Tag: NBC

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.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Notre Dame, USC to be featured throughout NBC tripleheader Nov. 23

Don’t make any plans for that day.

Notre Dame and USC make up an intersectional rivalry unlike any other in the country. One upcoming Saturday will showcase both schools on national TV perhaps like never before.

NBC Sports has a longtime association with Irish football, and USC now is part of a Big Ten which has its games broadcast by the same company. And the stars are aligning for one heck of day.

NBC will kick off a tripleheader of coverage involving both schools with the Irish and Trojans women’s basketball teams meeting in Los Angeles at 4 p.m. EST. All eyes will be on that to see whether [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] get the best of JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen. Both duos are incredibly dangerous.

Next will be the Irish football team’s annual Shamrock Series game with Army at Yankee Stadium. Wrapping up the day’s coverage will be the Trojans football team facing UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Both games will be the teams’ last before playing each other at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum the following week.

Clear your schedule for Nov. 23, Irish fans. It will be the right day to do so.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

NBC announces unique way to watch Penn State’s White Out game against Washington

NBC announces a brand new way to consume Penn State’s White Out game against Washington this Saturday.

We all wanted Penn State’s White Out game to come last weekend against Ohio State, but that is a larger conversation for another time. Instead, the White Out will be this Saturday against the Washington Huskies. The game will air exclusively on Peacock as NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night telecast.

The network also announced a partnership with IMAX Monday afternoon to televise the game live in 23 movie theatres nationwide, mainly concentrated in Pennsylvania and Washington.

NBC Sports wanted to “bring one of the most electrifying events in college sports live to IMAX locations nationwide.” Penn State and Washington fans can now witness one of the premier atmospheres in college football on ultra-wide IMAX screens with “premium sound and crystal-clear visuals that only IMAX can deliver.”

Saturday’s game will mark the first-ever college football game presented in IMAX. NBC Sports began its partnership with IMAX earlier this year to stream the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony to over 100 IMAX locations.

The IMAX website has a complete list of the 23 venues playing the game on Saturday evening. At first glance, six locations are in Pennsylvania and seven in Washington. The other ten locations are spread nationwide, including one theatre in New York City and another in Southern California.

If you can’t attend the game in person this weekend and don’t have a Peacock subscription, going to one of these 23 IMAX theatres is a unique opportunity to view one of the best traditions in sports.

Follow Charlie Strella on X, Threads, and Instagram.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.

Kickoff time, TV channel announced for Wisconsin Badgers Week 10 game at Iowa

Kickoff time, TV channel announced for Wisconsin Badgers Week 10 game at Iowa

The Wisconsin Badgers (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) will travel to Iowa City, Iowa next Saturday for a critical rivalry game against the Iowa Hawkeyes (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten),

As recently announced, the game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on NBC.

Related: Badgers fans dejected after hard-fought loss to No. 3 Penn State

Wisconsin will enter the matchup after a tough loss to No. 3 Penn State in Week 9. The Badgers led 10-7 at halftime and were trending toward a season-altering upset victory. The Nittany Lions dominated after the halftime break, however, and reinforced their place as one of the best teams in the conference — even doing so without star QB Drew Allar.

Iowa, meanwhile, defeated Northwestern 40-16 in Week 9. It has had an up-and-down season to date, with blowout wins over Minnesota, Northwestern and Washington, plus demoralizing losses to Michigan State and Ohio State.

One interesting note: Iowa benched QB Cade McNamara during its win over Northwestern. It moved to backup Brendan Sullivan, who had transferred in from Northwestern last offseason.

The Hawkeyes trailed 7-5 at the time of the change. Sullivan led an instant turnaround, en route to the 40-16 triumph.

Saturday will be Wisconsin’s third primetime matchup of the season. The result could come close to defining the team’s season.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

Penn State heading back to primetime for upcoming Big Ten game

When Penn State returns to the field, they will do so under the lights in front of a primetime audience.

The Penn State Nittany Lions continued to climb in the national polls after a big win on the Wet Coast, and now they are heading back into primetime for their next game. It was announced today that Penn State’s road game at Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 26 will air on NBC in primetime. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

This will be Penn State’s second game airing in NBC’s primetime slot this season. Penn State hosted Illinois for a home game under the lights of Beaver Stadium a few weeks ago.

Penn State has climbed to no. 3 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 following its win over USC this past weekend. Penn State’s rise in the rankings was aided by Ohio State losing to Oregon over the weekend.

Wisconsin has two losses on their schedule already this season with a 32-point loss at home to Alabama and a 17-point loss at USC in back-to-back games earlier this season. But the Badgers have rebounded with a pair of blowouts in recent weeks. Wisconsin outscored Purdue and Rutgers by a combined score of 94-13. Wisconsin will visit Northwestern this weekend while Penn State is getting the week off after the trip to California.

Penn State leads the all-time series with Wisconsin, 11-9. Penn State has also won five straight meetings dating back to 2012, including the Big Ten championship game in 2016.

The win probability for Penn State dropped significantly following the results of Week 7. According to ESPN’s updated numbers, Penn State has a 72.7% chance of winning at Wisconsin in two weeks, which is actually up a few percentage points since an update on Sunday. Still, it is down significantly from the 81.0% win probability of a week ago.

Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.

Todd Blackledge: Notre Dame must win out for College Football Playoff

Will the Irish do it?

As the color analyst for NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night coverage, Todd Blackledge doesn’t get to call Notre Dame games. But that doesn’t mean he’s not keeping tabs on the Irish. After all, he wouldn’t have the gig he has if he wasn’t paying attention to all of college football.

In an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show”, Blackedge was asked by the host about the Irish’s chances at making the College Football Playoff. Blackedge made it clear that the Irish’s remaining schedule is a detriment in that there aren’t a lot of big games left if any at all.

With Florida State at 1-5 and USC below .500 in Big Ten play, Blackege said the Irish don’t have a lot of margin for error. That means they’ll have to win out in order to have even a shot at the playoff. It’s further proof that the loss to Northern Illinois continues to hang over the team like a cloud.

We’ll continue to have this debate for the rest of the season or at least until the Irish lose another game. Better get used to it if you aren’t already, Irish fans.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

NBC will one again see a top-three matchup this weekend, it’s last since Florida State vs. Notre Dame

Will this be another “Game of the Century?”

We all remember the “Game of the Century” when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Florida State Seminoles 31-24 in South Bend all the way back in 1993.

That was the last game that NBC televised that featured two top-three teams, and that streak will be broken this weekend as the Ohio State Buckeyes face off against the Oregon Duck in Eugene, Oregon as reported by Sports Illustrated’s Steward Mandel.

While Notre Dame did not win the national title that year, it was Florida State, it was still a game than many of us remember watching. It will most likely be the same this weekend, as both teams are viewed as contenders in the first expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

It’s clearly not uncommon for a matchup like this to have national implications, as both the Buckeyes and Ducks enter the game undefeated like the Irish and Seminoles did over almost 30 years ago. Hopefully, Notre Dame makes the CFP and gets a chance to knock off one or both of these teams.

During Ohio State’s title run in 2014, they were one of four teams, along with Alabama, Oregon and Florida State, to make the first ever College Football Playoff.

The last time Oregon and Ohio State faced off against each other was in 2021, with the Ducks coming out on top. However in the first CFP, the Buckeyes were victorious, winning the title.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Bills QB Josh Allen’s 52-yard tightrope pass had this unique stat

Bills QB Josh Allen’s 52-yard tightrope pass had this unique stat

The Buffalo Bills experienced the first loss of the season, falling 35-10 to the  Baltimore Ravens.

While the Bills certainly had their struggles during the game, quarterback  Josh Allen did take several big shots downfield.

While receiver Keon Coleman and tight end Dalton Kincaid missed on some contested jump balls that would have made for some big time plays, the game had some highlight reel plays as well.

Those highlights were headlined by Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who managed to complete his latest jaw-dropping play.

On a 3rd-and-5 possession in the third quarter, Allen threw a lofty pass 52-yards for a completion to receiver Khalil Shakir.

What’s more, the play featured some interesting Next Gen Stats that stood out…

Allen was less than a yard from the sideline when he completed the throw before going out of bounds, and Shakir adjusted to haul in the catch for the big gain.

While the play was a big one on its own, it also puts Allen into an interesting category.

Since his rookie season in 2018, the Bills QB has completed 6-of-7 such passes within a single yard of the sideline on plays he’s extended.

What’s more, those went for 118 yards with 3 touchdown scores.

While evading tackles to accomplish such a feat on passes within a yard from going out of bounds is, in and of itself impressive, it’s the basis for comparison that goes even further as to distinguish how special that ability is.

On passes within less than a yard of the sideline, the rest of the NFL is only 1-for-16 on such attempts.

Allen’s been impressive overall so far this season, ranking in the top ten of passers in the league in completion percentage as well as touchdowns, and going for 198 straight pass attempts without an interception.

Bills locker room weigh-in following loss to Ravens: ‘Got to be better’

Bills lock room weigh-in following loss to Ravens: ‘Got to be better’

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]The Buffalo Bills lost their first game this season, 35-10 to the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night.

The Bills coaching staff has some important things to look at in terms of what could have been done differently, and their players are doing so as well.

The Ravens scored an 87-yard rushing touchdown courtesy of RB Derrick Henry. He would have almost 200 yards on the ground in the game.

The Bills defense allowed almost 300 yards of offense in the first half alone, allowing a 21-3 lead in that first half, not to mention the total 35 points.

Linebacker Baylon Spector took responsibility and commented on the defensive issues that allowed Henry to have the success he did.

“I gotta do a better job communicating, getting everyone lined up, gotta read the keys,” he said.

Spector, who has stepped up in the absence of starting inside linebacker, captain, and defensive play-caller Terrel Bernard, recovered a Lamar Jackson fumble during the contest and also noted the importance of repeating and communication.

“We just got to come out and be ready to play; come out and communicate,” he added. “I’ve got to do a better job of communicating. I’ve got to do a better job of getting the guys on the same page and getting everyone ready to go.”

Starting defensive tackle DaQuan Jones also chimed in on how they can examine what led to Henry’s big effort against the Bills defense.

“We’ll know when we watch the film,” Jones said. “They just kept getting them creases and Derrick is one of those backs, you give him a lane and he’ll take it to the crib and first play of the game, he did that, and I felt that got them in a rhythm and that kept them going after that.”

Special teams had a missed Tyler Bass field goal, and the Bills offense struggled to get on score board and comeback in the game.

While he did comment on the struggles in the loss, Allen also saw the positive takeaways and spoke to those as well.

“Not everything was bad in this game,” the Bills QB said postgame. “I don’t want us to come away from this saying ‘We’re the worst.’ A lot to learn from. I’m glad this happened early in the season so we can correct things.”

Allen knows a loss of this kind is both one to glean from as well as one to move on from to focus on the team’s next road opponent, another AFC contender in the Houston Texas.

“A lot to learn from,” Allen said. “We’ll watch this tape, learn from it, flush it, and look to the next.”

Bills’ Sean McDermott on Ravens loss: ‘They outplayed us’

Bills’ Sean McDermott on Ravens loss: ‘They outplayed us’

The Buffalo Bills had their first loss of their 2024 NFL season on Sunday Night Football this weekend, falling 35-10 on the road in Baltimore.

After a strong 3-0 start, the Bills seemed to be soaring following their biggest effort of this year’s campaign, and one of their strongest outings with Josh Allen under center, in a 47-10 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But the Ravens quickly grounded them in NFL Week 4, and Buffalo found itself on the receiving end of the type of dominant performance they had delivered to the Jags.

The Bills struggled on and off the field and lost in all three phases, and their head coach commented on that after the game.

“Give credit where credit is due, Baltimore Ravens came out and they beat us,” Sean McDermott said to the press. “They outplayed us. They outcoached us, and we’ve got to identify the problems and get them fixed.”

Baltimore scored early on an 87-yard touchdown run by Derrick Henry, and never looked back, dominating the rest of the way.

“Schemed up well, yes, because they executed and we really didn’t even touch the running back,” head coach Sean McDermott said about Henry’s run. “They ran what we call ‘wham’ exactly our three-technique there. We’ve got to be in better position. I know we’ve done that before, so that’s one of the things.”

It was a tough night overall for the Bills coaching staff.

The Ravens out-schemed them in this matchup, Buffalo was slow to adjust until the second half and was not aggressive on some 4th-and-1 plays, and mismanaged the following sets of downs after conversions on others.

Then there was that failed trick play.

With the Bills trailing 21-10 in the third quarter, offensive coordinator Joe Brady dialed up a trick call on 2nd-and-7 that fell apart at the line of scrimmage.

Quarterback Josh Allen lined up at receiver, while receiver Curtis Samuel lined up at quarterback, flipping the ball to Allen, who then got hit and stripped of the pass from a hit by Kyle Van Noy who had broken through to get to the QB. The target, WR Mack Hollins, had been in double coverage downfield, and the Ravens recovered the fumble.

“I think that’s something Joe and I will talk about and something we’ll learn from,” McDermott noted. “Certainly a momentum change right there.”

Obviously the timing of the play when the offense was trying to stage a comeback was ill-advised, though successful trick plays were a staple of OC Brian Daboll’s offense with the Bills, he’d scheme them in a way that got the targeted receiver wide-open downfield.

“That’s something that Joe and I will discuss at length. I’m sure he wants that call back. I do as well. We’ll learn from that and move forward,” he added.

The loss does give them a game to reflect on and learn from before turning their focus to their next opponent, another challenger, and potential playoff squad, the Houston Texans.

[lawrence-related id=140931,140860,140939]