Tag: notre dame fighting irish football

Scout’s View: Linebacker Prince Kollie, Newest Notre Dame Commit

Take at look at what to expect out of the newest Irish commit, Tennessee linebacker Prince Kollie.

The Irish are starting to finalize their 2021 recruiting class and the newest addition is Tennessee linebacker Prince Kollie.

Kollie has started since his sophomore year on varsity, his tackles increased from 65 his first year to 78 in his second. He also added two more tackles for loss from the year prior with 4 total in his junior year. Kollie added two sacks to his junior stats along with an interception while causing 3 fumbles and recovering one. He did this in two less games as well.

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After watching his highlight reel, the 6-foot-2-inch and 200-pound ‘backer shows a great nose for the football. Kollie lines up all over the field, from a strong safety in the box, blitzing off the edge, to a stand-up defensive end rushing the passer. He is a willing tackler and shows great hands, Collie caught 65 passes for 1,085 yards and 9 TD’s last year. Collie’s run defense is much more ahead of his coverage skills at the moment, he does play well when the play is in front of him. This could eventually lead to him moving back to safety at some point in his career. Although he is most likely going to start out as an outside linebacker, he could ultimately be looked at as a hybrid defender like Clemson had with Isaiah Simmons, making plays from different positions.

When Collie arrives on campus, defensive coordinator Clark Lea will have to figure out if Collie will join him in the linebacker’s room or if he’ll start out in the defensive back room with Terry Joseph. My guess would be starting off with Lea, due to the fact that the Irish did not sign a true linebacker in last years recruiting class. Either way, it’s a good problem for Brian Kelly to have as we welcome Prince Kollie to the Notre Dame family.

How much of an impact could freshman RB Tyree have this season?

Notre Dame freshman running back Chris Tyree has a golden opportunity to make an impact in his first year on campus.

We all know about Virginia’s Chris Tyree’s exploits as one of the fastest players in the country. Notice how it wasn’t just incoming freshmen, it’s in the country. While we know about Tyree’s speed, what we don’t know is how much of an impact he could have year one in South Bend. What we do know is that 247Sports Brad Crawford has Tyree on his list of 10 most impactful freshmen in the country.

The speedy back finished his high school career as the number 1 rated all-purpose back and 70th overall prospect in the country according to the 247Sports composite rankings. An ankle injury during his senior season derailed what would have been three straight seasons over 1,000 yards rushing.

The biggest knock on Tyree has nothing much to do with his game, but his stature. At 5-foot-10-inches and 180-pounds durability obviously could be an issue. That’s exactly how Crawford’s scouting report sees Tyree noting “there will always be questions about his frame and work-load compacity.” There weren’t many other detractors to Tyree’s game in the other parts of the report aside from “adding strength is a must. Yet to show he can be good at pass protect.” Adding solid weight to Tyree’s frame would go a long way for his on-field production.

The remaining portion of his scouting report was very positive as Tyree has “blazing speed with verified 4.38 second in 40. Burst is a plus. Vertical of 38.2 inches. Stop-start ability is impressive. Wildly productive. Good vision and patience in the hole. Excellent body control. Accelerates to full speed within three steps. Can run inside or outside. Tough to arm tackle. Dangerous pass catcher who can lineup in slot….Major contributor at elite college program. Middle round NFL draft pick.”

The opportunity there for Tyree to contribute after Tony Jones Jr’s departure to the NFL leaving the Irish running back room without much experience. If Tyree takes advantage of the situation and stay’s healthy, we could be seeing a big season from the speedy freshman.

Notre Dame shakes up ESPN’s FPI after joining ACC

The Irish make their presence known with the latest update to ESPN’s Football Power Index.

With the announcement last week of the Irish joining the ACC for the 2020 season, many outlets needed to adjust their preseason rankings to account for this massive change. ESPN has just updated their Football Power Index and it looks fairly favorable for Notre Dame.

When looking at the numbers, there are plenty of them when breaking down the FPI, they Irish are almost assured of having a bowl game, as long as more of them don’t get canceled. With a 89.3% chance at more than 6 wins, you can bring that one to the back. The problem when looking further into the FPI is that the projection model has Notre Dame winning only one more game past that threshold.

ESPN’s projections have a final record of 7-3, but there is a silver lining to this, a chance to bring home an ACC Title. Clemson is the overwhelming favorite to win the conference, as the FPI gives the Tigers an 88.7% chance to bring home the hardware. The Irish rank second, and although chances are slim at 4.3%, it’s still a chance.

There’s a smaller chance the Irish win out, at a minute 0.2%, and even smaller chance to win the national title at 0.1%. Playoff’s are now the gold standard goal of ever program, and the FPI gives the Irish a 1.6% chance at making the coveted final four.

Getting an opportunity to play for a title in 2020 would be fantastic, even if it is an ACC one. How awesome would it be to play in a conference for a season, win the ACC title and ride off into an independence sunset hoisting the trophy and heading to the playoffs. Hopefully the FPI is off and that’s exactly how the 2020 season plays out for the Irish.

Notre Dame could be eligible for ACC Championship Game

Eye-opening news from the ACC

If you, as a USC fan, are interested in what is happening to Notre Dame, you now have a lot to think about. The Fighting Irish were stripped of two separate dates on their 2020 football schedule when the Pac-12 went to a conference-only schedule: USC and Stanford. The Irish also lost a Big Ten game against Wisconsin when the Big Ten moved to a conference-only slate. Everyone wondered what would happen to the Fighting Irish’s fall schedule.

Now we have some answers, though ACC school presidents still have to approve the plan:

Earlier this week, it was announced that Major League Baseball would have 16 playoff teams with early-round best-of-three playoff series. Like the shortened 60-game regular season for 2020, the 16-team playoff format with best-of-three series should not be viewed as something which will remain in place on a long-term basis. It is a one-year response unique to sports in a pandemic without a vaccine.

The same should be applied to this Notre Dame situation: The Irish were in a bind with their schedule. They have been good to the ACC, both financially and in terms of providing national exposure to the conference. The ACC is rewarding Notre Dame for those positive contributions and taking a tangible step toward cementing a healthy long-term relationship.

Fans in ACC markets might not like this, and I completely understand why they would react that way. It is legitimate to think that Notre Dame needs to fully join the ACC — in football, not just in basketball and the other smaller sports — to be eligible for the conference championship game and for revenues flowing from a possible ACC championship victory.

One would think the ACC would work with Notre Dame on a revenue-sharing plan. Does the plan need to be ironed out before the 2020 season begins? I don’t think so. Getting teams safe and ready to play (as much as one possibly can) is the main priority here. The details could be hashed out later, once the season is underway.

Does this move draw Notre Dame any closer to full membership in the ACC? You might be asking that, and reasonably so.

A short answer: No.

If you view this as the temporary solution to sports in a pandemic — much as Major League Baseball’s 16-team playoff is a one-year deal and not a permanent remaking of baseball’s postseason format — the ACC’s plan should not be viewed as a path toward Notre Dame’s full membership. This is just a way of thanking Notre Dame and being a good partner to the Irish in a time of uncertainty.

Monday’s have been kind to Notre Dame Linebacker Owusu-Koramoah

Another Monday, another watch list that Irish linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah appears in.

For the second Monday in a row, Irish linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, JOK, has been placed into elite company making another watch list. This time it is the Butkus Award, which is given to the nation’s best linebacker. This honor is on the heels of last Monday when JOK was put on the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list as well.

Owusu-Koramoah has a lot to play for in his senior year, as we previewed him here last week, which  includes a potential selection in the first round of the NFL Draft. There is a ton of hype surrounding JOK and if he wins the Butkus, he would become the 3rd Irish linebacker to achieve that status following Jaylon Smith in 2015 and Manti Te’o in 2012. Smith’s season had him finish with 114 tackles and a sack while Te’o has 111 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

The competition will be tough for JOK to take home this award in the 2020 season as Penn State’s Micah Parsons, Alabama’s Dylan Moses and others have gotten significant pre-season hype as well. If JOK can up his tackle numbers from 79 to over 100 and keep the 8.5 sacks or even improve on those number, we can very well see Owusu-Koramoah being named the best linebacker in college this coming season.

ESPN compares Notre Dame commit Buchner to who?

The future Irish quarterback is compared to a current star in college.

The Elite 11 Camp has come and gone, with recruiting experts getting a chance to go over the film, the future for each of the participants has become clearer. A pair of Tom’s from ESPN, Luginbill and VanHaaren broke down each of the quarterbacks and 2021 Irish commit Tyler Buchner got some high praise from them.

The opportunity for early playing time for Buchner is there, as they noted, but what was more important was how the Tom’s see the future for the star QB. Their report on him is very encouraging, as Luginbill see’s “Buchner has good size and a high skill set. He can navigate the pocket, keep his eyes downfield and work through progressions. For a younger player, he is an advanced passer with a lot of poise.”

The player comparison was a surprise, as I haven’t heard much about Memphis’ Brady White, so I did some research. White was 4th nationally with 4,014 passing yards last year to go along with 33 passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The Tiger’s star was 10th nationally in quarterback rating, just a little behind Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence who is viewed as a Top 3 NFL Draft pick. White helped the Tigers to a 12-2 record last year, a New Year’s Six appearance in the Cotton Bowl, although they lost to Penn State, it was one hell of a year for White.

White began his career at Arizona State, but then transferred to Memphis where he has put video game numbers in his two seasons as their quarterback. The wins came last year, as the Tigers finished 8-6 in his first season, but the build up was worth it. If Buchner has a career like White’s, many Irish fans will be very happy with that result.

Irish offer ’22 Illinois Linebacker

Notre Dame goes into the Chicago Suburbs with their latest offer in the 2022 class.

Brian Kelly has gone a bit west with his newest offer in the 2022 class, as Evanston, Illinois linebacker Sebastian Cheeks has been given the opportunity to play in South Bend.

The Irish join Midwest schools like Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and others for the commitment of the 6’2 and 200-pound ‘backer. Cheeks has very good instincts, which leads to big plays for his Wildkit team. The potential for Cheeks to be a three down linebacker is very intriguing. What’s just as intriguing is the fact that Cheeks has his offer from the Irish pinned on his twitter page

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It is clear that Kelly and defensive coordinator Clark Lea have gotten Cheeks attention as they battle for his verbal pledge. The Irish current do not have any commitments in their 2022 recruiting class.

College football pandemic scheduling: Notre Dame

A look at how the Irish fit into the larger picture

USC fans will miss playing Notre Dame this year, especially since the game was to have been played at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Staff writer Josh Webb talked to Fighting Irish Wire editor Nick Shepkowski about the cancellation of Trojans-Irish this year.

Removed from the USC angle, Notre Dame rates as a story unto itself. How will the Fighting Irish’s schedule change this year? Fighting Irish Wire came up with a tentative version of an adjusted schedule which was heavy on ACC teams. This makes perfect sense, given Notre Dame’s contractual relationship with the ACC and the desire on both sides to strengthen what has been a positive and productive partnership.

One has to note, however, that when the Big Ten and Pac-12 moved to conference-only game schedules, Notre Dame lost three opponents: USC and Stanford in the Pac-12, of course, plus a game against Wisconsin.

The obvious question should be asked: Will Notre Dame try to fill all three dates, or limit itself to just one or two of those three open dates?

I don’t have a lot of strong opinions on this particular question other than this: The fact that the USC game was scheduled for November 28 — at the end of the regular season, just before the conference championship games — makes it highly unlikely that the Irish will get that particular date filled. Therefore, I would be very surprised if the Irish try to play all 12 games. I would put the ceiling at 11 games and set the likely number at 10. Notre Dame will very likely try to get an ACC opponent to fill at least one of the three lost slots, but that partly depends on the ACC’s scheduling plans. If the ACC moves to a setup in which it plays only one nonconference game, Notre Dame’s options might be more limited. If the ACC plays two nonconference games, then yes, the Irish will almost certainly turn to the ACC to fill at least one open date created by the three Pac-12 or Big Ten cancellations.

A wild card: The ACC is considering some non-traditional scheduling moves in a pandemic.

That could upend Notre Dame’s plans. At any rate, we need to see what the ACC, Big 12, and SEC do before we can get a fuller feel for what the Irish intend to do. Notre Dame is in a position to wait for the remaining Power Five conferences to lay out their schedule plans. The Irish can then survey their options.

If the Irish don’t care for any of the menu items, it wouldn’t be the first time they stayed home… but in a pandemic, staying home might be the entirely appropriate action.

Q and A with Nick Shepkowski of Fighting Irish Wire

The Notre Dame situation

With the Pac-12 moving to a conference-only schedule, the Trojans will not be playing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the first time since 1945. They didn’t play in ’45 because of World War II. In fact, the Trojans didn’t play the Irish from 1943-45. That was the last time the two teams did not meet in the regular season. To talk about this psychic blow, and this unwelcome void on the 2020 schedule, Trojans Wire reached out to Nick Shepkowski, editor of Notre Dame Fighting Irish Wire site.

1. How is the cancellation of the USC game being received in South Bend?

Disappointment but understandable. Not only will it be strange to not have USC (or Stanford for that matter – played every year since 1997) on the schedule, what’s even odd is the Irish will be playing what could very likely be an entire ACC schedule despite remaining independent.

2. USC fans have been saddened by the loss of a key rival game. What’s the general feeling by the fans and players about not playing this game for the first time since 1945?

Disappointment. There might not be any love loss between the two programs, but historically speaking the two are as dependent on each other as any rivals in college football are. Without the long history with each other the past of both programs struggle to reach the blue blood caliber both are in. Midwestern and Southern California people might not see eye to eye on much, but I’m fairly sure I speak for both parties when I say that missing out on this rivalry for a year just sucks.

3. How will the loss of this game affect the Irish in their bid for a postseason shot, if at all?

If anything it helps. USC was supposed to be better this year — yeah, we’ve heard that before — but that was probably Notre Dame’s third toughest game in 2020 behind Clemson and Wisconsin. Even in recent undefeated seasons (‘12, ‘18) that trip to LA on Thanksgiving weekend has brought a couple real scares against some pretty formidable USC squads.

4. How badly do you think conference-only scheduling will have an impact on the way we process the postseason as a whole?

No way to judge conference superiority if all they do is play themselves. I think this year especially you have to expand the playoff and have every conference champion in because there is simply no way to actually tell the strength of any conference if no OOC games are played nationwide.

5. Let’s be honest: How excited were Irish fans to play Clay Helton one more time?

It’s nice to finally know what it was like when USC got to take advantage of playing Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis all those years. Y’all miss Coach O yet? Whoops.

ESPN: How does the Big Ten’s decision impact Notre Dame

A look at what could be ahead for Notre Dame in the 2020 season after the Big Ten decided to play a conference only schedule.

After yesterday’s huge news that the Big Ten will only play conference games in the 2020 season and the potential for other conferences to follow is something worth tracking for Notre Dame faithful. ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Mark Schlabach looked into the conundrum the Irish could be facing in this season.

With just one game schedule against the Big Ten this year, against Wisconsin, this may not seem like a massive deal, but it is. Dinich and Schlabach view it like this, “For the independent outlier, this is a predicament, but there is a solution. First, losing the Wisconsin game is significant, but the Fighting Irish could overcome that alone. The problem comes if the Pac-12 does follow suit, because then Notre Dame would lose two additional games, in Stanford and USC. The most likely and expected scenario there would be for Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick and ACC commissioner John Swofford to extend their partnership and have the Irish fill the rest of their schedule with ACC games.”

This does seem like the most logical solution, already half of the Irish’s previously scheduled opponents reside in the ACC. Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Louisville would most likely stay on the docket, but who would the Irish add? It completely depends on what Swofford and other AD’s decide to do. There are rumors the Big Ten could play 10 conference games, but at the moment nothing is set in stone. If the ACC goes to conference only and plays 8 games, I would love to see the Irish add NC State, Florida State, North Carolina or Boston College. If the Irish join the ACC for the 2020 season, which opponents would you like to see them face?