Month: December 2019

Chase Claypool Pens Heartfelt Goodbye to Notre Dame Community

I don’t anticipate he’ll be knocking down the first round door but he’s going to bring a playmaking ability to someone at the next level for likely some great value.

It may not be the most prestigious award around but I’m sure Chase Claypool will be pleased to know he’s been named Fighting Irish Wire’s inaugural Man I’m Gonna Miss the Hell Outta Watching That Guy Each Saturday Award.

Myself and Jeff Feyerer decided that weeks ago but I’m finally getting around to letting the masses know on here.

Tuesday afternoon the NFL-bound Claypool offered a kind farewell to the Notre Dame family and everyone who made his career in South Bend possible.

In a class loaded with wide receiver talent I’m incredibly curious around what number Claypool will get selected at. He may not have truly elite speed but has unreal size and GUAGI (Go-Up-And-Get-It, h/t Matt Spiegel).

I don’t anticipate he’ll be knocking down the first round door but he’s going to bring a playmaking ability to someone at the next level for likely some great value.

Side note – he’s also a decent downfield blocker if any NFL GM needs another reason to be interested.

Colin Cowherd isn’t a fan of Ron Rivera choosing Redskins

Ron Rivera has one big detractor.

It seemed probable at least one notable personality was going to take issue with Ron Rivera joining the Washington Redskins and that someone has turned out to be Colin Cowherd.

But not for the reason most might expect.

While it’s easy to slight Rivera for joining an organization with so many issues, Cowherd actually goes a different direction — Dwayne Haskins.

As Cowherd points out, NFL coaches don’t make it long without a good quarterback and Haskins has yet to prove himself at best. He also hints Haskins might be the worst quarterback in the NFC East, which is a conversation for a different time.

As one could easily point out, Rivera could help forge Haskins into a great player in time. There were other options like New York or Cleveland, but nothing is guaranteed with those young quarterbacks, either.

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Notre Dame Football: Tony Jones, Jr. Declares for NFL Draft

Jones finishes with 1481 career rush yards at Notre Dame but will forever be remembered by Fighting Irish fans for a reception he had on a late November night in Los Angeles.

Just days after setting the Camping World Bowl record for longest run in game history, Tony Jones, Jr. is hanging up his gold helmet for a final time and heading to the 2020 NFL Draft.

Jones has his most productive season in 2019, rushing for 857 yards and six touchdowns while adding another 104 yards and touchdown in the receiving game.

Jones finishes with 1481 career rush yards at Notre Dame but will forever be remembered by Fighting Irish fans for a reception he had on a late November night in Los Angeles.

Jones is likely fighting an uphill climb to get drafted but does possess a great skill in pass protection.

I would imagine he figures it’s his best chance with a loaded backfield for the Irish next year that includes the new and highly regarded Chris Tyree, Kyren Williams, Jahmir Smith, C’Bo Flemister as well as seniors-to-be Jafar Armstrong and Avery Davis.

Regardless of what happens in the next level of his football career, Tony Jones, Jr. will go down in Fighting Irish lore for years to come.

UGA Wire ranks the Top 10 Georgia football wins of the decade

UGA Wire reveals its Top 10 Georgia football wins of the decade

UGA Wire recently revealed its Top 10 Georgia football games of the decade, which we have now conveniently put into one big list for your enjoyment.

Below, you will find our first games, in order from top to bottom in terms of the best.

Each game has a corresponding link, which explains why we put it where we did.

We’d love to hear from you! What games did we get right? Did we get any wrong?

Happy New Year and Go Dawgs!

P.S.

While you’re here, please consider spreading the word on this GoFundMe for the late Bryce Gowdy’s family and the Georgia Tech community.

Thank You

Harden, Westbrook lead efficient Rockets in blowout of Denver

Led by 63 points and 13 assists from James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the host Rockets (23-11) crushed Denver (23-10) on New Year’s Eve.

James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 63 points and 13 assists as the Rockets (23-11) crushed the visiting Denver Nuggets (23-10) on New Year’s Eve in Houston, 130-104 (box score).

The win brings the Rockets to within a half-game of Denver for the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference. The Nuggets cut Houston’s 17-point halftime lead to just three points after the third quarter, but the Rockets put them away with a dominant 38-15 closing period.

Both Harden and Westbrook shot 50% or better from the field, headlined by Harden’s 6-of-9 showing (66.7%) from 3-point range. Harden had 35 points, while Westbrook poured in 28 on 11-of-22 shooting.

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Counting Tuesday’s totals, Harden finished the 2010s decade as the NBA’s leading scorer with 19,578 total points. Next on the list were LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Westbrook.

Overall, the Rockets shot 52.9% from the field and 16-of-34 (47.1%) on 3-pointers as Houston closed out 2019 in style.

In addition to the exploits of Harden and Westbrook, reserve guard Eric Gordon maintained his hot shooting since returning from injury by making three of five 3-point attempts (60%).

On the front line, Clint Capela returned from his own multi-game injury absence (heel) with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 30 minutes. Meanwhile young seven-footer Isaiah Hartenstein continued his recent surge with 16 points and 12 rebounds in just 18 minutes off the bench.

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After the game, head coach Mike D’Antoni confirmed that Hartenstein — who led the Rockets with a plus/minus figure of +21 in just 18 minutes — had effectively replaced veteran Tyson Chandler as the backup center behind Capela moving forward.

The Nuggets were led by star big man Nikola Jokic with 21 points and eight rebounds, but both Capela and Hartenstein had more rebounds.

The Rockets return to action Friday night with a home game against the Philadelphia 76ers. With the Sixers (23-13) led by All-Star center Joel Embiid, it would seem to benefit the Rockets that both Capela and Hartenstein enter that matchup playing well.

With the loss to Clemson, Ohio State football has dropped back below Michigan in all-time winning percentage

With the loss to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl, Ohio State football has once again fallen behind Michigan for best winning percentage all-time.

Michigan fans once again have what they’ll probably consider the ultimate trump card over Ohio State. Up until the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines once again this year, they had trailed Michigan in all-time win percentage in college football. The Wolverines were No. 1, the Buckeyes No. 2.

But, once all the smoke cleared on another blowout, Ohio State had barely overtaken That School Up North in overall winning percentage to overtake the No. 1 spot (Boise State hasn’t played enough seasons and Yale is no longer in FBS).

However, with the loss to Clemson Saturday night (hugs all around), OSU has now fallen back behind Michigan just barely, and are now once again No. 2 behind its arch-rival. The Buckeyes are now 924-326-53 (.7294) to the Wolverines 962-345-36 (.7297). It’s a razor thin margin, but a margin nonetheless.

But never fear Buckeye fans. Michigan has the daunting task of trying to beat Alabama on New Year’s Day. If it loses, Ohio State will again be on top through the offseason.

Ah yes … bragging rights.

Schroder and Gallinari return to each score 20 in win over Mavericks

Chris Paul hit the go-ahead shot with 40.6 seconds remaining as OKC beat Dallas 106-101. The Thunder finish the month of December 11-4.

It was quite the return for both Dennis Schroder and Danilo Gallinari.

Both players returned from ankle injuries to score 20 apiece in Oklahoma City’s come from behind win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

Schroder had missed Sunday’s game against the Raptors with a sore right ankle while Gallinari had missed four games with a sore left ankle.

While Schroder and Gallo were the driving force for OKC throughout the night, the fourth quarter belonged to Chris Paul.

Paul scored 13 of his 17 points in the final frame, including the go-ahead bucket with 40.9 seconds remaining.

Schroder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each hit a pair of free throws to complete the 106-101 victory.

Three other players were in double-digits for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander had 19, Nerlens Noel chipped in 12, while Steven Adams added 10.

Luca Doncic scored a game-high 35 as part of a double-double. Terrance Ferguson drew the starting defensive assignment but quickly found himself in foul trouble. Oklahoma City also used Paul and Schroder against Doncic, in an attempt to at least slow him down.

Hamidou Diallo also spent some time guarding Doncic. He played 19 minutes and scored four points in his first game back since injuring his right elbow against the Lakers on Nov. 22.

With the win, Oklahoma City improves to 18-15, sitting at three games over .500 for the first time this season, and climbing into the seventh spot in Western Conference standings.

OKC has won seven of their last eight, and finish the month of December 11-4.

The Thunder will start the New Year on the road. They head to San Antonio in the first of a four-game road trip. Oklahoma City and the Spurs square off on Thursday.

Keaontay Ingram and The Longhorns Jump Over Utah

The Texas Longhorns finish their season on a positive note by beating 11th ranked Utah in the Alamo Bowl.

The Texas Longhorns came into the Valero Alamo Bowl game seeking their third straight bowl season  win under Tom Herman in as many chances. Coming into the game the Longhorns were a touchdown underdog in this game against the 11th ranked Utah Utes.

The Longhorns got off to a quick start after an opening drive that ended in a Michael Dicker field goal, they finished the first half leading 10-0. The defense was able to bottle up this offense led by linebacker Joseph Ossai. He was able to keep Zack Moss in check who finished the game with a 3.6 yards per carry average. Tyler Huntley was also known as a quarterback who could beat you with his legs, was held to just 33 yards on 16 carries.

It was a complete game for Texas getting contributions in all three phases of the game. In the second half it was a lot of Devin Duvernay and running back Keaontay Ingram. Ingram would finish the game with 108 yards rushing and added a touchdown on the ground as well as one in the air. The offense was able to break the will of the Utes in the second half to go along with their suffocating defense.

The Longhorns finished the year on a positive note and sent their seniors off with a win in their final game for Texas. Collin Johnson, Duvernay, Brandon Jones and Malcolm Roach will be playing in bowl games to impress the NFL scouts in the near future. This win also gives Tom Herman and the staff some momentum heading into the offseason as they finish up the recruiting class and get ready for spring football.

Ranking the top Georgia football wins of the decade: #1

UGA Wire reveals the top Georgia football wins of the decade

In honor of the start of 2020 Wednesday, we decided to put together a list of the Top 10 Georgia football wins from the past decade.

Of course, we listed nine other games in our rankings list, but everyone already knows what No. 1 is, right?

If you hadn’t already guessed it, it’s the 2017-18 Rose Bowl.

Surprise… Surprise…

But seriously… do we even need to say anything else? We’ll just attach the highlights clip as you imagine Sony Michel running into the California sunset on New Years Day, sending the Dawgs home to the championship game.

We can all forget what happened the week after and just pretend the season ended in Pasadena. Sound good?

What a game! At least Baker Mayfield and the Sooners were able to put up some points in this playoff game, however. The amount of twists and turns our hearts took that day will probably cost us a couple years in life, but honestly who cares,

I miss this day.

Ohio State basketball is beginning to show a troubling trend

The Ohio State basketball team has been great in 2019, but when it does struggle, there’s one stat that continues to plague the team.

The Ohio State basketball team has had a fantastic start to the 2019-2020 campaign, but there are some signs of cracks in all the fun here as of late. The Buckeyes have lost two of the last four games, and have come back down to Earth just a wee-bit.

But why? Both losses were to teams that Ohio State has more talent than and should have no problem beating by simply taking care of business. The problem is that OSU hasn’t taken care of business at times, and there’s one troubling stat that seems to continue to cause issues.

It’s the turnover bug.

It was something the Buckeyes had issues with last year too, but that was thought to be because they lacked a true point guard. With two true point guards on the squad this year — and good ones at that — it was supposed to be a much improved area this year.

And at times it has been, but in spots in other games, and in contests OSU hasn’t been able to pull out, there have been a significant lack of focus on taking care of the basketball.

The issue arose again on Sunday when Ohio State lost to a rough and tumble West Virginia squad. It had 22 total turnovers, far too many to expect to win against teams that have close to, equal, or perceived more talent.

There have been other times too. The Buckeyes were extremely careless with the ball against North Carolina in the first half and led by only one point going into the locker room. Once they clamped down on making careless errors, OSU pulled away easily.

Ohio State has the talent and pieces to do big things this season. It can score from multiple spots, plays outstanding defense, can shoot, and has a great coaching staff.

But, if the turnovers don’t get better, we could see a season of promise derailed at the most inopportune time, like say — March.