Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

WATCH: Notre Dame RB Kyren Williams breaks off 91-yard TD run

Watch Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams race 91 yards to the end zone against North Carolina

Notre Dame pulled off a key win over North Carolina on Saturday night, and running back Kyren Williams led the way with an impressive performance.

Williams racked up 199 yards on just 22 carries, averaging nine yards per attempt. That number was bolstered by a 91-yard touchdown run, one that had Williams completely reverse his field before blazing past the entire Tar Heels defense.

One of the top running back prospects in the 2022 NFL draft class, Williams helped his draft stock by showing off his big-play ability in this game.

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Kyren Williams of Notre Dame with amazing 91-yard TD run

Kyren Williams with a 91-yard TD run for Notre Dame

Notre Dame has fallen off the CFP radar since its loss to Cincinnati. The Irish still have that lone defeat and were facing North Carolina on Saturday.

In a tight game in South Bend, the Fighting Irish were backed up when they handed off to Kyren Williams.

The running back seemed stopped, once, twice, three times but managed to get outside and outraced the Tar Hell defense to the end zone.

The score early in the fourth quarter gave Notre Dame a 41-27 advantage after the PAT.

This wasn’t the longest TD run in Notre Dame history.

That honor belongs to Dexter Williams, who went 97 yards against Virginia Tech in 2018.

Watch: Notre Dame’s DJ Brown picks off North Carolina’s Sam Howell

DJ Brown with the pick!

Both Notre Dame and North Carolina had played very clean football, no turnovers for either team. That changed very quickly under a minute into the fourth quarter. The Irish had just extended their lead to 38-27 on Kyren Williams amazing touchdown run that went for 91-yards.

The Tar Heels had their backs against the wall and quarterback Sam Howell felt like he needed to make a play. Well, Irish safety DJ Brown felt the same way and stepped in front of a Howell pass and picked it off. The replacement for star Kyle Hamilton was having a quiet night but not anymore.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Kyren Williams goes beast mode against UNC

WOW

The Irish faced their longest field of the day, that didn’t matter to running back Kyren Williams. At first he tried to go to the right, that was bottled up, and then he tried to the right. Well, a North Carolina defender was there but that didn’t matter.

Williams used his elite stiff arm to create space from the Tar Heel defender, then his lane was open. The sophomore would then race down the side line 91-yards for what Mike Tirico described as the play of the year for the Irish. Take a look for yourself, I think Tirico might be correct as this score extended Notre Dame lead over North Carolina, 38-27.

Watch: Notre Dame freshman Diggs scores 1st Irish TD, extends lead over UNC

The first TD for the freshman running back

When Kyren Williams went to the medical tent with a possible concussion, Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator turned to true freshman running back Logan Diggs. He has played a lot more the last two weeks, however struggled last week against USC, registering just 3-yards on three carries.

Today, against North Carolina, Diggs found the same success he had against Virginia Tech. The workhorse of the drive that extended the Irish lead to 31-21, Diggs finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge that marked the first in his Notre Dame career. It was nice to see the freshman getting some playing time, as Chris Tyree is still ailing and the depth grows in the running back room.

Watch: Coan sprints to endzone as Notre Dame gets lead back from UNC

The Irish have the lead back!

The Irish needed to respond after the visiting Tar Heels scored on their fourth consecutive drive, to take the lead 20-17. Notre Dame came up with an answer, another quick one too.

Quarterback Jack Coan led a very quick, 3-play and 75-yard drive that ended with Coan getting flushed from the pocket, taking off and scampering 21-yards to put the Irish back on top. The UNC lead did not last long, as the scoring drive lasted just under a minute, it was just 58-seconds. The big run by Coan was the second score that he’s accounted for, pushing the Irish lead to 24-20 in South Bend.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Coan finds Austin to get Irish back ahead of North Carolina

The Irish are back on top against the Tar Heels

The Irish jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 10-3, but North Carolina finally found the endzone with under 4-minutes left in the first half. Notre Dame came back and answered, with a quick drive, just 1-minute and 59-seconds, that took 6 plays and covered 75-yards to take back the lead.

It was quarterback Jack Coan that led the Irish on this drive, with a big pass play to tight end Michael Mayer for 30-yard to really get the drive moving. After a UNC personal fouls on forth down gave the Irish a 1st and ten from the 21-yard line. Coan found wide receiver Kevin Austin on this play to give the Irish the lead back, 17-10.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Buchner finds Davis for first score against North Carolina

The Irish strike first against UNC

You have to give Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees a bit of credit for his play calling. He’s done a very good job early on of keeping North Carolina on this heels by switching quarterback, rotating between Jack Coan and Tyler Buchner.

Many see the freshman Buchner as the runner, which is true. But inside the 10-yard line, Rees called a quarterback draw with Coan that brought them inside the 2-yard line. Unfortunately an illegal snap dropped the Irish offense back 5-yards, but Buchner came into the game. He’s been the runner and surely the Tar Heels thought the same, but that wasn’t the case. Buchner found wide receiver Avery Davis for this 7-yard touchdown pass to give the Irish an early 7-0 lead over the visiting Tar Heels.

Where is Penn State in the AP Top 25 after loss to Illinois?

Penn State got hammered by the AP Top 25 voters after a loss to Illinois in Week 8

Penn State’s catastrophic loss to Illinois in a marathon nine-overtime contest in Week 8 saw the Nittany Lions take a significant stumble in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. Voters in the Associated Press Top 25 were ready to hammer Penn State as well in this week’s updated AP poll.

Penn State fell to No. 20 in this week’s AP Top 25, falling 13 spots from last week in the process from No. 7. Penn State is now actually ranked lower than the Auburn Tigers, whom Penn State defeated earlier in the season. Auburn moved up from No. 19 to No. 18 this week.

Penn State is still one of five Big Ten teams ranked in the AP Top 25 this week. No. 5 Ohio State and No. 6 Michigan stayed where they were a week ago. No. 8 Michigan State moved up one spot after Penn State and Oklahoma State each lost this weekend. And No. 9 Iowa is back into the top 10 after being on a bye week.

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Georgia remains on top of the AP Top 25 with all 63 first-place votes heading their way. Cincinnati is still ahead of one-loss Alabama for the second spot right behind the Bulldogs. Alabama moved up to No. 3 after swapping rankings with Oklahoma this week.

NEXT: Full AP Top 25 following Week 8

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Penn State tumbles in USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Where is Penn State ranked in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll after an epic overtime loss to Illinois?

After dropping a nine-overtime marathon at home to lowly Illinois, Penn State was due to take a major tumble in the latest polls on Sunday. And that’s exactly what happened for the Nittany Lions following Week 8 of college football action.

Penn State fell 10 spots down to No. 17 in this week’s USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, which was updated Sunday afternoon less than 24 hours after a major disappointment in front of a homecoming crowd. But Penn State’s fall in the polls may have been given a slight pillow considering a number of other losses taken by ranked teams around the country.

Coastal Carolina and NC State each losing gave Penn State a slight cushion underneath them, as did the loss by Clemson. Coastal Carolina and NC State each remained in the top 25, although Clemson fell out after their road loss at Pitt. The Panthers moved up four spots in the coaches poll, but only up to No. 19 to remain two spots behind Penn State despite a better record of 6-1.

Penn State took the biggest tumble in this week’s coaches poll by falling nine spots after a loss to Illinois. No. 15 Oklahoma State also took a good fall by dropping six spots after a loss to Iowa State (up to No. 23 after being unranked). Coastal Carolina fell eight spots and NC State fell seven after losses to Appalachian State and Miami, respectively.

Georgia remains the unanimous No. 1 team in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll after receiving all 64 first-place votes to stay ahead of No. 2 Cincinnati. But No. 3 Alabama has moved ahead of No. 4 Oklahoma, who fell two spots after having to claw back on the road against Kansas. No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Michigan, and No. 7 Michigan State remain in their spots from a week ago heading into a massive weekend of Big Ten football. Penn State is now left in the rearview mirror, at least for now, in the Big Ten East race.

No. 10 Iowa moved up one spot in its bye week to give the Big Ten four top 10 teams after Penn State fell out.

NEXT: The full USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll After Week 8

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