Category: Notre Dame Football

96 Days Until Notre Dame Football (We Hope)

Continue to the countdown to Notre Dame football in 2020 today with a record holder who once made an iconic stop for the ND defense

First and foremost a very Happy Memorial Day to each and all of you.

The countdown continues this Monday morning as we plow ahead to what we all hope will be football season.

In 96 days (we hope) Notre Dame will return to the football field for Season 133 when the Irish take on Navy in a Week Zero affair.  Whether that game is played in Dublin, Washington, DC or in Annapolis, we’ll be even more excited than normal for it to get here.

Each day from now until Notre Dame kicks off the year we’ll count down the days with the number and why it’s significant in the history of Notre Dame football.

Sunday saw us look back at Ricky Watters and his record-setting punt return in 1989.  

This Monday morning get excited by watching Deke Cooper make a goal line stop for Notre Dame to save the game against Boston College in 1998.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn2eRF7hz4w&w=560&h=315]

That Deke Cooper stop helped Notre Dame keep their BCS dreams alive in 1998, although they’d ultimately be crushed with a 10-0 loss at USC.

Why Deke Cooper for day 96 though?

96:  The Notre Dame record for punt return yards in a single season, held by Deke Cooper in 1998.

See, you learned something and started your day by watching Boston College get their hearts broken.

Win-win if you ask me.

Notre Dame – Way Too Early Game by Game Predictions for 2020

97 Days Until Notre Dame Football (We Hope)

We’re 97 days from Notre Dame football returning, at least we hope. Get hyped for the Irish with your fact about 97 in ND lore now!

The countdown continues!

In 97 days (we hope) Notre Dame will return to the football field for Season 133 when the Irish take on Navy in a Week Zero affair.  Whether that game is played in Dublin, Washington, DC or in Annapolis, we’ll be even more excited than normal for it to get here.

Each day from now until Notre Dame kicks off the year we’ll count down the days with the number and why it’s significant in the history of Notre Dame football.

Saturday it was Josh Adams record touchdown run that got us through the 98 day mark.

Today we go back to special teams for the second time in the last three days.

97:  The longest punt return in Notre Dame football history, Ricky Watters against SMU in 1989.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJnOhgxv0j4&w=560&h=315]

I was always told to never field a punt inside the ten yard line, let alone inside the five.  For some reason I don’t think Lou Holtz was too upset when Watters chose to return this one 97 yards against SMU in 1989.

Notre Dame – Way Too Early Game by Game Predictions for 2020

Notre Dame Football: Stream All 2000 Home Games

2000 was a surprise season that saw Notre Dame go to the BCS. Relive all six home games online NOW!

I have been a passionate Notre Dame football fan for as long as I can remember.  Most kids in my class grew up loving everything in regards to the Chicago Bears but that has never quite been the case for me as I’ve always enjoyed the college game and specifically Notre Dame football more.

I was a freshman in high school in the fall of 2000 and had never been to a game before.  My sister was starting her freshman year at St. Mary’s College that same fall which meant my fandom went from “strong” to “obsessive”.

Maybe I’ll write more about that season in the not so distant future but in the meantime I’ll let you know that all home games from the 2000 Notre Dame football season are available to stream.

Week One:  vs. Texas A&M
Notre Dame is coming off just a five-win season in 1999 but starts the 2000 season right with an impressive showing against Texas A&M as the Aggies make their first-ever trip to Notre Dame Stadium.

Week Two:  vs. No. 1 Nebraska
For the first time since 1993 the top-ranked team in the country came to South Bend.  Seemingly 50,000 Nebraska fans made the trip to see two Notre Dame special team scores and Bob Davie play for overtime.  Whoops.

Week Three:  vs. No. 13 Purdue
After Arnaz Battle broke his hand against Nebraska, Gary Godsey was called upon to help get the Irish a win.  Their defense and special teams helped out as Nick Setta’s game-winning field goal as time expired sent the Irish to 2-1.

Week Six: vs. Stanford
After a loss at Michigan State two weeks earlier and coming off a bye, Matt LoVecchio made his first start for the Irish in what would be the first of seven-straight wins to close the regular season.  Of just as much importance, this was the first Notre Dame football game I ever attended.

Week Nine: vs. Air Force
Following a pair of wins over both Navy and West Virginia, Notre Dame returned home at 5-2 to take on a pesky Air Force team.  Thanks to heroics from Glenn Earl and Joey Getherall, a stunning upset was avoided.

Week Eleven: vs. Boston College
Following the thriller over Air Force, Notre Dame enjoyed a bye week before welcoming Boston College to South Bend for Senior Day.  The Irish controlled things for the duration in this one, winning 28-16 and finishing the home season 5-1.

Notre Dame would go on to beat Rutgers and USC on the road, finishing the season an unlikely 9-2 and earning a berth in the BCS for the first time where they would get run out of the building by Chad Johnson and No. 5 Oregon State.

98 Days Until Notre Dame Football (We Hope)

Here we are just 98 days, 14 weeks exactly from the SCHEDULED start of Notre Dame football in 2020. Get ready for Irish football now!

The countdown is on!

Exactly 14 weeks from now, just 98 days (we hope) Notre Dame will return to the football field for Season 133 when the Irish take on Navy in a Week Zero affair.  Will the game be played as scheduled?  I’m guessing not in Ireland but perhaps with the way the news has gone this week we’ll see it get underway on time.

Each day from now until Notre Dame kicks off the year we’ll count down the days with the number and why it’s significant in the history of Notre Dame football.

Yesterday, Nick Setta’s nearly-perfect career PAT conversion percentage got us through Friday.

Today we get into the weekend back on offense, with the longest run in Notre Dame history.

It was November of 2015 and Notre Dame was sitting fourth overall in the country, looking to take another step towards their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance.  Leading Wake Forest 14-0 early in the second quarter the Irish had the ball backed up nearly to their own goal line.

98:  Josh Adams sets the record for the longest run in the history of Notre Dame football.

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Notre Dame would win easy that afternoon, 28-7 as Adams would finish with 141 rushing yards.  Just three years later Dexter Williams would nearly match the mark, taking a run 97 yards to the house at Virginia Tech in 2015.

That 2015 Notre Dame squad would eventually fall on the last play of the regular season at Stanford to miss out on their first CFP appearance.

California Dreaming, Notre Dame Recruits well in Sunshine State

The Irish have traditionally recruited California well and expect that to continue.

Yesterday, it was the minimal presence that the Irish in their neighboring state Ohio, but today Rivals took a look at who recruits California the best. It should not come as a surprise that Notre Dame made the list, the Irish have traditionally recruited the state well.

The Irish have secured a commitment from Tyler Buchner in the 2021 recruiting cycle, he is the top rated quarterback and second overall prospect in California. Last year it was CB Ramon Henderson and in the 2019 class it was CB Isaiah Rutherford and DE Isaiah Foskey. It was CB TaRiq Bracy, OT Jarrett Patterson and LB Jack Lamb who signed with the Irish in 2018.

It is safe to say the state of California has been kind to the Irish, and Brian Kelly keeps dipping into the Sunshine State for talent every year. There is potential for more Californian’s to sign with the Irish this year as RB Prophet Brown and DB Dyson McCutcheon both have Notre Dame in their top few schools.

Of the offers out to the 2022 class, only Texas with 10 has more than California’s 5 right now, so expect Kelly to continue to look for talent out west. Making the state a priority is a good thing, as it’s a hotbed for Division I talent. The California to South Bend pipeline should continue to be strong in the future.

Is Notre Dame About to Lose a Commitment to Oklahoma?

David Abiara announced his commitment to Notre Dame at the end of March but it’s not looking good that he will actually end up at Notre Dame

In what is a truly a unique off-season and time to be recruiting, Notre Dame may be again feeling the effects.

In the last couple of months Notre Dame has seen wide receiver Deion Colzie de-commit from the 2021 class and just a couple weeks back the Irish lost out on big-time running back Will Shipley, likely largely because his was unable to get back to campus to make an official visit.

Now it appears another de-commitment in the 2021 class may be coming.

Four-star defensive end David Abiara committed to Notre Dame on March 27.  The Mansfield, Texas product has still been pursued by Oklahoma since then the 247Sports staff is all over him flipping his commitment to the Sooners.

Three lead experts at 247Sports: Brandon Drumm, Steve Wiltfong and Tom Loy have all switched their predictions for Abiara from Notre Dame to Oklahoma.

Friends, Abiara might not have made it official yet but I’m having trouble believing all three of those recruiting experts are changing their predictions unless they’ve got some inside information, very possibly from the source himself.

So long story short – I’d get ready to hear news of that de-commitment sooner rather than later.

As it stands now Notre Dame currently has 10 commitments in the 2021 class, counting Abiara.  He’s one of two defensive ends in the class as Jason Onye of Rhode Island is the other.

99 Days Until Notre Dame Football (We Hope)

We hope we’re 99 days away from Notre Dame’s 2020 college football season gets going. We continue the countdown with another NDFB fact.

The countdown is on!

100 days from now (we hope) Notre Dame will return to the football field for Season 133 when the Irish take on Navy in a Week Zero affair.  Will the game be played as scheduled?  I’m guessing not in Ireland but perhaps with the way the news has gone this week we’ll see it get underway on time.

Each day from now until Notre Dame kicks off the year we’ll count down the days with the number and why it’s significant in the history of Notre Dame football.

Yesterday, Michael Floyd’s 2011 season got things started on our countdown.

Today we go to special teams.

99: Nick Setta’s career PAT percentage (104/105), a Notre Dame record.

Setta kicked at Notre Dame from 2000-03, making 15 of 17 field goal attempts in 2001 before stumbling to just 14 of 25 in ’02. His final season saw him make all PAT attempts and be successful on nine of his ten field goal attempts in ’03.

Setta’s biggest kick at Notre Dame came against Purdue in 2000 when he knocked a 38 yard attempt through the uprights as time expired to upset the Drew Brees and the eventual Big Ten Champions.

99 days to go!

Irish make recent offers Top 10

The Notre Dame offer clearly held some weight as the class of 2021 Tennessee star included the Irish in his Top 10 going forward.

It didn’t take long for recent Irish offer Prince Kollie to released his Top 10 school after getting an offer from Notre Dame on Sunday. The class of 2021 Tennessee athlete could end up on either side of the ball.

Kollie sports an impressive offer list and extremely tough competition for the Irish as his recruitment continues. Battling schools SEC and Big XII powers will not be an easy task for Brian Kelly but there is a silver lining here. The offer was made less than a week ago to Collie and already had made an impression on the young man.

The Irish offer wasn’t the only good thing to happen to the talented athlete this week, he was named a 4-Star prospect after the 247Sports update on Wednesday. A huge jump for Collie as he rose from 448th overall to 230th player in the nation. A perfect example of a prospect who would have blown up this summer during the camp circuit but due to the current circumstances hasn’t had the exposure. That clearly has changed, and the Irish are squarely in the stars recruitment.

100 Days Until Notre Dame Football (We Hope)

The countdown to Notre Dame football returning is on. Join us as we celebrating being within 100 days of Irish football returning! (we hope)

The countdown is on!

100 days from now (we hope) Notre Dame will return to the football field for Season 133 when the Irish take on Navy in a Week Zero affair.  Will the game be played as scheduled?  I’m guessing not in Ireland but perhaps with the way the news has gone this week we’ll see it get underway on time.

Each day from now until Notre Dame kicks off the year we’ll count down the days with the number and why it’s significant in the history of Notre Dame football.

Now we could take the easy route and start with perhaps the most-known 100 in Notre Dame football, that being Lou Holtz’s career win total as the Irish head coach.  Instead, we’ll go a little more obscure but still plenty impressive with our first entry.

100:  Michael Floyd’s total receptions during the 2011 season, the most ever by a Notre Dame player in a single season.  

Golden Tate’s 93 receptions in his Biletnikoff Award winning season of 2009 are the second most while Floyd’s 79 in 2010 and Jeff Samardzija’s 78 and 77 receptions in 2006 and 2005 round out Notre Dame’s single-season top-five.

100 days to go!!!

We really, really hope.

How to watch the 1990 Orange Bowl with Notre Dame greats tonight

Notre Dame spent New Years Day 1990 knocking off No. 1 Colorado, ending the Buffs title dreams. Relive that game with some ND legends tonight!

Thursday night offers a pretty cool experience for Notre Dame fans looking for something different to do.  Not only can they re-live a classic Fighting Irish performance by watching No. 4 Notre Dame end No. 1 Colorado’s title dreams in the 1990 Orange Bowl, but they can watch that with a few of their favorite former Irish stars, too.

The game will be re-shown at 9:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Originally airing on NBC, we’ll get a good look at a younger Bob Costas doing pre-game while Dick Enberg is on the play-by-play.

You can also take in the game with the audio down and your internet up as Chris Zorich will be hosting a Q & A on Facebook with some of his former teammates during the game.  I don’t know exact names of those who will join him but it should bring back some good memories of an incredible run Notre Dame was in the middle of come the end of the 1989 season.

Also airing Thursday evening will be the 1992 “Snow Bowl” versus Penn State, which starts at 7:00 p.m. ET.  The night caps with the 1991 Orange Bowl between Colorado and Notre Dame again.

Maybe this time they won’t call a phantom clip.

 

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