Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame alum Arike Ogunbowale becomes all-time leading scorer for Dallas Wings

The Notre Dame alum is putting up lots of points in a hurry.

Arike Ogunbowale is now the all-time leading scorer for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings. The Notre Dame alum has 3,972 points after scoring 11 against the New York Liberty in a 99-67 loss Thursday night.

She’s in just her sixth season in the league and reached the mark in game number 193. She passes Deanna “Tweety” Nolan, who needed nine years and 293 games to reach 3,971. Ogunbowale, a guard who played at Notre Dame from 2015 to 2019, got the record on free throws with 4:27 remaining in Thursday’s game.

She needs just 28 points to reach 4,000, and if she does that in her next two games, she will pass Breanna Stewart to be the WNBA player who reaches that mark the fastest.

Stewart needed 196 games to hit that mark.

 

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Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock raves about Xavier Watts, Marcus Freeman

Hammock continues to show love to the Irish

This week we have seen something that we don’t normally see from opposing coaches, a friendship was formed.

While Northern Illinois did upset Notre Dame last Saturday, the two head coaches have seemingly established a quick bond. Not only did [autotag]Thomas Hammock[/autotag] share information with [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag], but on Friday he took to social media and raved about the Irish coach and safety [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag].

Hammock quoted a post singling out the stars almost tip-drill interception, saying “they showed those types of plays on tape which means they are coached extremely well.” The NIU coach didn’t need to go out of his way to say anything, but you can see the two have each other’s backs.

It’s become very clear the two coaches are extremely friendly, and hopefully it’s not just a one-sided relationship.

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Here’s what the experts are saying about Notre Dame at Purdue

Here’s what the experts say as Notre Dame looks to win a bounce-back game.

Last week, the experts (and your author) all expected Notre Dame to cruise over Northern Illinois. Well, we all have some egg on our faces after the 16-14 upset by the Huskies.

So what are the experts saying about the Fighting Irish as they prepare to play Purdue in a game that could determine their College Football Playoff fate?

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah has the Irish winning a close game in which Purdue will cover the spread. Why? In part because Boilermakers quarterback Hudson Card could play well if the Irish can’t get pressure, and in part because the Irish might be rattled by the loss to NIU.

“Many successful coaching tenures at Purdue were highlighted with historic wins over Notre Dame, and this certainly appears to be a fallible version. If the Boilermakers can protect quarterback Hudson Card, he represents one of the best quarterbacks the Fighting Irish will defend this season. Notre Dame will pull away for a victory, but Purdue will give the Irish their best shot,” he writes.

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ESPN predicts the outcome of Notre Dame at Purdue

This looks promising

While many in Irish Nation feel like the sky is falling for Notre Dame football, that may not exactly be the case.

The Golden Domers will try and right many wrongs this weekend at Purdue, in a game that feels like it could go awry. ESPN doesn’t think that will be the case, as they explained during its preview of the top Week 3 games (subscription required).

Bill Connelly, didn’t highlight the contest, but did add it to his weekend watchlist. He noted that the Irish had a similar fate two years ago, “but responded with 10 wins in the next 11 games.”

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – AUGUST 31: Adon Shuler #8 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates his interception with teammates against the Texas A&M Aggies during the second quarter at Kyle Field on August 31, 2024 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images)

Connelly was also questioning the Boilermakers, as “we know nothing about how good Purdue is.” With that in mind, ESPN’s SP+ has Notre Dame winning by 11.2 points, while their FPI projection has the Irish coming out on top by 9.9.

Regardless of how they believe it will play out, all we want to see is an Irish victory on Saturday.

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Manti Te’o gets choked up talking about Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion

Te’o was clearly shaken up about Tua’s injury

The game of football has created some great relationships, and that is exactly what has happened with former Notre Dame star linebacker [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] and current Miami Dolphins quarterback [autotag]Tua Tagovailoa[/autotag].

The former Alabama All-American had a rough game against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, throwing three interceptions in the loss. Not only that, Tagovailoa suffered his third concussion of his NFL career, leaving many to wonder what is next.

Te’o, who recently joined the NFL Network as an analyst, was asked his thoughts on Tua’s injury, as they have bonded due to their Polynesian background. You can visibly see the former Irish star was shaken up.

https://twitter.com/gmfb/status/1834571933343703370?s=46&t=eNd13NO3I2RRO_MrKnKWXQ

Manti brought up his previous playing experience dealing with a concussion, as he wants Tua to make the right decision and wants what is best for his family.

All of our thoughts and prayers go out to Tagovailoa, as he recovers from his latest injury.

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Notre Dame football drops its game trailer against Purdue

The ‘Battle for the Shillelagh Trophy’ resumes for the first time since 2021

While last week didn’t go Notre Dame’s way, the season continues on this weekend as the Irish travel to take on the Purdue Boilermakers.

Head coach Marcus Freeman has taken plenty of heat this week, but will have a chance to get back on many’s good side with a win. Focus will be key for Notre Dame, but before they hit the field on Saturday, we need to get hyped.

The Irish social media team release its game trailer ahead of the contest against the Boilers, and they kept up the theme they’ve used all season, old school hip-hop. Check out the video below.

It’s appropriately named the “Battle for the Shillelagh Trophy” as Purdue looks to take home the trophy for the first time since 2007. The Irish have won the last 8 meetings, although two of them were vacated in 2012 and 2013.

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Watch former Notre Dame great Aaron Taylor tells his favorite Lou Holtz story

If the story doesn’t get you, Taylor impersonation of Holtz will

There are so many stories to be shared about Notre Dame football that we don’t know about, and on Thursday former Irish All-American guard [autotag]Aaron Taylor[/autotag] told a doozy about his former coach [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag].

The College Football Hall of Famer described a practice where he got under his coaches skin. As Taylor recalls, late during his sophomore season he was lining up against a scout team defender and completely whiffed on his assignment, giving up a tackle-for-loss.

Holtz then kicked him out of the drill, and actually completely removed his guard position from the play. The national championship winning Holtz then went on to tell Taylor that there was no difference if he was in there or not after the play was once again blown up.

https://twitter.com/CBSSportsCFB/status/1834288499895189580

The “spectacle” as he called it worked, as Holtz actions taught his team that what we do matters, if they don’t do their job, someone else plays the price. While this type of coaching tactic is surely unique, it got the job done.

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Fox analyst has Notre Dame as one of their top uniforms in college football

What do you think of Taft’s list?

It’s something that we all have known for a while, Notre Dame football has one of the best uniforms in all of college football.

That fact was backed up by Fox Sports sideline reporter [autotag]Jenny Taft[/autotag], who listed her best 10 On Thursday. The Irish came in second, behind just Michigan in her rankings.

While many of these lists are subjective, it’s hard to say that anyone would exclude Notre Dame from their list. Other schools who made Taft’s cut were in order following the Irish: Texas, Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State, USC, Nebraska, Tennessee and UCLA.

It’s a pretty solid list, but for me there would be a few changes, I’d probably take out the Huskers and Bruins and add in Alabama and Miami.

https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1834335678311866506

Who makes the cut for your top-10 college football uniforms?

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Marcus Freeman updates Notre Dame’s quarterback situation ahead of Purdue

No surprise here, are you?

As we all found out earlier this week, Notre Dame football starting quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] sustained an injury to his non-throwing shoulder in the loss to Northern Illinois.

[autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] told the media on Monday that they intend on starting the transfer, and on Thursday, he updated everyone on his initial thoughts. It does look like Leonard will get the starting nod this week, as Freeman said his quarterback has made some “really good” decisions during this week’s prep for Purdue.

While many have been clamoring for a chance to either Steve Angeli or CJ Carr, they won’t get their wish this weekend.

https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1834261412278858113

Even though Leonard is still going to take the first snaps with the Irish offense, it would be in Freeman’s best interest to have gotten one of his backups ready to play this weekend.

We will see how the game, and the Irish quarterbacks play out this weekend.

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There’s an interesting development involving Notre Dame, Northern Illinois and Purdue

What do you think of this?

It’s no secret that coaches share information with others, and that might be the case for Notre Dame and Northern Illinois.

The Huskies are coming off an upset of the Irish in Notre Dame Stadium, and now it looks like the two coaches are exchanging information after an interview on Pardon My Take.

NIU head coach [autotag]Thomas Hammock[/autotag] told them that he’s been sharing information about Purdue with [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag]. “I want him to do well, for obvious reasons, and just because we competed, don’t mean we can’t help each other or try to assist each other, to make each other better,” he told the podcast.

Pro Football Focus ranks Notre Dame higher than either major poll
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – AUGUST 31: Head Coach Marcus Freeman of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks on prior to the game against the Texas A&M Aggies Kyle Field on August 31, 2024 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images)

While the Huskies haven’t played Purdue since 2013, it highly unlikely what Hammock will help with would make much of a difference on the field this weekend. In my eyes, this has more to do with how to prepare your team, establishing culture and general coaching ideas.

It’s great to see the two form a friendship, although the Irish wish it was under different circumstances.

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