Tag: Nd Football

Notre Dame football’s Howard Cross earns national recognition for play vs. Duke

What a weekend for Cross!

If you had [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] defensive tackle [autotag]Howard Cross[/autotag] on your 2023 Irish bingo card to win a weekly national award, you might as well just go home with your prize now.

After a game against Duke where Cross completely dominated to the tune of 13 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack and 2 forced fumbles, it shouldn’t be surprising at all that he was named the [autotag]Reese’s Senior Bowl defensive player of the week[/autotag].

The fifth-year player is making a name for himself in his final go-around with the Irish. It would not surprise me one bit for Cross to hear his name getting called in the [autotag]2024 NFL draft[/autotag].

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This stat show how dominant Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt has been in 2023

A stone wall at left tackle for the Irish

When April rolls around, [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] offensive tackle [autotag]Joe Alt[/autotag] will be hearing his name called very early in the [autotag]NFL draft[/autotag].

Yeah, I know that Alt hasn’t declared for the draft, but it would be shock for him to return for a fourth year in South Bend. Since he was inserted into the starting lineup his freshman year, and performed at a high level, many of us saw the writing on the wall.

His play hasn’t dipped, it’s gotten better over the last two years and this season might be his best. [autotag]Pro Football Focus[/autotag] highlighted Alt, noting that he has yet to allow a pressure this season in 112 pass protection snaps.

Alt and Notre Dame biggest test of the year will be this weekend, when Ohio State comes to town for a prime time top-10 showdown.

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Notre Dame Football: Irish Halfway Through Brutal Stretch

Think the last two weeks were tough?

Notre Dame’s 2023 schedule breaks down into three segments. Segment one is ensuring they were 4-0 heading into the Ohio State game. That mission was accomplished. Games 5-8 are where this season will be made or broken for the Irish. So far they are 1-1 with 2 very challenging games that lie ahead before reaching the bye. Segment 3 is ideally about closing out a playoff push.

This schedule looked daunting on paper in the summer. It looks even more so now. Notre Dame played undefeated NC State at their place. Undefeated Ohio State. Undefeated Duke at their place. Now undefeated Louisville awaits at their place before the Irish return home to face what will almost certainly be an undefeated USC team. Brutal.

Let’s examine this historic schedule stretch in more detail.

Notre Dame moves up in US LBM Coaches Poll following comeback win at Duke

The Irish move up, but how far?

[autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] is still riding their high from last night’s thrilling comeback victory on the road against Duke and the win reflected well in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll.

The Irish found themselves down 14-13 with just under 9 minutes remaining and on their final actual drive, went 10-plays for 95-yards, with running back Audric Estime capping it off with a a 30-yard touchdown scamper.

Notre Dame avoided an upset, like Georgia, Washington, USC and Missouri did, but others like Utah, LSU and Florida lost to lesser teams. It was another wild weekend of college football, but that’s why we love it.

The Irish benefitted from some of these losses and moved up in the latest coaches poll, which you can see below.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman preaches accountability following loss

Freeman get’s it

Very rarely do you see a football coach let his players know they helped lose a game, but [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] head coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] is built different.

Following the loss to Ohio State, he asked for players to stand up if they believed they contributed to the loss. Freeman didn’t just put the blame on the guy who were on the field, he took blame as well, stepping up and showing that it’s not just the parts that get wins, it’s the team.

[autotag]ESPN College GameDay[/autotag] stressed this in a segment and although this isn’t the full clip, it gives you a bit of insight about how Freeman runs the program.

Accountability it huge in anything, especially sports and it looks like Freeman has this part of it down.

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5 stars: The best and worst of Notre Dame’s comeback win at Duke

That was fun but things went well and some didn’t for Notre Dame

[autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] is riding the roller coaster that we all love, college football.For the second week in a row, the Irish were in a 60 minute battle, but this time on the road against [autotag]Duke[/autotag], Notre Dame found a way to win.

Quarterback [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag], with his 6 years of experience found a way to drive the Irish 95-yards for the game winning drive.Running back [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag] put the exclamation point on the win with his 30-yard touchdown run, to provide the go-ahead score.

Like always, there was good, 5-stars, and not so good, 1-star, performances for the Irish tonight. Find out below what went well and didn’t in Notre Dame’s 21-14 road win over Duke.

ESPN College GameDay picks Notre Dame at Duke plus more Week 5 games

Do you agree with GameDay’s picks for this weekend?

For the second week in a row, [autotag]ESPN College GameDay[/autotag] was on location for a [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] contest.

Although the Irish are on the road for this one, it still shouldn’t dull down the fact that the game against Duke is one of the biggest contest of the weekend.

The crew of [autotag]Desmond Howard[/autotag], [autotag]Pat McAfee[/autotag], [autotag]Lee Corso[/autotag] and [autotag]Kirk Herbstreit[/autotag] were joined by actor, comedian, doctor and former Duke alum [autotag]Ken Jeong[/autotag] as the guest picker for Week 5’s action.

Find out below who each of them picked to win this weekend’s biggest games and if you agree with the panel.

Questions Notre Dame needs to answer to defeat Duke

What questions do you want to see the Irish answer against Duke?

[autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] can get back on track this Saturday evening on the road against [autotag]Duke[/autotag], but it won’t be easy.

The Blue Devils are undefeated, have a very solid win against Clemson on their resume and ESPN College GameDay is in Durham, North Carolina. The game is being played in prime time. The Irish need to show up.

There are some questions that Notre Dame will need to answer in order to get a ranked road victory on Saturday night. Here are five of those that if Notre Dame is able to answer, they should return to South Bend with a win.

Know your foe, Duke: Which Blue Devils could give Notre Dame problems

The Irish face off against a very good Duke team

For the second weekend in a row, [autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] will face off against another ranked team in [autotag]Duke[/autotag].

We know it’s a big game, ESPN College GameDay will be in attendance, as the Irish hit the road for this contest. Not many expected the Blue Devils to be undefeated and ranked to face Notre Dame when the season started, but here were are.

Duke has been surprisingly good on defense, their most points given up this season has been 14 to, check notes, Northwestern. The Mildcats won’t have nearly the firepower that the Irish bring, but holding Clemson down in the season opener was impressive.

Here are five Blue Devils that could give Notre Dame problems on Saturday evening.

Notre Dame vs Duke: Confidences & Concerns

How confident or concerned are you about how things will go Saturday night?

This is going to be a tough week for anyone who feels favorably about Notre Dame Football. The coaches, the players, and most certainly the fans. Let’s be very clear and direct. The Ohio State loss was not just any run-of-the-mill loss. It’s going to hurt, it’s going to sting, and because of the way it happened, it’s going to linger.

In many ways one could argue Notre Dame’s staff must have their best week of coaching yet before heading to Duke.

At Night.

With them undefeated.

Gameday present.

Their side flying high while those in the Irish’s corner feel like they’ve been run over by a truck physically and emotionally. Everyone is drained. This is a tricky spot for Notre Dame for many reasons. How will they respond after last week’s heartbreak?

Let’s take a look at some confidences and concerns Notre Dame fans may have entering this game with their emotional tanks on empty.