Tag: NCAA College Football

Notre Dame defeats Indiana to advance in the College Football Playoff

What a night in South Bend

In the first game of the new College Football Playoff 12-team format, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated visiting Indiana Hoosiers 27-17.

After early turnovers by both teams, the Irish took the game over and never looked back. The scoring started with a Jeremiyah Love 98-yard touchdown, the longest run in CFP history.

Notre Dame would then get the ball back a few minutes later, and would embarrass on a 16-play, 83-yard touchdown drive capped off with a Jayden Thomas 5-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Riley Leonard.

The two teams would then exchange punts and field goals before the half. It was much less active on the scoreboard during the third quarter, as the Irish added another field goal to stretch their lead to 20-3.

Leonard would add a score on the ground in the fourth quarter, to extend the lead 27-3 and effectively end the game. Indiana did make it a contest late with two touchdowns, but the lead was too large to overcome with so little time left.

Notre Dame’s winning streak is now up to 11-games, as they will now face the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl in the second-round of the CFP.

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Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates a touchdown scored during the first round of the College Football Playoff between Notre Dame and Indiana.

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Final expert predictions for Indiana at Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff

Do you think the Irish come out victorious tonight?

The first-round of the College Football Playoff starts tonight, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish host the Indiana Hoosiers in Notre Dame Stadium.

The Irish enter the game as favorites, but that is why they play the game. Many have made their predictions as to how this one plays out, and USA TODAY’s experts Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Dan Wolken each picked who will win.

Every one of their analysts believe that the Irish will win later tonight expect for Timanus. Only Medoza has this game being a one-score contest, as the rest of them believe that Notre Dame will win fairly easy.

Wolken has the Irish winning by the most, a projected 21-point victory to move on and face the No. 2 seeded Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl. Hopefully everyone who has Notre Dame coming out victorious tonight is correct, and we’ll all have a great night.

Prominent college football analyst has Notre Dame playing for CFP championship
Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates with players at the end of the game against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame reveals its actual jerseys for its College Football Playoff game

They got us

While it seemed like Notre Dame football was going to be wearing black uniforms on Friday night against the Indiana Hoosiers, it looks like we were duped.

Head coach Marcus Freeman said that Under Armour made the team new jerseys for the College Football Playoff, and while the all-black jersey’s do look good, it’s not what they’ll be wearing against the Hoosiers.

The Irish official social media account shared the actual jersey’s that Notre Dame will don in just a few nights, a dark blue with gold lettering piping around while numbers, all-gold names and captain insignias with gold pants, a first-round College Football Playoff patch and the traditional gold helmets.

There is no doubt that Notre Dame will look good on the field Friday night, but we hope that its play will match its look.

Notre Dame strikes first against Army.
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) throws the ball during a NCAA college football game against Virginia at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in South Bend.

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Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman is a finalist for a national coaching award

Congrats Coach!

You had to see this coming, with Notre Dame football reeling off 10-straight wins and making the College Football Playoff, head coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] was bound to get some national recognition.

Following the win at USC, I suggested that this should be the case, and that turned out to be true on Tuesday afternoon. Freeman was named as a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.

The field for the Irish coach to win the award is deep, as there are eight others vying to take home the award, including the Irish’s opponent in the first-round of the CFP, Indiana’s Curt Cignetti.

It’s hard to really say who is the frontrunner for the honor, but if I had to make a guess, it would be Oregon’s Dan Lanning. He guided the Ducks to an undefeated regular season, and won the Big Ten in their first year in the conference.

Hopefully what Freeman has done separates him from the pack, and he takes home the prestigious honor.

What time is Notre Dame vs. Indiana kickoff? CFP first-round game info
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates a turnover during a NCAA college football game against Virginia at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in South Bend.

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Prominent college football analyst has Notre Dame playing for CFP championship

We’d all love to see this transpire

Now that the College Football Playoff bracket has been announced, many across the country and making projections and it seems like Notre Dame football is a team many believe in.

The Irish have already been called this current brackets favorite, and on Tuesday, Nicole Auerbach, the lead college football analyst for NBC Sports released her CFP winner.

While she didn’t pick the Irish to win it all, that would be Oregon, Auerbach did have Notre Dame making it all the way to the championship game. She picked the Irish to beat Indiana in the first-round, Georgia in the quarterfinals and then Penn State to advance to the championship.

It’s hard to say that if Auerbach is correct that this would be a highly successful season, even with a title game loss. Hopefully she’s wrong about the last game, and Notre Dame breaks its 36-year championship drought.

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) celebrates after scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run against the Southern California Trojans in the first half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame football fends off USC, finishes regular season with 10-game win streak

Two handfuls of wins in-a-row for the Irish

Notre Dame football was in a dog fight with the USC Trojans all game, but did enough to come out victorious 49-35, in the highest scoring game in series history.

The win was the Irish’s 10th in-a-row, as they finish the regular season with a 11-1 record and await their seeding in the College Football Playoff. The loss for the Trojans puts their record at 6-6, a very disappointing season in their first year in the Big Ten.

Notre Dame jumped out to a first quarter 7-0 lead before the Trojans tied the game early in the second quarter. The Irish and USC would exchange touchdowns as the game was tied 14-14 heading into the half.

A monster third quarter from the Irish would see them score three touchdowns to USC one, as they’d take a 35-21 lead into the fourth quarter. The Trojans would make it interesting, scoring early in the final stanza to cut the lead to just 7-points.

The Irish defense then took over, as both Christian Gray and Xavier Watts returned long interceptions for touchdowns. Gray tied the school record with 99-yards on his, only to be bested by Watts and his 100-yard pick-6.

Notre Dame has now finished its regular season portion of the schedule, as they will find out in a little over a week who they’ll play in the CFP.

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) celebrates his touchdown scored against the Southern California Trojans during the first half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard accepts invite to prestigious postseason game

Leonard’s college career won’t end with the Irish

When Notre Dame football quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] takes his final snap for the Irish later this season, it will not be his last as a collegiate player.

The senior accepted an invitation to the [autotag]Reese’s Senior Bowl[/autotag] on Thursday, giving him an opportunity to to impress NFL teams in attendance for the whole week of practice leading up to the game.

We saw a similar instance last season. Sam Hartman was also invited to the game. While he went undrafted, he signed a contract with the Washington Commanders. Leonard might not end up taking that same path. It appears he should get drafted by team.

The invite will be a great opportunity for Leonard to improve his draft stock in Mobile, Alabama, and show teams he can handle the intricacies of an NFL offense.

Nov. 9, 2024; South Bend, Indiana; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) leaves the field following a 52-3 victory over the Florida State Seminoles at Notre Dame Stadium. Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame football releases its game trailer ahead of finale vs. USC

Time to get hyped Irish Nation!

The regular season will end on Saturday afternoon for Notre Dame football, as they are set to take on the USC Trojans as they battle for The Jeweled Shillelagh Rivalry trophy.

The staff here at Fighting Irish Wire have made their picks for who wins the game, and with some help from Trojans Wire’s site lead Matt Zemek, he helped up preview who the top USC players are as well.

However, like the Notre Dame social media team has done all year, they released its game trailer on Friday morning with another old school hip-hop song as their background. This time they used another EPMD song entitled “Strictly Business,” as it’s clear this is the focus for the Irish this weekend.

If they are able to handle their business, a ticket will be punched to the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] with the most likely scenario of playing the first-round at home in Notre Dame Stadium.

Let’s go Irish!

Nov 23, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Drayk Bowen (34) celebrates a defensive stop with safety Adon Shuler (8) during the first half against the Army Black Knights at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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ESPN power rankings greatly differ from polls, does it for Notre Dame?

Did ESPN get this right?

While both the US LBM Coaches Poll has Notre Dame at No. 8 and the AP Poll has the Irish at No. 10, it greatly differs from how ESPN sees the field stacking up.

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be announced on Tuesday, but ESPN’s Football Power Index has a much different look at the teams. The Oregon Ducks are No. 1 in both polls, but the FPI has them as the No. 7 team, with the Texas Longhorns as the top team.

Ohio State is followed by them, which is a bit different than the polls who have them at No. 3. This is where it gets interesting, as the FPI has the Alabama Crimson Tide at its No. 3 team, Georgia as No. 4 and Notre Dame as No. 5. The discrepancy is with the Tide, as the polls have them ranked much lower than ESPN.

It’s a start contrast from the polls, but it has the majority of the same teams at the top of the list. What’s interesting is that they no longer have projections for the rest of the year, as now we are left to guess who the season will play out.

While this is great to see the Irish ranked above other teams the poll have them lower than, the most important rankings, the CFP, will tell the real story on Tuesday.

Notre Dame remains in the AP Top 10 for Week 10.
Oct 26, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Rod Heard II (2) celebrates after recovering a fumble during the second half against the Navy Midshipmen at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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Xavier Watts could be headed for another national award this fall

Will Watts attain another trophy after this season?

It was a breakout season for Notre Dame safety [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag] last fall, as he was one of the most dominant players in the secondary across the country.

The former wide receiver’s play earned him the Bronko Nagurski Award last fall, but as he returned to South Bend, the expectations were that he’d be in the running once again.

No one said which award he’d be gunning for, and on Tuesday Watts was named as a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. Since 1986, the award has been giving out to the nation’s best defensive back, one that no previous Notre Dame player has won.

Watts has a legit shot at bring home the trophy, as he currently has 3 interceptions, six passes broken up along with 31 tackles on the season. While his pick numbers aren’t quite what they were last year with 7, he has plenty of time to match his total from 2023.

If he does that, Watts should be one of the finalist for the Thorpe and potentially win the award.

Oct 19, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Xavier Watts (0) intercepts a pass in front of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets wide receiver Abdul Janneh Jr. (4) in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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