Tag: Cain Madden

5 Stars: The best and the worst of Notre Dame’s win over Stanford

Once again, a lot of good for the Irish

The Irish really didn’t need to do much to defeat Stanford, as long as they played an average game, it should be a Notre Dame win. That’s exactly what happened, although you could argue that it wasn’t an average game for the Irish but a very good regular season win. There once again wasn’t too much to complain about, but here are the best, 5 stars, and worst, 1 star, performances for the Irish against the Cardinal.

ESPN’s SP+ is not kind to Notre Dame

The metric ESPN uses to project win totals has Notre Dame slipping down a rung this fall.

Since the disastrous 2016 season which saw Notre Dame stumble to a 4-8 record, Brian Kelly vowed to turnaround the program. That’s exactly what he has done, winning no less than 10 games in the four years following, leading the Irish to a sparkling 43-8 record. Two berths into the College Football Playoff and an odd ACC regular season title included also.

This impressive run still doesn’t give the computers at ESPN much confidence that the Irish can replicate what they’ve done over that time frame, as they expect them to take a dip this fall. Their SP+ is projecting the Irish to finish with just 8 wins, their lowest total since the 2016 season.

It’s just a project and we have all seen the Irish outperform this metric. Should you be worried? Maybe a little, with a brand new quarterback, 4 of 5 offensive line positions gone from last year, and questions surrounding the pass catchers.

Why shouldn’t you worry, well the new quarterback, Jack Coan, has experience that none of the others have in his position group. Cain Madden was added to the offensive line group via the transfer portal and Brian Kelly has recruited extremely well on the line. Same with the receivers, they’re just green.

We haven’t even touched the defense, where Marcus Freeman takes over for Clark Lea and that group shouldn’t miss a beat. It might even be better than last years group, that held the national champions, Alabama, to their lowest point total of the season.

Will there be games that are closer than expected, sure, but that doesn’t mean the Irish can’t pull out those wins. If I had to bet, Notre Dame outperforms ESPN’s SP+ and get’s to the double-digit win threshold for the fifth season in a row.

Guessing who leads Notre Dame in major offensive stat categories

Who are you offensive stat leader projections for this fall?

It’s close, the season is so close, in just under two weeks college football is back. As training camps around the country are close to naming starters, Notre Dame has jumped the gun and already done so at a major position. Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan will replace the departed Ian Book at quarterback and take over the offense.

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Now is the time to put out guesses as to who will be the top performers for the Irish this fall. Take a look below at my guess as to who will lead Notre Dame in the major offensive categories.

Four Notre Dame players named to Preseason All-American Team

See who made this year’s list for the Irish.

The Associated Press has released its Preseason All-American Team, and Notre Dame has four representatives on it. For most schools, one player making this team would be cause for celebration. However, Notre Dame is not “most schools”, and there are plenty of players expected to have fantastic seasons. While it’s obviously not a guarantee of success for the upcoming season, it shows how confident sportswriters are in a given player.

Here are those who represent the Irish on this prestigious team in 2021:

Three Notre Dame players make The Athletics preseason All-American team

Three of the best players in the country call South Bend their homes

Once again Notre Dame is well represented on a preseason All-American teams, this time with three different players on The Athletic’s list. There probably should have been a fourth, offensive lineman Cain Madden, but you can’t always get everyone you’d like to see on these lists. Find out below with players made The Athletics list (subscription required).

Six Notre Dame players earn spot on Senior Bowl Watch List

Who could be headed to Mobile after the season?

The Senior Bowl always is a big deal for players who have just finished their eligibility to play college football. It often serves as a major showcase for any player hoping to get drafted by the NFL only a few months later. While we obviously have no clue who will be going to the 2022 game at this point, it’s fun to look at the players who have a chance. This year’s Senior Bowl Watch List has been released, and six Notre Dame players are on it:

Guessing Notre Dame biggest liability heading into the 2021 season

This group really needs to bring it this fall

Recently the Twitter handle of Big Game Boomer released what they believe is the biggest liability for each of the Power 5 schools. In their estimation Notre Dame’s is the offensive line.

It’s hard to disagree with that, after seeing four of the five starters from last year head off to the NFL. Jarrett Patterson is the only holdover from the 2020 season and while there is still a ton of talent on the various positions on the offensive line, they’re very green. Don’t forget about getting Marshall transfer Cain Madden, the All-American only strengthens the group.

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With some talk about true freshman Rocco Spindler and Blake Fisher having a chance to start, you can see where Big Game Boomer is coming from. I don’t see it that way, in my estimation the offensive line will have some growing pains, but should be fine as the season progresses. The biggest area of concern in my mind would be the wide receivers.

The leading WR in terms of yardage, Javon McKinley is gone to the NFL. As is the touchdown leader from last year Ben Skowronek. You might be thinking about Michael Mayer, well he’s a tight end and although a great threat, not as a wide receiver.

Avery Davis is the leading returning receiver with just 24 catches for 322-yards and 2 scores. Braden Lenzy is the second leading returning receiver, he had just 7 receptions last year for under 100-yards.

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The difference is that the talent on the offense line is just green, they don’t have much experience. The same can’t be said about the wide receiver group. Multiple players will need to step up and in my eyes, this position group posses the biggest liability for Brian Kelly and the Irish this fall.