Tag: Isaiah Foskey

5 Stars: The best and worst of Notre Dame’s loss to Cincinnati

Who played well? Who didn’t?

It was a disastrous first half, even though the Irish looked like the better team. They went into the half down 17-0 and early in the third quarter it looked like the Bearcats were about to pull away. The Irish battled back to 17-13, but Cincinnati responded with a touchdown and that’s was the end of the Notre Dame comeback attempt. It wasn’t all bad for the Irish and here are the best, 5 stars, and worst, 1 star, performances during Notre Dame 24-13 loss to Cincinnati.

Watch: Kyren Williams gets Notre Dame on the board against Cincinnati

The Irish aren’t done yet

The Irish have a little bit of momentum on their side. It first started on the defensive side of things as defensive end Isaiah Foskey forced a fumble on Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder. Linebacker Drew White scooped up the loose ball and ran it back 28-yards to put the Irish into great field position.

Four plays later, running back Kyren Williams cashed in the turnover by running 3-yards for a score and getting the Irish right back in this game. The touchdown brought Notre Dame closer to the Bearcats, 17-7, as they try and mount a second-half comeback against a Top-10 opponent.

Notre Dame vs. Cincinnati: Third-Quarter Analysis

This one’s not over yet.

If Notre Dame is going to come back against Cincinnati, time remains for it to happen. The third quarter showed a few signs that a miracle is in the cards. We might be having a big celebration 15 minutes from now. At the moment, the Irish trail, 17-7.

Right out of halftime, the Bearcats went for the kill. On the third play of the quarter’s first drive, Desmond Ridder completed a 45-yard pass to Alec Pierce to get to the Irish’s 17-yard line. The Irish’s defense held firm on the next series, not allowing another first down. Cole Smith came on to salvage the drive with a 30-yard field goal, but it sailed left, opening the door for the Irish.

Drew Pyne came on as the Irish’s third quarterback of the afternoon. Other than a Tyler Buchner run that went nowhere, Pyne was able to navigate a drive that went down to the Bearcats’ 30. The Irish got no further as Pyne threw an incomplete pass to Braden Lenzy on fourth-and-5.

The Bearcats chose to run to get into Irish territory, and Ridder’s 24-yard completion to Michael Young set them up at the 24. That’s when Isaiah Foskey sacked Ridder to force a fumble and allow Drew White to scoop it up for a 28-yard gain. Yet another opening for the Irish, and with excellent field position to boot this time.

Pyne needed only four plays and just over two minutes to get the Irish their first points. A 16-yard completion to Michael Mayer and an 11-yard of his own gave the Irish a first-and-goal. Pyne handed the ball off to Kyren Williams, who leaped into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown. Hope indeed is alive at Notre Dame Stadium.

Watch: Notre Dame defense comes up big with fumble recovery vs. Cincinnati

The Irish defense comes up with a massive turnover

The Irish were desperately in need of a play. Any play really and the defense stepped up to do it. Defensive end Isaiah Foskey, who has been an absolute terror for opposing offenses, rose up to the occasion and forced a fumble. Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder was the culprit and linebacker Drew White, for the second week in a row, was the benefactor as he scooped up the fumble and ran it back 28-yards for the Irish.

The play was a much needed one, as the Bearcats were driving and potentially finding the endzone would have almost ended this contest. The Irish will need to mount a big comeback but the are still alive.

Cincinnati quarterback thinks they’ll silence the Notre Dame crowd

It’s going to be loud Saturday

Every week at any level of football is the biggest week of the year and this Saturday is no different for the Irish. They welcome in defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman’s former team, the No.9 ranked Cincinnati Bearcats.

It presents yet another ranked opponent in front of Notre Dame, this one at home. The Bearcats come in confident, especially fourth-year starter Desmond Ridder. He enters the contest with tons of experience and a winning resume. Over his four seasons he’s guided Cincinnati to a 34-5 record while throwing 64 touchdown passes to just 22 interceptions. Ridder has played in plenty of big games on the road and this one won’t phase him at all.

He told Cincinnati TV sports reporter Brandon Saho that Notre Dame Stadium “shouldn’t be loud for too long.” Clearly Ridder is implying that not only will the Bearcats play well, but they’ll silence the crowd early with their play.

I love the confidence but Ridder doesn’t have to play against the soon to be raucous fans. He’s going to have to go against Isaiah Foskey, Kyle Hamilton, JD Bertrand, the Ademilola brothers, Cam Hart and the rest of the Irish defense. His focus should be on them, not the crowd. Ridder is just adding fuel to the Irish’s fire, and a defense that saw turn a huge corner against Wisconsin last week.

Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin: Fourth-Quarter Analysis

That was a fun final 15 minutes.

It didn’t always look easy. In fact, it looked downright scary a lot of the time. However, you never can argue with what the scoreboard says when you’re ahead and the clock hits zero. That’s Notre Dame after its 41-13 win over Wisconsin in its Shamrock Series game at Soldier Field. As an added bonus, it allowed Brian Kelly to surpass Knute Rockne as the winningest coach in program history with 106 victories and get a pair of Gatorade baths for the accomplishment.

The fourth quarter began with the Badgers (1-2) threatening to reach the end zone, but the defense that could become more valuable for the Irish (4-0) as the season goes on was able to hold them to a 27-yard field goal from Collin Larsh. That 13-10 Badgers lead lasted all of one play as Chris Tyree returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. It was the first time the Irish had scored on a kick return since 2016. Suddenly, the Badgers fans who were dancing to “Jump Around” a few minutes earlier weren’t feeling so hot.

The Badgers faced a third down on their next drive. The play that followed resulted in Jayson Ademilola forcing a Graham Mertz fumble on a sack and Isaiah Foskey recovering it. With Jack Coan still on the bench, Drew Pyne completed a 22-yard pass to Michael Mayer to set up the Irish in the red zone. Two plays later, Pyne hit Kevin Austin for a 16-yard touchdown that only could be described as a backbreaker. It was Austin’s second touchdown of the game.

Desperately needing a score, the Badgers advanced to the Irish’s 34-yard line. When the drive stalled out there, Larsh attempted a 52-yard field goal that sailed left. Hope remained alive for the Badgers after the Irish went three-and-out, but Cam Hart quickly picked off Mertz for his second interception of the game. The offense didn’t get far, not that it really needed to at that point, but Jonathan Doerer kicked a 37-yard field goal anyway.

Even with the outcome decided, the Irish’s defense decided it wasn’t done scoring. Jack Kiser came out of nowhere and returned an interception 69 yards for a touchdown. That somehow still wasn’t enough for the unit to make its statement. Drew White returned his own interception to the end zone from 45 yards out.

The Irish stomped on the Badgers, then stomped on them again. That’s quite the good feeling, isn’t it? What dominance at the end.

Five Stars: The best and worst of Notre Dame’s win against Purdue

The good and bad of Notre Dame’s win over Purdue

An instate rivalry game against a Big Ten team is never an easy task and that’s exactly what happened today. The Irish took Purdue’s best punches and responded for the majority of the afternoon. It obviously wasn’t a blowout, but for the first time this season, it was a solid win with no drama big drama at the end of the game. There still were some good and bad performances today and here they are; the best (5 stars) and worst (1 star) of the Irish’s win over the Boilermakers.

Notre Dame vs. Purdue: Fourth Quarter Analysis

The Irish improve to 3-0 with a very solid fourth quarter

Geoffrey Clark has tapped out, so I’ll be taking us home on the quarter analysis. I’m going to do it a bit differently, just going to take you through my thought’s drive by dive. So here we go.

Finally a little bit of Chris Tyree as Jack Coan finds him on the left sideline for a nice 19-yard gain. Tommy Rees tries to say with the “hot hand” and Tyree gains just 5-yards on his next two carries. Coan finds Avery Davis on 3rd and 5 for 11-yards and a first down. They’ve had a great connection today, unfortunately the only one for the Irish offense. Coan takes a sack on second down, then after a timeout and bad throw to no one on 3rd down. Two trips to the redzone and no touchdowns but Jonathan Doerer barely makes a 30-yard field goal to extend the lead to 20-13. The Irish need to be better inside the 20, field goals don’t win you games.

Special teams has been solid today, the Irish stop the Purdue kick returner Marcellus Mooreat the 20-yard line. It’s been a bad go for the Boilers in the second half on special teams. Time for the defense to step up, the defensive line needs to get pressure on Jack Plummer. Now. Back-to-back incompletions bring up third down and the line gives me what I asked for. Isaiah Foskey and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa sack Plummer on 3rd down. Massive series for the Irish then you add on a bad punt and great field position for the Irish on Purdue’s 39-yard line.

Need a score here, not a field goal, but to find the endzone. Coan goes deep to Braden Lenzy for the jugular, and it bounces off Lenzy’s hands. The Irish needed that, then on second down Coan is sacked. The Lenzy drop is looming larger now. Coan gets a few yards back on a check down to Williams that sets up a 4th and 9. I hate the punt there but Doerer barely made the last kick and it’s a once score game late. Kyle Hamilton with a huge play grabbing the ball at the 1-yard line after a great Jay Bramblett punt.

Odd move for Purdue as they bring in another quarterback Aiden O’Connell for his first snaps of the game. I don’t know about this move by Jeff Brohm on the 1-yard line. The gamble pays off as O’Connell finds Mershawn Rice for a 27-yard gain. Why Brohm did’t make this change earlier confuses me. Cam Hart makes a great play on the ball, setting up a 3rd and 5. O’Connell tests Hart against David Bell and it’s an incomplete pass. Very well could have seen a pass interference call there. Kyren Williams once again shows why he’s back returning punts, another good one for 23-yards sets up the next Irish drive almost at midfield. Great field position, and it’s clear the Irish are winning the special teams portion of the game.

So, Williams just took over. A fantastic 51-yard run where it looked like he was bottled up, broke a few tackles and was off to paydirt. Huge play as it gives the Irish some breathing room. Massive.

This drive could end the game here and after two incomplete passes it looked like it. O’Connell finds Bell on 3rd down for the first, but Hamilton hits him hard and he’s down. The game has stopped and a somber mood has entered this game. Head and neck injuries are scary, you hate to see this and hopefully Bell is fine. Tough to watch these kind of injuries. They review the play and call it incomplete, tough to get your mind back onto the game after that. Fourth-and-eight and O’Connell slowly scrambles and barely get the 8-yards. Finds Jackson Anthrop to move the chains again, why didn’t Purdue make this change earlier? Thank you Jeff Brohm. Purdue keeps driving and not giving up. Hat’s off to them for not folding late in this one but Hamilton comes up in the clutch once again, picking off O’Connell in the end zone. That should be game.

Kyren Williams and Kyle Hamilton stepped up when the Irish needed them to. The two best players on the team did what they do, make plays. Williams didn’t quite make it over the 100-yard mark for the first time this year, but he had over 130-yards from scrimmage along with two scores. Hamilton had the game-sealing pick, a few tackles for loss and an overall dominant game again. They’re both so damn impressive. Solid win for the Irish today, 1-0 every week so far.

‘Tight End U’ better known as Notre Dame gets a ‘23 TE commit

Tight End U just got stronger

Once again Notre Dame goes out west to California and grabs a big time prospect, this time it’s an addition to the 2023 recruiting class. De La Salle’s tight end Cooper Flanagan made his verbal pledge to the Irish this afternoon, making it the fourth commitment of his class.

Flanagan is the first offensive commitment of the group and obviously won’t be the last, as the six-foot-six-inch and 240-pound pass catcher is a massive target for his quarterbacks. The Irish beat out an impressive group of other schools including Michigan, Florida State, Washington and others for Flanagan’s verbal pledge this afternoon.

De La Salle is the same high school as current Irish player Isaiah Foskey and is traditionally one of the top high school programs in the country. Once again, Brian Kelly has went out to California and successfully recruited one of the best players in the state.

Three Notre Dame players make Bruce Feldman’s annual freaks list

Look out for these players who are physically gifted.

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One of the major attractions of football at any level are the players who possess incredible physical gifts. Not every football player has them, so the players that do stand out.

To that end, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic has an annual tradition of making a list of players like this known that he calls freaks.

On this year’s list, which is available only to Athletic subscribers, three Notre Dame players appear:

3. Kyle Hamilton – Feldman cites the safety’s GPS speed of 21 miles per hour, his 41-foot, 7-inch vertical and his broad jump of 10-8.

45. Isaiah Foskey – Feldman likes the defensive end’s length and speed along with his GPS speed of 20.8 and his times of 1.58 seconds in the 10-yard split and 4.65 in the 40.

75. Chris Tyree – Feldman points out the running back’s 22.3 GPS speed, his 40.9 vertical jump and his time of 4.31 in the 40.

Here are the opposing players on the list that the Irish are scheduled to face in 2021:

7. George Karlaftis, defensive end, Purdue
20. Myjai Sanders, defensive end, Cincinnati
22. Leo Chenal, inside linebacker, Wisconsin
24. Kevin Harris, defensive end, Georgia Tech
46. Alec Pierce, receiver, Cincinnati
48. Tycen Anderson, safety, Toledo
56. Desmond Ridder, quarterback, Cincinnati
60. Drake London, receiver, USC
63. Matt Henningsen, defensive end, Wisconsin
87. Andy Vujnovich, punter, Wisconsin
93. Braxton Burmeister, quarterback, Virginia Tech