Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here’s who to watch against NC State.
Notre Dame dominated its first two opponents in Navy and Tennessee State. Some might be wondering if a challenge will show up anytime soon. We’ll see if one exists when the Irish travel to NC State for their first true road game of the season. Here are those most likely to push the Irish over the top, specifically those who lead the major statistical categories:
The first of many updates this season.
Notre Dame looked like a team that was ready for the season against Navy. Hardly any weaknesses were on display. Now, we get to see if the Irish can repeat that performance or at least mimic it in their home opener against Tennessee State. To get you started for the week, here are the team’s statistical leaders after the first game:
Mercy.
We’re running out of ways to describe how dominant Notre Dame has been against Navy. The Irish didn’t fail to score a touchdown or fail to put up any points on a drive until [autotag]Spencer Shrader[/autotag] missed a 42-yard field goal attempt late in the third quarter.
That quickly was forgotten as [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] went right back to work once his defense did its job once again. He ended a seven-play, 60-yard drive with his fourth touchdown pass of the day, a 25-yarder to [autotag]Deion Colzie[/autotag] that gave the Irish a 42-0 lead:
WR Deion Colzie 25-yard touchdown! #BeatNavy ☘️
(🎥: NBC) pic.twitter.com/VB4ArnUyeC
— Notre Dame Fighting Irish (@Insidetheirish) August 26, 2023
Nobody could have asked for a better opening to the season. The Irish have dominated on both sides of the ball, and if this game lasted any longer, there’s no doubt they would continue to pour it on. That’s the main takeaway from this game, and they’ll leave Ireland happy.
Here are the best tweets regarding Colzie’s touchdown catch:
Get ready for the season with some familiar names.
The first buildup to a Notre Dame football game for 2023 finally has arrived. You all have been very patient in waiting for this week, but that patience has paid off. Waiting for this long deserves a pat on the back, so give yourself one as you’re reading this. And even if you have heard this preseason spiel before, give yourself a pat on the back anyway.
With that schmaltz out of the way, let’s talk about the players on the 2023 Irish roster who performed the best in 2022. We should see some of that on display in the season opener against Navy. Although the Midshipmen are not exactly the best opponent to use as a measuring stick, we at least can get an idea of what’s to come. After all, they don’t call it Week 0 for nothing.
Here are the 2023 Irish players who did the best in football’s top statistical categories:
What still sticks out in your mind Irish fans?
How nice was it to wake up knowing that the Irish were winners of the [autotag]TaxSlayer Gator Bowl[/autotag]? Really nice, right?
As we all continue to watch the remaining bowl games, we can now look back on what happened yesterday and what could happen in the future with [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] and the [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] program. It’s going to be a very interesting off-season in South Bend, one which could very well give us an idea of what to expect going forward.
There were plenty of those thoughts that popped into my head since yesterday and here they are on plenty of Irish topics.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen
What the Irish need to do to get a Gator Bowl win
The wait between the regular season finale and bowl games is always difficult, but for [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag], game week is finally here. Their opponent, [autotag]South Carolina[/autotag] makes it two USC’s in-a-row and there are certainly similarities between them.
[autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] will coach his second bowl game and will look to find a way into the win column after last year’s difficult loss to [autotag]Oklahoma State[/autotag] in the [autotag]PlayStation Fiesta Bowl[/autotag].
This venue is different, the [autotag]TaxSlayer Gator Bowl[/autotag] but the objective is the same, get a bowl win and momentum going into the 2023 season. For the Irish to do that, there are keys to their success and here are five of them.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen
He would be a great addition!
The Irish have a few needs that they are going to try and fill via the transfer portal. One of the biggest is quarterback, but there has not been much news from any of the multiple targets Notre Dame is going after. They have already found a kicker, [autotag]Spencer Shrader[/autotag], and are hosting former [autotag]Virginia Tech[/autotag] wide receiver [autotag]Kaleb Smith[/autotag] this weekend.
Smith, a grad transfer, played his best football during his final year for the Hokies, catching 37 passes for 674 yards and three touchdowns. All of those numbers were career highs for the six-foot-two-inch and 222-pound receiver. By getting Smith to South Bend, it’s a big first step in gaining a commitment from the transfer.
Appreciate the visit excited to get up there this weekend @ChansiStuckey ☘️ pic.twitter.com/ugCHmkHzY5
— Kaleb Smith (@kaleb11smith) December 12, 2022
The wide receiver unit struggled mightily this fall and with tight end [autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag] leaving, the need to add more talent really is paramount. [autotag]Lorenzo Styles Jr.[/autotag] suffered through a sophomore slump after it looked like he was primed for a breakout after a huge [autotag]PlayStation Fiesta Bowl[/autotag] last year.
[autotag]Jayden Thomas[/autotag] showed flashed, but wasn’t consistent. Same goes for [autotag]Deion Colzie[/autotag] and [autotag]Tobias Merriweather[/autotag]. If the Irish are able to get a commitment from Smith, it would be a very big transfer portal recruiting win.
[lawrence-related id=66346]
[lawrence-related id=66301]
[lawrence-related id=66262]
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen
Should Chicago’s college football team try to poach another from Chicago’s Big Ten team?
Notre Dame doesn’t use the transfer portal like Lincoln Riley and USC, as the Trojans have become college football’s version of shopping on Black Friday. The end result may be great but the process in getting there makes you want to vomit.
Notre Dame has been known to pick their spots in the portal, however. We’ve been tracking all the quarterbacks who enter the portal for obvious reasons, but a compelling non-quarterback entered Tuesday. It’s especially compelling for Notre Dame because it’s a program just down the road that the Irish have poached a couple of talents from in recent years.
Malik Washington was Northwestern’s leading receiver this past season and entered the portal Tuesday. He’s listed at 5-9, 180 pounds and although nobody would describe him as a burner, he consistently makes plays on the ball. It should also be noted that perhaps no Power Five team has had less production from their quarterbacks in the past two seasons.
Washington hauled in 65 receptions for 694 yards (10.7 avg) this year, the sixth-highest total in the entire Big Ten. He did find the end zone just once but then again, Northwestern threw for just 10 touchdowns all year.
Notre Dame had massive receiver issues this season as a sophomore [autotag]Lorenzo Styles[/autotag] was the only one to amass 300 yards. If it wasn’t [autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag] chances are it wasn’t getting done in the passing game and the group of receivers would certainly use some help and experience.
Wide receivers coach [autotag]Chansi Stuckey[/autotag] has the cavalry coming but counting on several underclassmen is a risk I certainly wouldn’t prefer taking. Growth and development will help Styles, [autotag]Deion Colzie[/autotag], [autotag]Tobias Merriweather[/autotag], and the incoming freshman group, but it would certainly be nice to have some proven veteran experience as well and Washington would accomplish that.
And heck, [autotag]Ara Parseghian[/autotag], [autotag]Ben Skowronek[/autotag], and [autotag]Brandon Joseph[/autotag] all worked out alright so why not do it again?
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz1mmy7gev0xbr player_id=none image=https://fightingirishwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[lawrence-related id=65495,65352,65318]
[listicle id=65328]
Which plays stood out to you?
The Trojans built a double-digit lead right before halftime and never really looked back as the Irish failed to come up with big drive and enough stops to defeat USC 38-27. There were swing moments in the game, some went the Irish’s way, but most of them didn’t. Find out which hidden, although not all of them were, plays made a huge different in Notre Dame’s loss to USC.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
A look towards the future?
Notre Dame might not beat USC, but you can’t say it just dropped and died when the going got tough. Fresh off a botched exchange that led to a Trojans touchdown, the Irish’s offense got right back to work.
A 24-yard run by [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag] set the Irish up in Trojans territory, and that was followed by [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag]’s 24-yard completion to [autotag]Lorenzo Styles Jr.[/autotag] Two plays later, Pyne found [autotag]Deion Colzie[/autotag] in the end zone and threw to him from 23 yards out, resulting in a catch and the Trojans’ lead being cut to 24-14:
TOUCHDOWN IRISH@almightydeion_ delivers with his first TD of the year#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/984ugmMDW7
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 27, 2022
Not only was this Colzie’s first touchdown of the season, but it was his first in an Irish uniform. He will be one of the players worth watching next season as he should make some more strides as a junior. Until then, it’s nice to watch what could be a preview of things to come. People on Twitter seemed to agree:
