Tag: ND Football Recruiting

Notre Dame vs Clemson: Confidences & Concerns

What to like and not like about Notre Dame’s trip to Clemson…

In an ideal world, Notre Dame versus Clemson in November would be a game with playoff implications, not only for both teams involved but for the country as well. As it turns out, that won’t be the case as these two squads will meet with a total of six losses on their combined ledger. But that doesn’t mean the game isn’t important or doesn’t matter.

This will be Notre Dame’s toughest remaining game. If they can manage to notch a victory in Death Valley, the path to 10-2 looks very promising with games against Wake and Stanford remaining. Let’s examine some confidences and concerns Irish fans may have entering this matchup between two teams that had playoff aspirations that won’t be fulfilled regardless of the outcome.

Clemson Is Down, Can The Irish Put Them Out?

Not your typical Clemson game…

Due to the bizarre nature of Notre Dame’s schedule this year, the final 1/3 block of games set up for the Irish very well. After the bye the Irish hosted Pitt. They then travel to Death Valley to face Clemson before having another break before rounding out the year against Wake Forest at home and then a trip to Palo Alto. Notre Dame must have a clean sweep of four wins in this stretch to possibly reach an New Years Six bowl game, the biggest remaining attainable big-picture goal for the year.

Up next for the Irish is their trip to Death Valley. One that has been circled on the calendar forever. It’s the final of the “big 3” matchups this year and is a huge measuring stick game. But this Clemson team isn’t what we are used to seeing from Dabo Swinney. His Tigers are 4-4 and are truly struggling.

Let’s examine the opportunity that lies ahead for the Irish this week.

Notre Dame Crushes Narduzzi & Pitt

Just a reminder – Notre Dame beat the daylights out of Pitt on Saturday.

The big question exiting the bye for Notre Dame was could the Irish manhandle an inferior opponent at home or would this turn into an all-afternoon ugly Pitt slugfest, the kind Notre Dame fans are quite familiar with when it comes to playing Pitt? The answer was quite emphatic as Notre Dame destroyed the Panthers to the tune of a 58-7 blowout.

For the Irish to hope for a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl game of note, they must end the year at 10-2 and go 4-0 in this final 1/3 portion of the season. Certainly, Pitt is a bad football team this year. The Irish have faced many of these over the years and struggled to dismantle them. Not this afternoon. Notre Dame dominated.

Let’s examine some particular notes of interest from this lopsided Narduzzi meltdown-inducing game.

Notre Dame football is trending to add 4-star 2025 safety

This would be a huge recruiting win for the Irish

[autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] had quite the environment for recruits over the weekend and it looks like they are becoming a favorite to land a very good safety.

Florida’s [autotag]Ivan Taylor[/autotag] was among a large contingent of prospects to visit South Bend and the 6-foot, 175-pound 2025 safety left extremely impressed. It was enough for Notre Dame insider [autotag]Tom Loy[/autotag] to log a 247Sports Crystal Ball projection for him to land with the Irish.

Taylor is an extremely highly regarded prospect, ranking as the No. 7 safety and 71st overall player in the country according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. It’s the only crystal ball pick that is currently logged.

The Irish have five current commitments in the 2025 cycle, none of them at Taylor’s position.

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Notre Dame vs. Pitt: Confidences & Concerns

The stretch run to 2023 starts with Pesky Pitt

Notre Dame has emerged from their very much past due bye week to greet perpetual whiner Pat Narduzzi and his 2-5 Pitt Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium Saturday afternoon. What will the Irish look like coming out of the bye?

Can fans realistically expect to see a more effective offense?

For as brutal as the last four game stretch was, the back end of this schedule is lightening up. Pitt is 2-5 coming off a brutal loss to Wake’s 3rd string QB and Clemson choked a game away against Miami for their third loss of the season. The remaining slate is very gettable for the Irish, but only if they show up focused and ready to perform.

Let’s take a look at some confidences & concerns Irish fans may have entering this contest.

How Notre Dame broke USC

You really just hate to see it.

Last Saturday’s college football slate was loaded with intriguing matchups. With Notre Dame on bye, fans were able to soak in a wonderfully entertaining slate of games stress-free. This was a well-deserved break for everyone.

Of all the action that occurred, Southern Cal losing to Utah’s backup quarterback and a last-second field goal had to be the highlight for Notre Dame fans eating cheeseburgers all weekend.

Just a couple of short weeks ago [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] was in the hunt to repeat as the Heisman winner and USC, while flawed, were still undefeated and feeling themselves, in true LA fashion.

Then Notre Dame happened.

My how the tone inside and outside the Trojan program has changed quickly. Let’s examine the latest downfall of Troy more closely.

Notre Dame football receives a commitment from 4-star legacy tight end

The family tradition for the Flanigan’s lives on

There is something that draws football families to want to continue the tradition for [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag].

Once again, the son of a former Irish player will be heading to South Bend to carry out the tradition. Wisconsin tight end [autotag]James Flanigan[/autotag], whose father Jim, committed to Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon, following his footsteps.

Jim played for Notre Dame in the early 1990’s, eventually playing in the NFL for 10 seasons, so football runs in the Flanigan family. More specifically, Irish football runs in the family.

James is one of the best players in his class, ranking as the No. 3 tight end and 145th overall player in the 2025 recruiting class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

The 6-foot, 5-inch and 220-pound Flanigan is the seventh commit of the class, and the first tight end. It’s safe to say, dad is pretty happy.

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Notre Dame flips Pac-12 wide receiver, adds to 2024 recruiting class

The Irish used their spatula early on Friday

Today was another instance where multiple crystal ball selections for [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] were correct.

The predictions for California wide receiver [autotag]Logan Saldate[/autotag] came in yesterday, and the 5-foot, 11-inch and 185 pound player flipped his commitment from Oregon State to Notre Dame on Friday morning.

Saldate is ranked as the 122nd receiver and 961st overall prospect according to the 247Sports composite. He becomes the 21st verbal commitment for the 2024 Irish football recruiting class. Saldate is the third true receiver in the class, although some of Notre Dame’s athlete commits could ultimately end up at the position.

Even though Saldate did not make an official visit to South Bend, he knew that’s where he wanted to play at the next level.

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Notre Dame football receives multiple crystal ball picks after USC win

The Irish won on and off the field this past weekend

The atmosphere in Notre Dame Stadium was electric this past weekend and the [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] coaching staff used it to its advantage.

There were plenty of recruits on campus for the showdown against USC and as the Irish won, the high school prospects that were on campus soaked up quite the environment. Some of them have hinted to recruiting insiders that they are leaning towards a commitment to the Irish.

Those insiders took that information and made crystal ball picks. Find out which recruits are projected to commit to Notre Dame along with some background information on them below.

Notre Dame-USC Fallout: The Fight Of The Irish

A bounce back of EPIC proportions for the Irish

Many different outcomes to this game seemed perfectly reasonable heading into it. However, I’m not sure anyone saw a Notre Dame blowout and beat down of the reigning Heisman winner coming, especially when considering what a hard journey the last month has been for the team.

Marcus Freeman needed this win. The players needed this win, and the fans needed this win. Quite frankly, Notre Dame needed this win. It felt as though whatever amount of energy jolt the team couldn’t dip into last week for whatever reason was carried over into this week tenfold. Never a dull moment with Notre Dame, that’s for sure.

There’s nothing that could be done in this game that could rewrite the final scores of the Louisville and Ohio State games. A Cardinals team that lost to Pitt by the way. The only thing the Irish could do to get back on track in every practical and perceptual way one could imagine was to win this game. And, boy, did they, in a very Clemson 2022-ish type fashion.

Let’s examine a few key areas from this mega bounce-back performance.