Tag: New Year’s Six Bowl

Notre Dame ranked ninth in ESPN’s Football Power Index

Is this a fair ranking?

Because there aren’t enough methods to rank college football’s best, ESPN has its Football Power Index. This is the outlet’s ratings and projections system which helps determine how the season likely is to go and who might qualify for the College Football Playoff. Notre Dame has clocked in at ninth with a rating of 18.4 as well as the ninth-best chance to win the national championship at 2%.

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Irish fans like to think of their team as their absolute best, but until the Irish  prove they can best the absolute best in college football, they will remain a tier below that group. Sure, a New Year’s Six bowl is a nice consolation prize for falling outside the final playoff rankings (at least through this year), but it’s not necessarily what anyone strives for these days. The pressure is on [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] to get the Irish to the next level, and we soon will see his progress in his second season.

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Fiesta Bowl: First-Quarter Analysis

Looking pretty awesome right now, no?

It would be completely unfair to judge how the Marcus Freeman era is going to go based on one quarter. However, if the first quarter of the Fiesta Bowl is any indication, this is going to be one fun era of Notre Dame football. Naturally, we could have a completely different mood by the end of this game. In the meantime, we gladly will feel good about this 14-7 lead against Oklahoma State.

The first drive for Tommy Rees’ offense under Freeman lasted 99 seconds because that was all it took to reach the end zone. With Kyren Williams having opted out, Rees decided to go with all passes on the drive, and it paid off. On the first two plays, Jack Coan completed passes of 25 yards to Chris Tyree and 15 yards to Kevin Austin. Soon after, Coan found Lorenzo Styles for a 29-yard touchdown.

Despite giving up a first down on its first play, the Irish’s defense promptly settled in. With the Cowboys facing third-and-7, Isaiah Foskey sacked Spencer Sanders for an 11-yard loss to snuff the drive out. The teams then traded three-and-outs before Chris Tyree ended the Irish’s next offensive drive by taking another Coan pass 53 yards to the house on third down. That outcome had looked unlikely considering the Irish had just been penalized for back-to-back false starts.

After that, there was another swap of three-and-outs, and that served as a precursor to the Cowboys finally finding some life on offense. Mixing up runs and passes, they successfully executed a drive that started at their own 18-yard line and ended with Sanders throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Bray.

The touchdown was a message that the Cowboys weren’t going to just roll over in this New Year’s Six bowl. Another one was sent when Brock Martin sacked Coan to force another three-and-out for the Irish. The Cowboys had the ball when the clock hit zero on the quarter, and they would love to get this game tied soon.

See photos from Notre Dame’s practice prior to PlayStation Fiesta Bowl

It’s almost game time

The Irish are in Glendale, Arizona and are putting the finishing touches on their game preparation for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. New Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman will have his first opportunity to impress the Irish fans, but first take a look at the photos from practice.