Tag: ND

Rivals: Notre Dame is Recruiting Defensive Tackles with best in Nation

The lone Irish commit on the interior of the defensive line is among the best in the country.

Although the 2021 Irish recruiting class only has one defensive tackle commit at the moment, Missouri’s Gabriel Rubio, he is still a very impressive prospect. His commitment alone was good enough for the Irish to be placed as Rivals 5th best class of ’21 at his position.

It’s the work ethic like this that has made Rubio a national name, according to Rivals rankings he’s the 99th best player in the country, 8th at defensive tackle and 2nd in the state. After posting impressive junior season stats, 117 tackles to go with 18 sacks, Rubio should see a huge senior sendoff before arriving in South Bend.

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It’s not just that Rubio is a great player, he’s also put on his recruiting hat, trying to help Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame coaching staff with their efforts.

Rubio will have high expectations when he arrives on campus, with a resume like his it would be hard not to. The Irish beat out schools like LSU, Ohio State, Georgia and others for Rubio commitment, making him the highest rated defender in the class up to date. Expect Rubio to have a very good career in the Blue and Gold.

Notre Dame: This Week in Twitter

A look back at the week that was on Notre Dame twitter.

We hope all of you had a fun and safe 4th of July and welcome you back into another week of what happened on Notre Dame Twitter. Enjoy!

Ice Hockey Player Pierce Crawford reads Where the Wild Things Are

Who’s your favorite former member of Notre Dame athletics to represent the USA?

Irish Defensive Pass Game Coordinator Terry Joseph was on campus at a historical venue

Notre Dame CF Spencer Myers makes the 1st team All-Fitt

Happy Canada Day

Former Women’s Head Coach Muffet McGraw on equality

Happy 4th of July!

From the Fighting Irish Wire family, have a great 4th of July!

From the Irish Wire Family, we would love to wish you a happy 4th of July!

Enjoy yourselves today, stay safe if you’re using fireworks and most of all, Go Irish!

Notre Dame Football joins viral trend of High School to Now

The Irish join in the trend and post multiple pictures of current players in high school and now.

The internet constantly gets creative, even during tough times like we are currently facing. The Notre Dame Football social media coordinator hit a home run with their series of Irish players in high school and then now. Take a look at their work:

Quarterback Ian Book

Running back Cameron Ekanayake

Long snapper Alex Peitsch

Defensive end NaNa Osafo-Mensah

Linebacker Paul Moala

Defensive back John Mahoney

Safety Kyle Hamilton

Linebacker Jack Kiser

Defensive end Adetokunbo Ogundeji

Defensive back Houston Griffith

How did Notre Dame commit Buchner fare in Day 1 of Elite 11 Camp?

Irish quarterback commit Tyler Buchner competed in the first day of the prestigious camp.

The prestigious Elite 11 event began on Monday and Notre Dame commit Tyler Buchner was among the competitors. The group of some of the best quarterbacks in the nation most likely have been itching to get back on the field and show off their talents.

Multiple outlets were on hand to cover the event, starting off with Sports Illustrated who ranked the quarterback after the first day of competition. Irish fan’s won’t be all that pleased with Buchner’s spot as he came in 17th out of 20 players. SI’s analysis of Buchner was that his “delivery remained low throughout the night and the velocity didn’t match what we’ve seen on tape. Still, the Notre Dame commitment can flash in the intermediate game.”

Off to 247Sports where former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer gave his thoughts on the camps first day. Buchner didn’t do enough to impress Dilfer, as he was not mentioned at all in their article.

No need to be concerned, football is not played in a t-shirt and shorts. Remember, this is a camp where each of the participants wants to get better, to take something away and continue their improvement. Tyler Buchner will have better days and will have a chance impress everyone in attendance when the group returns to the field later tonight.

Rivals: Notre Dame commit Fisher Impresses over Weekend

I wasn’t the only one impressed by Irish offensive tackle commit Blake Fisher camp performance from this weekend.

Tell us something we didn’t already know. There were plenty of video’s of 2021 instate Irish offensive tackle commit Blake Fisher, we put together a bunch of them on Saturday, and it wasn’t a shock to see Rivals name him as one of their most impressive prospects this past weekend.

Josh Helmholdt, a Rivals recruiting analyst, was on hand for the Midwest Exposure Camp and after watching Fisher dominate rep after rep, the tackle is inching towards 5-Star status. Helmholdt said that Fisher “came in looking every bit the 6-foot-7 he was listed at, and showed he is a superior athlete for the offensive tackle position. There was some rust Fisher was still shaking off coming out of the spring, but he is tall, strong, and athletic, and one of the elite prospects at the offensive tackle in the 2021 class.” High praise indeed.

I wouldn’t be concerned about the rust, as this is the first setting in months that high school athletes have been able to participate in. It was Fisher’s elite athleticism for someone his size that stood out, showing the bend, footwork and punch for an elite prospect.

Currently Rivals ranks Fisher as the 22nd prospect nationally, 3rd at his position and first in the state. If Fisher continues to refine his craft and shows improvement, he could very well end up a 5-Star prospect joining California quarterback Tyler Buchner as the elite members of the 2021 recruiting class.

Notre Dame Makes Cut For Yet Another Top Tight End

Bowers is graded as the third best tight end in the 2021 class per 247Sports and measures out at 6-3, 225 pounds.

Notre Dame’s history as Tight End U doesn’t slow down, it just tends to reload and produce at very high levels year after year.  New head coach, new coordinators, quarterbacks and systems?  Doesn’t matter, even in some dark years tight ends still produce at Notre Dame and go on to the NFL with regularity.

Now Notre Dame is in the running for one of the best tight ends in the 2021 recruiting class as Brock Bowers, a four-star tight end announced his “top eight” on Sunday with Notre Dame making the cut.

The Napa, California has an interesting top eight with a five schools; Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA and Washington, being on the west coast and Georgia, Notre Dame and Penn State pulling off the national pitch.

Bowers is graded as the third best tight end in the 2021 class per 247Sports and measures out at 6-3, 225 pounds.  Bowers is coming off a remarkable junior season as he pulled down 39 receptions for 1098 yards and 14 touchdowns while also rushing the ball 22 times for 316 yards and three scores.

Notre Dame has been loading up at the position in recent years, having both Michael Mayer (five-star) and Kevin Bauman (four-star) join their 2020 class.  The Fighting Irish do already have one tight end commit for the ’21 class in Cane Berrong of Hart County in Georgia, a 6-4, 230 pound prospect per 247.

Notre Dame Football: An Announcement Involving “The Shirt”

This year however things will be a bit different in regards to “The Shirt” being unveiled.

There are a ton of things that make college football great. Tradition is among the top and each football program and school of fans have their own.

From a far a t-shirt might not seem like a lot but at Notre Dame, “The Shirt” has grown to be as much of a part of the tradition as the 1812 Overture is before the fourth quarter.

This year however things will be a bit different in regards to “The Shirt” being unveiled.

It doesn’t seem very important in the wake of Coronavirus crippling the world and seemingly putting everything on hold but it’s another custom we’ve grown used to that will he done a bit differently this season.

If you are interested in learning more about the history of “The Shirt” or are curious what previous “The Shirts” looked like, check out what Notre Dame’s official webpage has put together for it.

Notre Dame All Decade Team – Wide Receivers

That the win propelled the Irish to the College Football Playoff was just an added bonus.

We continue our Notre Dame All-Decade team series with a group chock full of high performers during the Brian Kelly era: the wide receivers.  From a few Charlie Weis recruits that helped make a massive impact early on and plenty of middle round draft picks throughout the past ten years.  Let’s start with the close calls that just didn’t quite make it before getting to the reserves:

Missed the Cut

Equanimeous St. Brown, Davaris Daniels, Chris Brown

Backups

Miles Boykin (2016-2018)

Best Season: (2018) 59 catches, 872 yards, 8 touchdowns

Career: 77 catches, 1,206 yards, 11 touchdowns

Boykin didn’t put up the same career numbers of others on this list,  but from the time he introduced himself to the college football world with his miraculous go-ahead touchdown against LSU in the Citrus Bowl to the close of his career in the College Football Playoff, Boykin was a problem for opposing defenses.

His ability to high point the ball and snatch the ball away from defenders made him a valuable weapon in the red zone. He also came through in big moments in 2018, especially in the second half of games where the outcome hadn’t been decided. In a mid-season, five-game stretch that saw the Irish move their record to 9-0, Boykin delivered seven touchdowns in the second half of those contests (at least one in each) helping Notre Dame pull away or take the lead.

Chris Finke (2016-2019)

Best Season: (2018) 49 catches, 571 yards, 2 touchdowns

Career: 106 catches, 1,251 yards, 8 touchdowns

Finke’s story of a walk-on becoming a starter is a great one. But he wasn’t just a novelty. Although he didn’t contribute much during his first two seasons, Finke fit his role as slot receiver perfectly for his final two seasons. The rapport he developed with quarterback Ian Book meant that in tight situations, even on an offense with top producers like Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool, he was looking Finke’s way.

That he reserved the top two most important catches of his career for games against Michigan and USC, facing off against two hated rivals chock full of blue chip recruits, will forever bring a smile to my face. His “Moss-ing” of Michigan defensive back Matt Mitchell was as surprising as it was spectacular and it helped propel Notre Dame to a season-opening victory. Then he capped the season with his 24-yard go-ahead touchdown catch to invigorate a struggling Notre Dame offense. That the win propelled the Irish to the College Football Playoff was just an added bonus. His early struggles in 2019 were noticeable, but he finished off his career with at least five catches in four of the last five Notre Dame games – all wins.

T.J. Jones (2010-2013)

Best Season: (2013) 70 catches, 1,108 yards, 9 touchdowns

Career: 181 catches, 2,429 yards, 19 touchdowns

To call someone solid isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement. To say someone’s development remained steady throughout their entire career isn’t exciting.  But for as unremarkable a career TJ Jones seemed to have relative to the high points or career numbers of other Irish receivers, Jones was an underappreciated player for the Irish. I have heard him described as a slower Will Fuller with better hands and that makes a lot of sense.

Jones currently sits second in Notre Dame history in catches while he’s seventh in receiving yards and touchdowns. When the Irish offense centered around Theo Riddick and Tyler Eifert during the 2012 season, Jones was a reliable third option. And when both Riddick and Eifert left before the next season, Jones was there to pick up the slack catching 70 balls and going over 1,000 yards.

Next Up – The Starters:

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

2020 Notre Dame Opponent Lands Florida QB Transfer

Former Florida quarterback and grad-transfer Feleipe Franks announced Monday he would be transferring to Arkansas for his fifth year.

At first glance the Notre Dame home opener isn’t against a stunning opponent as the Arkansas Razorbacks make their first trip to Notre Dame Stadium.  However, when the two programs meet for the first time in each other’s history the Razorbacks will do so with more intrigue than perhaps previously thought.

Arkansas is coming off an embarrassing 2-10 season in which they fired Chad Morris with just two games remaining.  Barry Lunney, Jr. coached the final two games of 2019 in an interim role before the school announced Georgia’s offensive line coach Sam Pittman to be their head coach in early-December.

Pittman doesn’t appear to be wasting any time upping the talent at Arkansas as he has found his quarterback for 2020.

Former Florida quarterback and grad-transfer Feleipe Franks announced Monday he would be transferring to Arkansas for his fifth year.

Franks started 13 games for Florida in 2018 and helped lead the Gators to a massive turnaround, going 10-3 and winning the Peach Bowl over Michigan.  He threw for 2457 yards that season with 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions while adding seven more scores on the ground.

Franks broke his ankle in Florida’s third game of 2019 and missed the remainder of the season.

Arkansas will be the third SEC opponent to visit Notre Dame Stadium the last four seasons, joining Georgia in ’17 and Vanderbilt in ’18.