Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
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:
Things still are going all right, at least to a point.
Much like the first quarter, the second quarter was good for Notre Dame but also could have gone a lot better. There should be some greater distance between it and USC, but that’s not how it turned out. Still, the Irish gladly will take a 17-3 lead into halftime.
On the first play of the quarter, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa tipped a Kedon Slovis pass that ended up in the hands of Bo Bauer, who returned it 79 yards to the Trojans’ 4-yard line. A touchdown appeared to be in the books, but Jack Coan was unable to follow two short runs by the Irish with a complete pass, even as he had all the time in the world to throw and run the ball himself. Although Jonathan Doerer salvaged the drive with a 21-yard field goal, the crowd at Notre Dame Stadium voiced that it was not pleased with what it had just witnessed.
With Kyle Hamilton questionable to return after suffering a knee injury late in the first quarter, the Trojans looked to take advantage of his absence. Slovis continually called Drake London’s number, and the Trojans were able to get into the red zone with relative ease, though they were aided by a questionable roughing the passer call against JD Bertrand. With a touchdown in sight, Slovis instead threw a couple of incomplete passes. Parker Lewis kicked a 33-yard field goal to get the Trojans on the board.
Coan began the Irish’s next drive with a 29-yard pass to Lorenzo Styles, putting the offense in Trojans territory right off the bat. Another completion to Styles, a 12-yard run by Kyren Williams, and 16-yard pass to Michael Mayer gave the Irish a first-and-goal in only three minutes of possession. Williams scored on a 5-yard run two plays later, though it took a lengthy replay review to confirm it.
The Trojans moved the ball nicely again on their final drive of the first half. They even converted on fourth down not far across midfield. However, they didn’t have any timeouts by then, and the clock ran out before they were able to spike the ball in field-goal range. Hey, the Irish will take whatever gifts they can get.
Who do you think has a big game against the Bearcats?
It that time of the week again, where the homer comes out. The Irish are riding high, after soundly beating Wisconsin to improve to 4-0 and once again rise in the rankings. This week another big challenge awaits the undefeated squad, the Cincinnati Bearcats. Let’s get a bit crazy with a few predictions for how this afternoon will go.
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.
🗣 Desmond Ridder isn’t worried about the noise pic.twitter.com/7ycWai4NO8
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 30, 2021
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.
Who do you think has a good game for the Irish today?
It’s been an up-and-down first two games for the Irish. Each game saw Notre Dame build a late lead, 18 points against Florida State and 8 points against Toledo, only to have to fend off the opposition and escape with a win. It might be more of the same this weekend, as instate foe Purdue would love to come away with an upset in Notre Dame Stadium. Here are a few predictions for the Irish as they face the Boilermakers.
Whew.
Notre Dame will need to clean some things up before the competition really gets fierce. That it struggled so much for a second consecutive week undoubtedly will cause a lot of discussion about how good this team really is. For now, it can settle for a 32-29 win over a Toledo team that came into Notre Dame Stadium with something to prove and did just that even as it just came up short.
On a drive the Irish (2-0) left over from the third quarter, Tyler Buchner got the Irish into field-goal range on a 15-yard run. That set up a 30-yard field goal from Jonathan Doerer to put the Irish back in front. South Bend breathed a little easier.
The Rockets moved backwards on their first possession of the quarter by virtue of both the Irish’s defense and a couple of false starts. That enabled the Irish’s offense to set up shop at their own 45-yard line. Buchner only needed one play to hit Chris Tyree, who began the play in motion before the snap, for a 55-yard touchdown. South Bend breathed even easier than before.
It also took only one play for the Rockets to gain momentum back. Pinned back at his own 11, Bryant Koback took a handoff and found enough holes to gain 67 yards. That ultimately set up a third-and-goal from the Irish’s 8 on which he took a shovel pass to score a touchdown and bring the Rockets within two. A pass on a two-point conversion failed, so the Irish held onto a 24-22 lead.
With time winding down, the Irish focused on the ground game to eat the clock. It worked for a while, getting all the way to the Rockets’ 33. That’s when disaster struck as Desjuan Johnson forced a Kyren Williams fumble, which Zachary Ford recovered at the Rockets’ 27 with less than three-and-a-half minutes to play. Holy cow.
Needing only a field goal to take a late lead, the Rockets’ offense moved enough to set that up. However, it wasn’t needed. On a third-and-1 from the 26, Dequan Finn ran to the left and found enough open field to run into the end zone for a backbreaking touchdown to put his team up, 29-24. With 1:35 left, the Irish needed to make something happen fast.
The drive started well when Jack Coan hit Kevin Austin for a 34-yard reception to put the Irish into Rockets territory. Aided by a couple of penalties, the offense quickly found itself in the red zone and made the most of it. After having his finger popped back in on the sidelines, Coan found Michael Mayer right in front of the end zone, and he marched the short distance with his 18-yard touchdown reception. Needing a two-point conversion to protect the lead in the event of a Rockets field goal, quarterback-turned-receiver Avery Davis had enough time to find an open Williams, who caught the ball to put the Irish up three.
The Rockets had 1:09 to respond with 87 yards of field to work with and suddenly became undisciplined as they took one penalty after another. At one point, they took a timeout to avoid a 10-second runoff. Toledo’s frustrating drive ended abruptly when Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa forced a Carter Bradley fumble that was recovered by JD Bertrand. All of South Bend can exhale.
Will you be able to breathe after that, or is this frustrating? Whatever the case, a win is a win is a win.
Tough loss for the Irish.
If Notre Dame is going to uphold its defensive reputation, it will have to do so without one of its returning linebackers. Last week, junior Marist Liufau was dealt a major injury in practice. It turned out to be a broken ankle, and he ended up needing surgery, which took place Monday morning. However, Brian Kelly said during a news conference later in the day that Liufau will miss the entire season.
Liufau was expected to start at Will linebacker this season. With that possibility out the window, the depth chart for the Irish’s season opener against Florida State lists junior JD Bertand as the new starter. Backing up Bertrand is senior Shayne Simon.
After seeing limited action as a freshman in 2019, Liufau played 10 games in 2020 while recording 22 tackles, six apiece coming in the ACC Championship Game and the Rose Bowl.
Bertrand played in seven games in 2020 and recorded seven tackles, while Simon had 14 tackles while starting eight of 11 games.
No good news
Reports have surfaced this morning that the Irish have lost one of their linebackers in Marist Liufau. Apparently the presumed starter suffered a major injury to his lower body in practice yesterday and the reports aren’t very encouraging. The injury has yet to be confirmed but Liufau will be out for a good amount of time.
It’s a big loss for Marcus Freeman’s defense, as Liufau has just started to scratch the surface of how good he could be. It can’t be stressed enough that defenses depth at linebacker will now be tested.
Can confirm multiple reports – believe @mattfreemanISD had it first – that linebacker Marist Liufau suffered a major lower body injury on Wednesday in practice that is likely to sideline him for the season.
The junior from Hawaii was expected to start at linebacker this fall.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) August 26, 2021
It seems like either Shayne Simon or JD Bertrand will move into the starting spot, and there isn’t much time at all left in camp. Will someone else step up? Keep an eye out here on Fighting Irish Wire for more information about this developing story.
