Tag: Marshall

Four Notre Dame players named to Preseason All-American Team

See who made this year’s list for the Irish.

The Associated Press has released its Preseason All-American Team, and Notre Dame has four representatives on it. For most schools, one player making this team would be cause for celebration. However, Notre Dame is not “most schools”, and there are plenty of players expected to have fantastic seasons. While it’s obviously not a guarantee of success for the upcoming season, it shows how confident sportswriters are in a given player.

Here are those who represent the Irish on this prestigious team in 2021:

Six Notre Dame players earn spot on Senior Bowl Watch List

Who could be headed to Mobile after the season?

The Senior Bowl always is a big deal for players who have just finished their eligibility to play college football. It often serves as a major showcase for any player hoping to get drafted by the NFL only a few months later. While we obviously have no clue who will be going to the 2022 game at this point, it’s fun to look at the players who have a chance. This year’s Senior Bowl Watch List has been released, and six Notre Dame players are on it:

Chiefs to sign former Marshall CB Jaylon McClain-Sapp

Another undrafted free agent addition by Kansas City that flew under the radar.

The Kansas City Chiefs cleared some roster space earlier this week, releasing three players who had signed reserve/future deals with the team.

It’s fairly common practice for the Chiefs to release a few players before rookie minicamp in order to clear the way for some undrafted free agent signings. We already had recorded seven instances of undrafted free agent additions following the 2021 NFL draft.

According to his agents at Exclusive Sports Group, former Marshall CB Jaylon McClain-Sapp agreed to terms with Kansas City shortly after the draft. Over the course of his college career, McClain-Sapp played in 38 total games, recording 67 tackles, 16 pass breakups and two interceptions for the Thundering Herd.

At the Marshall pro day, McClain-Sapp weighed in just below 5-10 at 189 pounds. He posted an impressive 40-time (4.45) and vertical jump (41 inches), showing off his speed and explosion. His athleticism certainly pops up when you turn on his game tape too.

His playstyle is a bit similar to that of former Chiefs cornerback Bashaud Breeland. He’s going to be a guy who can match up on those deep routes in man coverage down the field and he’ll do fine in run support. The concern at the next level will be handling transitions and quicker receivers in the open field.

The addition of McClain-Sapp should bring the Chiefs’ roster up to a full 90 players. He’s the latest in the pipeline of undrafted free agents from Marshall to join the Chiefs, joining LB Omari Cobb who was added following the 2020 NFL draft.

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Chiefs to sign former Marshall CB Jaylon McClain-Sapp

Another undrafted free agent addition by Kansas City that flew under the radar.

The Kansas City Chiefs cleared some roster space earlier this week, releasing three players who had signed reserve/future deals with the team.

It’s fairly common practice for the Chiefs to release a few players before rookie minicamp in order to clear the way for some undrafted free agent signings. We already had recorded eight instances of undrafted free agent additions following the 2021 NFL draft.

According to his agents at Exclusive Sports Group, former Marshall CB Jaylon McClain-Sapp agreed to terms with Kansas City shortly after the draft. Over the course of his college career, McClain-Sapp played in 38 total games, recording 67 tackles, 16 pass breakups and two interceptions for the Thundering Herd.

At the Marshall pro day, McClain-Sapp weighed in just below 5-10 at 189 pounds. He posted an impressive 40-time (4.45) and vertical jump (41 inches), showing off his speed and explosion. His athleticism certainly pops up when you turn on his game tape too.

His playstyle is a bit similar to that of former Chiefs cornerback Bashaud Breeland. He’s going to be a guy who can match up on those deep routes in man coverage down the field and he’ll do fine in run support. The concern at the next level will be handling transitions and quicker receivers in the open field.

The addition of McClain-Sapp should bring the Chiefs’ roster up to a full 90 players. He’s the latest in the pipeline of undrafted free agents from Marshall to join the Chiefs, joining LB Omari Cobb who was added following the 2020 NFL draft.

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Notre Dame firmly behind No. 1 Alabama in latest Amway Coaches Poll

The latest Amway Coaches Poll sees a little movement inside the Top 10, but plenty later on.

Notre Dame concluded their first regular season as a conference member by going undefeated in the ACC, expelling all the chatter about how the Irish would do if they had to go through a conference schedule. The win 45-21 win against Syracuse might seem like a blowout, but the first half left plenty to be desired out of the remaining No. 2 team in the country according to the latest Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports

In a week after the Irish gained ground in votes to No. 1 Alabama, they stayed exactly the same as last weeks poll.

Around the ACC, No. 3 Clemson struggled early against Virginia Tech, but eventually took over in the second half like the Irish did and won 45-10. They remained at No. 3 while No. 10 Miami, FL blasted Duke 48-0 and No. 17 North Carolina did the same to Western Carolina 49-9.

In other movement around the Top 25, No. 8 BYU lost to No. 14 Coastal Carolina, 22-17 in a thriller. Indiana got a huge win over No. 16 Wisconsin, one week after losing their star quarterback Michael Penix for the season, confirming the Hoosiers No. 11 ranking. Four more upsets, No. 15 Marshall,  No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 20 Oregon and No. 23 Washington all lost to unranked opponents.

Here is the full updated Coaches Poll, with the ACC teams in bold and last weeks ranking in parenthesis.

1 Alabama (1)

2 Notre Dame (2)

3 Clemson (3)

4 Ohio State (4)

5 Texas A&M (6)

6 Florida (5)

7 Cincinnati (7)

8 Miami, FL (9)

9 Indiana (11)

10 Georgia (10)

11 Iowa State (12)

12 Oklahoma (13)

13 Coastal Carolina (14)

14 Northwestern (17)

15 USC (16)

16 BYU (8)

17 Louisiana-Lafayette (21)

18 Iowa (24)

19 Tulsa (22)

20 North Carolina (NR)

21 Liberty (25)

22 Colorado (NR)

23 Texas (NR)

24 NC State (NR)

25 Wisconsin (19)

Dropped out: No. 15 Marshall, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 20 Oregon, No. 23 Washington

Notre Dame stays at number 2 in CFP Rankings

The new College Football Playoff rankings are out and despite the top seven being unchanged, there is plenty of news.

The second edition of the College Football Playoff rankings are out and there is no change in regards to Notre Dame and overall there wasn’t a major shakeup in terms of likely playoff teams.

Notre Dame stayed at number two, trailing only Alabama for the second week in a row. 3-6 remained unchanged as well as Clemson, Ohio State, Texas A&M and Florida rounded out the top six.

The complete rankings went as follows:

1. Alabama

2. Notre Dame

3. Clemson

4. Ohio State

5. Texas A&M

6. Florida

7. Cincinnati

8. Georgia

9. Iowa State

10. Miami (FL)

11. Oklahoma

12. Indiana

13. BYU

14. Northwestern

15. Oklahoma State

16. Wisconsin

17. North Carolina

18. Coastal Carolina

19. Iowa

20. USC

21. Marshall

22. Washington

23. Oregon

24. Tulsa

25. Louisiana

Notre Dame has wins over the third and 17th ranked teams in the poll.  The only other member of the ACC ranked is Miami (FL) who checked in tenth.

Perhaps the most surprising takeaway from this week’s rankings is that Ohio State remains fourth in the rankings which feels like a clear sign that the Buckeyes will be in the College Football Playoff whether they play enough games to make the Big Ten Championship or not.

Updated: List of this week’s college football games canceled/postponed due to COVID-19

Add another top team to the list of college football programs who won’t be playing a game on Saturday afternoon after this ACC cancellation.

Yesterday we shared with you the list of all college football games that had been cancelled or postponed as a result of COVID-19.  We said then that we would be surprised if anymore came to be but that in this 2020 world we’re living in that we couldn’t be certain.

My exact words on the matter were as follows:

As of Friday afternoon, it’s hard to imagine any more college football games being called off for this weekend but it’s certainly a possibility in this strange time. – Nick Shepkowski 

Well, it turns out we can add to the list we put out on Friday as No. 4 Clemson’s game at Florida State has been postponed due to a positive test of a Clemson player on Friday.

That’s certainly a shocker for both teams as well as the entire ACC and all of college football.

Here is an updated list of all the Saturday games that have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19:

No 4 Clemson at Florida State
Ole Miss at No. 5 Texas A&M
Georgia Tech at No. 12 Miami (FL)
Charlotte at No. 15 Marshall
No. 22 Texas at Kansas
Central Arkansas at No. 24 Louisiana
Michigan State at Maryland
Wake Forest at Duke
Houston at SMU
UL Monroe at Louisiana Tech
UNLV at Colorado State
San Jose State at Fresno State
Navy at South Florida
Arizona State at Colorado

Here’s to hoping I’m not having to update this list again later today.

 

Complete list of postponed/canceled college football games this weekend

COVID-19 continues to terrorize the country. Here are all the college football games that were called off this weekend as a result.

In a year like none, we’ve ever seen in college football and one we hope we never see again, at least in terms of trying to play the grand game through a global pandemic.

In the meantime, we continue to have cancellations and postponements for games that were scheduled to be played this week.

As of Friday afternoon, it’s hard to imagine any more college football games being called off for this weekend but it’s certainly a possibility in this strange time.

Here is the complete list that is up to date with every game that has been called off for this weekend:

Ole Miss at No. 5 Texas A&M
Georgia Tech at No. 12 Miami (FL)
Charlotte at No. 15 Marshall
No. 22 Texas at Kansas
Central Arkansas at No. 24 Louisiana
Michigan State at Maryland
Wake Forest at Duke
Houston at SMU
UL Monroe at Louisiana Tech
UNLV at Colorado State
San Jose State at Fresno State
Navy at South Florida
Arizona State at Colorado

Many believed LSU and Arkansas would be canceled as well but as of Friday afternoon reports have that game being all-systems-go for Saturday.

The picks are in, ESPN’s College GameDay selects winners for today

Find out who the ESPN panel with guest picker Derrick Henry selected for today’s games including Alabama vs. Georgia.

Today’s guest picker on ESPN’s College GameDay doesn’t need much of an introduction. Just go back to this past Tuesday’s NFL highlights and you’ll see this.

Derrick Henry is a bad dude, the former Alabama Heisman Trophy winning back is coming off a season where he led the NFL in rushing. And he gave us this fantastic meme.

Henry joined Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and David Pollack in picking today’s slate of games. Here’s who they selected to win today.

Illinois at Wisconsin (Next Friday)

Henry – UW

Howard – UW

Pollack – UW

Herbstreit – UW

Corso – UW

 

UCF at Memphis

Henry – UCF

Howard – UCF

Pollack – UCF

Herbstreit – UCF

Corso – UCF

 

Marshall at Louisiana Tech

Henry – La. Tech

Howard – Marshall

Pollack – Marshall

Herbstreit – Marshall

Corso – Marshall

 

North Carolina at Florida State

Henry – UNC

Howard – UNC

Pollack – UNC

Herbstreit – UNC

Corso – UNC

 

Pittsburgh at Miami, FL

Henry – Miami

Howard – Miami

Pollack – Miami

Herbstreit – Miami

Corso – Miami

 

Boston College at Virginia Tech

Henry – BC

Howard – VT

Pollack – VT

Herbstreit – BC

Corso – VT

 

Texas A&M at Mississippi State

Henry – TAMU

Howard – Miss. St.

Pollack – TAMU

Herbstreit – Miss. St.

Corso – TAMU

 

Ole Miss at Arkansas

Henry – Ole Miss

Howard – Ole Miss

Pollack – Ole Miss

Herbstreit – Ole Miss

Corso – Ole Miss

 

Kentucky at Tennessee

Henry – Tenn.

Howard – Tenn.

Pollack – Tenn.

Herbstreit – Tenn.

Corso – Tenn.

 

Auburn at South Carolina

Henry – S. Carolina

Howard – S. Carolina

Pollack – S. Carolina

Herbstreit – S. Carolina

Corso – S. Carolina

Georgia at Alabama

Henry – Alabama

Howard – Alabama

Pollack – Alabama

Herbstreit – Georgia

Corso – Alabama

The picks are in, analysts select their winners from todays games

Find out who the experts picked to win this weeks slate of games.

It has become a right of passage at the end of collegiate pregame shows, the picking of the day’s slate of games. Take a look at who the experts selected, along with celebrity picker comedian Bill Murray.

Troy at MTSU

Kirk Herbstreit – Troy

Lee Corso – MSTU

Desmond Howard – MTSU

David Pollack – Troy

Bill Murray – MTSU

 

App. St. at Marshall

Herbstreit  – App. St.

Corso – App. St.

Howard – App. St.

Pollack – Marshall

Murray – App. St.

 

Tulsa vs Oklahoma St.

Herbstreit – OSU

Corso – OSU

Howard – OSU

Pollack – OSU

Murray – OSU

 

UCF at Georgia Tech

Herbstreit – UCF

Corso – UCF

Howard – UCF

Pollack – UCF

Murray – UCF

 

Miami at Louisville

Herbstreit – NO PICK

Corso – Miami

Howard – Miami

Pollack – Louisville

Murray – Louisville