Tag: 2022 football

Notre Dame-Syracuse kickoff time announced

Make sure to drink your coffee on Saturday…

Notre Dame goes back on the road next week as they’ll make their first trip to Syracuse’s campus since 2003 when the Orange routed the Irish 38-12.  The two will meet this coming weekend with Syracuse fresh off a heartbreaking loss at Clemson while Notre Dame is coming off a victory over UNLV.

The kickoff time had been delayed in being announced as ESPN had exercised a six-day hold for the kick time as well as the TV network the game would air on.

It turns out it’ll be a 12:00 p.m. ET kickoff and air on ABC as Syracuse will host an Orange out.

But don’t forget – it’s no longer the Carrier Dome that the game will be played in.

Related:

Notre Dame earns fourth victory: 5 instant takeaways

ESPN updates top 25 power rankings following Week 8

Nick Shepkowski’s new Top 10 rankings after unbeatens fall

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The latest Notre Dame-Ohio State betting information

What bet(s) are you making here?

Pretty much nobody outside of South Bend, Ind. seems to be giving No. 5 Notre Dame a snowball’s chance in hell of upsetting No. 2 Ohio State when the two midwest powerhouses open the season this Saturday night in Columbus.  The Irish are as accomplished as nearly every team in the nation over the last five years but they just happen to be taking on one of the very few that are more-so in that time.

Two premier programs, a new head coach who happened to play his college football at the other, an iconic venue, and being the biggest game of perhaps September in college football will only make the lights that much brighter.  How will Notre Dame fare in Marcus Freeman’s first regular season game as head coach?

Here are the latest lines, courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook:

  • Pointspread: Ohio State -17.5 (that’s not a misprint)
  • Moneylines: Ohio State -850, Notre Dame +550
  • Total: 58.5 points

Marcus Freeman asked back in April to keep pushing the spread up so that only the players on his team would be believing Notre Dame had a chance.  That number has continued to rise all off-season like he asked, now let’s hope he can go out and lead the Irish to shock the world.

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Notre Dame football: Freeman names starting quarterback

Hardly a surprise…

It’s hardly a surprise but it is news as Notre Dame announced Saturday that sophomore [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] will be the starting quarterback for the 2022 season.  When fall camp opened just over a week ago [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] stated that there was still an open competition between Buchner and junior [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag] and that when one pulled far enough away from the other that a starter would be named.

That time has come as Buchner will get the start against Ohio State on Labor Day weekend.  Buchner completed 21 of 35 passes last season for 298 yards and three touchdowns while also throwing three interceptions.  He added 336 yards on the ground while galloping for three more scores.

It’s not a surprise to me that Buchner won the competition as he was the perceived favorite since the end of last season.  To me the bigger question is how big is the gap between Buchner and Pyne as it has been a struggle for Buchner to stay on the field dating back to his junior year of high school.

For more on the Notre Dame quarterback room in 2022 be sure to check out our position preview.

See your favorite Notre Dame quarterbacks in this photo gallery:  Fighting Irish QBs through the years!

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Notre Dame football: Tommy Rees not(r)ebook

Tommy Rees gave the 4-1-1 on Notre Dame’s offense early in camp. Here is what you have to know.

Notre Dame is two practices into their 2022 fall camp as their opener at Ohio State now sits less than four weeks away.  Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees met the media after the second practice of the fall Saturday and shared a bit of a peak behind the curtain about what is going on with Notre Dame’s offense early in camp.

Where have the Irish spent literally all of their time working on the offense early on?

What are the early returns on the quarterback competition that Marcus Freeman discussed on Friday?

And why did one of the nation’s best centers move to guard?

All of that and more from Rees on Saturday is below.

Notre Dame football: Freeman leaves door open for Logan Diggs at Ohio State

How much would this help if he’s able to go?

When Notre Dame sophomore running back [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag] tore his labrum in the spring game this past April the assumption was that his at least first month of the 2022 regular season was over.  Fast forward a few months to the start of fall camp and although there is no guarantee that it isn’t, Marcus Freeman isn’t so certain Diggs won’t be able to go in the opener at Ohio State on Labor Day weekend.

Freeman spoke Friday after the opening practice of fall camp and discussed who would be unavailable for the opener.  He mentioned wide receiver [autotag]Joe Wilkins[/autotag], tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag], and running back [autotag]Jadarian Price[/autotag] but did not mention Diggs.

“Now, there’s a progression for some guys getting back. We can’t just go (from) zero and put them in there 100. So, we have some guys on limited reps. Obviously Logan Diggs and we have Marist Liufau on some limit reps today. But for the most part, those three other guys we know will be out for the first game. And then we expect those other guys that may have limited reps today to be ready to roll.” – Marcus Freeman

That certainly isn’t a guarantee by any means but it at least gives a bit of hope that Notre Dame won’t enter the Horseshoe just under a month from today with only Chris Tyree, Audric Esteem, and Gi’Bran Payne as their only available scholarship backs.

If you look at how Ohio State lost their two games last year it was from a heavy dose of the opponents running game, something Notre Dame will be looking hard to exploit in hopes of pulling the upset.

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Notre Dame secondary ranked among nation’s best

Are you buying this hype?

We’ve started our positional breakdowns here at Fighting Irish Wire with the quarterbacks and running backs done and the rest of the offense to come this week.  Soon after we’ll get to the defensive side of the ball and the secondary to be more specific.

When we discuss that might we be talking about the strength of this entire Notre Dame defense?  And if so, when was the last time you looked at a Notre Dame defense and said the defensive backs were what you trusted the most?

There are certainly arguments to be made for other position groups as well but Notre Dame’s secondary received some grand praise from College Football News as they were called the nation’s second-best unit by the outlet recently.

Here is what Pete Fiutak of College Football News said about the Notre Dame defensive backs (and check out the link to see who Fiutak ranks right above and right below Notre Dame):

There’s a shot the secondary turns into the team’s biggest strength. Corners Clarence Lewis and Cam Hart can hit, the depth is – for the most part – there for all spots, the safeties are experienced, and on top of all of that, Northwestern transfer Brandon Joseph might be the best safety in college football.

I’ve thought for a while simply by watching the improvement in the secondary and specifically at cornerback that [autotag]Mike Mickens[/autotag] doesn’t get enough credit for his work since replacing Todd Lyght following the 2019 season.

Is this unit the second best in the nation?  I hesitate to go quite that far but if it turns out to be you may very well be looking at one of the two or three best defenses in all of college football in 2022.

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Athlon sports releases 2023 college football preseason top 25

Who is your most overrated and underrated on this list?

I don’t know the exact date that it officially stops being “too early” when ranking college football teams ahead of a season but if I was college football’s commissioner that day would be whenever preseason preview magazines go on news stands.

Well, what do you know, Athlon Sports has released their preseason magazine for the 2023 season which is available for your purchase now.  They do a fantastic job of breaking down key returnees and losses for each squad and give great insight as to why it’ll be a season to remember or to forget for each time nationally this fall.

Without spilling the beans of the entire magazine and their details to each team, I’ll instead share their top 25.

For your information, you can order a copy of their magazine here.

Brady Quinn’s expectations for Notre Dame in Marcus Freeman’s first year

How high are your expectations for the Irish in 2022?

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is one of the best in the game as he’s won a Super Bowl, appeared in another, and never had a losing season despite being in charge since the 2007 season.  Tomlin often says “the standard is the standard” in terms of what his expectations for the Steelers are.

When you’re talking about a team who has won six Super Bowls its obvious what that standard is.

Related: An early look at Notre Dame’s 2022 football schedule

Although his standard wasn’t quite as high for Notre Dame when asked about it earlier this week, former Fighting Irish quarterback [autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag] had a very similar response to what his expectations are in [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag]‘s first season as head coach.

“Well, I think it’s really a standard that’s been set when he first got there as one year as a defensive coordinator before he got elevated to head coach,” the two-time Heisman Trophy finalist said, “It’s double digit wins. It’s trying to go to the College Football Playoff (CFP). They’ve now been in the hunt for that over the past five years. That’s what the expectation is. That’s the standard now.”  – Brady Quinn

Quinn, who was appearing on CBS Sports also discussed the good (ability to run) and bad (turnovers) in breaking down what [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] brings to the table as well.  You can hear the full interview here.

Related:

Notre Dame’s top-20 quarterback recruits since 2000

Top-10 passing yard leaders in Notre Dame history

Where Notre Dame, opponents rank in ESPN’s SP+ Rankings projection for 2022

Who is the most surprising to you?

The ESPN SP+ Rankings have grown in interest over the last few years as advanced analytics become more a part of college football not just for coaching staffs, but for fans as well.

If you’re unaware of what SP+ is, our colleagues at Buckeyes Wire gave this explanation earlier this week.

“A predictive formula Bill Connelly uses and includes returning production, recruiting, recent history and other data that — according to ESPN — are built as a “tempo and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football … These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information that we have been able to gather to date.”

So based off of that information, where does Notre Dame rank nationally and of significant interest, where do Notre Dame’s 2022 opponents rank in the first edition of the SP+ Rankings (subscription required) for this fall?

Should Notre Dame-Ohio State move to Sunday night?

What day and what time would you prefer this one be played?

Notre Dame fans are plenty used to seeing the Fighting Irish play on Sunday night of Labor Day weekend.  Last season kicked off with Notre Dame surviving a scare at Florida State on the first Sunday night of September while 2016 saw the disaster of a season begin with a Sunday night thriller at Texas.

Brett Ludwiczak of Land-Grant Holy Land chimed in recently that because of the storylines and bigness of Notre Dame-Ohio State this coming September, that the season opener should be moved to prime time on Sunday night of Labor Day weekend.

Related: Notre Dame all-time vs. each current Big Ten team

For the most part I disagree and I’ll get to why but Ludwiczak did raise one fantastic point that I’ll share now.

Another reason I’d love to see the Ohio State opener pushed back a day is so it doesn’t get the Big Noon Saturday treatment. I know the FOX noon game is going to have to be something we get used to, especially with the Big Ten and FOX likely to strengthen their deal in the coming years. It still doesn’t change the fact that noon kickoffs are the worst. Plus, a nooner in early September could be painfully hot for those in attendance.

For the love of everything holy he’s right that this game shouldn’t be a 12 p.m. ET kickoff.  If ever a game were built for primetime on opening weekend, wouldn’t it be between Notre Dame and Ohio State in this year to come of all years?

I know Fox did very well with their Big Noon Kickoff games this past season but can we all agree that noon ET kickoffs should be reserved for the lesser compelling Power Five games?

Indiana and Illinois who meet that weekend are a perfect representative of what a noon kickoff should look like on Labor Day weekend, not a couple of blue bloods who are located only a few hours away and have met just a handful of times historically.

As for Sunday however, I’m simply just not a fan of Sunday night games.  Sure, it’s great to be able to watch all the other contests on opening weekend and not worry about missing your team.  The fact this is a true home-and-home between Notre Dame and Ohio State in the era of big-time contests being played in NFL stadiums is hat tip-worthy for both schools.

College football is also meant for Saturdays, even if that Sunday night of Labor Day weekend slot has become quite a hit.

Sign me up for the Irish and Buckeyes under the lights but can you please make it for Saturday night like the good lord intended?

Related:

An early look at Notre Dame’s 2022 football schedule

Notre Dame coaching staff tracker

Notre Dame transfer portal tracker