Tag: nick mccloud

Five ways to fix Notre Dame from flopping in big games

An opinion of what Notre Dame needs to do in order to truly compete for a national championship.

It seemed like this year was going to be different, especially after the thrilling victory over Clemson during the regular season, but that wasn’t the case. Back-to-back blowout losses to Clemson and Alabama ultimately put this season along with many in recent times, a disappointing ending. The Notre Dame faithful just can’t seem to elude this glaring statistic:

I’ve had a few days to digest the Rose Bowl loss to Alabama, looking at their sidelines and trying to figure out how to get to their level of competitiveness. Here are five ways Notre Dame can avoid being embarrassed on the big stage  in the future.

Five stars: The best and worst of Notre Dame’s loss to Alabama in the Rose Bowl

The best and worst performances by Notre Dame in their season ending loss to Alabama in the Rose Bowl.

Heading into the Rose Bowl matchup there was not much hope outside of many Notre Dame fans that they could beat the juggernaut that is Alabama. Unfortunately for Blue and Gold faithful, that’s exactly what happened as the Irish got down early to the Crimson Tide and were never able to recover. Unfortunately there was more bad than good today. Here are the best, 5 stars, and worst, 1 star, performances from Notre Dame in their Rose Bowl loss to Alabama.

Rose Bowl and CFP Semifinal: First-Quarter Analysis

Everyone figured Notre Dame would have a tough time with Alabama in the Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff Semifinal.

Everyone figured Notre Dame would have a tough time with Alabama in the Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff Semifinal. So far, those prognostications have come to fruition. If this is a big tease for an epic comeback later on, we don’t know it yet. As it is, the Irish trail the Crimson Tide after one quarter, 14-0.

Right away, the Irish got a taste of what they’re in for. Kyren Williams ran for 15 yards on one carry during their first possession, but that was their lone first down on that drive. When the Tide took over, they picked up first downs on four of their first five plays. Just over two-and-a-half minutes were needed for Mac Jones to connect with DeVonta Smith for a 26-yard touchdown, the first of what likely will be many scores for the Tide.

The Irish’s offense did not fare much better on its next chance. Jay Bramblett came on with a 53-yard punt that pinned the Tide at their own 3-yard line, even though it initially looked to be down at the 1. It wouldn’t have mattered either way because the Tide picked up right where they left off on a drive highlighted by what only can be described as a Najee Harris leap over Nick McCloud on a 53-yard run. Right after perhaps the highest jump by a running back in all of football history, Jones hit Jahleel Billingsley for a 12-yard touchdown.

The Irish fared better when they got the ball again. This time, they got into Tide territory thanks to Ian Book’s 27-yard completion to Chris Tyree. A couple of nice runs by Williams then saw them reach the red zone. Hopefully, that’s a sign of things turning around.

Notre Dame walks away with tons of All-ACC awards

For the first time in Notre Dame history players and a coach have been awarded all-conference honors. Details on the All-ACC honors here.

The Associated Press released their All-ACC first and second teams on Monday afternoon and to the surprise of exactly nobody, Notre Dame has players all over the roster.

Nine players wound up elected to either the first or second teams and we’ll get to them in just a minute but awards were also given to Brian Kelly and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah on different levels.

Kelly was voted as the ACC Coach of the Year while linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah took home Defensive Player of the Year honors in the conference.

Kelly makes history as he’s obviously the first Notre Dame head football coach to ever win a coach of the year award for an individual conference.

Now for those who made the All-ACC first or second teams.

First-team Notre Dame selections:
OT – Liam Eichenberg
OG – Aaron Banks
OG – Tommy Kraemer
LB – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
S – Kyle Hamilton

Second-team All-ACC Notre Dame selections:
RB – Kyren Williams
OT – Robert Hainsey
C – Jarrett Patterson
CB – Nick McCloud

Clemson saw 10 players selected to either the first or second teams and in the least surprising news of the day, quarterback Trevor Lawrence was named the ACC’s Offensive Player of the Year.

You can see the entire first and second-team All-ACC selections here.

Notre Dame at Pittsburgh: Third-Quarter Analysis

The third quarter between Notre Dame and Pittsburgh saw the Irish kick it into even higher gear.

The third quarter between Notre Dame and Pittsburgh saw the Irish kick it into even higher gear. They’re holding onto the ball for extended and/or productive periods, and the Panthers either can’t get anything going with the ball or even hold onto it. So it only makes sense that we have a 45-3 Irish lead going into the fourth.

Notre Dame’s defense is living up to its reputation of keeping points off the scoreboard. The unit is well-rested thanks to doing its job quickly and efficiently. We’ve even seen interceptions from Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Nick McCloud, the first of their respective collegiate careers. Owusu-Koramoah, widely seen as the unit’s best player, has made little impact for much of the afternoon, but at least he finally has that first pick out of the way.

The Notre Dame offense had a lengthy first possession of the second half, highlighted by a 41-yard pass from Ian Book to Javon McKinley. Though the drive stalled out at the Pitt 2-yard line, Jonathan Doerer salvaged the drive with a 21-yard field goal. The next time the Irish had the ball, Kyren Williams tried to throw a touchdown pass to Tommy Tremble from 27 yards out, which was unsuccessful but became a positive anyway after a defensive holding call against the Panthers. Two plays later, Book threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Michael Mayer, who had a 23-yard reception earlier in the drive.

That second drive of the half was made possible by Owusu-Koramoah’s interception. McCloud set up the third, this time with a short field at the Panthers 35. This one saw Avery Davis record a 21-yard reception that was added onto after a roughing the passer call. With C’Bo Flemister’s 2-yard touchdown run coming soon after, the rout definitely is on at Heinz Field.

Notre Dame/Florida State: Shakeup in Irish secondary pregame?

Is there a change of plans for the Notre Dame secondary tonight? Pregame work outs seem to indicate as much. Keep an eye out.

We’re quickly approaching kickoff between No. 5 Notre Dame and Florida State and we’ve got some news regarding tonight’s depth chart for the Irish.

Per reports from various media members at Notre Dame Stadium tonight, it appears the secondary will look a bit different.

That list in the secondary is missing the name Nick McCloud, the graduate transfer who started both games this season at one of the corner positions, opposite Bracy.

McCloud was not mentioned by Kelly during the week as being unavailable, nor was he mentioned as one of the unavailable players by Notre Dame PR earlier Saturday.

It could be a shakeup or it could be a whole lot of nothing.  Either way it’s something to keep your eye on with the Notre Dame defense tonight.

5 takeaways from Notre Dame’s win over Duke

Notre Dame beat Duke to start 2020 off right. Here are five quick takeaways from the opening day victory for the Irish.

It was weird, it was different, it was far from pretty but at the end of the afternoon it was a Week One win over Duke as Notre Dame recorded their first official win as a member of the ACC.

There was good, there was bad and there was ugly but most importantly the Irish started the season with a victory on an ugly day in South Bend.

Five quick takeaways from the season opening 27-13 win over Duke.

First – Kyren Williams.  Hello.

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Notre Dame: This Week in Twitter

Another week of Notre Dame centric tweets can be seen right here.

Let’s take a look back at this week’s action on Notre Dame Twitter:

 

Happy Birthday transfer safety Nick McCloud

Happy Birthday to incoming freshman tight end Michael Mayer

Head Football Coach Brian Kelly changes his profile pic

Notre Dame Football account does the same

Kelly has been impressive during his tenure with the Irish

Head Baseball Coach Link Jarrett hired a year ago Sunday

Former Notre Dame basketball star John Paxson on his time in South Bend

Lou Holtz sticking up for the Fighting Irish nickname

Irish Overrated? CBS Gives Thoughts on Notre Dame’s ’20 Season Outlook

In a season series preview, CBS Sports looks at what is in store for the Irish this season.

The fact that Brian Kelly seems to falter against top teams is fair, since 2010 he has led the Irish to a 21-20 record in Top 25 matchups. So, Ben Kercheval’s assessment of that portion of the program is accurate, but that is in the past, this is about what is in store for the Irish in 2020.

There were multiple high-level players who left the Notre Dame program since it’s win over Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl just a few months ago. Kercheval feels like the biggest losses include TE Cole Kmet, WR Chase Claypool, RB Tony Jones Jr. and DE Julian Okwara. Each of them have brought their talents to the NFL.

What’s interesting is the fact that Kercheval mentions the firing of Offensive Coordinator Chip Long as a loss. Long was replaced by Tommy Rees prior to the bowl win, was seen as a excellent recruiter, but Kelly couldn’t mesh well with his play calling, especially in the aforementioned top matchups. While the offense under Rees was fantastic in Irish wins, averaging 38 points, the fact that Long couldn’t get more, 13.5 points per game, in losses irked Kelly and let to a change. The jury is still out on Rees, this season will be a big test for the first full year as offensive coordinator for the former Irish QB.

We all know about the returning Notre Dame stars, Kercheval sees QB Ian Book, OT Tommy Kraemer and WR Braden Lenzy as the offenses top returning playmakers. Pretty interesting that the other starting tackle, Liam Eichenberg isn’t mentioned, but Lenzy to me is the key. The leading returning receiver had just 11 catches last year, a number that will surely see a rise this coming season. The rising junior needs to break out for the Irish offense.

Defensively CB TaRiq Bracy and DE Daelin Hayes will be the key assets according to Kercheval. I think he didn’t pick the right players as Notre Dame’s key returning defenders. Safety Kyle Hamilton and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah would have been my choices. It’s not a knock on Bracy and Hayes, they’re great players in their own right, I just believe that Hamilton and Owusu-Koramoah will have larger impacts.

Rees was named a fresh face, along with Northwestern WR transfer Bennett Skowronek and incoming freshman RB Chris Tyree. Spot on with Tyree, as the newest face to the Irish running back room might be needed to contribute immediately. Skowronek was a captain for the Wildcats last year, bring leadership to a position group that will need it. There are plenty of others that could have ended up in these spots include transfers safety Isaiah Pryor and CB Nick McCloud or freshman TE Michael Mayer. Each of them could play big roles for the Irish in ’20.

Kercheval sees the floor as 9 wins for the Irish, otherwise disappointment will reign in South Bend. A favorable schedule should result in double digits wins, so Kelly’s streak of 3 straight 10-plus win seasons should extent to a 4th once the season is played.

Watch: New Notre Dame Corner’s Career Highlights

Notre Dame added a new cornerback in grad-transfer Nick McCloud on Monday. See McCloud’s best highlights from North Carolina State here.

North Carolina State graduate transfer Nick McCloud announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Monday.  McCloud joins a secondary that will be going through an overhaul entering the 2021 season.

So what is Notre Dame getting in McCloud?  We could write about him all day.  In fact, Mike Chen already did after McCloud announced his commitment to Notre Dame earlier today.  When you’re done checking that out you can also check out McCloud’s highlight tape during his time at North Carolina State below.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5hG3raHB4Q&w=560&h=315]

The former three-star recruit to North Carolina State had 105 tackles and three interceptions during his time with the Wolfpack.  McCloud played in just two games last season as the captain suffered a knee injury early on in the year.

The commitment of McCloud is the second big win for new defensive backs coach Mike Mickens in the past week as the Irish also landed a commitment from Philip Ryley from Florida.