the Irish controlled the tempo throughout. Love became the first rusher in nearly three years to notch over 100 yards against the Panthers’ strong run-stopping defense.
With the win, Notre Dame puts itself in good position to possibly host a home Playoff
game. The Irish return to The House that Rockne Built for a Senior Day clash against Syracuse next Saturday before wrapping up the season on the road at Stanford. Both of those teams lost to Pitt. With college football being ever unpredictable, there is a good chance that the Irish can move up.
Regardless, Freeman’s intent is clear.
“They know the opportunity at hand. They know that all they can focus on is the opportunity in front of us. Like, I don’t have time to focus on anything else but this football program and what we have to do. If I focus on something other than that, then I am wasting time. That’s our focus, and that’s got to be our players’ focus,” Freeman said.
Freeman understands the Irish control their own destiny. It’s up to the team to get the job done.
Contact Chris Dailey at cdailey2@nd.edu
Irish handed their first loss of the year at OSU
By John Keyes Sports Writer
Notre Dame men’s basketball lost in a heartbreaker to Ohio State in its first away game of the season, 64-63, after senior center Christoph Tilly made a clutch layup to give the Buckeyes the lead and the eventual win. This matchup was certainly seen as Notre Dame’s first real test of the season, and it proved to be just that. Junior guard Markus Burton led Notre Dame in scoring with 14 points, but he shot a poor 3-14 from the field. On the other hand, freshman guard Jalen Haralson had another strong showing with 13 points on 5-10 shooting off the bench. Ohio State was led by senior guard Bruce Thornton, who was giving the Irish headaches all afternoon and ended the game with 24 points. Tilly also shone for the Buckeyes with 18 points and his basket in the final seconds.
In the first half, Notre Dame’s defense stuck out, forcing Ohio State into long offensive possessions and taking tough shots. The Irish outscored the Buckeyes 24-8 in the paint by halftime and seemed to be controlling the tempo of the game. In the first half, the Buckeyes did more of their scoring on the perimeter, with Notre Dame being more physical in the paint. Notre Dame walked into the locker room at halftime feeling confident with a 34-31 lead on the road.
The second half saw the Buckeyes rally. Thornton’s aggressiveness changed at half, with his energy and willingness to find his own shots
ramping up. Thornton was shifty in the pick-and-roll and was scoring both on the perimeter and in the paint, making a variety of difficult shots at big moments in the game. Ohio State finally rallied and took a 48-46 lead around midway through the second half, and it was clear they had stolen the momentum away from the Irish. After that, the Buckeyes seemed to be more poised and relaxed than the Irish, and being at home definitely helped that. It seemed like they were close to pulling away from Notre Dame, but the Irish refused to back down.
With a lot of ties and changes of the lead, junior guard Braeden Shrewsberry stole the lead back from the Buckeyes with a big three to put his
team up 64-63 with a little over two minutes left. It looked like Notre Dame was going to close the game out at that point, but Ohio State had other plans. After Notre Dame missed a big opportunity to extend the lead with under a minute left, Ohio State called timeout to set up the eventual winning play. With under 30 seconds left, Tilly drove to the basket and converted a strong lefthanded layup over multiple Irish defenders.
Notre Dame then had one last chance with 13 seconds left, and it was clear that Burton would be attempting that final shot. Head coach Micah Shrewsberry opted not to call timeout in the remaining seconds of the game, and the Irish’s final effort seemed
to turn into a broken play. With around five seconds left, Burton made a move, going to the right wing and attempting a tough fadeaway 3-point jumper, which did not fall, confirming Notre Dame’s first loss of the season.
Irish fans are hoping this loss isn’t a sign of things to come, especially when it comes to closing out big games. It seemed to be an instance of playing a more well-rounded game than the other team but not being able to make the big plays to take the victory. Conversely, there were positives to take away from the game, especially with it being so early in the season. Haralson seems to be an emerging star and a reliable scorer for the Irish, and while Markus
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Burton did not have his best game, the Irish were still very much in the game the whole way. Coach Shrewsberry seems to trust his bench right now, playing 11 different players in the game, but he will also be looking to tighten the rotation and see who he can truly trust in conference play and the postseason. Ultimately, this was a good effort for a Notre Dame team that is still figuring out who they are early in the season.
Notre Dame will return home and face Bellarmine on Tuesday before heading to Las Vegas, where it will have another opportunity for a big win when it plays Kansas.
Contact John Keyes at jkeyes2@nd.edu
Irish shut out UIC in NCAA Tournament opener
By Claire Watson Associate Sports Editor
This past Saturday, the No. 1-seeded Notre Dame women’s soccer team faced off against UIC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Alumni Stadium. The Irish took the 4-0 shutout to move forward and set up a matchup with Ohio State in the second round. This win also marked their seventh clean sheet of the season.
Heading into the first half, the two teams went back and forth taking shots at the goals, but Notre Dame managed to put in its first goal thanks to freshman forward
Tessa Knapp at the seven-minute mark. The rest of the first half was quiet as the two teams showed strong defense, and no one was able to put in a shot. At the end of the first half, Notre Dame showed a more agressive offense as it took 19 shots in comparison to UIC’s three.
Notre Dame found more of its success in the second half of the game. After a few quiet minutes, Notre Dame knocked in its second goal of the game at the 63:38 time mark, thanks to junior midfielder and forward Charlie Codd putting in her third goal of the season. Codd would come back
20 minutes later to put in her second goal of the night and fourth of the season in the 84th minute. In the final moments of the game, a third player for the Irish would score, sophomore forward Ellie Hodsden, with an assist from junior midfielder Morgan Roy. Hodsden knocked in the final goal to secure the 4-0 win for the Irish as UIC was unable to find its way past Notre Dame’s sophomore goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica, who had one save.
The Irish finished the game outshooting UIC 40-5, forcing UIC to be more active in goal with 10 saves to Notre Dame’s one.
Despite Notre Dame’s strong offensive drive, UIC also showed its determination as it finished with seven fouls while Notre Dame finished with eight. Both teams had two apiece in the first half, and Notre Dame had six in the second while UIC had five. In addition to this, Notre Dame’s offensive drive created a lot of challenges for the UIC goalies, as Sara Sanabria and Francesca Faraci combined for the 10 saves by the end of the game.
The team will now take a break before facing Ohio State on Nov. 20. The match will be played at Alumni Stadium in South Bend.
Ohio State is currently 9-4-6 on its season and 4-2-5 in conference with its losses being against No. 16 South Carolina, Washington, Penn State and Illinois. That being said, the Buckeyes come into their matchup against Notre Dame following a 2-0 win over Georgia this past Friday. Ohio State took the early lead at the nine-minute mark. After a quiet start to the second half, Ohio State would find the back of the net at the 69-minute mark to take the final 2-0 win over Georgia.
Contact Claire Watson at cwatson7@nd.edu
Collins: Notre Dame’s secondary is elite again
By Ellie Collins Sports Writer
In a college football season, 56 days is the equivalent of a couple of lifetimes. On Sept. 20, after surviving a 56-30 offensive shootout against a now 2-9 Purdue team for its first win of the season, the idea that Notre Dame could have a pass defense on par with last year’s national championship runnerup bordered on ludicrous. The Irish fanbase longed for the not-so-distant days of defensive coordinator Al Golden and two-time All-American safety Xavier Watts, who both departed for the NFL after last season’s Playoff drive.
After the Purdue game, the Irish stood at 1-2 due mainly to a pass defense that appeared the mirror opposite of last year’s dominant unit. In the first trio of games against Miami, Texas A&M and the Boilermakers,
the Irish allowed seven touchdowns, 289 yards per game and 8.1 yards per attempt through the air. The challenge to establish even a credible hindrance to future opponents appeared extremely daunting, especially given the Irish still needed to face a collection of highly-regarded opponent signal-callers, including Arkansas’ Taylen Green, NC State’s CJ Bailey and USC’s Jayden Maiava. On Nov. 15, the Irish dismantled a confident and upsetminded No. 22 Pitt team 37-15. Entering the game with a surging offense led by highly-touted freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel, Pitt found offensive life almost impossible to generate, especially through the air.
The Irish pass defense, most notably its secondary, questioned just weeks ago, now may be even better than the vaunted 2024 unit headlined by Watts and freshman stalwarts cornerback
Leonard Moore and strong safety Adon Shuler.
In their last seven matchups since the Purdue contest, the Irish have limited opponents to only five touchdowns (0.7 per game), 196 yards per game and 5.8 yards per attempt via the air, which compares favorably or bests last season’s results. Plus, this year’s team is creating more big plays than 2024, as it has intercepted 17 passes this season, including 14 since the Boilermakers. Prior to the Pitt matchup, the Irish ranked third in the country in interceptions per game.
The secondary’s performance against the Panthers on Saturday punctuated the rapid turnaround, as all five starting defensive backs helped limit Heintschel to 126 yards on 16-of33 passing with no touchdowns. He also threw an interception on a quick-hitch pass that emerging star freshman free safety
Tae Johnson expertly read and returned 49 yards for an Irish touchdown in the first quarter.
While Johnson does not yet possess significant experience, he undoubtedly appears to be the next potential star in a long line of standout Irish safeties, which includes Harrison Smith, Kyle Hamilton, Alohi Gilman and Watts.
“It’s because of the work, because he knows he’s gifted,” head coach Marcus Freeman said of Johnson on Saturday.
“He’s making plays for us, man. He is an extremely talented football player that is just getting better.”
Plus, Johnson is not alone. Shuler has built on a freshman All-American campaign in 2024 and has become a consistent force every Saturday. As a captain of both the team and the secondary, Shuler consistently makes his presence felt with big hits, the ability to create
turnovers and his leadership.
“He definitely makes me a better player,” Johnson said before the Nov. 1 Boston College game. “I’m basically in the same position he was last year. It’s basically just another mentor for me … another coach, to be honest.”
Against the Panthers, Shuler broke up a perfectly-placed pass by Heintschel intended for wide receiver Cataurus Hicks at the Notre Dame 20 with a big hit — a key play to stop Pitt’s initial drive of the game. He didn’t stop there. Shuler later sacked Heintschel and then picked off his two-point conversion attempt in the middle of the end zone and scored on a momentum-killing return.
Johnson and Shuler form an athletic safety duo, and the cornerbacks are just as imposing. Moore, named a Lott Impact Trophy semifinalist last week, likely will be named a First Team All-American, and junior Christian Gray and senior nickelback DeVonta Smith played extremely well and appeared fully healthy against the Panthers after battling injuries over the last several weeks.
With the Irish poised for another potential Playoff berth and national title run, the early concerns about the pass defense and specifically the secondary have been replaced with confidence. It’s proven it can excel like last year in high-pressure elimination games against elite passing offenses like USC and Pitt.
“That’s a type of team and defense that I wanted to play for,” Johnson said. “We’re all playing just to be our best, and I feel like if we come out with that swagger and that confidence every game, you know, we’ll be hard to beat.”
On Saturday, Notre Dame appeared primed for another Playoff run that seemed nearly impossible in late September due in large part to Johnson, Shuler and company.
Irish swept by No. 1 Michigan State on home ice
By Ryan Murphy Sports Writer
Before this weekend’s series with Michigan State, Notre Dame head hockey coach Brock Sheahan compared his program with the No. 1 Spartans.
“They do a lot of what we’re trying to do. They play to their brand consistently,” Sheahan said Wednesday. “There’s a reason they’ve been so consistent. They know what their game is and they play to it all the time, regardless of who they’re playing, and it’s been really impressive.”
Right now, everyone wants to be Michigan State. And it’s hard not to see why after the Spartans (9-1-0, 4-0-0 Big Ten) swept the Irish (3-8-1, 0-6-0 Big Ten) out of Compton Family Ice Arena. The Green and White have been the class of college hockey to begin the season, completing their eighth and ninth consecutive wins this weekend. In the standings, Notre Dame is headed the other direction. It’s now lost six consecutive games to start conference play.
If Michigan State models what the Irish want to become under first-year head hockey coach Brock Sheahan, this weekend showed they have a
ways to go. That’s not to say the Irish didn’t play well this weekend, though – especially in Saturday’s 3-1 loss.
“That’s the first time we’ve played like how we’re supposed to play for an entire game,” Sheahan said after the Spartans clinched the sweep. “We generated a ton [of chances]. I would say we out-generated them, and that’s the best hockey team in the country.”
Notre Dame did generate more scoring chances than Michigan State on Saturday night, just like it did at Minnesota a week ago. But the Irish lost both those Saturday games and now have scored just four goals in their last five games. They haven’t scored more than a single goal in a game since Halloween, over two weeks ago.
For a Notre Dame team that has leaned so heavily on the process to start 202526, that’s frustrating. There’s a tension now between the process and its anticipated results.
“I think we’ve got to use it as motivation, obviously,” junior center and captain Danny Nelson said postgame. “Brock talks a lot about the process, and obviously it’s hard when you lose to stick to the process, but it’s going to be challenging, but if we can, it’s
going to prove successful in the long run.”
“That’s kind of the message in the locker room right now, is just keep pushing. [It’s] obviously tough when the result is like that, but if we keep playing this game over and over, eventually, we’ll get success.”
That mindset takes faith. That mindset also takes patience, and a whole lot of it. The results have not been there to start this season for Notre Dame, but the commitment to the process is clear. Only patience, now, will bide the time.
Both games in the series followed a similar scoring pattern. The Spartans took the lead in the first period, played Notre Dame to a stalemate in the second, and assumed a defensive posture in the third to put the game on ice.
On Friday, Spartan freshman forward Porter Martone continued his stellar start to the year by striking for the first goal of the series at 11:53 of the opening frame. Martone took a centering pass from senior forward Charlie Stramel, cut to his backhand, and tucked the puck behind Notre Dame starting netminder Nicholas Kempf to open the scoring.
That would not be the last
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Notre Dame would see of Martone. He beat Kempf over the glove-side shoulder on the power play at 6:05 of the second period to give Michigan State a 2-0 lead. The Irish would answer with a powerplay goal of their own, as junior defenseman Paul Fischer snapped a wrist shot past Spartan junior netminder Trey Augustine.
Back within one, Notre Dame had its chances to tie the score at the end of the second and beginning of the third. Augustine continually shut the door, including an impressive side-to-side glove save on Irish junior forward Evan Werner. Augustine showed all weekend why he deserves the title of nation’s best goaltender, stopping 75 of 77 Irish shots over the two games.
Spartan junior defenseman Maxim Štrbák shored up Friday’s win with a goal at 8:08 of the third. Alone at the top of the circle, Štrbák had plenty of time to snap a shot through traffic past Kempf. Freshman forward Ryker Lee added an empty-net goal to bring the final score to 4-1. Kempf faced high volume, making 43 saves on 46 shots.
After closing the scoring in Friday’s contest, Lee opened the scoring on Saturday night
just 90 seconds into the game. The Nashville Predators draft pick, who was one of Michigan State’s best players all weekend, finished off a no-look backhand pass from fellow freshman Anthony Romani to give the Spartans the lead early. Augustine stopped Notre Dame graduate forward Sutter Muzzatti on a breakaway with just eight seconds remaining in the frame to keep the score 1-0 after the first.
Again, Michigan State doubled its lead in the second period when Martone added on his third goal of the series. This one came much like his first, with a drag move to the backhand to beat Kempf. And again, the Irish responded on the power play when Danny Nelson tipped Werner’s shot past Augustine. The Irish created even more opportunities to tie the game in Saturday’s third period than Friday night’s. The elusive game-tying goal never came, even with the net empty and six attackers on the ice. Spartan junior forward Tommi Mannisto, who had a goal waved off earlier in the period due to goaltender interference, scored into the empty net to seal the sweep.
Contact Ryan Murphy at rmurph22@nd.edu
Tae Johnson rises to stardom in win at Pittsburgh
By Chris Dailey Sports Writer
It’s not often you see an underclassman lead one of the strongest defensive units in the nation in interceptions. It’s especially not often that you see an underclassman as a leader of men on the gridiron. Notre Dame redshirt freshman safety Tae Johnson is exactly that kind of anomaly. As the young playmaker has progressively gotten better this season, so have the Irish. The result? The Irish are ranked top-10 in the land, and the defense, which was scrutinized earlier in the season, is now a bright spot.
It’s fair to say Johnson’s defining moment came on Saturday against No. 22 Pittsburgh. With the Irish up 7-0 after junior running back Jeremiyah Love exploded for a Heisman-worthy run halfway through the first quarter, head coach Marcus Freeman turned to the defense to play complementary football. Johnson took the challenge personally, intercepting Pitt’s freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel on the first play of the possession before
walking it 49 yards to the house.
It took Notre Dame less than 30 seconds to flip the game on its head, and Johnson was at the center of it all. His well-timed read on Heintschel’s throw across the hashes was executed to perfection. For Freeman, the play is the culmination of everything Johnson has been working towards throughout his time with the Irish.
“It’s because of the work, because he knows he’s gifted, but he’s put in a lot of work,” Freeman said in his postgame press conference. He continued, “He’s making plays for us. He’s an extremely talented football player that’s just getting better. The talent is one thing, but the work that he’s putting in and the improvement that he makes, it’s very pleasing.”
Johnson agreed with Freeman’s statements. While the pick-six itself took place in front of a sold-out crowd at Acrisure Stadium, he understands the fact he was able to come away with the ball is because of something not many see. “I was prepared for it. I
knew it was coming. That led to me being able to play fast and ultimately getting a picksix for my team,” Johnson said.
In Pittsburgh, Johnson carved out a career day for himself. The former fourstar recruit tallied five tackles, three run stops and his only catch allowed to set the Panthers back four yards. He now leads the Irish defense with four interceptions, with his pick-six against Pitt being complemented by one against Boise State and a pair versus Boston College.
Playing the most confident ball of his life at the right time, Johnson is a true ballhawking safety with a good eye for the game. He’s also becoming a leader on the team despite being one of the youngest guys getting significant minutes on the defensive side of the ball.
“The goal for us as safeties is to run the defense, make sure the back seven is in line and make sure we are all aware of what’s going on. So we just want to keep focusing on being us. We’re not worried about anything else other than that,” Johnson said.
It’s clear his ability to command respect is strong.
Against Pitt, the Notre Dame defense put on a master class. With Johnson directing traffic in the backfield, Heintschel had practically zero open targets to throw to. Subsequently, the young Panthers quarterback was caught holding on to the ball for too long, allowing for the Irish’s front seven to pressure him consistently.
But even with the exemplary performance now on his resume, Johnson is staying grounded and already has his eyes set on the next goal at hand.
“It felt great to be honest,” Johnson said in regard to scoring his first pick-six. “It’s stuff I worked on. I thank God for allowing me to be able to do that. It feels good to have my first one, but I want more. I’m not going to be too big on that one, but I thank God for that.”
The magnitude of what he’s accomplished is not lost on him, either. Johnson hails from nearby Fort Wayne, Indiana. In high school, scouts’ main concern with Johnson pertained to his
size. However, through the work that he’s put in, as Freeman mentioned, Johnson has shown that football is about more than just size. It’s about a maniacal attention to detail.
“Even before I got to Notre Dame, I was always a gifted player. I was never that big. Once I found out that I will always be gifted, it’s an ability God gave me, I figured out that I will have to put in the work and figure out where I was lacking at outside of the ability and outside of being gifted,” Johnson said. For a kid who was always seen as undersized growing up, Johnson’s rapid rise to becoming a leader on Notre Dame’s defense is a special one. His next course of action is now simple. He plans on continuing to put in the work that has gotten him this far as the Irish continue their quest for the National Championship. If Notre Dame is to win its first big one since 1988, there is no doubt Johnson will play a crucial role.
Contact Chris Dailey at cdailey2@nd.edu