Tag: Lawrence Keys III

Notre Dame injury update: Only one Irish player ruled out

There is just one Notre Dame football player that has been ruled out of today’s contest against Louisville, wide receiver Lawrence Keys III.

It’s always good news when there aren’t many players showing up on an injury report. That’s exactly the case today as just one player, wide receiver Lawrence Keys III will miss today’s matchup against Louisville.

That means the Irish are virtually at full strength, as Keys III had lost his punt returning job and hasn’t really factored into the passing game this year. Great to see the Irish healthy as they face the Cardinals today.

Notre Dame vs. Florida State: First-Quarter Analysis

Those who figured the two-week layoff would hurt Notre Dame against Florida State were correct early.

Those who figured the two-week layoff would hurt Notre Dame against Florida State were correct early. Kyren Williams lost a fumble on his first carry of the game, and it cost the Irish an early field goal. Williams more than made up for it on the Irish’s subsequent possessions. Still, the Irish find themselves behind, 17-14, after the first quarter.

On the first play of Notre Dame’s second possession, Williams took advantage of a nice block from Tommy Tremble and ran 65 yards to the Florida State 10-yard line. That set up an 8-yard touchdown reception for Michael Mayer. One Seminoles punt later, Ian Book made a few nice passes before Williams ran the ball 46 yards to the house to give the Irish a 14-3 lead.

The Irish looked like they would hold that advantage after forcing a three-and-out, but Lawrence Keys III muffed a punt, and the Seminoles were more than happy to take over deep in Irish territory. That’s because all Jordan Travis had to do was call two run plays before running into the end zone himself from 4 yards out.

The Irish failed to pick up a first down on their next possession, really looking out of sync. When the Seminoles got the ball back, they decided to switch from attacking on the ground to doing so in the air. Travis completed three of four passes, targeting leading receiver Tamorrion Terry three times.  The final pass went 48 yards to Terry, who ran into the end zone and gave the Seminoles the lead back.

It was a quarter of both good and bad for the Irish, and most of the bad easily could have been avoided had they held onto the ball. Brian Kelly better figure out how to keep his guys on their toes because that extra time off seems to be taking a toll. At least they have enough time to figure things out. Still, Irish fans are in shock.

Irish gameday injury update: Hamilon, Bracy and other’s status for USF

Find out which Notre Dame players won’t be suiting up this afternoon against South Florida.

Notre Dame has announced with players who were on the depth chart this week that will no suit up against South Florida this afternoon.

The biggest player not putting on the Blue and Gold this afternoon is safety Kyle Hamilton. He injured his ankle during last weeks win against Duke, Brian Kelly making the safe choice to sit his one of this star players. The defense didn’t look bad after Hamilton was injured, so him not playing shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

Other notables include cornerback TaRiq Bracy, who had four tackles last week, and linebacker Marist Liufau. The depth at cornerback and linebacker was probably another reason Kelly played it safe with Bracy and Liufau. Also running back Jahmir Smith is out, hopefully electric freshman Chris Tyree is the benefactor.

Rivals: Irish don’t have enough firepower to beat Clemson

It’s a bit premature to make that assumption, there are a lot of unknowns about Notre Dame’s new offense behind Tommy Rees’ direction.

There are plenty of prognosticators who want to go out on a limb and make predictions that might be a bit far out there. Rivals’ Mike Farrell and Adam Gorney both looked at if the Irish could beat out Clemson for the ACC Title.

Both, Farrell and Gorney, believe that Notre Dame won’t be able to knock off the perennial College Football Playoff contestant. Farrell says that “I don’t think there’s a threat” when referring to Notre Dame’s potential to topple the Tigers. Farrell cites Clemson’s hunger after losing last year’s CFB Championship to LSU and that he “can’t see either (North Carolina or Notre Dame’s) defense holding up to the explosive Clemson offense.”

Clemson’s explosive offense has probably the best pair of backfield mates in quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne in the country. However, losing potential star wide receiver Justyn Ross to a spinal injury and Tee Higgins going to the NFL, gives the Tigers WR unit some questions going into the season also. Lots of talented players are behind them, but like the Irish, they’re going to have to find playmakers. Their situations, Notre Dame’s and Clemson’s, are very similar and claiming Clemson has an explosive offense at this point in time seems foolish.

Gorney see’s things playing out very similar to Farrell. He worries “the Irish don’t have enough offensive firepower to keep up with Clemson… because Notre Dame is still looking for playmakers in the passing game.” Gorney, like Farrell, fails to see the similarities between both teams playmakers situations.

It’s a bit premature to say Notre Dame’s offense won’t be able to contend with Clemson’s. Defensive coordinator Clark Lea is a rising star and new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees had time to install his offense during the offseason. Rees will find playmakers from his talented group, it could be tight end Brock Wright, wide receiver Braden Lenzy or Lawrence Keys III, running back Chris Tryee that breaks out. The Irish will have players break out and perform at a high level this year.

Farrell and Gorney are a bit off when saying the Irish don’t have the offensive firepower, there’s plenty of talented players on the Notre Dame roster who will have their opportunities this season. Each team will have plenty of time to get their offenses humming by the time they meet on the field November 7th. It should be a great one that will impact not just the ACC race, but the CFP as well.