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Notre Dame Just Landed UNEXPECTED GREAT NEWS! · College Football Addiction: A Show About All Things College Football

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  Speaker 1: What's up, Domers? Thank you for joining us today here
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  Speaker 1: on College Football Addiction, where all new users get $ 150
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  Speaker 1: in lineups if they win a $ 5 lineup using code HMA.
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  Speaker 1: There's a pretty huge momentum wave that's surrounding Notre Dame
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  Speaker 1: football this week, and from historic milestones that celebrate the
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  Speaker 1: program's heritage to major national honors rolling in for the roster,
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  Speaker 1: the buzz around this program is pretty impossible to ignore.
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  Speaker 1: It's one thing to see massive commitment off the field,
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  Speaker 1: but it's another to see elite talent commanding national respect.
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  Speaker 1: High expectations are nothing new in South Bend, but the
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  Speaker 1: standard is being set right now, and it feels a
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  Speaker 1: little bit different than it has in the recent past.
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  Speaker 1: If you've been following storylines heading into the fall, you
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  Speaker 1: know just how high the stakes are becoming. There's plenty
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  Speaker 1: to be excited about, but the real test is how
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  Speaker 1: it all translates when game day arrives. I've got a
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  Speaker 1: lot that I want to talk about today, so let's
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  Speaker 1: jump right into it. On August 12th, Notre Dame announced
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  Speaker 1: that a historic gift, a gift that literally changed the
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  Speaker 1: name of the stadium's tunnel and media room, was given.
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  Speaker 1: Alumnus Bob Hinton from the class of 1976 in Ada, Michigan,
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  Speaker 1: donated $ 20 million to the university. That money brought something
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  Speaker 1: no amount of athletic talent ever could. His name was
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  Speaker 1: on the stadium. Beginning of this season, every time the
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  Speaker 1: Fighting Irish take the field for a home game, they
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  Speaker 1: will run through the Bob Hinton Tunnel. The North Tunnel
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  Speaker 1: at Notre Dame Stadium is far more than just a hallway.
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  Speaker 1: It is the final stretch of concrete players walk through
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  Speaker 1: before emerging in front of a jam-packed stadium. Generations of
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  Speaker 1: Irish players have touched those iconic walls on their way
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  Speaker 1: out to the field, and now that historic hallway that
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  Speaker 1: you see in So many pictures before big games now
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  Speaker 1: carries the name of a man who graduated with an
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  Speaker 1: accounting degree in 1976. The $ 20 million gift did not
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  Speaker 1: stop at the tunnel either. It also secured the naming
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  Speaker 1: rights to the stadium's media facility, which is now officially
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  Speaker 1: the Bob Hinton Media Room. That's exactly the room where
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  Speaker 1: post-game press conferences happen, major announcements are made, and campus
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  Speaker 1: briefings take place. Notre Dame describes it as a premier
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  Speaker 1: public forum. It's called a central space connecting coaches, student-athletes,
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  Speaker 1: and university leadership with millions of fans worldwide. In one move,
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  Speaker 1: his single gift put his name not only on the
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  Speaker 1: moment players charge onto the field, as well as the
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  Speaker 1: room where they explain what happened once they leave it. Remarkably,
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  Speaker 1: this was not Hinton's first major investment, and Back in 2019,
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  Speaker 1: he gave a $ 5 million gift to endow the defensive
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  Speaker 1: coordinator position, which also carries his name. That means the
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  Speaker 1: man whose name now sits above the tunnel already had
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  Speaker 1: his name attached to the coach calling the defense. His
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  Speaker 1: path to that level of wealth is a pretty incredible
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  Speaker 1: story in and of itself. After graduating from Notre Dame
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  Speaker 1: with an accounting degree, he started his career at Arthur
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  Speaker 1: Anderson & Company. Then, in 1983, he purchased his first business,
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  Speaker 1: which at the time had 9 million in sales and
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  Speaker 1: 19 employees. Over the next 43 years, through steady organic
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  Speaker 1: growth and strategic acquisitions, that small company evolved into Hinton
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  Speaker 1: Transportation Investments. Today, it stands as the largest trailer aftermarket
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  Speaker 1: parts business in the entire industry. His company now operates
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  Speaker 1: across North and South America and employs more than 1,000 people. Ultimately,
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  Speaker 1: the tunnel is named after a man who spent four
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  Speaker 1: decades building businesses that most college football fans have never
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  Speaker 1: heard of. Notre Dame AD Pete Bavacqua praised the donor, stating,
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  Speaker 1: Bob is a loyal son of Notre Dame, and his
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  Speaker 1: generous gift will make a considerable impact on our student-athletes'
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  Speaker 1: experience now and in the future. AD Bavacqua added that
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  Speaker 1: Notre Dame was honored to celebrate him by adding his
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  Speaker 1: name to our iconic stadium tunnel and to our media venue,
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  Speaker 1: which is a location that allows our student athletes and
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  Speaker 1: coaches to speak to a global audience. The announcement itself
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  Speaker 1: was celebrated with a genuine ceremony. Notre Dame hosted a
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  Speaker 1: very special gathering inside the space where University President Reverend
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  Speaker 1: Robert A. Dowd offered a blessing, Hinton spoke, Bavacqua spoke,
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  Speaker 1: and so did Dick Corbett and head football coach Marcus Freeman.
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  Speaker 1: That brought the university president, the AD, the head coach,
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  Speaker 1: and the donor all into one room just for a
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  Speaker 1: tunnel in a media room. However, there is one crucial
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  Speaker 1: thing that no ceremony can ever guarantee. A tunnel only
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  Speaker 1: truly matters because of the players who run through it.
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  Speaker 1: While $ 20 million buys a name on the wall, it
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  Speaker 1: does not buy a single block, it doesn't buy a tackle,
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  Speaker 1: or it doesn't buy one win on the field. Just
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  Speaker 1: a day before the ceremony, a very different announcement came
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  Speaker 1: out spotlighting two of the specific Notre Dame players that
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  Speaker 1: are being counted on this year to make that walkway legendary.
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  Speaker 1: I'll talk more about that in just a moment, but
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  Speaker 1: first I want to give some love to our friends
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  Speaker 1: over at Explore Utah Valley. It's been a little while
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  Speaker 1: since we talked about them. If you are a Notre
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  Speaker 1: Dame fan, and I suppose you probably are watching this,
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  Speaker 1: I'd say 85, 90% of you are, and you're not
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  Speaker 1: considering going out to BYU, I'm telling you, you got
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  Speaker 1: to go. You got to make the trip out to
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  Speaker 1: Provo for this game. I know you got two massive
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  Speaker 1: games on the schedule, one up there in South Bend
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  Speaker 1: against the Canes. I'm planning on being there for that one.
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  Speaker 1: And then a massive one against BYU a little earlier
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  Speaker 1: in the year. If you haven't been to Provo, it
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  Speaker 1: is beautiful. All of your assumptions about it are not
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  Speaker 1: what you expect. You need to go check it out.
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  Speaker 1: Seeing the mountains in the stadium's background are phenomenal. There's
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  Speaker 1: not a backdrop in college football that's like it, and
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  Speaker 1: you need to go experience it. For more information, you
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  Speaker 1: can go to Explore Utah Valley. I will link some
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  Speaker 1: things down in the description. Go check them out. Make
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  Speaker 1: that road trip or flight and go see that game. Now,
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  Speaker 1: on August 11th, just a day before, the 2026 Lombardi
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  Speaker 1: Award watch list was officially released. Two Notre Dame juniors
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  Speaker 1: earned spots on that prestigious list. Offensive lineman Anthony Knapp
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  Speaker 1: and linebacker Kingston Viliamu Asa. The Lombardi Award is not
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  Speaker 1: simply about raw stats. It honors the outstanding linemen and
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  Speaker 1: linebackers who best represent Vince Lombardi's core values of leadership, courage, performance,
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  Speaker 1: and discipline, not just on the field, but often as well.
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  Speaker 1: When the Lombardi Committee unveiled its 54 selections from across
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  Speaker 1: FBS conferences and independents, Notre Dame stood out as one
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  Speaker 1: of the few programs with multiple honorees. Start with Knapp.
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  Speaker 1: He was also named to a national watch list earlier
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  Speaker 1: this month, making his second major honor in just a
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  Speaker 1: matter of weeks. Last year, he started all 12 games
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  Speaker 1: at left tackle. Even more telling is that he already
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  Speaker 1: has racked up 29 career starts over the past two seasons,
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  Speaker 1: and he is still only a junior. Left tackle is
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  Speaker 1: a brutal position where young players routinely get injured, benched,
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  Speaker 1: or exposed. Instead, Knapp has consistently anchored the line game
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  Speaker 1: after game, protecting the most critical player on the field.
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  Speaker 1: Viliamu Asa's path to the watch list is completely different,
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  Speaker 1: which makes his inclusion there so compelling. His role was
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  Speaker 1: pretty limited back in 2025. He saw action in 11
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  Speaker 1: games with just two starts before an injury sidelined him
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  Speaker 1: for the season finale. Typically, a reduced role causes a
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  Speaker 1: player to fade from national preseason watch list, but he
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  Speaker 1: did the opposite. Even with the limited playing time, the
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  Speaker 1: Inland Empire California native finished fourth on the team with
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  Speaker 1: 48 total tackles. He also threw in seven and a
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  Speaker 1: half tackles for loss. He had three sacks. He had
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  Speaker 1: A pick, he had two pass breakups, he had five
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  Speaker 1: quarterback hurries during a pretty busy sophomore campaign. In other words,
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  Speaker 1: a defender who started only two games still finished fourth
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  Speaker 1: on the entire roster in tackles. That high impact efficiency
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  Speaker 1: is why national recognition will continue to stack up. Viliamu
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  Speaker 1: Asa was also named to the Nargiski Trophy Watchlist and
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  Speaker 1: the Lott Impact Trophy Watchlist. That gives him three major
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  Speaker 1: national watchlist selections despite missing the end of last season.
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  Speaker 1: This Lombardi recognition carries special weight at Notre Dame, a
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  Speaker 1: program that has already produced five Lombardi Trophy Award winners,
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  Speaker 1: winning it in 71, 77, 90, 93, and then most
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  Speaker 1: recently Manti Teo won it in 2012. The Fighting Irish
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  Speaker 1: list of finalists is even longer, features a ton of
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  Speaker 1: names like McAfee, DiNardo, Crable. Most recently, offensive tackle Joe
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  Speaker 1: Ault was named a finalist in 2023. Ault's presence is
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  Speaker 1: particularly relevant here because he anchored the same left tackle
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  Speaker 1: spot that Knapp has manned. That means Knapp is not
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  Speaker 1: just landing on a watch list, he is upholding a
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  Speaker 1: pretty rich tradition at a position where Notre Dame has
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  Speaker 1: consistently produced elite talent. When you put it all together,
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  Speaker 1: the picture is pretty clear. Notre Dame has a bookend
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  Speaker 1: tackle with a downhill linebacker both commanding national attention at
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  Speaker 1: the same time. The identity that Notre Dame has in
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  Speaker 1: the trenches has become a major national talking point before
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  Speaker 1: a single snap has even been played. However, there's still
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  Speaker 1: one major piece missing from our story today because the
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  Speaker 1: Lombardi Award only considers linemen and linebackers. The most decorated
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  Speaker 1: player on Notre Dame's entire roster could not appear on
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  Speaker 1: that list no matter how dominant he is. He doesn't
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  Speaker 1: do battle in the trenches. Instead, he plays the high-pressure
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  Speaker 1: position where every single mistake is replayed on national television
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  Speaker 1: 10 times. On August 12th, the same exact day the
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  Speaker 1: $ 20 million tunnel gift was announced, junior cornerback Leonard Moore
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  Speaker 1: was tabbed for the paid Com Jim Thorpe Award watch list.
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  Speaker 1: The Jim Thorpe Award is presented annually to the best
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  Speaker 1: defensive back in college football, judged on three pillars, on-field performance,
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  Speaker 1: athletic ability, and character. Moore is coming off of a
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  Speaker 1: sensational season that placed him in rare company as a
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  Speaker 1: consensus and unanimous All-American. Being unanimous means every single official
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  Speaker 1: selector voted him to their first team, making him one
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  Speaker 1: of the most decorated defensive backs in recent Notre Dame history.
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  Speaker 1: The numbers prove exactly how he earned that honor. In
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  Speaker 1: just 10 starts, he led the Fighting Irish with five picks,
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  Speaker 1: Those five picks tied for seventh most in the entire country,
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  Speaker 1: and he achieved that without even playing a full season.
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  Speaker 1: He also posted 31 tackles, 23 of them solo, eight assisted,
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  Speaker 1: broke up seven passes, and he forced a fumble. When
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  Speaker 1: you look at his per-game production, the numbers are even
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  Speaker 1: more staggering. He ranks second nationally in interceptions per game at. 5.
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  Speaker 1: He was eighth nationally in passes defended per game at 1.2.
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  Speaker 1: On a per-game basis, only one defensive back in the
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  Speaker 1: entire country took the ball away more frequently. His signature
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  Speaker 1: individual performances tell the story even better than the season
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  Speaker 1: totals do. Against Boise State, he recruited his first career
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  Speaker 1: multi-interception game, and he forced a fumble on the same afternoon.
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  Speaker 1: Against Syracuse, he scored a touchdown on an electrifying pick six.
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  Speaker 1: Against Stanford, he snatched his fifth pick of the season
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  Speaker 1: in the second quarter, directly setting up a Notre Dame touchdown.
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  Speaker 1: It's a playmaker who did not just prevent points, he
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  Speaker 1: actively created them. Recording five picks and 10 starts means
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  Speaker 1: that he averaged half a takeaway every single time he
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  Speaker 1: stepped onto the field. Quarterbacks who tested him repeatedly paid
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  Speaker 1: the price. Cornerback is a position where one bad play
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  Speaker 1: can define an entire season, but Moore spent his year
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  Speaker 1: turning opposing offense's plans into Irish highlights. The national award
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  Speaker 1: circuit has already placed him among college football's elite heading
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  Speaker 1: into the season. That makes this preseason watch list not
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  Speaker 1: a launching point rather than a ceiling. Heading into this year,
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  Speaker 1: the recognition has rolled in from every possible angle. Moore
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  Speaker 1: has been named to multiple prominent watch lists, including the
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  Speaker 1: Nargiski Trophy watch list, the Lott Impact Trophy watch list.
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  Speaker 1: On top of that, Walter Camp selected him to his
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  Speaker 1: preseason All-American second team. Those service-oriented watch lists are especially
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  Speaker 1: crucial for the Thorpe Award, which explicitly evaluates off-field character
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  Speaker 1: and community service alongside athletic ability. That means Moore is
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  Speaker 1: entering the season recognized for elite coverage, game-changing takeaways, high character,
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  Speaker 1: and dedicated community work, all before you guys kick off
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  Speaker 1: the season. There's one final detail that ties this entire
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  Speaker 1: story back to where it began. Moore plays on a
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  Speaker 1: defense whose coordinator position was endowed by Bob Hinton with
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  Speaker 1: a $ 5 million gift back in 2019. The donors, millions,
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  Speaker 1: the stalwart tackle, the rising linebacker, and the unanimous All-American
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  Speaker 1: cornerback all lead back to the same facility. That leaves
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  Speaker 1: only one question remaining. The name on the tunnel is finalized,
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  Speaker 1: and the national watch lists are set, but none of
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  Speaker 1: it counts in the standings just yet. What truly matters
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  Speaker 1: when it's all said and done is the first time
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  Speaker 1: Notre Dame plays at home having a tackle that has
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  Speaker 1: 29 career starts, a linebacker that had 48 tackles in
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  Speaker 1: a corner, with five picks. And those kids run through
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  Speaker 1: the Bob Hinton tunnel and show the world what they
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  Speaker 1: do once they step onto that football field. I know
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  Speaker 1: that football is getting close and I cannot wait for it.
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  Speaker 1: Hopefully you're locked in with us here on College Football Addiction.
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  Speaker 1: get $ 150 instantly when they win a $ 5 lineup using
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  Speaker 1: code HMA. We'll see you guys on the next one.