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Who will fill the stat sheet for the Irish tonight?
It is finally game day for the Irish and it’s obviously a massive matchup as they travel to Columbus, Ohio to face the Ohio State Buckeyes. Everyone is excited to see what Notre Dame has in store during the first season of Marcus Freeman at the helm. Here are five statistical guesses for Notre Dame against the Buckeyes.
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Plenty of take aways from the seasons first depth chart
As in each year of college football, a new group of stars emerge from one season to another. This season will be no different and for Notre Dame, there are more then a few players who could make a significant leap in the eyes of college football fans everywhere. Here are a few observations on Marcus Freeman’s first regular season depth chart.
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Watch out for these two players on defense this year.
The preseason award watch lists continue to come out, and Notre Dame continues to be represented. We recently saw numerous Irish players on the offensive side of the ball be named. Now, we’re seeing the defense get its turn. So far, we know that two defenders have been deemed players to watch.
[autotag]JD Bertrand[/autotag]’s 102 tackles led the Irish last season. Now, he’s a contender for the Butkus Award, which is given to the country’s top linebacker. The Irish are developing quite the reputation for winning this award as they have done so three times, all during the past decade: [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] in 2012, [autotag]Jaylon Smith[/autotag] in 2015 and [autotag]Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah[/autotag] in 2020.
[autotag]Brandon Joseph[/autotag] comes to the Irish after three years with Northwestern, and there already are high expectations for him. The 2020 All-American is on the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is awarded to college football’s best defensive back. He would be the first to win this award for the Irish.
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Hope one of them wins this!
It might seem like college football is far away, but it’s not far away enough that award watch lists can’t be made. We now have one for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is the only major award in the sport that considers character. It’s good to know that performance doesn’t play a factor in this one, and it’s even better seeing two Notre Dame players make the 42-player list. Those players are linebacker [autotag]JD Bertrand[/autotag] and safety transfer [autotag]Brandon Joseph[/autotag].
If Bertrand or Joseph were to win the Lott Trophy, they would join [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] in 2012 as the only Irish players to be so honored. [autotag]Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah[/autotag] is the only other player in the award’s history to be a finalist, doing so in 2020.
Bertrand, the Irish’s leading tackler in 2021 (101), has been nominated for being the president of Notre Dame’s Uplifting Athletes chapter, which is part of an organization that raises money for athletes suffering from rare diseases. Joseph, a transfer from Northwestern, is a Consensus All-American and had an Academic All-State honor in high school.
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Depth is abundant
The season is still about eight months away but that won’t keep anyone from dreaming about what is to come this fall. Recently, ESPN looked at each of their projected Top-25 teams and named their biggest strength (insider).
For the Irish, who were ranked No. 6, Bill Connelly named the starting front seven of the defense as the biggest strength. He sees defensive linemen Isaiah Foskey and the Ademilola twins, Jayson and Justin, as major factors.
Depth is a big reason as well, as Connelly mentions “of the 10 linemen who played at least 100 snaps in 2021, eight currently return.” Another reason he’s bullish on this unit.
Next were the linebackers, JD Bertrand and Jack Kiser, getting singled out for their impressive past performances. Another interesting point was Connelly mentioning two players who have yet to officially suit-up for the Irish, linebackers Jaylen Sneed and Niuafe Tuihalamaka. He failed to mention rising sophomore Prince Kollie as a potential impact at the position as well. I think it’s safe to say the Irish defense will be a strong point during Marcus Freeman’s first season as the head coach.
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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
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Who will coach these players when they play again?
Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know Brian Kelly has left Notre Dame for LSU. That means he’ll be leaving a group of talented players behind, and those players have no idea who will be guiding them once they know which bowl they’re headed for. Let’s look at the best of those players:
These are the players to watch Saturday.
The belief that Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff hopes were dead turned out to be premature. The Irish have one final chance to make their case to the committee when they play Stanford in their final regular-season game. These players will help make that case:
It’s up to these players to make the final home game for Notre Dame’s seniors a memorable one.
Notre Dame has one final home game this season, and it comes against Georgia Tech. Will the Irish’s leaders be able to send their seniors off with a bang on their special day? If you want to know who they are, it’s these players:
Which plays stood out to you in today’s win over Navy?
It’s not always the scoring plays that make a game and that was once again the case as Notre Dame went on to defeat Navy, 34-6 in South Bend. Here is a look at which plays made a difference today and beyond for the Irish.
Here’s who’s pacing the Irish.
Notre Dame is coming off its win over USC and heading into a game with North Carolina. Some have questions about how well the Irish match up with the Tar Heels. That’s why the heroes of South Bend will have to step up. Here they are:
