Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
What will you most remember about Jack Coan from his one year at Notre Dame?
Jack Coan only played football at Notre Dame for one season but had enough memorable moments in that season that his efforts won’t soon be forgotten in or around South Bend. Coan will play his final collegiate game on Saturday in the Fiesta Bowl as he’ll quarterback the Irish against a stingy Oklahoma State defense.
Coan met the media earlier this week and discussed his career, Oklahoma State’s defense, and his one-time commitment to Notre Dame as a lacrosse player.
Should Austin stay one more year?
Notre Dame wide receiver Kevin Austin has been discussed for his great potential for seemingly years. Injuries and off-the-field issues kept Austin from reaching that potential for a long while however.
That is until this regular season when Austin hauled in 42 receptions for 783 yards and six touchdowns.
Will Austin, who still has eligibility remaining, return for another go at Notre Dame or will he dip his feet in the NFL draft waters?
He discussed that and the Fiesta Bowl ahead of Saturday’s contest versus Oklahoma State.
What was your favorite moment of the blowout victory?
No. 6 Notre Dame should be moving up in the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night when the new rankings are released. Their 45-14 win over Stanford wasn’t competitive, although Stanford was able to end the Irish’s streak of not allowing a touchdown against previously in all of November.
Notre Dame was in complete control of Saturday night’s game and moved to 11-1. Will it ultimately be a strong enough resume to get the Irish to their third College Football Playoff appearance in four seasons?
Related: Notre Dame cruises past Stanford – 5 instant takeaways
Time will tell on that but be sure to enjoy this night and season. In what was seen by many as a potential rebuilding year, Notre Dame went 11-1 while getting a bunch of young players a ton of playing time and development.
Celebrate this game and season and check out the highlights from the victory below:
11-1 ☘️#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/H57OOLBCSe
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 28, 2021
Related: Five plays that loomed large in Notre Dame’s 45-14 win at Stanford
Who has had a better 2021 season: Tommy Rees or Marcus Freeman? And share with us why…
The word “interesting” can barely describe what the experience of watching Notre Dame’s offense has been like through the first seven games of 2021. With an almost entirely reworked offensive line, a new quarterback, a second new quarterback, a third new quarterback, back to the second and first quarterbacks again, and new receivers have meant for growing pains.
With all of that said it’s easy to see why Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has had his hands full this year. At times I’ve thought he’s done a magnificent job getting what he has from a flawed group. At others, like the play-calling immediately following Bo Bauer’s interception against USC, he leaves you flustered.
But how much of the blame can really go on him when he’s been dealt a far from ideal hand?
Rees grabbed the attention of ESPN’s most notable college football analyst over the weekend for the job he did against USC, even with that mishap I mentioned above.
Kirk Herbstreit named his top coaching performances of the college football weekend and Rees checked in seventh.
Here are my top performing COACHES from WEEK 8:
1-Bret Bielema, @IlliniFootball
2-Manny Diaz, @CanesFootball
3-Mario Cristobal, @oregonfootball
4-Jim Leonhard, DC @BadgerFootball
5-Brady Hoke, @AztecFB
6-P.J. Fleck, @GopherFootball
7-Tommy Rees, OC @NDFootball pic.twitter.com/TDEeyfI6pc— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) October 26, 2021
The interesting part to me is that looking at stats, Notre Dame was outgained by nearly 50 yards and secured just one more first down than USC on the night. The Bauer interception changed the complete dynamic of that game and made life easier on the Notre Dame offense.
With that said, Rees handled the difficult quarterback situation about as well as he could as Jack Coan played his best game since the opener and Tyler Buchner shined when given the opportunity.
Related:
Kirk Herbstreit updates his top six college football teams
Notre Dame’s long history of dominance over North Carolina
No Kyle Hamilton for Notre Dame against North Carolina
How Notre Dame’s 2021 opponents fared last week
Like it, love it, or hate it?
I have nothing against Jack Coan.
His teammates at Wisconsin clearly looked at him as a leader and you haven’t heard any Notre Dame players say a bad word about him. Clearly Notre Dame’s coaching staff thinks highly of him seeing as he received another start at Virginia Tech.
I really hope the best for Notre Dame over the next few hours and that Coan plays the game of the year in Blacksburg. I hope this entire post gets sent to the Old Takes Exposed Twitter account and a mockery is made of this.
Reporters at the game in Blacksburg, Virginia have indicated that it appears the transfer graduate-senior will start the game for Notre Dame.
Looks like QB Jack Coan will start for #NotreDame based on pregame warmups.
— Tyler James (@TJamesNDI) October 9, 2021
Joe Alt taking reps with the No. 1 offense at left tackle as if he will start as well.
Michael Mayer went through warmups but didn't take part in 11-on-11 action.#NDInsider
But for the life of me I don’t understand how Brian Kelly, Tommy Rees, and the rest of the Notre Dame coaching staff came to conclusion that Coan gives Notre Dame their best chance to win at Virginia Tech.
The Hokies aren’t likely to light up the scoreboard as their offense has struggled. They likely won’t be great at slowing down the run, either.
What you can expect them to do is get after Notre Dame’s quarterbacks as the Irish line has issues and Coan doesn’t exactly offer escapability.
Based on Virginia Tech’s strengths and weaknesses it would appear obvious that either Drew Pyne or Tyler Buchner would make significantly more sense of the mission of the night is for the offense to give you a better chance to win. I’ve stated I’d go with Pyne in part because of the way you see the rest of the offense seemingly get a spark when he’s on the field.
Is a loud road environment that much of a reason to not start the significantly less experienced Pyne or Buchner? One of them will have to start in the 2022 opener at Ohio State, right? On top of them being better built to face the Virginia Tech defense was that at all considered?
This isn’t meant as a post to knock Jack Coan. It’s not his fault he isn’t built to move like the other quarterbacks are.
I just don’t get how something that myself and so many other Notre Dame observers thought was so obvious and necessary was avoided.
Good luck tonight to the Notre Dame defense and special teams because unfortunately without a big few plays from them I really don’t like the Irish chances to score much whatsoever.
Now please go prove my big mouth wrong, Jack.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET tonight and can be seen on ACC Network.
Related:
ESPN FPI projects Notre Dame-Virginia Tech winner
Brian Kelly’s final quarterback comments before Virginia Tech game
Notre Dame releases hype tape for Virginia Tech game
Notre Dame releases first depth chart for Virginia Tech game
College football experts make Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech predictions
Notre Dame loses wide receiver for rest of season
Tale of the Tape: Starting Quarterbacks in Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech
Tale of the Tape: Starting Running Backs in Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech
Enough is enough and it’s time for a change!
It wasn’t just a drive to flip field position against Wisconsin when Notre Dame’s backs were up against it. It wasn’t just a touchdown drive against the Badgers last week that stretched the lead to 24-13 and made things a lot easier.
And it wasn’t being called upon to bail Notre Dame out in the second half against Cincinnati after Jack Coan and Tyler Buchner were both bad. Sure it was against a very good team and defense in Cincinnati but neither were effective.
Related:
Notre Dame falls to No. 7 Cincinnati: 5 instant takeaways
5 Stars: best and worst of Notre Dame’s home loss to Cincinnati
Cincinnati athletics troll Brian Kelly extra hard after handing Irish home loss
But somehow, for the second week in a row, Notre Dame’s offense came to life when Drew Pyne entered the contest just after halftime. He immediately marched the Irish down to the Cincinnati 35, only to be replaced for a first down run by Tyler Buchner that did nothing. Without much surprise the offense sputtered the rest of the drive.
Brian Kelly wouldn’t commit to any quarterback after the game, instead stating the coaching staff has to get the position figured out. He also didn’t come out and declare Jack Coan the starter like he did after last week’s victory. I’m fairly sure he knows.
If he doesn’t something worth considering is the fact the rest of the offense has had more of a bounce in its step when Pyne is in compared to Coan or Buchner.
Perhaps one could consider that crazy thing called results and see who actually gives Notre Dame the best chance to move the football.
I have a feeling Kelly and company will make the obvious choice next week at Virginia Tech but until it’s actually official we’re still left to wonder.
What are your initial thoughts about the showdown with Cincinnati?
No. 8 Notre Dame faced their toughest opponent to date Saturday as a fourth quarter blitz gave the Irish a 41-13 victory over Wisconsin. Things don’t get any easier this week as a No. 8 Cincinnati team with dreams of crashing the College Football Playoff party are headed to South Bend.
Here is the depth chart Notre Dame released on Monday ahead of the showdown with a few things of note.
