Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Oklahoma finishes 14th as final regular season AP poll is announced

Oklahoma was ranked No. 14 in the final regular season Associated Press Poll.

Most Oklahoma fans have no care in the world about where Oklahoma stands in any rankings as their second loss of the season to Big 12 runner-up Oklahoma State ended any hopes Oklahoma had of going to the College Football Playoff.

Take that and add in the fact that they spent a week exhausting themselves worrying and wondering who the new Oklahoma head coach would be and you have a really unbothered group of fans for the final AP poll of the regular season.

With that said, the Sooners finished the regular season in the Top 15 still despite their up and down season on and off the field.

While the Sooners were ranked No. 14, the rest of the poll had some shaking up as conference championship games reshaped the landscape right before the final College Football Playoff rankings were announced.

After beating Georgia to retain their SEC Championship crown, Alabama jumped up three spots to move into the No. 1 ranking. The Michigan Wolverines hold steady at No. 2 as they handled Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game.

Georgia only fell to No. 3 and would ultimately claim their spot in the CFP even with their loss. They can lick their wounds as they prepare for Michigan.

Cincinnati made history after winning the American Athletic Conference, becoming the first Group of Five team to make the CFP. The Bearcats were ranked No. 4.

Notre Dame at No. 5, Baylor at No. 6, Ohio State at No. 7, Ole Miss at No. 8, Oklahoma State at No. 9, and the Pac-12 champions Utah at No. 10 round out the remainder of the top 10.

Michigan State, BYU, and Pittsburgh make up the last three teams in front of Oklahoma while Oregon rounds out the top 15.

For the Sooners, a win in their bowl game would all but guarantee another top-15 finish. The last time they didn’t finish 15th or higher in the final AP poll was 2014.

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Oklahoma ranked No. 13 in final regular season USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Oklahoma fell two spots to No. 13 in the final regular season USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Oklahoma fell two spots to No. 13 in the final USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll of the regular season.

Alabama is No. 1 after beating Georgia in the SEC Championship game 41-24. Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young completed 26-of-44 passes for an SEC Championship game record 421 yards. Young had three touchdown passes and a rushing score in Alabama’s win.

Michigan is No. 2 after blowing out Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game 42-3. Michigan held Iowa to 279 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, freshman running back Donovan Edwards tossed a 75-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Roman Wilson on a trick play.

Georgia fell two spots to No. 3 after the Bulldogs’ first loss of the 2021 season. Cincinnati stayed at No. 4 after the Bearcats captured the American Athletic Conference championship by beating Houston 35-20.

Notre Dame moved up one spot to No. 5 despite being idle.

The rest of the top 10 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll looks like this: Baylor at No. 6, Ohio State at No. 7, Ole Miss at No. 8, Oklahoma State at No. 9 and Michigan State at No. 10.

Baylor used a final-seconds defensive stand to outlast Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship game 21-16. Bears backup quarterback Blake Shapen threw three touchdown passes in the first half against the Cowboys.

Utah saw the biggest jump in the final USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll of the regular season after beating Oregon for the second time this season in the Pac-12 Championship game. The Utes are up six spots to No. 11 after beating the Ducks 38-10.

Here’s a look at the full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

  1. Alabama
  2. Michigan
  3. Georgia
  4. Cincinnati
  5. Notre Dame
  6. Baylor
  7. Ohio State
  8. Mississippi
  9. Oklahoma State
  10. Michigan State
  11. Utah
  12. Pitt
  13. Oklahoma
  14. BYU
  15. Oregon
  16. Iowa
  17. Louisiana
  18. NC State
  19. Wake Forest
  20. Kentucky
  21. Houston
  22. Clemson
  23. Texas A&M
  24. Arkansas
  25. UTSA

Schools dropped out: No. 19 San Diego State.

Others receiving votes: Wisconsin 105; Utah State 85; San Diego State 62; Minnesota 17; Air Force 15; Penn State 5; Fresno State 5; UCLA 3; Mississippi State 2; Coastal Carolina 2; Appalachian State 2; Purdue 1.

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Will Baylor’s last-second win in the Big 12 Championship push Notre Dame into the playoff field?

Notre Dame’s prayers may have been answered on Saturday.

A chalky championship Saturday could’ve made the College Football Playoff Committee’s job pretty easy. But chalk isn’t all that fun, anyway, is it?

The top six have already seen a shakeup after the first major game of the day when No. 5 Oklahoma State’s comeback effort against Baylor in the Big 12 Championship fell literally inches short. Despite four interceptions from quarterback Spencer Sanders and a 21-6 deficit heading into the locker room, the Cowboys’ defense, which has been sturdy all season, came up big in the second half, shutting the Bears out.

OSU trailed by five, and with under 1:30 to play, a pass interference call on third and three from the six set it up with a first and goal from the two-yard line. But Baylor put together its second goal-line stand of the game. On fourth down, running back Dezmon Jackson bounced a carry to the outside, and though it initially looked like he had space, he was stopped short while diving for the goal line.

The Cowboys, who now sit at 11-2, would have been a near-lock to make the CFP field had they won this game and Alabama lost to Georgia in the SEC Championship. But their loss opens the door for a different team to sneak into the field in the event of a Bulldogs win.

Perhaps, a team like Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish only have one loss this season, which came at home to Cincinnati back on Oct. 2. The Bearcats are, especially with Oklahoma State’s loss, all but guaranteed to become the first Group of Five team to make the playoff if they can take care of business against Houston in the American Athletic Conference Championship.

An Oklahoma State victory would have made things difficult considering the fact that the Cowboys already ranked higher and would have had an additional top-10 win on their resume while Notre Dame was idle this week.

Now, with a spot likely becoming available, the Irish would be the next team up, despite the fact that they lost longtime coach Brian Kelly, who took the LSU job this week. The program promoted 35-year-old defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to the head coaching gig, and a playoff semifinal would certainly be quite a way for the former Ohio State linebacker to begin his stint in South Bend.

Of course, Georgia could just pull a Georgia and allow the Crimson Tide to crack the field, instead, rendering this whole thought experiment obsolete.

What a sport.

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Homecoming? New Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman will open next season in an interesting location … Columbus

Well, this should be fun to break the seal on the 2022 college football season! #GoBucks

Now that former Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman has officially been named the head coach at Notre Dame, we can begin dreaming of a matchup that’s going to occur next season. And not just any game next year, but the first one on the schedule for both teams involved.

We are of course talking about Notre Dame’s visit to Columbus for the first game of both teams’ 2022 season on September 3. It was already going to be made for television eye candy, but now that a former Buckeye linebacker is running the show, it won’t just be Irish eyes that are smiling.

Freeman played linebacker under Jim Tressel from 2004-2008. That means his first regular-season game, and the first hostile crowd will be on the banks of the Olentangy. It’ll unfold in the venerable stadium he used to play in as a college football player, Ohio Stadium — more affectionately known as, “The Horseshoe,” or “Shoe” for short.

Sometimes you have to stretch for storylines in sports, and sometimes they just drop right in your lap. Freeman did visit Columbus as an assistant with Cincinnati in 2019 as an assistant, but it’s a whole new ballgame as the head coach of one of the most storied programs in college football history.

The timing couldn’t be any better in this case, and you are going to be hearing about it as a major plot twist we didn’t see coming even two weeks ago as the offseason buzz starts to build towards the start of the 2022 college football season.

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Former Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman named head coach of Notre Dame

Congrats to Marcus Freeman! #GoBucks

Well, it’s official. For those hoping that former Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman would come home to Columbus to run the defense, you can forget about it. That’s because Freeman was officially named the new head coach at Notre Dame Friday morning.

Word began circulating that the move was coming after head coach Brian Kelly surprised everyone by bolting South Bend for LSU earlier in the week. Freeman has acclimated himself well with recruiting and rapport with players after coming on board as the defensive coordinator in the offseason. He had been looked at as a potential head coach down the line somewhere, but with Kelly’s departure, that timeline has been accelerated greatly.

Out of Wayne High School near Dayton, Freeman went on to play linebacker for Ohio State under Jim Tressel from 2004-2008. He was twice named Second-Team All-Big Ten.

After never really catching on in the NFL, Freeman embarked on a coaching career, first as the linebackers coach at Kent State in 2011. His next stop would be the same post with Purdue in 2013, then he hitched on with former Ohio State player and coach, Luke Fickell, at Cincinnati as the defensive coordinator from 2017-2020. He did so well running the defense in the Queen City that he was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the best assistant coach in college football in 2020. Freeman then parlayed that into being Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator under Kelly this past year.

Now, after just one season in which his defense again excelled, Freeman will be the new head coach at one of the most storied programs in college football history.

Congrats to a former Buckeye — except that is — when the Fighting Irish come to Columbus to open up Freeman’s coaching career on September 3 next season. These things are hard to orchestrate, but man is that going to be wild.

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Notre Dame introduces Marcus Freeman to team as head football coach

Marcus Freeman is Notre Dame’s 30th head football coach

The Fighting Irish have chosen their head football coach. Marcus Freeman replaces Brian Kelly as the head coach of Notre Dame.

Freeman got the big fanfare as he was introduced to the team on Friday and received a rousing ovation from his players.

Per the school’s website:

Freeman will be introduced on Monday, December 6 at a 2:00pm ET press conference and will coach the Irish in their upcoming bowl game.

“It is an honor to be named the head coach of Notre Dame Football,” said Freeman. “I am eternally grateful to both Father John Jenkins and Jack Swarbrick for giving me the opportunity to lead the exceptional men who make this program what it is. Notre Dame is a very special place and I look forward to pursuing a national championship with the most outstanding student-athletes, coaches and staff in college football.”

“Marcus Freeman has not only proven himself a superb football coach, he has shown–both in his time at Notre Dame and in my conversations with him this week–that he is a person of highest integrity who cares deeply about our student-athletes and is committed to their success in the classroom as well as on the field,” said University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.  “I am excited to welcome him as our new head football coach, and to have his wife, Joanna, and their six beautiful children in the Notre Dame family.”

Freeman, formerly the defensive coordinator at ND, spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati. During his time with the Bearcats, he was named the 2020 247Sports.com Defensive Coordinator of the Year and 2020 Broyles Award Finalist along with a nominee for the Broyles Award in 2019 and 2018.

He replaces Kelly, who left for the head coaching job at LSU.

Brady Quinn rips Brian Kelly for ‘classless’ move to LSU

Former Irish QB calls Brian Kelly “classless” for jumping to LSU.

Current Fox College Football Analyst Brady Quinn had some strong words for Brian Kelly jumping to the LSU Tigers.

Quinn is a former quarterback for Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but he was gone to the NFL by the time that Brian Kelly arrived in South Bend. When discussing the move by Kelly to the SEC, the Fox Analyst didn’t mince words on how he felt.

“This was about money,” Quinn, currently an analyst for FOX Sports, said on 2 Pros and Cup of Joe. “This was about ego, him looking at LSU and saying: ‘I’ve played against them. I know what they can recruit. I know the difference in restrictions that you have, the hurdles you have to jump over at Notre Dame versus LSU to recruit and I want to try and go win a National Championship.’ And he might feel like he has a better chance there.

“But the irony of it is his team could literally be playing for one this year and really the next two years. They have two Top 5 recruiting classes right now. So he’s leaving all of that. I think the way he did it was more about his ego and how he feels he was treated at times at Notre Dame.” – Brady Quinn via USA TODAY Sports 

It isn’t shocking to hear a former Fighting Irish player unhappy with the move by Kelly. It isn’t uncalled for either. It just feels like the college football world we live in. Teams and coaching candidates have to make a decision that they feel is best for them. Whether that be financially motivated, or a coach like Brian Kelly that believes his best chance to win a championship is in the SEC.

It is no secret that the admission and academic standards are much higher than that of LSU. He can recruit players to the Tigers that wouldn’t be eligible to play at Notre Dame. At age 60, perhaps jumping on a plane every time he wants to recruit was another reason. At LSU, the school pretty much recruits itself in the state of Louisiana. He can also just hop in the car if he wants to recruit, no need to get on a play every time.

“At the end of the day, you don’t leave the way he did, literally out on the road recruiting, leaving a recruit’s house after this news breaks and having other coaches out there who are on the road recruiting,” Quinn continued. “You don’t leave in a classless way like that, after becoming the all-time winningest coach, unless there’s more to it and you want to try to spurn, or you want to try and do this in a conniving way.”

With so much emphasis on the early signing period, I truly believe this is why we are seeing coaches leave before the season is even over. More than half of recruiting classes are signing in mid-December rather than national signing day in February.

Perhaps there need to be some changes to prevent this from happening. Whether that is putting rules in place that prevent a coach from interviewing before the season is over, or removing the early signing period. Until something like that happens, this is just a part of the college football world.

Whether you like it or not.

Oklahoma checks in at No. 14 in latest College Football Playoff rankings

After a 37-33 loss in Bedlam, Oklahoma fell four spots to No. 14 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.

After Oklahoma’s 37-33 loss at Oklahoma State in the regular season finale, the Sooners fell four spots to No. 14 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.

The loss ended Oklahoma’s pursuit of a berth into the College Football Playoff and likely means OU is headed for an Alamo Bowl date on Dec. 29 against the loser of the Pac-12 Championship game against either Oregon or Utah.

Georgia remained No. 1 in the CFP rankings and has been the top team in each of this season’s five rankings. The Bulldogs blanked Georgia Tech 45-0 to finish off a perfect 12-0 regular season.

Michigan jumped up three spots to No. 2 after beating Ohio State 42-27. It was the Wolverines’ first win over the Buckeyes since 2011 and snapped an eight-game losing streak for Michigan in the series.

Alabama and Cincinnati remained at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. After dispatching of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State moved up two spots and garnered its highest ranking at No. 5. Notre Dame sits at No. 6.

After the Fighting Irish, the rest of the top 10 looks like this: Ohio State at No. 7, Ole Miss at No. 8, Baylor at No. 9 and Oregon at No. 10.

Conference championship weekend features four games that will determine the College Football Playoff participants. Oklahoma State and Baylor meet at 11 a.m. on ABC in the Big 12 Championship game, Georgia battles Alabama at 3 p.m. on CBS in the SEC Championship, Cincinnati against Houston at 3 p.m. on ABC in the American Athletic Conference Championship and Michigan plays Iowa in the Big Ten Championship at 7 p.m. on FOX.

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Brian Kelly is reportedly set to leave Notre Dame for LSU and the college football world is stunned

No one saw this coming!

First it was Lincoln Riley, now it’s Brian Kelly that’s shocked the college football world on back to back days.

On Monday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reportedly lost head coach Kelly to LSU in a stunning turn of events. Kelly will replace six-year LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, who is stepping down at the end of the season just two years removed from the Tigers’ 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship win.

The news is quite the surprise, as Kelly seemed contented to stay at Notre Dame, with the Fighting Irish finishing the season at 11–1 with a lone loss to Cincinnati in early October. Kelly will end his 12-year career at Notre Dame with a 92–39 record.

The news took the entire college football world by storm with its sudden announcement after some buildup earlier in the day. Here’s how the college football world reacted to Kelly as the new head coach of LSU.

Report: LSU to hire Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly as next head coach

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is reportedly expected to leave the Fighting Irish for the same position at LSU

Well, how’s that for a 24-hour period in the world of college football?

Not long after Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC, it appears that another blockbuster head coach move is taking place between two more powerhouse programs.

LSU is set to hire Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly as their next head coach, per Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.

Kelly’s Fighting Irish are still in the hunt for a spot in this year’s College Football Playoff, but it doesn’t look like that’s stopping him from heading to Baton Rouge to replace Ed Orgeron.

Kelly has led the Irish to five straight 10-win seasons, and has been their head coach since 2010.

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