Category: Notre Dame Football

Formula Has Notre Dame Just Outside Pre-Season Top 10

OddsBreakers has released it’s “Not Too Early Top 12” for the 2020 college football season and Notre Dame makes the cut.  Barely, but they make it.

Before we look at the rankings and who Notre Dame is ahead of, trails and by how much, let’s first look at how they go about compiling these scores that the rankings reflect.

OddsBreakers has released it’s “Not Too Early Top 12” for the 2020 college football season and Notre Dame makes the cut.  Barely, but they make it.

Before we look at the rankings and who Notre Dame is ahead of, trails and by how much, let’s first look at how they go about compiling these scores that the rankings reflect.

Their exact quote on how the scores are determined is as follows:

We have a lot of information available at our disposal to make the necessary adjustments from last year’s performance indicators.   Some of that information includes, but is not limited to returning production, returning starters, offensive and defensive schemes, the last 3 years of performance history, prior recruiting classes, and coaching changes.   Here is the top 12 teams along with my current power ratings.  Each point factor represents where each team stands above the average team rounded to .25.    The average team has a point factor of 0, so for example, Ohio State is 31.5 points better than the average team according to my ratings.  Please also remember that power ratings change throughout the year and especially after the first few games that are played.   My information on returning production is from Bill Connelly of ESPN, (formerly from SB Nation) and recruiting rankings are from 247 Sports.

So with that in mind, here is how they have the top-12 rated out.  We’ll also share their brief write-up on Notre Dame when we get there.

1. Ohio State (31.5)
2. Alabama (26)
3. Clemson (25)
4. Auburn (21)
5. Georgia (20)
6. Florida (18.5)
7. Wisconsin (18)
8. Penn State (17.75)
9. Oklahoma (17.5)
10. LSU (17)
11. Notre Dame (16)
12. Texas 15.5

OddsBreakers says of No. 11 Notre Dame:

Notre Dame lost a lot on defense but they still retain some good talent on offense minus WR Chase Claypool. The Irish always recruits well.  Ian Book is returning for his senior year and that is a good thing due to so many top tier QBs entering the draft.  Notre Dame will have a new secondary for the most part and 2 new linebackers.   I do like the Irish’s upside this year but their schedule is pretty hard playing Wisconsin in Lambeau Field, Clemson and of course USC.  If they somehow get through that gauntlet unscathed, then expect them to reach the playoffs.  Returning Production:  O66% D51%.  Recruiting: ’17 – 10th ’18 – 10th ’19 – 16th.

Just a couple of things to look at here:

Claypool is a huge loss but so is Kmet.  Maybe the writer is limited on amount of words but that’s a concern for me even if tight ends seem to produce year in and year out for Notre Dame.

It’s nice to see someone throw praise Ian Book’s way.  I know the guy is easy to shoot down and complain about but think about where your thoughts on this team would be if he wasn’t part of it and an unproven and inexperienced quarterback was starting in his spot.

The secondary is interesting to me.  Alohi Gilman was a fan favorite for good reason, when a huge play was needed he often provided it.  I’d be lying if I said I felt better about him and Kyle Hamilton together in coverage than I do about Hamilton, Isaiah Pryor and potentially Houston Griffith playing together.  That said, the loss of Troy Pride, Jr. is significant and one Notre Dame has to not let be massive.

And yes, if Notre Dame is to get wins over top-ten Wisconsin, likely pre-season number one Clemson and at USC then I also like their chances to make the College Football Playoff.

You Can Now Watch All 1993 Home Games Now Online

1993 was a magical year for Notre Dame. You can now watch every home game from that season here.

In either 1990 or ’91 I remember starting to watch Notre Dame football and liking them.  If I didn’t catch all the game I remember the old SportsChannel in Chicago replaying the condensed versions the following Sunday.  It was then I probably knew I would always be a bigger college football fan than professional football fan.

By the time 1992 came around my fandom grew to the point my grandpa who lived in Northwest Indiana would mail me the local newspapers of the Notre Dame and college football preview sections.

And then 1993 happened and it took me from liking Notre Dame and the first teams I watched with Rick Mirer and Jerome Bettis to a whole next level.  It also went hand in hand with the local high school team that would eventually go unbeaten and win the state championship.

It didn’t get much better than watching the Coal City Coalers dominate on Friday night and then watching Notre Dame do the same on Saturday.

Now Notre Dame has made the home part of that season available on YouTube, posting every home game from the year online.

Every home game from that season is now available and maybe, just maybe, we’ll have some fun with that in the weeks to come at Fighting Irish Wire in our own unique way.  In the meantime here are the links to the 1993 home games:

Sept. 4 – No. 7 Notre Dame vs. Northwestern

Sept. 18 – No. 4 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State

Oct. 9 – No. 4 Notre Dame vs. Pitt

Oct. 23 – No. 2 Notre Dame vs. USC

Nov. 13 – No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Florida State (we’ve been told this day was fun)

Nov. 20 – No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 17 Boston College (this one comes with a warning for all Notre Dame fans – seriously, props to them for having the guts to post it as well.  Had I been in charge I would have “mistakenly” forgotten the link)

So if you’re looking for something to watch all of the 1993 season is now available, at least in terms of home games.  It’d be nice to see them somehow get rights to add the Michigan game and Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M as well.

See Which Notre Dame Football Targets Made Rivals Top 100 for 2022

Rivals took the week to release their Top 100 for 2022, Notre Dame targets littered their list.

Throughout this past week Rivals has been releasing their Top 100 prospects for the 2022 class, day by day but without exact rankings. It may seem like a quite a way from either 2022 signing day, but it’s never to early to take a look at who stands out as some of the best prospects around the nation.

The Irish currently do not have any prospects committed for the ’22 class, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t hard at work trying to secure commits from some of the best players in the nation. Monday’s set of highlighted players with Irish offers saw Florida OT Julian Armella (5-Star), Wisconsin Safety Braelon Allen, Illinois Athlete Kaleb Brown, and Ohio LB Gabe Powers. Even tough Massachusetts LB Tyler Martin doesn’t hold an offer, Rivals Mike Farrell sees the Irish as a player in his recruitment. Brown and Powers are players that their experts see the Irish standing out for at the current moment.

Tuesday saw Wisconsin OT Joe Brunner, California WR Tetairoa McMillan, and Nevada OLB Cyrus Moss all named, all holding Irish offers. Farrell sees Brunner as a tough pull from to get out of state as the Badgers are viewed as the team to beat. The Irish are seen as a few schools that stand out early to McMillan and Moss while Michigan’s Will Johnson doesn’t hold an offer, but like Martin, Notre Dame is squarely in his recruitment.

The midweek group of players included California WR CJ Williams, Maryland DE Dani Dennis-Sutton, Colorado RB Gavin Sawchuk, Kansas S Dasan McCullough and Illinois WR Tyler Morris. In-state QB Brady Allen doesn’t hold a Notre Dame offer, but Farrell believes if that were to happen, the Irish would be right in the mix for the talented signal caller. Of the players who hold Irish offers, Williams, Sawchuk and Morris, the Blue and Gold are in the mix for their commitments.

Thursday once again saw players that have already caught the Irish’s eyes in Maryland OLB Jaishawn Barham, California Athlete Kamari Ramsey, and Pennsylvania RB Nicholas Singleton. Farrell sees Notre Dame as a team Ramsey is highly considering. New Jersey OT Jacob Allen and Ohio OT Blake Miller don’t hold an offer currently, but Farrell sees the Irish as a contender for his commitment if they throw their hat in the ring.

The final set of players on Friday had Ohio S CJ Hicks, Wisconsin C Carson Hinzman, Texas RB Emeka Megwa, and Florida DE Shemar Stewart. Farrell likes Notre Dame’s chances with Hicks and Hinzman as their recruitments pick up. No offer for Virginia DE Bryce Carter, but Farrell thinks if that offers comes from Brian Kelly and staff, the Irish could potentially stand out for Carter.

The recruitment for the 2022 class is just starting the heat up and there are many encouraging signs early on for an elite group of prospects to ultimately end up in South Bend. Brian Kelly and his staff have done a great job early of identifying top talent and offering them early. Hopefully this early work on the class has big time results later on.

Notre Dame Makes Florida DB Riley’s Top 7

The Irish coaching staff has made a very good impression on the DB after making a verbal offer just last week.

Although the dead period has been extended through the end of April, recruiting is still in full go and last night class of 2021 defensive back Philip Riley released his Top 7 schools going forwards. It was a pleasant surprise to see Notre Dame on the list after just offering Riley a little over one week ago.

The rest of the Florida’s stars Top 7 schools are all out of state, but Riley is not a native of the state, having moved there last year from Washington. The move payed off big time for Riley, as a huge junior season has seen his recruitment blow up, adding offers from USC, WVU, Miami, FSU and others in addition to his Top 7. His academic profile fits well with the Irish as well, with offers from Duke and Vanderbilt backing that up.

The defender has fantastic size for a corner, standing 6’0” and weighing 187-pounds, which on paper looks like a college-ready body. When watching his highlights, which you can see right here, his Bloomingdale High School teams plays a majority of man principles which plays anywhere.

Although Riley is unable to visit South Bend until the NCAA’s dead period is over, what Brian Kelly and his staff have done to impress the defensive back has been remarkable. If the coaching staff is able to continue to expand their relationship with Riley, there a potential the Irish won’t just make his Top 7 list.

NFL Draft: Five Notre Dame Players Taken in Latest DraftWire Mock

43rd – Chicago Bears – Cole Kmet, TE, Notre Dame
The Bears did just sign Jimmy Graham to a deal which means the Bears do in fact still have plenty of questions at tight end.

Good news:  we’ve made it to NFL Draft month with the event now less than three weeks from getting underway.

Bad news:  until then we’ll all be told rumors and be given mock drafts and we’ll use those in trying to figure out where we think each players are going to end up.

Enter:  The latest 2020 NFL Mock Draft to look at in regards to Notre Dame prospects.  This one courtesy of USA TODAY’s Draft Wire.

No former Notre Dame players are selected in the first round of this mock draft that actually goes four rounds deep.  We see a couple names pop up in round two however:

43rd – Chicago Bears – Cole Kmet, TE, Notre Dame
The Bears did just sign Jimmy Graham to a deal which means the Bears do in fact still have plenty of questions at tight end.

54th – Buffalo Bills – Julian Okwara, Edge, Notre Dame
I know the Bills have won nothing in Okwara’s lifetime but getting a spot as an edge rusher on that defensive line would be one of the best potential landing spots for him in terms of having a path to early success.

Round three sees another pair of Notre Dame players go in this particular mock draft.

82nd – Dallas Cowboys – Chase Claypool, WR/TE, Notre Dame
I don’t have a lot of belief that Claypool will last until 82 but everyone is entitled to their own opinions.  What I did find interesting in this pick was the author choosing to list Claypool at both wide receiver and tight end after a monster showing at the NFL Rookie Combine.

86th – Buffalo Bills – Troy Pride, Jr., CB, Notre Dame
There aren’t many better defenses to get to be a part of than Buffalo’s if you’re a young player.  For an undersized corner with great speed he’d have a chance to succeed here at a nickel spot.  I like it.

The final pick in this mock draft (it went through round four) happens in the fourth round.

132nd – Minnesota Vikings – Khalid Kareem, Edge, Notre Dame
A decade or so ago the Vikings were a hotbed for Notre Dame players to end up as they selected four former Fighting Irish from 2008-2012.  They have not taken one since selecting Harrison Smith in 2012, however (not that it means anything in regards to this specific draft).

 

The Latest Update on Notre Dame/Navy in Ireland

“We’re looking at all of those possibilities for alternate sites.  We would still like to to play it there if it’s at all possible.  I think it’s prudent that we’ve begun the process of looking at alternative sites and well, not necessarily knowing truly what the situation will be.”

We’re just under five months from when the 2020 college football season is supposed to kick-off and Notre Dame gets a part this year in Week Zero as they’re currently scheduled to take on Navy in Dublin, Ireland to start the year.  Due to the Covid-19 outbreak world-wide though, that and the season as we know it are anything but guaranteed.

The head coaches of both programs, Brian Kelly and Ken Niumatolo of Navy, joined Full Ride on ESPN U Radio Thursday and made news in regards to the season opener.

Are there contingency plans or have they at least begun being made if this game can’t be played in Ireland?

“Oh, absolutely” Kelly said, “We’re looking at all of those possibilities for alternate sites.  We would still like to to play it there if it’s at all possible.  I think it’s prudent that we’ve begun the process of looking at alternative sites and well, not necessarily knowing truly what the situation will be.”

So no, it hasn’t been cancelled.

Yet.

Niumatolo didn’t get asked about the chances of the game being played in Dublin but did get asked about the amount of time that’d be necessary in order to be able to play that game as scheduled.

“I think if you ask coaches, we’d all want longer. I saw something, I think it was Brian Kelly, talked about a month and a month. A month to start doing physical conditioning with your strength coach and another month to start practicing. I’ve heard somebody say, ‘Hey, we probably could do it in a month. The product may not be the greatest, so to speak.’

“Maybe your guys are in good enough shape that they won’t get hurt. From a fan’s perspective, it will look like football and things will be great. And from a coach’s perspective, maybe you’ll look and see your routes aren’t as crisp. Your pad-level isn’t as great, or whatever the case may be. I think you can still play.”

I wish I had a good answer on it but I don’t.  My rule of thumb is usually splitting the extremes so if one says four and one says eight weeks, my guess is you’re looking at six weeks realistically and almost certainly not a day shorter than that to have to be able to get ready.

Kelly also went on to discuss the high expectations he has for the 2020 Fighting Irish, starting with his quarterback and offense and then complimenting his linebackers especially when praising the defense.

So no, nothing has been canceled but it doesn’t sound like anyone is anticipating going to Ireland at this point, either.

Report: NCAA Has Discussed Delayed Football Season Start Dates

There are numerous dates the NCAA has prepared for in case the season can not start underway in the normal time frame.

It has been reported by CBS Sports that the NCAA has discussed potential adjustments for the upcoming college football season. In this ever-changing climate due to COVID-19, who really knows when college football will return.

Last week Brian Kelly spoke on when a start date would be the latest for the Irish, July 1st, which was one of the dates that the NCAA has made a model for along with June 1st and August 1st. It is clearly going to be a different feel to football this year, already missing out on spring ball, and until this epidemic is controlled, a real start date for college football can’t even be bantered around.

It makes plenty of sense for the NCAA to prepare for a delayed start to the season, as states nationwide have different stay-at-home orders at the moment. Schools are regulated by the NCAA to have up to 29 practices before their first game, so a July 1st start date doesn’t impact that much at all.

Even an August 1st start date isn’t all that terrible, although schools wouldn’t get to their full allotment of practices in such as the Irish. I feel as if there is potential for the contest against Navy in Dublin, Ireland to start the season could be moved stateside at some point.

There was also some dialogue of an October 1st start if need be, but the powers that be really haven’t discussed that time in detail much, meaning there is hope the season gets underway prior to that. There has been chatter of canceling out of conference games as well, which puts the Irish in a very unique situation. Something would have to give if this was the case in a shortened season.

Everyone wants football back and even if it’s a truncated version, and the masses would be happy. We should be happy about the fact that the NCAA is being proactive on this matter and trying to make sure college football is played any way possible this year.

Sports Illustrated Declares Notre Dame the New Offensive Line U

Sports Illustrated “crunched the numbers” and as much as I appreciate the work and effort to do so, can’t you just kind of look and figure that out?  All you really had to do was watch with your eyes open.

Notre Dame has been known as Tight End U to anyone paying attention in recent years, something we tracked back to the late-eighties earlier this week.  Notre Dame fans are aware of it but the nation was reminded today that it’s not just Tight End U, but also Offensive Line U as Sports Illustrated just said as much.

It really doesn’t take much thinking to figure it out.  You know the names – Nick and Zack Martin, Ronnie Stanley and Quenton Nelson.  These guys aren’t just Notre Dame guys made the NFL, these are the best of the best and All-Pro players.

Sports Illustrated “crunched the numbers” and as much as I appreciate the work and effort to do so, can’t you just kind of look and figure that out?  All you really had to do was watch with your eyes open.

Sports Illustrated used a point system to put this all together that was based off of the number of draft picks each school had and the level of play those players exhibited in the NFL.  Notre Dame didn’t have the most but the abilities of those there were far-exceeded any other school.

Now let’s just hope this year’s group takes a step in the run game to perform near that level in 2020.

Rivals has Notre Dame WR Commit Styles Jr on Flip Watch

The Irish staff need to continue to recruit the Ohio WR as Lorenzo Styles Jr. is still speaking with other schools.

This is not the news Irish fans want to see when it comes to Ohio wide receiver commit Lorenzo Styles Jr. After Deion Colzie decommitted from the program about two weeks ago, the 2021 recruiting class had just one player remaining at the position, Styles Jr.

This morning Rivals put Styles Jr. on flip watch, as we have already documented that the Michigan staff has reached out and face-timed with him. This clearly is concerning to the coaching staff; however, they are currently recruiting Styles Jr. as if he was an uncommitted prospect. That is exactly what they need to be doing as it seems like Michigan State along with Florida, Kentucky and potentially others school vying for his signature during one of the signing periods.

Although Styles Jr. is speaking with Rivals Michigan insider EJ Holland isn’t sure the staff will get him to flip, but “Styles is keeping the door open as evidenced by his conversations with not only Michigan but several schools like Florida, Kentucky and Michigan State.”

Mike Singer, Notre Dame’s Rivals insider, believes “there should be a level of concern here, but at the end of the day, I think Styles will stick with his Notre Dame pledge.” Everyone in Blue and Gold nation is hoping Singer is correct, as losing another wide receiver, especially to either of the mitten state schools, would surely sting.

Expectations for Notre Dame QB Commit Buchner High

California signal call and Irish commit Tyler Buchner has high expectations for his career in South Bend.

When you look at current recruiting rankings of quarterbacks, there is no doubt that you will see Notre Dame’s class of 2021 commit Tyler Buchner with the nations best. Just in the last two days, he has been highlighted by two different recruiting services as being someone to watch out for.

Starting out at Rivals, Notre Dame was grouped with the ACC as they looked at recruiting superlatives so far  for the 2021 class. Buchner was viewed as the best out-of-state commit, as Mike Farrell, Rival’s National Recruiting Director, has some nice things to say about the future Irish signal caller as they “once again going to California for a quarterback and landing a very good one.” Rivals has ranked Buchner as the 43rd overall player and the 2nd rated dual-threat quarterback in the nation.

With that high ranking, Buchner will have a lot of eyes on him and over at 247Sports named him as one of 10 recruits from the 2021 and 2022 class who will become household names. Four of those ten players are quarterback, as they are easily the most familiar faces in the sport. Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong thinks the eyes of the nation will be back on Buchner when he arrives on campus as “there will be an opportunity for Buchner to win the job upon his arrival.”

It wasn’t just Buchner highlighted in their article, as Notre Dame targets RB Will Shipley and RB Gavin Sawchuk were also featured. If the Irish are able to land either one of these talented running backs, pairing up with Buchner would be a killer backfield.

Buchner is the 50th best prospect and 3rd dual-threat quarterback according to 247Sports, making him a consensus top 50 recruit for the 2021 class. The California native will have plenty of expectation immediately when he arrives on campus, with starting as a true freshman not out of the question. I for one, am extremely excited to see how Buchner’s career in South Bend plays out.