Tag: Kevin Austin

Five keys for Notre Dame to defeat Oklahoma State in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl

The five aspects might decide the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl

The final game of the 2021 season is here and the first game of the Marcus Freeman era as well. The Irish will take on an Oklahoma State Cowboy team that was close to winning the Big XII and potentially making the College Football Playoff. This team won’t just roll over and let the Irish take a win home back to South Bend. They’re scrappy and it’s going to be a battle to come out victorious. Here are five keys for Notre Dame to avoid a an upset and get the all important bowl victory.

Tale of the Tape: Leading Receivers – Kevin Austin vs. Tay Martin

Which primary target will have the better game?

The Fiesta Bowl between Notre Dame and Oklahoma State generally is predicted to be a close matchup. The Irish’s entry in the top receiver category is Kevin Austin after tight end Michael Mayer held it for most of the season. While that might be a personal victory for Austin, the only advantages he has in this matchup are in yards a catch and leading reception. That must happen when it takes this long to have an actual receiver as your leading receiver this late in the season.

The Cowboys’ Tay Martin has made the most of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA. He is the go-to target for Spencer Sanders, and he is not disappointing anyone in Stillwater. Unless the Irish completely shut him down, he will wrap up his collegiate career with his first and only 1,000-yard season. Win or lose, that would be a nice high note to go out on.

Notre Dame WR Kevin Austin talks Fiesta Bowl, future

Should Austin stay one more year?

Notre Dame wide receiver Kevin Austin has been discussed for his great potential for seemingly years.  Injuries and off-the-field issues kept Austin from reaching that potential for a long while however.

That is until this regular season when Austin hauled in 42 receptions for 783 yards and six touchdowns.

Will Austin, who still has eligibility remaining, return for another go at Notre Dame or will he dip his feet in the NFL draft waters?

He discussed that and the Fiesta Bowl ahead of Saturday’s contest versus Oklahoma State.

Notre Dame football: top 10 plays of 2021 season

What was your favorite play of Notre Dame’s 2021 regular season?

Coming into the 2021 football season Notre Dame had a preseason top-10 ranking but plenty of outlets had the Irish projected to take a significant step back this fall.  As it turns out, Notre Dame finished the regular season as the fifth-ranked team in the College Football Playoff rankings and will cap their season against Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on January 1.

The regular season brought some great highs, including comeback victories over Toledo and Virginia Tech in the closing minutes and some straight blow outs, especially over the final month.  In those, plenty of memorable plays were made in all phases of the game.

Here are what we decided were the ten best plays of Notre Dame’s 2021 football season:

Notre Dame statistical leaders through 12 games

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:

The five plays that loomed large in Notre Dame’s win over Stanford

It’s not just about TD and turnovers

It isn’t just scoring plays that make a difference in a game, there are plays inside drive that make them work. This is a recap of those play for the Irish today, as they firmly defeated Stanford 45-14 on the road. Take a look below at the plays that loomed large.

Notre Dame at Stanford: Third-Quarter Analysis

One quarter left.

Notre Dame is facing a Stanford team that has gotten slightly better as the game has gone on. The Cardinal have shown that while they might not win this game, they will not go away quietly. Even so, the Irish still have a 31-7 lead after three quarters.

The Irish’s first drive of the second half ended prematurely when Jack Coan was picked off on third down by Jonathan McGill, who returned the ball 23 yards to get into the red zone. The Cardinal took advantage of the short field when they needed only two plays for Austin Jones to run 5 yards for the first touchdown the Irish have given up in almost a month.

If that touchdown fazed the Irish, they didn’t show it. On the second play of their next drive, Coan hit Kevin Austin for a 61-yard reception that nearly resulted in the responding touchdown. It took another two plays for that to happen, but Coan pulled it off from 1 yard out on a keeper.

The game then reached a standstill as punts ended the next five drives. It may not have been interesting football, but it burned a lot of time off the clock. While it’s unlikely the Irish needed to resort to clock management to win this game, they can afford to take that approach, intentional or not, when they have a 24-point lead. Having Chris Tyree run for 33 yards on the final play of the quarter works, too.

Watch: Coan sneaks into end zone as Notre Dame answers Stanford

The Irish answer

The Irish finally gave up a touchdown, the first one allowed in 14 quarters as Stanford found pay dirt after intercepting quarterback Jack Coan. It seems like Coan wasn’t happy about the throw and the next drive showed it.

The big play was Coan finding wide receiver Kevin Austin for a big gainer, 61-yards that put the Irish just two-yards away from the goal line. After running back Kyren Williams was unsuccessful on first down, it was Coan’s turn and his sneak found him in the end zone. The rushing score was the quarterback’s second of the year and the Irish answered the Cardinal’s touchdown to get the lead back to 31-7 early in the third quarter.

Watch: Notre Dame extends lead as Coan find Takacs against Stanford

Coan throws his second TD of the game

The Irish offense didn’t do much during their second drive, gaining just 12-yards and being forced to punt the ball back to Stanford. Their third drive was like their first, ending in a passing touchdown from quarterback Jack Coan.

The key to this drive was a 3rd-and-19 pass play, as Coan found running back Kyren Williams for 15-yards which gave the Irish a shorter fourth down attempt. They would convert that, Coan finding Kevin Austin to move the chains and three plays later would find the end zone. Coan threw his second touchdown of the day, this one to tight end George Takacs as the Irish extended their lead, 14-0 over the Cardinal early in the second quarter.

Notre Dame at Stanford: First-Quarter Analysis

What do you know? The Irish are winning.

Sometimes, you play or cover a game when you know the result practically is a foregone conclusion. Not to get ahead of ourselves after only one quarter, but Notre Dame-Stanford feels like one of those games. Coming in, there wasn’t one area that seemed to give the Irish cause for concern against the Cardinal. That belief still holds up as the Irish have a 7-0 lead.

The Cardinal won the coin toss and opted to receive. It didn’t matter if they got the ball first because they promptly went three-and-out. In contrast, the Irish had little trouble moving the ball as their first offensive drive began with a 33-yard reception by Kevin Austin. From there, Jack Coan and the rest of the unit continued to excel, and Coan capped the drive by throwing a 16-yard touchdown pass to Braden Lenzy.

The next two drives saw both teams take turns picking up a first down and then punting. The Cardinal then had another three-and-out and…yeah, that seems to be an indicator of what kind of game we have in store. The Irish, meanwhile, converted on a fourth down and then got into the red zone, which is why they’ll have the ball to begin the second quarter. Anyone think this drive won’t end in points?