Tag: 2020 notre dame

Notre Dame ranked in bottom five of all-time CFP teams twice

Hopefully, the Irish can shed their bad CFP reputation soon.

It’s no secret Notre Dame hasn’t been great in its two College Football Playoff appearances to date. The Irish were smoked by Clemson in the 2018 playoff, and their 2020 semifinal against Alabama didn’t go much better. Twitter user College Football Sideline likely took this into consideration when ranking all teams that have made the CFP since it began in 2014:

Sure, the Irish had the misfortune of playing two of teams listed in the top three of this list, but who they played doesn’t matter to most Irish fans and certainly not anyone outside the fan base. All a list like this does is reinforce the narrative that the Irish never should qualify for the playoff again because they always get smoked.

Well, a new era is upon us with [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] in charge, and he’ll have a nice team in his first season. We don’t know if they’ll be good enough for a third appearance, but a step in the right direction would be nice at least.

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C’Bo Flemister – look back at his Notre Dame career

All the best to C’Bo going forward!

[autotag]C’Bo Flemister[/autotag] was part of Notre Dame’s 2018 recruiting class as he was rated as a three-star running back out of Pike County High School in Georgia.  Although never a lead back for the Fighting Irish, Flemister had a few moments in the sun and found the end zone 10 times in his Notre Dame career.

Flemister had an off the field issue after a promising 2020 season that led to him hardly seeing the field whatsoever in 2021.  The running back’s career high in yards came when he ran for 58 at Georgia Tech in 2020 while he ran for 53 more and a pair of scores against Boston College two weeks later.

Flemister entered the transfer portal a couple of weeks back and officially posted his goodbye to Notre Dame on Monday.  Take a look back at Flemister’s Notre Dame stats and some of his best pictures with the Fighting Irish below.

STATS:

  • 110 carries for 471 yards (4.3 ypc), 10 rushing touchdowns
  • 3 receptions for 49 yards (16.3 ypr)

Related – 2022 Notre Dame football transfer portal tracker

Former Notre Dame O-lineman Dillan Gibbons transfers to Florida State

The Irish will see an old friend to begin the season.

Four days after Notre Dame offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons entered the transfer portal, he has made his decision. Gibbons, a native of Clearwater, Florida, will be headed close to home as he suits up for Florida State as a graduate student:

This makes Notre Dame’s 2021 season opener all the more intriguing as it’s slated to happen against the Seminoles on Sept. 5 in Tallahassee. On top of that, Gibbons and the rest of the Irish’s offensive line played a key role when these teams met in 2020. The unit didn’t allow any sacks and made 554 yards of total offense, including 353 on the ground, possible. That rushing total was more than double what the Seminoles’ defense allowed on average going into the game.

It will be interesting to see whether Gibbons can provide the Seminoles with Irish’s defensive line’s Achilles’ heel during their game plan or if that D-line knows exactly what to expect from him and uses that to its advantage. Of course, it will be more interesting if that particular aspect determines the outcome.

Documentary about Notre Dame’s 2020 season to air on ACC Network

Set you DVR.

It’s still hard to believe that we just had a season in which Notre Dame was part of a conference. The Irish made it count, qualifying for the ACC Championship Game and then, making the College Football Playoff. Now, you can relive it all in the ACC Network’s new documentary about Notre Dame’s 2020 season.

“Notre Dame Football: A Year in the ACC” will debut on the ACC Network at 8 p.m. EDT on Monday. Among the highlights will be the story of how the Irish joined the ACC for the season, a feature on Daelin Hayes, behind-the-scenes footage from the Irish’s regular-season win over top-ranked Clemson and interviews with key personnel from the season.

While the 2020 season paled in comparison to some of the more memorable seasons in Notre Dame history, it still is one the best to unfold over the past decade. If you have the ACC Network, give it a watch so that you can remember what it was like as it all happened.

Notre Dame football: Davis gets honorable mention for Clemson performance

Avery Davis made two huge plays down the stretch for Notre Dame on Saturday and on Tuesday was recognized nationally for that performance.

Avery Davis could have been one of the goats in Saturday’s upset of Clemson had things not ended well for Notre Dame.

The former quarterback turned wide receiver struggled much of the night but came up absolutely huge on the final drive, taking an Ian Book pass 50 yards inside the Clemson five and then finishing the game-tying drive by pulling in a touchdown reception to tie the game three plays later.

He finished with a total of four receptions for 78 yards in the thriller and on Tuesday was named an honorable mention for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award’s Player of the Week Award.

Related:  The best photos from Notre Dame’s upset of No. 1 Clemson

The following was the official release from the Notre Dame Athletics department that was sent out Tuesday morning:

Davis Tabbed Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Honorable Mention

NOTRE DAME, Indiana — University of Notre Dame wide receiver Avery Davis was named honorable mention for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Player of the Week award for his performance in the win over then-No. 1 Clemson. The award recognizes breakout performances from players who hail from Texas or attend school in the state.

Davis made the game-changing play vs. Clemson to keep Irish hopes alive on their final drive of the fourth quarter. With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Davis sped downfield and reeled in a 53-yard pass from quarterback Ian Book, and was brought down at the Clemson four-yard line. Two plays later, Book hit Davis for the equalizing touchdown to send the game to overtime.

The 53-yard reception in the fourth quarter was Davis’ longest of the season. The touchdown pass to Davis from Book was Davis’ second TD reception of the season and fourth of his career.

In total, Davis caught four passes for 78 yards in the win.

Related:  Awards keep coming for Owusu-Koramoah and Notre Dame

Notre Dame offensive line rated highest by massive margin

Just how much better than every other offensive line has Notre Dame’s played this year? PFF has that incredible answer for you.

If you’ve been following the rankings of offensive lines from Pro Football Focus this year you already know that they’ve been very high on Notre Dame’s offensive line, but just how high they are on the big uglies for the Irish compared to anyone else might surprise you.

In their most recently updated rankings that were released late Wednesday, Notre Dame didn’t just get the top overall offensive line grade for the season, but did so by an extremely large margin.

It’s worth noting that Duke has a decent defensive front but that the competition Notre Dame has faced isn’t going to threaten for too many accolades this fall.

That said, up front the Irish haven’t just handled their business but entirely dominated it.

Yesterday we looked at how both Liam Eichenberg and Jarrett Patterson were called two of the best non-quarterbacks in all of Power Five football so far this season and without much surprise, the entire offensive line falls in line with those rankings.

It almost goes without saying at this point but as excited as we are for how well they’ve played so far in 2020, we’ll let the performances against the likes of Pitt and Clemson’s star-studded defensive lines decide just how good this offensive line ends up being, but clearly early returns have been outstanding.

Notre Dame Football: Is a leader at running back emerging?

Does Notre Dame have a running back starting to emerge from the back in the battle for reps?

One thing we’ve discussed this summer is that Notre Dame has a stockpile of options at running back, but that there isn’t a lot of faith in what those backs will be able to in 2020.

When Brian Kelly met the media for the first time back in the first week of fall camp, he noted the weight freshman Chris Tyree came in at and that Tyree wasn’t going to just be a gadget guy in 2020.  Kelly was also complimentary towards another running back earlier this week when asked about red-shirt freshman, Kyren Williams.

“I think the hard work, his commitment in the offseason has put himself in a position now where he’s what we thought he would be,” Kelly said. “He can catch the football. He’s got really good vision, escapability. He’s not afraid to block or run the ball up between the tackles so he’s going to be a really key piece for us moving into the season.” – HC Brian Kelly

Liam Eichenberg was interviewed after a recent practice and shared the following while discussing the offensive, specifically the running backs:

“The running backs – Kyren Williams is having a great camp. The offense is rolling. It’s been good.” – LT Liam Eichenberg

Williams played in the first four games of 2019 as a true freshman, getting four carries and one reception that totaled 29 yards.  He also returned a pair of kickoffs for a combined 35 yards.

It’s early and it’s going strictly on words from his coach and teammate, but it would appear Kyren Williams is turning heads and doing a lot to earn a good amount of touches early in the 2020 campaign.

Notre Dame Football: Injury Bug Bites Defensive Line

Notre Dame is only three days into fall practice but the injury bug has already started to make its unwanted presence around the football team. 

Notre Dame is only three days into fall practice but the injury bug has already started to make its unwanted presence around the football team.

Just over a week ago news came out that receiver Kevin Austin, who was expected to have a breakout season, broke his foot and will be out an unknown amount of time.

Then on the first day of actual practice this past Wednesday we got word that three players would go on medical scholarship as their football careers are over due to different injuries.

And Friday morning brought news that defensive lineman NaNa Osafo-Mensah will likely miss the entire 2020 season after injuring his knee in football related activities on Tuesday and having surgery to repair his lateral meniscus on Thursday.

Osafa-Mensah was a four-star recruit getting set to start his sophomore campaign at Notre Dame.  Osafa-Mensah played in two games as a freshman in 2019, recording a tackle against New Mexico.

Osafa-Mensah figured to be in a battle to make the second string on the depth chart as an edge rusher behind the likes of Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji.

A Notre Dame First (?) for Braden Lenzy

Whatever it ends up being, the 2020 college football season hasn’t even kicked off yet but Notre Dame wide receiver Braden Lenzy has already become the first player in recent school history to accomplish something.

Whatever it ends up being, the 2020 college football season hasn’t even kicked off yet but Notre Dame wide receiver Braden Lenzy has already become the first player in recent school history to accomplish something.

Or perhaps, be assigned something is the more accurate way of putting that.

I’ve had trouble finding the exact history of this both in the history of college football and at Notre Dame, but with number 0 being allowed to be issued to players this year, Lenzy will wear the number for the Fighting Irish.

According to the always-reliable Wikipedia, “Players could formerly use the numbers 0 and 00, numbers that were phased out in the 1970s” but I haven’t been able to find a list I trust on those who have worn the number.

Whatever the exact history, Braden Lenzy will become the first Notre Dame player to wear No. 0 in a long, long time.

Lenzy averaged almost 19 yards each time he touched the ball on offense last year, four times going for a touchdown.  The hope is that he’ll become an even bigger weapon in new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees’s offense this season.

If you’re looking for a connection perhaps it’s the fact he’s from Oregon that makes the big “0” on his chest and back so appealing for this season?

Or maybe it’s just a way to be different?

Or maybe Lenzy is sick of being compared to Rocket Ismail because both guys showed off Olympic type speed while wearing jersey number 25 at Notre Dame.

Whatever the case, Lenzy is the first player in Notre Dame history to be assigned jersey number zero.

Now here’s to hoping he actually gets to wear it in a game this fall.

9 Notre Dame players miss first practice after pair of positive COVID-19 tests

Notre Dame football has now administered 619 COVID-19 tests since testing began in June with only four positive tests in that time.  The concern is that half of those four came in this latest round, after students returned to Notre Dame’s campus.

Notre Dame football administered their latest round of COVID-19 testing this past Monday as tests were administered to 117 players.  Although still not a huge number, two positive tests came back.

One of the players who tested positive had what is being called a mild case while the other is asymptomatic.

An additional seven players are in quarantine after contact tracing which leaves a total of nine players out for the first practice of the year this Wednesday afternoon.

43 staff members were also given tests, all of which came back negative.

Notre Dame football has now administered 619 COVID-19 tests since testing began in June with only four positive tests in that time.  The concern is that half of those four came in this latest round, after students returned to Notre Dame’s campus.

The question now is can the spread be contained in and around both the football team and University.  Quick action was taken which is obviously a great step but when the next round of testing comes how many more players and potentially coaches will have been exposed?

Even without a massive number of positive tests, this sets up an incredibly important round of testing next time around for Notre Dame football.