Tag: Elijah Paige

Lincoln Riley challenges veterans on USC offensive line to step up in 2024

Lincoln Riley needs Emmanuel Pregnon to evolve and perform this year.

USC’s offensive line room never quite came together as a unit in 2023.  I asked Lincoln Riley during his weekly press conference on Saturday about the offensive line’s play last year. He said there were games when the unit struggled and lost: UCLA, Notre Dame, and Oregon.

“Yeah, we had a we had a handful of games last year we didn’t play good enough you know, handful of the games that we lost,” answered Riley. He clarified the games were at Notre Dame and at home against Washington and UCLA. “We certainly didn’t play good enough in those games to win.  We had some good moments but we were too inconsistent.”

The problems with the line started before the season kicked off. USC had to replace two huge pieces who anchored the veteran unit in 2022, All-America left guard Andrew Vorhees and multi-year starter Brett Neilon at center.  USC had luck in 2022 bringing in Bobby Haskins as a grad transfer from Virginia to help shore up the line.

The hope was to slide Justin Dedich over from right guard to center in 2023 and bring in players from the portal. It began to fall apart when second-team All-SEC selection Ethan White, who transferred from Florida, suffered an injury which kept him from joining USC. He medically retired before he arrived on campus.

Riley went on to explain what went wrong last year, with the Trojans’ offensive line never coming together as a cohesive unit.

“I would agree, I don’t know that we ever completely gelled as a unit. I think it starts with your your older players. Your older guys, your leaders have got to play their best; they’ve got to be great leaders: they’ve got to set the tone.  I think at times last year that did not necessarily happen all the time.

“So you know there’s obviously Jonah [Monheim], you’re talking about [Emmanuel] Pregnon — some of the guys that have now played some snaps for us. Mason Murphy, you need those guys to step up.”

Veterans will need to step up. The members of the 2023 class, who were true freshmen last year, are looking for leadership while competing for playing time this fall. During a press conference, Riley named all five offensive linemen from that class: Micah Banuelos, Elijah Paige, Alani Noa, Amos Talalele, and Tobias Raymond. Riley is relying on his upperclassmen’s consistent leadership to bring this group together.

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Notre Dame receives another commitment from offensive lineman!

Notre Dame will stay at No. 1 in the 2023 recruiting rankings for at least a little longer after this one!

Remember when Notre Dame landed five-star quarterback [autotag]C.J. Carr[/autotag] from Michigan less than 24 hours ago?  Well that’s officially old news as Carr is no longer the most recent commitment to the Fighting Irish football program.

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Offensive lineman [autotag]Elijah Paige[/autotag] in the 2023 recruiting class is the latest commitment, making his decision known early Friday afternoon.

Paige comes with a three-star grade according to the 247Sports composite but a four star grade from the official 247Sports rankings.  He’s a mountain of a young man as he’s listed at 6-7, 304 pounds out of Pinnacle High School in Phoenix and chose the Irish over more than 30 other offers.

Paige is the 15th commitment in the 2023 recruiting class for Notre Dame and the fourth offensive lineman.  USC, UCLA, and Washington were among the other programs Paige visited before making his pledge to [autotag]Harry Hiestand[/autotag], [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag], and the rest of the Notre Dame football program.

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Elijah Paige could be USC’s Day 1 starter on the offensive line next season

Elijah Paige makes the grade in rankings, and he looks the part on film. He could be the leader of #USC’s O-line class for 2023.

Rated the nation’s No. 237 overall prospect and No. 24 offensive tackle, Elijah Paige accumulated more than 30 scholarship offers during the recruiting process. The Pinnacle High School (Phoenix) prospect de-committed from Notre Dame and picked USC in October.

The offers Paige received included Notre Dame, Auburn, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Stanford, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Paige has also been on the recruiting trail for the Trojans. Paige plays at Pinnacle High School with the TE1 in the 2023 class, Duce Robinson.

“I will definitely be recruiting Duce (Robinson),” Paige said. “We need him in this class. We are going to do great things and I’d love for him to contribute and be a part of that. I am definitely excited to recruit him.”

The Trojans also have offensive line commitments from Ventura (Calif.) offensive tackle Tobias Raymond, interior linemen Amos Talalele of Santa Clara (Calif.), Sacramento (Calif.) Grant Union’s Alani Noa, and Burien (Wash.) Kennedy Catholic’s Micah Banuelos.

Paige is the highest rated linemen of them all, and clearly the most talented. Paige could be a Day 1 starter after spring ball, especially with the departure of All-Pac-12 starters Andrew Voorhees and Brett Neilon.

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Notre Dame offers Wisconsin commit, could a flip be coming?

The Irish spatula is getting ready

For two very consistent programs, Wisconsin and Notre Dame, the 2022 season has not gone according to plan. Both began the season with a number next to their name; each fell out of the rankings after Week 3.

For the Badgers, it’s been a very rocky road. In October, began they parted ways with their head coach Paul Chryst after eight years and a .720 winning percentage. We all know how the Irish’s season has gone. It has been a trying one, but their recruiting hasn’t suffered unlike Wisconsin. Only one Irish player has entered the portal, Jacob Lacey, while Wisconsin has seen four.

Wisconsin’s highest rated commit, offensive lineman [autotag]Christopher Terek[/autotag] might be jumping ship before he even stepped foot in Madison. The Irish made an offer to the six-foot-five-inch and 320-pound lineman recently.

After the Irish had offensive lineman [autotag]Elijah Paige[/autotag] decommit at the end of September, many wondered if [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] and offensive line coach [autotag]Harry Hiestand[/autotag] would look to replace him. It seems they have at least one prospect, Terek, in mind and appear to be trying to flip the Badgers’ top commit.

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Ohio State is trying to flip 2023 Notre Dame commit after scholarship offer

Not great

There is blood in the water and there is a feeling that plenty of schools will be looking to flip current Notre Dame commits. There have already been four decommits for the 2023 cycle for the Irish ([autotag]Keon Keeley[/autotag], [autotag]Justyn Rhett[/autotag], [autotag]Elijah Paige[/autotag] and [autotag]Sedrick Irvin Jr.[/autotag]) and there is potential for more.

There are rumors that multiple teams are looking to flip the current highest rated Irish commit, safety [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag]. Now it looks like [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] is going to have to keep Ohio State away from one of Notre Dame’s other commits. Today, the Buckeyes offered a scholarship to [autotag]Adon Shuler[/autotag], the New Jersey safety.

If you look through his recent activity on Twitter, most of it has ben pro Notre Dame, including visiting with former Irish star safety [autotag]Kyle Hamilton[/autotag]. There was however a retweet of fellow New Jersey star Vaboue Toure’s offer from Ohio State. Toure is a 2024 prospect but high school teammates with Shuler.

It’s hard to read into that retweet, Shuler could very well be just being happy for his teammate. Unfortunately, the saying, when there’s smoke, there’s a fire could apply here. Time will tell if Shuler is actually considering flipping to Ohio State, but the Buckeyes officially offering the Irish commit is a bit troubling.

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Trojan domino effect: Landing Elijah Paige could help USC get 5-star TE Duce Robinson

Successfully recruiting Elijah Paige could lead to a 2-for-1 deal involving another elite prospect. Lincoln Riley is trying to make it happen. #USC

Rated the nation’s No. 237 overall prospect and No. 24 offensive tackle, Elijah Paige accumulated more than 30 scholarship offers during the recruiting process. The Pinnacle High School (Phoenix) prospect decommitted from Notre Dame and picked USC earlier this week.

The offers Paige received included Notre Dame, Auburn, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Stanford, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Paige’s recruitment could open the door to another elite recruit: Duce Robinson.

It is hard to shake the notion that Notre Dame’s slow start to the 2022 season, especially on offense with a sputtering attack which lost to Marshall (a team which subsequently lost to Bowling Green later in September), had at least some connection to Paige’s change of heart and his shift to USC and Lincoln Riley, a short distance from Phoenix along Interstate 10.

“USC is a special place,” he told On3 Sports. “What they are doing on the field speaks for itself, but the culture that they are building over there is second to none. I see the vision that Coach Riley has and it’s something that I need to be a part of.”

USC lands O-lineman Elijah Paige, who decommitted from Notre Dame; 1st consensus 4-star since 2019

The Trojans will hope they’re not finished at Pinnacle in this recruiting cycle. The nation’s No. 1 tight end, five-star Duce Robinson, is Paige’s teammate. This creates a 2-for-1 opportunity for Lincoln Riley. Robinson is still atop the board and at the forefront of USC’s list of priorities.

Robinson’s collection of interested schools includes: Georgia, Texas, Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas A&M and Utah. Robinson is a dual-sport (baseball) athlete.

With USC’s potential depth chart and preseason ranking, Robinson should land in L.A. He could earn a spot on the Trojans’ baseball team as well with a new coach, Andy Stankiewicz, beginning his tenure at USC this year.

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USC lands O-lineman Elijah Paige, who decommitted from Notre Dame; 1st consensus 4-star since 2019

Elijah Paige is #USC’s first consensus 4-star offensive line recruit since 2019. It’s a Notre Dame flip, too. Josh Henson secures another huge get for the Trojans.

USC still hasn’t signed that elusive five-star offensive lineman. It has been several years since the Trojans have done that. However, USC and Lincoln Riley — and offensive line coach Josh Henson — have checked one very big box: They have landed a consensus four-star offensive lineman.

Elijah Paige, who decommitted from Notre Dame in recent weeks — almost certainly influenced by the Irish’s terrible start under coach Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees — has committed to USC. It’s a win over Notre Dame on the recruiting trail, which is great, but most of all, it continues USC’s run of successful offensive line recruitments this year. Ever since the Josh Conerly and Francis Mauigoa failures, Josh Henson has rebounded with a run of big wins, shutting down the idea that he couldn’t recruit his position group.

USC is accumulating the depth and quality on the offensive line which is, in so many ways, the long-term key to the success of this program. USC building line depth — offense and defense — is the most urgent need for the program. Depth is being built:

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A 6-foot-7, 4-star OL is back on the market after decommitting from Notre Dame

Notre Dame lost the commitment of Elijah Paige, a four-star, 6-foot-7 offensive lineman who has offers from the entirety of the Pac-12.

One of the better offensive linemen in the class of 2023 is back on the market after announcing his decommitment from Notre Dame. Elijah Paige, a 6-foot-7, 304-pound tackle out of Pinnacle High School (Phoenix), said on Thursday that he is re-opening his recruitment.

In a statement posted to Twitter that day, Paige wrote:

“I would like to thank the amazing staff at Notre Dame for the opportunity they offered and the time they spent recruiting me. This decision has been very difficult. After many prayers and conversations with my family, I have decided to decommit from the University of Notre Dame.”

Being back on the market allows Paige to see other schools he had previously planned on visiting. Rivals reported that USC, Washington and Michigan State all expected to get visits from the lineman, but his visit to Notre Dame in early June convinced him to cancel those plans and commit to the Fighting Irish.

Those are not his only options. Paige has 34 offers, according to 247Sports, and also visited UCLA in May. Every school in his local Pac-12 has offered him, per the recruiting outlet, as have other big names around the country such as Miami, Michigan and Ole Miss.

Paige is ranked on the 247Sports Composite as the 30th-best OT and No. 7 player in Arizona. 247Sports’ own rankings have him slightly higher, as a top-25 OT and top-5 player in his state.

Breaking: Notre Dame loses another 2023 commitment

Not the best recruiting news at all

At one point during this 2023 recruiting cycle, Notre Dame held the top spot in the nation but things have certainly changed since sitting atop the recruiting world earlier this year. First it was [autotag]Sedrick Irvin Jr.[/autotag], then [autotag]Justyn Rhett[/autotag] and the biggest decommit, [autotag]Keon Keeley[/autotag].

Keely obviously hurt the most, as he was the highest rated commit and was on the Ohio State sidelines shortly after formally announcing he was not a part of the Irish class anymore.

Today the fourth decommit of the 2023 cycle happened for the Irish as Arizona offensive lineman [autotag]Elijah Paige[/autotag] has decided to step away from his pledge to Notre Dame.

This one was a bit surprising as there was no smoke to Paige leaving the class. With Paige gone, the Irish have twenty-two verbals with four offensive lineman ([autotag]Charles Jagusah[/autotag], [autotag]Sullivan Absher[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Otting[/autotag], and [autotag]Sam Pendleton[/autotag]).

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The Great Wall of South Bend get’s another 2023 commitment

The wall is now complete

Earlier this week 2023 offensive lineman commit [autotag]Sam Pendleton[/autotag] had a feeling that there was another player joining his position group. He was so confident that he posted a picture on Twitter about it.

Well, Pendleton, or shall we say Samstradamus, was correct as Illinois offensive tackle [autotag]Charles Jagusah[/autotag] verbally committed to Notre Dame today. The six-foot-six-inch and 290-pound tackle announced via his Twitter account the he was joining the 2023 Irish recruiting class. Jagusah now makes it an even five commits, joining Pendleton, [autotag]Sullivan Absher[/autotag], [autotag]Elijah Paige[/autotag], and [autotag]Joe Otting[/autotag] in the group. Jagusah, however is viewed as the crown jewel of the bunch.

Ranked as one of the best players at his position, tackle, Jagusah held offers from LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and others before ultimately selecting the Irish. The verbal most likely finishes off the pursuit of other offensive lineman in the class, which now in total sits at 16 commits.

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