Tag: Boston College

Notre Dame’s Carson Tinney caps big weekend with grand slam

What a weekend for him.

It’s not often that a baseball player has two home runs in one weekend that often are sought but rarely achieved. However, [autotag]Carson Tinney[/autotag] of Notre Dame now can make that claim forevermore. He began the Irish’s three-game weekend series vs. Boston College with a pinch-hit inside-the-park-home run.

If Tinney enjoyed his inside-the-parker, he had to enjoy what came two days later. With the Irish en route to their first no-hitter since 1988, Tinney contributed to the offensive cause with a four-bagger:

It’s heartwarming to see Tinney’s teammates emerge to celebrate his big moment with him. He isn’t one of the big bats on the team, but he sure fit the part during the Irish’s sweep of the Eagles. He was 3 of 4 with two homers and five RBIs. That gave him an otherworldly slugging percentage of 2.750.

When Tinney looks back on his career, he can say that for one weekend, he could hit dingers like the best of them.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Watch: Notre Dame alumnus Regis Philbin brings show to campus in 2004

This man was an absolute legend.

Regis Philbin had no problem bragging about Notre Dame, his alma mater. He loved it so much that he was buried on campus after his death in 2020. Long before Cedar Grove Cemetery became his permanent residence, he took his talk show “Live” to campus. It was October 2004, and while the football team had just dropped a 24-23 heartbreaker to Boston College, spirits were high as you’ll see in this highlight package uploaded to YouTube:

With Kelly Ripa’s husband, Mark Consuelos, having just taken over as her third permanent co-host since Philbin’s retirement, it serves as a reminder of just how difficult it can be to replace a TV legend. In this case, we’re talking about a TV legend that absolutely bled blue and gold. The fact that he was willing to share that with the world shows you what kind of man he was. We miss him every day, but his legacy remains.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame’s Carson Tinney hits inside-the-park home run

You’ll enjoy this.

One of the most exciting plays in baseball is the inside-the-park home run. It doesn’t happen very often, which is why people always yearn to see one whenever they go to a game. Those who attended Notre Dame’s game Friday against Boston College were lucky.

The Irish crushed the Eagles, 14-3, in seven innings, but one moment stood out above the rest. With the Irish already up big in the bottom of the sixth, [autotag]Carson Tinney[/autotag] was called on to pinch-hit for [autotag]Joey Spence[/autotag], who already had a home run in the game. Tinney is one of the lesser contributors on the team, but he crushed a pitch and had a moment he won’t ever forget:

With the victory, the Irish extended their hitting streak to three and got their record back to .500 at 18-18. Their ACC record remains paltry at 3-16, the exact record of the MLB-worst Chicago White Sox. Needless to say, this has been a trying season for the Irish, but moments like this will make it stand out a bit.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Report: Saints to host Boston College OL Christian Mahogany on pre-draft visit

Add another name to the list of 30 official pre-draft visits for the Saints. Get to know Boston College guard Christian Mahogany:

Add another name to the list of New Orleans Saints official visits ahead of the 2024 NFL draft. Boston College offensive guard Christian Mahogany is one of the 30 prospects meeting with the Saints at their headquarters in Metairie this spring, per NFL draft analyst Jared Tokarz.

Mahogany has been on our radar for a while — he’s someone we put on our 2024 draft watch list last summer, and who was linked to the Saints in way-too-soon mock drafts before the season started. His college career began at left guard before the Eagles asked him to move to the right side, where he’s started in 2021 and 2023 (Mahogany missed the 2022 season with a knee injury).

Mahogany has done well for himself. He weighed in beneath the Saints’ previously-established standards for a guard at 6-foot-3 and 314 pounds but that’s right in line with the thresholds Klint Kubiak valued in his previous stint as an offensive coordinator, and his impressive movement skills should serve him well as a pro; Mahogany posted a 9.63 Relative Athletic Score which ranked 58 out of 1,523 guards since 1987.

Boston College has been an offensive line factory in recent years with several high draft picks like Zion Johnson (Los Angeles Chargers in 2022) and Chris Lindstrom (Atlanta Falcons in 2019), and Mahogany could be next. He was talked up as the best player on the field at East-West Shrine Bowl practices earlier this offseason. He’s currently projected to be a second- or third-round pick, so Mahogany could be in play when the Saints are on the clock at No. 45.

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Former Saints OL coach Doug Marrone has a new college coaching job

Former Saints offensive line coach Doug Marrone has a new job working under Bill O’Brien at Boston College:

It didn’t take too long for Doug Marrone to land on his feet — he’s returned to the college level after being hired by Boston College as their new senior analyst, where he’ll work under head coach Bill O’Brien, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. He’ll be focusing on football strategy and research.

Marrone was let go along with most of the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coaching staff in February. Before he arrived for his second stint with the team (he was also Sean Payton’s offensive coordinator back in 2006), Marrone worked at Alabama and Syracuse in-between other stops in the NFL, so he knows the college game well. He and O’Brien coached together at Alabama in 2021.

He isn’t the only former Saints offensive line coach working at the collegiate level. Dan Roushar held the position for a long time and is still in New Orleans coaching at Tulane. Their predecessor Bret Ingalls is a coach at Michigan. The Saints’ current offensive line has fallen on hard times, but it’s always been a well-coached unit respected around the league. Hopefully incoming coaches John Benton, Rick Dennison, and Klint Kubiak can get it back on track.

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Notre Dame starts slowly, then dominates Boston College in second half

That was scary for a little bit.

Slow starts by Notre Dame have to be a concern for [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag]. But what ultimately matters is how the Irish finish, and they did that in a big way against Boston College. After it seemed early on like the Eagles might pull off a big upset, the Irish roared back and rolled to a 79-55 victory.

The Irish, who were without [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] because of an illness, struggled badly in the first quarter, shooting only 4 of 18 from the field and allowing the Eagles to go up by as much as 11. The second quarter was different as the Eagles didn’t make a field goal until the final seconds, and the Irish took advantage.

But even though they outscored the Eagles, 18-4, in the quarter to take a four-point halftime lead, the Irish still didn’t look impressive, especially since they missed all 11 3-point attempts in the first half.

The Irish came out for the second half looking more like the team we’ve seen all year. They outscored the Eagles, 50-30, for the rest of the game as the talent gap between the two programs became obvious. That scoring output helped by the fact that they shot 64.5% from the floor.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had an extremely balanced game of 19 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers that got the second half going for the Irish. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] had a 16-point, seven-rebound outing, and [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored 11.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

How Notre Dame still can earn a top-four seed in NCAA Tournament

It’s doable.

Notre Dame is running out of chances to strengthen its NCAA Tournament resume. Every bracketology currently has the Irish as a No. 5 or No. 6 seed, which is bad if they want to host the first two rounds. Recent losses to Louisville and NC State haven’t helped, and their most recent wins have done little more than keep their needle where it is.

The Irish currently have an NET Ranking of 10th and a NET SOS of 25th. Their next two opponents are lowly ones in Clemson and Boston College, so while it’s important that they win those games, they won’t help their resume. All eyes will be on their last two regular-season games against ACC-leading Virginia Tech and Louisville, which have respective NET Rankings of 14th and 23rd.

So what does this mean for the Irish’s ever-decreasing chances to gain a No. 4 seed or better for March Madness? As I have a couple of times already, here’s what my friend Lucas Mitzel had to say while also giving out some additional NET Rankings:

NET Rankings of Notre Dame’s remaining opponents

A win vs. some teams would be worth more than wins vs. others down the stretch.

Notre Dame has six games left before the ACC Tournament. Of those games, four of them really will give the Irish a chance to show it can hang with some of women’s basketball’s best teams. They need a strong showing in those games, too, because while they’re a lock for the NCAA Tournament, no bracketologist currently has them as a top-four seed. That would mean not being able to host the first two rounds as it did last year.

The Irish currently have an NET Ranking of 10th after losing to Louisville and then beating Florida State. And while their NET SOS of 47th is higher than it was a week ago, it’s still very low. As my World Series history podcast co-host Lucas Mitzel relayed to me, the average NET SOS among the top 16 NET Ranking team is 26th.

The Irish can improve their odds of being a tournament host depending on how well they finish the regular season especially. Here’s their remaining schedule and the NET Rankings for their opponents:

Patriots assistant coach joining Bill O’Brien at Boston College

A new vacancy has opened on the Patriots’ coaching staff

Former New England Patriots tight ends coach Will Lawing is reportedly expected to join Bill O’Brien at Boston College.

O’Brien was recently hired as the Eagles’ new head coach, after initially accepting a job as the offensive coordinator for Ohio State. Lawing coached under O’Brien at previous stops in Houston, Alabama and New England. Now, he’s following him once more for a new venture with Boston College.

This was simply a situation of Lawing being an O’Brien guy and following him to the next destination. Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Lawing is expected to accept an offensive coordinator job at Boston College.

The Patriots have been hard at work trying to fill their vacant coaching staff positions. This effort has included a broader search considering the team is seemingly working to fill every position, instead of assigning fewer jobs with increased overall roles.

There’s a sense of normalcy back in New England with Bill Belichick no longer in charge, and all of this is just a part of the process.

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Social media reaction to Chip Kelly leaving UCLA for vacated Ohio State offensive coordinator job

What a wild turn of events in the Pac-12… or rather, the Big Ten.

It has been the worst-kept secret in football. Chip Kelly wanted out of Westwood. He had been interviewing for every NFL offensive coordinator job that has come up in the past weeks and everyone knew his days at UCLA were numbered. Going to Ohio State, however, is not what anyone would have expected a few weeks ago.

Nobody predicted how this would all play out. Bill O’Brien was hired as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State on January 18, but he took the vacant Boston College coaching position Friday morning and the college football coaching dominoes began to fall again. Within an hour, rumors of Kelly stepping down at UCLA to take O’Brien’s place began to surface.  Later that afternoon it was confirmed that Kelly was out at UCLA and on his way to Columbus. It is a huge blow to UCLA’s athletic director, Martin Jarmond, and a proud Bruin athletic department as they enter the Big Ten for their inaugural season.

It was an inevitable end that had played out with a surprise conclusion.  Here is how social media reacted to the news: