Tag: Mitchell Evans

Notre Dame Week 14 highlight: Riley Leonard finds Mitchell Evans for key TD

Notre Dame got a key TD catch from Mitchell Evans.

Notre Dame and USC are engaged in a shootout in Los Angeles, but the No. 5 Fighting Irish have given themselves a little bit of separation after quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] found tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag] for a 23-yard touchdown reception.

The score, and the preceding drive, followed a stand by the Irish defense after Leonard tossed an ill-advised interception. USC had a shot to tie the game, but failed to convert on fourth down.

Notre Dame responded with a 3-play, 62-yard drive that burned 1:06 off the clock and ended in the Leonard-to-Mitchell connection.

The pass followed a 35-yard run by [autotag]Jadarian Price[/autotag].

Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans (88) jumps up to make a catch that would later be ruled incomplete during a NCAA college football game against Florida State at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in South Bend.

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Notre Dame Week 14 highlight — risky fake punt call pays off against USC

Notre Dame fakes a punt successfully at USC.

Calling a fake punt deep in your own territory, in a tie game, on the road, is a risky proposition. Heck, fake punts are almost always risky propositions.

Yet the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish pulled one off on the road against the USC Trojans in the second quarter.

Facing fourth-down-and-nine from their own 26-yard line, the Irish had [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] take the snap and pass. He found tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans [/autotag]wide open for 18 yards and the drive stayed alive.

Unfortunately for the Irish, the drive ended with a missed chip-shot field goal from kicker [autotag]Mitch Jeter[/autotag], who has been playing hurt.

Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner enters the transfer portal with a caveat
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA – APRIL 22: Tyler Buchner #12 of Notre Dame Fighting Irish passes during the Notre Dame Blue-Gold Spring Football Game at Notre Dame Stadium on April 22, 2023 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

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Notre Dame statistical leaders through 11 games

Who leads the Irish heading into the final regular-season contest?

Notre Dame has its fate in its own hands for the College Football Playoff. All it needs to do is defeat USC, and a first-round game at Notre Dame Stadium appears to be a certainty. Who would have thought the Irish would be in such a good position after the loss to Northern Illinois threatened to derail their season early?

The Irish can’t afford to get complacent though. The Trojans have not had a great season, but dealing the Irish a loss that could threaten their playoff chances would make up for everything that has gone wrong for them. That’s why the Irish will need to prepare for them like they would for any ranked team, and the talent they have should allow them to emerge victorious.

Here are the major statistical leaders the Irish are taking into their regular-season finale. Not all of them will be available, but they’re fun to see nonetheless:

Notre Dame Week 12 highlight: Mitchell Evans jumps it in

Notre Dame’s Mitchell Evans cashed in a turnover.

No. 8 Notre Dame spent the end of the first half taking the ball away from the Virginia Cavaliers, and the Fighting Irish also scored off of those turnovers.

After [autotag]Leonard Moore [/autotag] took the ball away from Virginia, tight [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag] caught a pass from Notre Dame quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] and dove into the end zone for a 16-yard score.

That capped a 3-play, 32-yard drive that took 34 seconds off the clock.

The touchdown gave the Irish a 28-0 lead late in the second quarter.

Nov 9, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Mitchell Evans (88) scores a touchdown against Florida State Seminoles linebacker Omar Graham Jr. (9) in the second quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame vs. Virginia: Second-Quarter Analysis

This quarter lasted over an hour and was quite crazy.

If you were hoping for more action between Notre Dame and Virginia in the second quarter, you would have gotten some. In a quarter that lasted over an hour in real time, the Irish had one crazy moment after another, and it ended with them holding a 28-0 halftime lead.

Both teams continued to struggle offensively for the first few minutes. After [autotag]Max Hurleman[/autotag] muffed a punt and the Cavaliers recovered, the Irish’s 7-0 lead appeared to be in jeopardy. But the Irish took the ball right back a few plays later when [autotag]Rod Heard II[/autotag] forced a Kobe Pace fumble that was recovered by [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag].

The difference between the two turnovers is that the Irish took advantage. Their offense had its most productive drive of the day, and it culminated when [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] hit [autotag]Jayden Harrison[/autotag] for an 8-yard touchdown.

On the next possession, Leonard fired another apparent touchdown pass to Harrison from 78 yards out, but it was wiped out when [autotag]Pat Coogan[/autotag] was penalized for illegal hands to the face.

Another apparent touchdown then was wiped out after a very confusing sequence. Faced with fourth-and-11, the Irish opted to fake a punt and try a fumblerooski, and [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag] ran the ball 73 yards to the house. However, the officials called it back for illegal formation, much to the chagrin of the Notre Dame Stadium fans and the NBC announcers.

But that touchdown was dying to be scored, and it finally was after [autotag]Adon Shuler[/autotag] returned an interception 46 yards and Leonard immediately faked a handoff before firing to an open [autotag]Cooper Flanagan[/autotag] in the end zone from 2 yards out.

The Irish weren’t finished though. Anthony Colandrea threw another interception, this one to [autotag]Leonard Moore[/autotag]. On the final of three subsequent passes, [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag] had a 16-yard touchdown.

Colandrea kept feeling generous though because Watts picked off another one of his passes in the waning seconds of the quarter. Although [autotag]Mitch Jeter[/autotag] missed a 54-yard field goal as time expired, the Irish still deserved a rest in the locker room after everything that had just happened.

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Notre Dame Week 11 highlight — Mitchell Evans gets first touchdown of the season

Mitchell Evans has his first TD of the season for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

[autotag]Mitchell Evan’s[/autotag] first touchdown of the season came at a very good time for the No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

It looked like the Irish might have a drive stall before halftime against the Florida State Seminoles. Notre Dame appeared ready to attempt a FG, then took a timeout and decided to go for it on fourth down. A [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] pass to [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag] converted, but the Seminoles also had 12 men on the field and were penalized.

Leonard hit Evans for a 12-yard touchdown pass on the next play, ending a 12-play, 77-yard drive that took 1:31 off the clock.

Notre Dame leads the Seminoles 21-3 at the halftime break.

Notre Dame has six named to PFF’s top returning players for 2024
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – OCTOBER 07: Mitchell Evans #88 of Notre Dame Fighting Irish against the Louisville Cardinals at L&N Stadium on October 07, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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Notre Dame vs. Florida State: Second-Quarter Analysis

The Irish are up with 30 minutes in the books.

(This story was updated to add new information).

[autotag]Jadarian Price[/autotag] wanted to finish what he started for Notre Dame late in the first quarter. On the first play of the second quarter, he ran for 65 yards and initially appeared to have just missed the end zone.

But a replay review confirmed Price had kept his foot in bounds, so he had a touchdown to extend the Irish’s lead over Florida State to 14-3.

There wasn’t a lot of action to speak of for a while after that, though the Irish’s defense had an interesting sequence. After [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag] went out with an injury, [autotag]Rylie Mills[/autotag] picked him up with back-to-back sacks on Brock Glenn to unseat Cross as the Irish’s sacks leader.

After getting close to Seminoles punter Alex Mastromanno a few times, [autotag]Adon Shuler[/autotag] got a piece of a punt, and that allowed the Irish’s offense to start a drive at midfield. It didn’t mean a thing though as the Irish never reached the red zone, and a [autotag]Mitch Jeter[/autotag] 42-yard field-goal attempt went wide left.

[autotag]Donovan Hinish[/autotag] recorded another sack on Glenn to force another Seminoles punt. The Irish had to start further back than before this time, and with time running out, they opted to go for it on a fourth-and-10 from the Seminoles 34-yard line after a timeout.

The Seminoles were flagged for having 12 men on the field, and the Irish  picked up a first down when Leonard completed a 22-yard pass to [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag]. Leonard took full advantage by promptly hitting [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag] with a 12-yard touchdown.

The Irish are up, 21-3, at halftime. The way the Seminoles have played offense, that looks like a safe lead, but we’ll see.

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Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans is a national award semifinalist

‘Mitchapolooza’ makes the cut

It has been a very successful bounce back season for Notre Dame tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag].

Early in the year, the senior continued to recover from offseason surgery, but made his first appearance in Week 2 against Northern Illinois. While the team’s result wasn’t what Evans was looking for, him getting back on the field was a significant development.

He’s had at least two catches every game, with his high of four coming against Georgia Tech. Evans hasn’t yet found the end zone, but that didn’t seem to matter to the [autotag]John Mackey Award[/autotag] committee, as on Tuesday they named him as one of its semifinalists.

The field won’t be easy for Evans to take home the award, but being named one of the eight top tight ends in the country isn’t anything to scoff at. Hopefully another week off helps with his recovery, and we see “Mitchapalooza” making a big splash for the Irish as they try and make the College Football Playoff.

Purdue Boilermakers defensive back Antonio Stevens (11) defends the pass to Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Mitchell Evans (88) Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, during the NCAA football game at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind.

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Notre Dame statistical leaders through four games

Who’s on the board going into the next game?

The great thing about Notre Dame’s dominant win over Miami (Ohio) is that a few more players got a chance to shine. Consequently, we have a few new names popping up in our weekly statistical leaders listicle heading into the game against Louisville. That should force the Cardinals to be a little more aware of the players they’ll be going up against.

This goes without saying, but the Irish always can benefit from new players appearing in these categories. It highlights just how deep the team’s talent is, and anyone can step in at any point. It might take some players longer to crack the leaders lists than others, but that’s the beauty of a regular season that runs through the end of November.

So who are the players standing out the most going into the Irish’s last game before their first bye week? Take a look for yourself here:

Notre Dame released its Week 2 depth chart vs. Northern Illinois down a starter

The Irish will be without at least one starter vs. Northern Illinois

Notre Dame football won its won its Week 1 game on the road against Texas A&M, and now has turned its focus to Northern Illinois.

The Huskies will visit South Bend this coming weekend, and the Irish released their depth chart for the game. There is one notable omission from the first week to this one, wide receiver [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag].

After suffering a lower-body injury against the Aggies, head coach Marcus Freeman didn’t believe it was a long-term ailment. Hopefully he is correct with his assessment, as the sophomore doesn’t look like he’ll see the field this weekend as he works towards a full recovery.

https://twitter.com/NDFootballPR/status/1830640796665876671

What’s also interesting is that tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag] is listed as the starter, while he didn’t play this past weekend due to an injury. This obviously could change as the game gets closer.

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