Tag: Jonas Gray

History of Notre Dame’s rivalry with Navy

This rivalry is filled more history than nearly any other rivalry in college football.

Few rivalries in college football have as much history and prestige as Notre Dame-Navy.

Except for the COVID-19-affected season, these programs have played each other every year since 1927. Even with the college football landscape seemingly always in flux, there’s no reason to think this rivalry will stop anytime soon. Most fans on both sides are fine with that, even if the Irish have won the vast majority of the meetings.

If for no other reason, Notre Dame owes it to Navy to keep the rivalry going. When Notre Dame faced financial difficulties during World War II, the Navy opted to use the university as a training ground for its V-12 program. The money the Navy paid for that usage kept the university from going under, so Notre Dame feel it’s forever in its debt.

The result is many memorable moments over the years. Here are some of them:

35 days till Patriots season opener: Every player to wear No. 35 for New England

Here’s a list of every Patriots player to wear the No. 35 jersey number

The countdown to the New England Patriots’ regular season opener continues with the team officially being 35 days away from their Sept. 10 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

So today, we’re continuing our countdown series by listing every Patriots player that has ever worn the No. 35 jersey.

Second-year running back Pierre Strong Jr. is the current owner of the jersey. The former fourth-round draft pick has been relatively unknown up to this point, but he could see an uptick in action in 2023 with the Patriots lacking in running back depth.

Strong’s jersey number carries a long history with Patriots standouts, such as Kyle Dugger, James Develin and Jim Nance wearing it. Former Patriots running back Jonas Gray is also a name that sticks given how quickly he flashed and fizzled out in New England. Who could ever forget him rushing for 201 yards and four touchdowns against the Colts in 2014?

Let’s take a look at every player throughout franchise history that has ever worn the number (via Pro Football Reference).

Notre Dame’s top-rated running back recruits since 2000

What would happen if Notre Dame’s recruiting of the running back position could meet what it does on the offensive line?

Notre Dame has long been known for fielding a solid running game on an annual basis. [autotag]Jerome Bettis[/autotag], [autotag]Ricky Watters[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Brooks[/autotag], [autotag]Ray Zellars[/autotag], [autotag]Autry Denson[/autotag] and [autotag]Allen Pinkett[/autotag] come to mind from yesteryear. Stars [autotag]Kyren Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Josh Adams[/autotag] and [autotag]Theo Riddick[/autotag] wowed crowds over the last decade.

It’s been a long time however since Notre Dame has brought in what would be considered top-tier talent at the position with regularity. Sure, Adams, [autotag]Tony Jones, Jr[/autotag] and some others have earned NFL paychecks over the last decade, it’s been a long while since Notre Dame produced Julius Jones, the last Irish running back to be more than simply a role-playing back in the NFL. Perhaps Williams will change that with the Rams, but time will only tell.

So what has Notre Dame’s recruiting at running back looked like the last two-plus decades?

Here are the top 30 Notre Dame running back recruits since 2000 according to 247Sports. It is worth noting some of these players wound up changing positions once getting to South Bend.

Twitter reacts to Notre Dame’s Jayden Thomas’ first college touchdown

That was pretty impressive.

If you don’t know much about [autotag]Jayden Thomas[/autotag], don’t feel too bad. He had minimal playing time during his freshman year at Notre Dame, and even with more opportunities as a sophomore, he hasn’t done a lot to turn heads. However, you definitely will want to know more about him now after this amazing 30-yard touchdown catch late in the first half against BYU:

That wasn’t your typical long touchdown reception. Thomas had to battle with a defender on him to secure that ball and run toward the end zone only a few yards away. If this is the beginning of what will be a fine rest of his Irish career, Irish fans undoubtedly will be anxious to see what comes next for him. In the meantime, some of them took to Twitter to react to a touchdown catch that many will be replaying over and over for the next week:

79 Days until Notre Dame Football Returns!

We’re just over 11 weeks until Notre Dame football returns. Don’t miss today’s memory as we count down the days to Irish football!

Just over 11 weeks from now we’ll have Notre Dame and Navy returning to the football field to start their 2020 college football seasons.  Until then we’ll be counting the days by sharing memories of players, coaches and games that helped shape Notre Dame’s football legacy.

Yesterday we happened to find an 80 yard touchdown reception from Tommy Rees to TJ Jones that gave the Irish a second half lead in a game they wouldn’t hold onto against Pitt.

Today, by chance I swear and not on purpose, another Notre Dame vs. Pitt memory gets remembered.

79: Yards of Jonas Gray’s touchdown run at Pitt in 2011

2011 saw a frustrating start for Notre Dame as they gave away their first two games against South Florida and at Michigan.  After finally getting in the win column against Michigan State in Week Three they traveled to Pitt to try and get to .500 against the Panthers.

Trailing 3-0 in the second quarter, Jonas Gray, who wasn’t necessarilyknown for his wheels, outran the entire Pitt defense for a go-ahead score.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58GhK358UUQ&w=560&h=315]

Gray would finish with just two more touches as he totaled 84 rushing yards on the day.  Notre Dame would get a late score on a pass from Tommy Rees to Tyler Eiftert that put them ahead 15-12, the eventual final score, getting them to 2-2 on the season.

Related – Way too early game-by-game predictions for Notre Dame football in 2020