Tag: Kyren Williams

Watch: Williams scores again, extends Irish lead to 17-6 over Duke

Check out Kyren Williams score his second touchdown of the game.

Kyren Williams earned the start at running back, and it is paying off today. Through a little over 2 quarters of football, Williams has run for 91 yards on 17 carries. Take a look at his second touchdown, this one going for 26 yards on 4th-and-1.

The running back has a chance to have a very solid opening game. Expect Williams continue to add on to his current rushing total.

Notre Dame vs. Duke: Second-Quarter Analysis

Well, that’s a little more like it. Though it may not seem so, Notre Dame finally looks something like the team it’s expected to be in 2020.

Well, that’s a little more like it. Though it may not seem so, Notre Dame finally looks something like the team it’s expected to be in 2020. Thanks to a little trickery, the Irish find themselves ahead of Duke at halftime, 10-6.

When it looked like another Irish drive would die early, Jay Bramblett successfully executed a late punt. It woke the offense up, as evidenced by Kyren Williams’ 11-yard run, which was added onto by a face-mask penalty, and a nice catch by Jafar Armstrong, who took it 20 yards to the Duke 2. Williams ran it in for the Irish’s first touchdown of the season one play later.

The defense was picked apart on a drive that Duke got down to the Notre Dame 2. With the Blue Devils threatening to retake the lead on third-and-goal, Isaiah Foskey got to Chase Brice and ultimately was credited with a 10-yard sack after a replay review. Charlie Ham salvaged the drive with a 30-yard field, his second of the game and his career.

On the next drive, the Irish had a chance to extend their lead further after Williams caught an Ian Book pass and ran 75 yards to the Duke 11. But Book made an ill-advised throw into traffic, and Lummie Young IV intercepted it in the end zone for a touchback. Book then threw another interception when he got back on the field, but an offsides penalty wiped it out. The drive continued, and Jonathan Doerer kicked a 48-yard field goal as the clock expired on the first half.

A change in philosophy has the Irish close to elite football status

When Brian Kelly suffered his worst season as Notre Dame head coach, he made changes immediately. They have really paid off

As the Irish step into their first, and most likely only, ACC conference season, there are plenty of questions along the way as to how Notre Dame will fare. Chip Patterson of CBS Sports tried to tackle how Brian Kelly will guide the Irish through this odd season.

Before Patterson got in-depth on how the Irish would do in conference play, still weird to say that, he looked at how they got to this point. Patterson singled out Kelly’s change in player development and recruiting since going 4-8 in 2016. The head coach addressed those issues and “the results were immediate, with Notre Dame going 33-5 over the last three seasons with three top-12 poll finishes and an appearance in the 2018 College Football Playoff.”

You can say that Kelly has really excelled with the change, not hoping the players improve, but instead putting an emphasis on drastic improvements. Patterson singled out linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Kyren Williams as two players who have benefitted from new priorities. This led Patterson to come to the conclusion that “Notre Dame is uniquely built to overcome whatever obstacles are ahead in the 2020 season.”

That main obstacle being the Clemson Tigers, who pretty much own the ACC right now. Patterson knows that as “Clemson is still the odds-on favorite to win the league, but Notre Dame is too strong to think we can pencil in those two matchups as ‘win, win’ for the Tigers.”

Notre Dame Football: Kyren Williams continues to impress at running back

Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams keep impressing and now seems to sit atop the depth chart for the Irish.

Brian Kelly was at it again Tuesday, throwing praise the way of running back Kyren Williams who continues to impress in Notre Dame’s fall camp.

“Kyren Williams has emerged as the top back right now” – Brian Kelly during Tuesday’s Zoom conference with the media.

Kelly went on to add that it by no means is going to be a backfield that sees an old school bell-cow back and was quick to sprinkle in the other backs vying for carries.

It’s another week of massive praise for Williams who last week received it not just from his head coach but also from star offensive tackle, Liam Eichenberg.

By no means does this mean Williams is going to be the guy all season long, especially with incoming freshman Chris Tyree getting a lot of praise so far in camp, too.  However, it’s an incredible leap for Williams who carried the ball just four times last season, all in mop-up duty during Notre Dame’s 66-14 drubbing of New Mexico.

 

Notre Dame Football: Kyren Williams continues to impress at running back

Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams keep impressing and now seems to sit atop the depth chart for the Irish.

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Brian Kelly was at it again Tuesday, throwing praise the way of running back Kyren Williams who continues to impress in Notre Dame’s fall camp.

“Kyren Williams has emerged as the top back right now” – Brian Kelly during Tuesday’s Zoom conference with the media.

Kelly went on to add that it by no means is going to be a backfield that sees an old school bell-cow back and was quick to sprinkle in the other backs vying for carries.

It’s another week of massive praise for Williams who last week received it not just from his head coach but also from star offensive tackle, Liam Eichenberg.

By no means does this mean Williams is going to be the guy all season long, especially with incoming freshman Chris Tyree getting a lot of praise so far in camp, too.  However, it’s an incredible leap for Williams who carried the ball just four times last season, all in mop-up duty during Notre Dame’s 66-14 drubbing of New Mexico.

 

Notre Dame Football: Is a leader at running back emerging?

Does Notre Dame have a running back starting to emerge from the back in the battle for reps?

One thing we’ve discussed this summer is that Notre Dame has a stockpile of options at running back, but that there isn’t a lot of faith in what those backs will be able to in 2020.

When Brian Kelly met the media for the first time back in the first week of fall camp, he noted the weight freshman Chris Tyree came in at and that Tyree wasn’t going to just be a gadget guy in 2020.  Kelly was also complimentary towards another running back earlier this week when asked about red-shirt freshman, Kyren Williams.

“I think the hard work, his commitment in the offseason has put himself in a position now where he’s what we thought he would be,” Kelly said. “He can catch the football. He’s got really good vision, escapability. He’s not afraid to block or run the ball up between the tackles so he’s going to be a really key piece for us moving into the season.” – HC Brian Kelly

Liam Eichenberg was interviewed after a recent practice and shared the following while discussing the offensive, specifically the running backs:

“The running backs – Kyren Williams is having a great camp. The offense is rolling. It’s been good.” – LT Liam Eichenberg

Williams played in the first four games of 2019 as a true freshman, getting four carries and one reception that totaled 29 yards.  He also returned a pair of kickoffs for a combined 35 yards.

It’s early and it’s going strictly on words from his coach and teammate, but it would appear Kyren Williams is turning heads and doing a lot to earn a good amount of touches early in the 2020 campaign.

Notre Dame’s Uneasy Running Back Situation Entering 2020

Who is going to be the load back for Notre Dame after Tony Jones, Jr. headed to the NFL? The candidates all leave something to be desired.

How much will Notre Dame miss Tony Jones, Jr. in 2020?

You may not have thought Jones was any great shakes at Notre Dame but his 857 rushing yards were the most on the team in 2019.  Who then shoulders the load that Jones and his 144 carries from a year ago leaves?

“Quarterbacks: if you have two then you don’t have one!”

If that’s true then is the equivalent when discussing running backs something like,  “Running backs: if you’ve got six then you’ve got nothing!”

That would somewhat describe the state of Notre Dame’s running back room after the addition of transfer Trevor Speights yesterday.

Right now the running back room has six bodies and seemingly none that appear to be threats to be a traditional every down back.

Jafar Armstrong has shown flashes but has been beat up, missing eight of Notre Dame’s 26 games the last two seasons.  He started with a bang, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the 2018 opener against Michigan and seven that year, but totaled just 219 yards from scrimmage and one score in eight games in 2019.

Jahmir Smith, the former top-20 running back in the 2018 recruiting class hasn’t exactly shined just yet, totaling 208 rushing yards on 48 attempts, 46 of which came in 2019.  It’s experience but nothing really stood out.

C’bo Flemister had a few flashes in 2019 but hardly a deep track record as he recorded just 53 touches in nine games.  With those he 175 yards of offense for just 3.6 yards per touch.

Kyren Williams dropped a pass in the Louisville game to start the season and was pulled from that contest.  He’d wind up playing in parts of the first four games, recording just five touches before getting a redshirt.  His moves excite many but he’s not exactly seen as a potential burner by any means.

Chris Tyree will arrive on campus as big of running back recruit that Notre Dame has had in quite some time but to expect him to walk in and be a load type back is likely unrealistic as he’ll take some time to thicken up a bit and have the body type necessary to play running back in major college football.

And finally, Trevor Speights arrives after a career at Stanford that saw him record 95 carries for 363 yards (3.8 ypc) and battle some injury problems.  Like I’ve said, he’s by no means a knockout signing of a transfer but is at least another body to compete for playing time behind what should be a solid offensive line.

It’s clear that the running back room is questionable at best for Notre Dame as we head to 2020.  If Brian Kelly, Tommy Rees or run game coordinator Lance Taylor felt better about it then they wouldn’t have pursued Speights services quite like they did.

What you root for first is health as that would give us the chance at the highest production from the position, likely coming from Armstrong or Speights.  It’s hard for me to imagine Flemister or Williams taking a massive leap but I won’t tell you not be hopeful for something there.  And as excited as I am to watch Tyree, his body screams to be one that will need to put on a few pounds before I can see him being a viable threat.

The best thing I can say about Notre Dame’s running game as we head into 2020?

Ian Book is back for a fifth year and as much flack as he gets, his 546 rush yards a season ago were the second most on the team and went a long way in carrying the Notre Dame running game.  With no backs currently in place that excite you very much it makes think we’re headed to another season of Ian Book needing to probably run for another 500 yards or so if the Irish are going to be threatening another 10 win season.