Tag: Javon McKinley

Notre Dame spring game: Five questions that could be answered

Who steps up this afternoon?

The final taste of football is upon us, this weekend is the culmination of Notre Dame’s spring practice ending with the Blue and Gold game.

Heading into the season, there will be plenty of question surrounding the program, the biggest is undoubtably the quarterback position. Find out five question that could be answered during Saturday’s controlled scrimmage.

Javon McKinley’s pro day results

Will Javon McKinley hear his name called in the NFL draft?

Notre Dame wide receiver Javon McKinley participated in Wednesday’s pro day at the university and probably didn’t put up the numbers he was hoping for, especially in terms of speed and agility.

McKinley put up the following numbers on Wednesday:

Height: 6-1.6″
Weight: 215 pounds
Arm:  33″
Wingspan: 79″
Hand: 9 3/4″
225 lb. Bench Press: 20 reps
40-yard dash: 4.57 seconds
Vertical jump: 32 1/2″
Broad jump: Did not participate
20-yard shuttle: 4.36 seconds
3 cone drill: 6.80 seconds

McKinley recorded 42 receptions for 717 yards and three touchdowns for Notre Dame in 2020.  He tied for the team-lead in receptions while pulling in more receiving yards than any other team member.

Related:

Watch: Javon McKinley’s pro day press conference

Photos from Notre Dame’s pro day

Mike Tomlin compliments Notre Dame program at 2021 pro day

Watch: Javon McKinley’s pro day press conference

A story in sticking it out, Javon McKinley never thought twice about ever leaving Notre Dame.

Javon McKinley wasn’t an instant hit at Notre Dame and in fact, got into a bit of trouble early on in his Fighting Irish football career.  In this day and age where the transfer-portal is commonplace, McKinley stuck things out and turned into Notre Dame’s leading receiver in terms of yardage in 2020.

Speaking ahead of his and Notre Dame’s pro day this week, McKinley discussed how transferring never even crossed his mind as he knew where he wanted to attend school all along.

McKinley scored three touchdowns in his final career game at Notre Dame Stadium, a senior day win over Syracuse.

See McKinley’s entire press conference below:

Notre Dame earns seven All-ACC Academic team members

For the first time in program history, Notre Dame Football student-athletes have earned selections to the All-ACC Academic team, following their first season as a conference member. Seven Irish players earned the honor, including: 

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NOTRE DAME, Indiana — For the first time in program history, Notre Dame Football student-athletes have earned selections to the All-ACC Academic team, following their first season as a conference member. Seven Irish players earned the honor, including:

  • Graduate student quarterback Ian Book (graduate studies)
  • Senior offensive lineman Robert Hainsey (finance)
  • Graduate student OL Tommy Kraemer (graduate studies)
  • Freshman tight end Michael Mayer (undeclared, First Year of Studies)
  • Graduate student wide receiver Javon McKinley (graduate studies)
  • Graduate student WR Ben Skowronek (graduate studies)
  • Senior linebacker Drew White (science-business)

 

Ian Book 

The winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history (30-5), Book has completed 228 passes for 2,830 yards and 15 touchdowns, also adding 116 rushes for 485 yards (ranks third on the team). The graduate student and team captain won the 2020 Pop Warner National College Football Award, and was named third team All-ACC by the conference. He is a finalist for the Manning Award, as well as a semifinalist for the Maxwell, Davey O’Brien and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards, while finishing in the Top 10 in Heisman voting.

Robert Hainsey

Hainsey, a mainstay on the Irish O-Line and selected by the conference as All-ACC Second Team, was a rare two-time team captain, and was a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, also being named Senior CLASS Award First Team All-America. He was named ACC co-Offensive Lineman of the Week for his performance vs. South Florida, and has totaled 34-career starts. Also returning from a season-ending injury in 2019, Hainsey is a member of a line that has paved the way for a 1,000-yard rusher in Williams, and two additional players who have totaled more than 480 rushing yards on the season (RB Chris Tyree  – 496, QB Ian Book – 485).

Tommy Kraemer

Kraemer owns the most career starts by an Irish offensive player in 2020, ending the season with 39 under his belt. Returning to the field in 2020 after a season-ending injury in 2019, Kraemer produced at a high level, even after missing a game due to injury. Named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week at Boston College, and selected to the All-ACC team chosen by the conference, Kraemer was a member of a unit that helps move the chains at a high level on third down. The Irish led the ACC and ranked ninth in the FBS in third down conversion percentage with a remarkable 49.4 success rate.

Michael Mayer

True freshman Michael Mayer ties for the lead on the Irish offense with 42 receptions, totaling 450 yards, adding two touchdowns. His 42 receptions in 2020 are the most in a single season by a Notre Dame true freshman tight end in Irish history, and rank tied for seventh among all Notre Dame tight ends for single-season receptions. He was named to the Pro Football Focus Team of the Week at Pitt and to the FWAA Freshman All-American Watch List, and was selected by the conference to the All-ACC Third Team.

Javon McKinley

McKinley led the Irish in receiving yards (717), while tying for the lead in receptions (42) in 2020. He added three receiving touchdowns. Noting All-ACC Honorable Mention recognition from the conference, he was named ACC Receiver of the Week for his performance against Syracuse in the regular season finale. McKinley also posted one rush for 15 yards.

Ben Skowronek

Skowronek led the Irish in receiving touchdowns in 2020 with five, as he caught 29 passes for 439 yards in 10 games. With three receiving touchdowns at Boston College, no other Notre Dame player has ever recorded more receiving touchdowns in a single game vs. a Power 5 opponent than Skowronek’s three. He also noted his first-career rushing touchdown in 2020 on the first rush of his career (at North Carolina).

Drew White

White tied for third on the team in tackles with 57, also posting 9.0 TFL (loss of 27 yards), and 1.5 sacks. He totaled two pass breakups and two QBH in 2020, starting all 12 games of the season, and notched his first solo sack of the season in the ACC Championship, bringing his career total to 3.5. White was awarded the game ball for his performance at North Carolina, in which he posted five tackles, 2.0 TFL (-8 yards), 0.5 sacks (-4 yards) and one pass breakup. White combined for a sack, his first of the season, pushing his career total to 2.5.

Grading Notre Dame’s positional groups for the 2020 season

Letter grades for Notre Dame football during their 2020 season, which saw them go undefeated in regular season play, only to lose their final two games.

The season has now ended and we can start to look back on what was a very odd 2020 season of college football. Two of 247Sports analysts Brad Crawford and Bud Elliott, broke down each team in the ACC and gave out grades for their performances.

Both, Crawford and Elliott gave the Irish A’s for the 2020 season, but I wanted to dig a bit deeper and give grades out for each position group and coaching. So here it is, my grades for each Notre Dame unit from this past season.

Tale of the Tape: Leading Receivers – Javon McKinley vs. DeVonta Smith

Notre Dame’s receiving corps will face its biggest test of the season against Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinal.

Notre Dame’s receiving corps will face its biggest test of the season against Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinal. For most of the year, JaVon McKinley is the leader of a group that never had a breakout star, which is a consequence of losing so much talent there from the season before. McKinley didn’t even score a touchdown until the Irish’s final game of the regular season. He’s more likely to be the receiver who gets the offense down the field and not necessarily finishes drives off.

The Crimson Tide have no concerns at receiver thanks to the presence of DeVonta Smith, a Heisman Trophy finalist and the first at his position to be named AP Player of the Year. With fellow Heisman finalist Mac Jones running the offense, Smith has had more than enough opportunities to prove he’s the best at what he does at the collegiate level, and he’s met every expectation. The only disadvantage he has against McKinley is at yards a catch, but even that is only by a couple of yards. Objectively, no Irish receiver belongs anywhere near the same breath as Smith, and unless the secondary can figure out some way to bottle him up, he’s going to treat the AT&T Stadium turf like he’s going for a nice run in the park.

Tale of the Tape: Leading Receivers – Javon McKinley vs. Amari Rodgers

The top receiver battle between Notre Dame and Clemson for the ACC title comes down to quality or efficiency.

The top receiver battle between Notre Dame and Clemson for the ACC title comes down to quality or efficiency. Javon McKinley falls into the latter category. He’s picked up more yards a catch, but he never even scored a touchdown this year until the Irish’s regular-season finale. That he seems to be picking up momentum at the right time only can mean good things for Notre Dame.

Amari Rodgers and the rest of the Tigers’ offense benefit from having Trevor Lawrence as their leader. Rodgers in particular needs only 155 yards to reach 1,000 for the season, and it takes more than having a quarterback of Lawrence’s stature to get to achieve that. That’s why Lawrence likely will go to Rodgers more than any other receiver. When you’ve gotten as far as the Tigers have and the stakes are high, it’s typically best to stick with what you know, and that’s who Rodgers is to Lawrence.

Notre Dame vs Clemson: ACC Championship Prediction, Game Preview

Notre Dame-Syracuse Game Highlights

Miss Saturday’s game? Here are all the highlights from Notre Dame’s tenth victory of the 2020 campaign.

It started slow on Saturday for No. 2 Notre Dame but things got going in a big way just before halftime as Ian Book led the Fighting Irish to three touchdowns in the final 4:30 of the half to go from down 7-3, to up 24-7 at the break.

Saturday’s senior day for Notre Dame wound up being a coronation for much of the second half as the Irish secured a perfect 10-0 regular season and can now turn their focus to a rematch with No. 3 Clemson in the ACC Championship Game on December 19.

Before we start two weeks of breaking that game down and previewing every possibility in every way, let’s take one final look back at the win over Syracuse with the highlights from the victory.

Related:
Ian Book becomes Notre Dame’s all-time winningest quarterback
The best pictures from Notre Dame’s win over Syracuse

Notre Dame survives stumbles through Syracuse: 5 instant takeaways

Notre Dame started slow but won easily against Syracuse on Saturday. Here are 5 takeaways from Senior Day in South Bend.

Senior day is almost always guaranteed to be weird, and that was especially the case at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday as the No. 2 Fighting Irish sleepwalked through their 10th win of the season, a 45-21 victory over Syracuse.

The game was played with an incredibly small crowd, even by 2020 standards. The student body is home for the holiday break that goes into the new year, so not even the band was present on Saturday. Only 6,831 spectators saw the action live.

It might not have been a Picasso, but it was the 10th win of the year as Notre Dame wraps up its third unbeaten regular season under Brian Kelly.

For the first time in program history, the Irish have won 10 or more games for a fourth straight season.

With that all noted, here are five takeaways from Saturday’s senior day win.

Surviving a Slow Start…

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Notre Dame vs. Syracuse: Third-Quarter Analysis

At halftime, Brian Kelly told his team to win the third quarter.

At halftime, Brian Kelly told his team to win the third quarter. Instead, we got maybe the sloppiest two-way quarter of any Notre Dame game this season. Nobody seemed to want to take control. Nevertheless, the Irish enter the final 15 minutes of the regular season leading Syracuse, 38-14.

The Irish recovered a fumble on the Orange’s first drive only to watch Ian Book cough the ball right back up. With his team given new life, Sean Tucker soon ran for a 40-yard touchdown. It was the perfect representative of an uncharacteristically rough day for the Irish’s run defense. That it’s happening against Syracuse of all teams is stunning.

When Book returned to the field, he threw only his second interception of the season to Ja’Had Carter. It didn’t matter because Rex Culpepper lost a fumble on the first play of the drive. Kyren Williams then put together some nice runs before Book called his own number and ran 17 yards for his second touchdown of the game. Some probably felt a serious sense of deja vu.

Any hopes that Syracuse’s play since late in the second quarter was an aberration were snuffed out when Daelin Hayes intercepted Culpepper for the Orange’s third turnover of the third quarter and fourth overall. The DJ at Notre Dame Stadium marked the occasion by playing My Own Worst Enemy by Lit. It was such a level of savagery that no one seemed to mind when Jonathan Doerer missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt.

After the defense forced a three-and-out, the offense immediately benefited from a roughing the passer call. Williams came closer to the 1,000-yard mark with a 23-yard run. Two plays later, Javon McKinley continued to make up for lost time by scoring his third touchdown of both the game and season on a 26-yard reception. All of the offensive leaders are chipping in.