Tag: Mitchell Evans

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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Key Irish players land on big board of draft prospects

Will this be how it plays out?

Nate Tice from Yahoo! Sports has put together his first edition of his top-40 NFL Draft prospects and two Notre Dame players are on the list, with a third garnering honorable mention.

Cornerback [autotag]Benjamin Morrison[/autotag] is first at No. 13. Tice likes his ability to press receivers and lock them down in man coverage, and he also praises his technique and speed, along with his balance and footwork.

Morrison’s only negative, according to Tice, is size.

Quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] slots in at No. 23. Tice says it’s a stretch but that Leonard’s “size, traits and natural accuracy” combined with a thin QB class made the reach feel short. Tice also suggests that Leonard will shine in South Bend behind a much better offensive line and with more reps.

Tice says Leonard has shown flashes, and now he’ll have the chance to really grow with the Irish.

Tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag] was given honorable mention, though it’s not clear where he’d fit, since Tice listed the first five off in alphabetical order.

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Three Notre Dame players named to Lombardi Award Watch List

Think any of them has a shot to win it?

Blockers are the unsung heroes of both sides of the line in football. Without them, none of the players on the other units would be allowed to do what they can do. It only makes sense that college football gives out the Lombardi Award for the best lineman every year.

The watch list for the 2024 season has come out, and three Notre Dame players are on it. Two of them of defensive tackles [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag] and [autotag]Rylie Mills[/autotag]. The other is [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag], one of two tight ends to make the watch list. A tight end has never won this award, so Evans would make history if he went home with the hardware.

Notre Dame has had five players win this award, tied for the second most of any school. [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] was the last player to win it in 2012. That being the case, the Irish are overdue for another winner, so let’s watch one of these gentlemen be the next one for them.

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Bleacher Report: Notre Dame tight end Evans target in 2025 NFL draft?

Could he be a successor to Travis Kelce?

We have an entire season to go before we start talking about Notre Dame players being taken in the 2025 NFL draft. However, that won’t stop some folks from projecting who could be going where anyway.

Bleacher Report has started a weekly series of articles in which it will go over each NFL team’s weaknesses and how they could address those weaknesses after the upcoming season. Already, we have a Notre Dame player on the list.

Irish tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag] is projected by most outlets to be picked somewhere at or near the middle of the 2025 draft. Bleacher Report has identified him as shoring up the Kansas Chiefs at his position with Travis Kelce not getting any younger and no sure thing waiting in the wings.

Here’s why the Chiefs could tab Evans to be Patrick Mahomes’ next big tight end target according to the article:

“Mitchell Evans has to prove he can come back from a torn ACL he suffered last season. But he has made some ridiculous grabs in his college career and has the ability to make defenders miss.”

We’ll see what happens with Evans this year, but he surely would take coming into as good a position as anyone in the NFL after he turns professional.

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