Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The picks are in, analysts select their winners from todays games

Find out who the experts picked to win this weeks slate of games.

It has become a right of passage at the end of collegiate pregame shows, the picking of the day’s slate of games. Take a look at who the experts selected, along with celebrity picker comedian Bill Murray.

Troy at MTSU

Kirk Herbstreit – Troy

Lee Corso – MSTU

Desmond Howard – MTSU

David Pollack – Troy

Bill Murray – MTSU

 

App. St. at Marshall

Herbstreit  – App. St.

Corso – App. St.

Howard – App. St.

Pollack – Marshall

Murray – App. St.

 

Tulsa vs Oklahoma St.

Herbstreit – OSU

Corso – OSU

Howard – OSU

Pollack – OSU

Murray – OSU

 

UCF at Georgia Tech

Herbstreit – UCF

Corso – UCF

Howard – UCF

Pollack – UCF

Murray – UCF

 

Miami at Louisville

Herbstreit – NO PICK

Corso – Miami

Howard – Miami

Pollack – Louisville

Murray – Louisville

Irish’s Mayer added onto Freshman 15, the good version

Notre Dame’s freshman tight end is already turning heads just one game into his Irish career. And this freshman 15 is not bad.

When you think of the freshman 15, you don’t normally think of it as being a good thing. Well, in this case it is, as Notre Dame freshman tight end Michael Mayer made Rivals freshman 15 list. It consists of the best 15 freshman playing football this fall .

The highly talented Mayer is ranked as the 10th best true freshman hitting the gridiron this fall. We already know that he is talented. I can’t stop watching his 3rd down catch, where he trucked over a defender to get the 7 yards needed for the first down.

Here it is because you can’t have enough Michael Mayer in your life.

We can expect to see plays like this for the next 3 years. Yeah, I’m saying it now, Mayer will be a 3-and-out player for Notre Dame. Talents like his don’t come around often, so we should enjoy the time that Mayer wears the Blue and Gold.

Mike Farrell, who comprised the list, had a glowing review of the freshman, saying “Mayer is too talented to be kept off the field for Notre Dame and that has already shown. He’s likely the next great tight end in that offense with his ability to stretch the field and separate.”

As long as Mayer stays healthy, he will compile some big stats for the Irish. Those stats should translate into a high draft pick as well, maybe even topping his predecessor, Cole Kmet’s early second round selection.

Irish’s Rees’ adds honor, could a succession plan be in place?

As Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees is selected to a top 30 coaches under 30, is there a succession plan for when Kelly retires?

When Tommy Rees finished his Notre Dame playing career, he didn’t take long to get into the coaching profession. His foray into the NFL was short, after going undrafted, Rees signed with the Washington Football team for all of a week. He would later land in Evanston, as an offensive graduate assistant for Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern. A move back to the NFL, this time as a coach, saw Rees on the San Diego Chargers staff as an offensive assistant in 2016.

Rees came back home in January of 2017, as the quarterbacks coach before being elevated to the offensive coordinator before the Pinstripe Bowl last year. The meteoric rise among the coaching community has turned heads, today Rees was among 247Sports top 30 under 30 set of coaches.

At just 28 years old, Rees is among the youngest coordinators in the country, but one with incredible upside. “He’s one of the fastest-rising coaches in college football,” said 247Sports, as Rees made the list for a second consecutive year.

While his first game this year didn’t get as well as people would have liked, the Irish offense is still growing and the sample size is very small. Rees will find a groove, like the offense did late in the win against Duke. The potential for a high-powered offense is evident, there just needs to be other playmakers to step up aside from running back Kyren Williams.

Looking forward to what might happen with the Irish, Brian Kelly could be grooming Rees as his predecessor. Kelly just signed an extension through the 2024 season, which would put him at 62 years old when his agreement is set to expire. Kelly has hinted that he would like to hang it up soon, actually dodged questions about his pending retirement after the extension announcement was made. Last year Kelly hinted that he had 5 more years of coaching in him, which the new extension leads him up to.

If you look at some major programs with succession plans, they have gone very well. Oklahoma is in good hands with Lincoln Riley, same at Ohio State with Ryan Day. They were groomed to be the next guy up, at one point they were quarterback coaches, to offensive coordinators, to the guy.

There could ultimately be a similar path that Rees takes to become the head coach in South Bend. If he shows over the next four years, that he can consistently recruit at a high level, while running the offense also at a high level, the Irish might not have to look far for their next leader when Kelly rides off into the sunset.

Midweek Recruiting Update: Johnson offer, latest on Colzie, and more

A look at the latest recruiting news for Notre Dame Football.

It’s safe to say that it’s been fairly quiet on the recruiting trail for the Irish. The coaching staff changed that last night, as they offered Northwestern commit Theran Johnson.

The instate cornerback has been committed to the ‘Cats since May 3 of this year, Johnson is a very solid prospect. He stands six-feet tall and weights 170-pounds. The offer should catch Johnsons attention as aside from Northwestern, every other one of his offers are from non-Power Five schools.

I love this offer, Johnson is a player that might take some time to develop, but getting some of the better talent in Indiana to play for the Irish is a positive development. Almost all of the top 25 players in the state are heading off to a Power Five team, the Irish only have a commit from Blake Fisher. Yes, he’s a big one, literally and figuratively, the top overall player in the state.

Looking ahead at what’s to come for the Irish, the potential for Georgia wide receiver Deion Colzie to rejoin the class is looking better and better as we inch towards his commitment date on the 28th of this month.

Tom Loy, of Irish Illustrated, changed his crystal ball pick to the Irish. That gives me a ton of confidence that as of right now, Colzie is trending to rejoining Lorenzo Styles Jr. as the wide receivers in the 2021 class.

Right now the class consists of nine players on offense: quarterback Tyler Buchner, running back Logan Diggs, Styles Jr., Fisher, offensive tackle Joe Alt, guard Rocco Spindler, center Pat Coogan and tight end’s Mitchell Evans and Cane Berrong.

The defensive commits are a group of nine as well: defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio, defensive ends David Abiara and Jason Onye, linebackers Prince Collie and Will Schweitzer, and defensive backs Philip Riley, Ryan Barnes, Chance Tucker and Justin Walters.

The group of 18 players ranks 12th at ESPN, 13th at 247Sports and 11th at Rivals. Brian Kelly has a solid group of three players committed in the 2022 class: offensive tackle Joey Tanona, tight end Jack Nickel and safety Nolan Ziegler.

It has been a bit slow, but with Colzie’s timeline to recommit set and spatula being brought out to flip Johnson, there could be some positive movement for the Irish. Stay tuned to Fighting Irish Wire for the latest in Notre Dame Football recruiting.

It’s official, the Big Ten set to play football in the fall again

Notre Dame’s neighbors are back to playing football in the fall.

The rollercoaster ride is over. The Big Ten made their return to fall football official this morning.

The plan is to play 8 games with a conference championship game. It remains to be seen if the smaller sample size will be enough for a team from the conference to qualify for a spot in the College Football Playoff.  If it is, it’s not good news for the Irish.

What we do know is the conference looked foolish the whole decision making process. The back-and-forth through crazy rumors, like schools wanting to opt out and let the rest of the conference play. How about last night when Nebraska president Ted Carter leaked the plans on a hot mic, then later said it was taken out of context. You be the judge.

There’s bound to be more bumps in the road ahead for the Big Ten, first-year commissioner Kevin Warren hasn’t had an easy introduction to his new role. What we do know is that the first conference to move away from fall football has changed their mind. The Pac-12 could be close to following the Big Ten, and we could see college football “whole” again soon.

Irish losing grip as Clemson’s main challenger in ACC?

A few analysts see Notre Dame trending in the wrong way. Should the Irish be concerned at all?

After one week of play, there is a concerning trend that some analysts have taken when looking at Notre Dame. The Irish are on the verge of losing their grip as Clemson’s main challenger for the ACC crown.

Eric Mac Lain, an analyst at the ACC Network, has the Irish behind North Carolina. Both teams won, both teams needed big second half’s to secure those wins.

Over at 247Sports, they looked at week two overreactions and the Irish showed up. Brandon Marcello stated the obvious that the passing game needed to be better, but his assessment after was concerning. Marcello noted “North Carolina, meanwhile, looks like more of a challenger than Notre Dame in the ACC.”

Yes, this was a look at overreactions, but it’s still a reaction. One that doesn’t have the Irish trending in the right direction. The good news is that after Kelly’s meeting with the media yesterday, he shed some light on the offense. A new zone blocking scheme held the offense back a bit, without live reps in preseason camp, there were kinks to be worked out.

Could that have been why quarterback Ian Book struggled? There were other reasons, his receiver with the most reps in camp, Bennett Skowronek, got injured and didn’t return. All new skill position players needed to be broken in.

North Carolina returned a 1,000 yard rusher, two 1,000 yard receivers and quarterback Sam Howell. They have the chemistry but still struggled.

Yes, some have “dropped” the Irish a notch in there rankings but it doesn’t matter much. Notre Dame’s schedule is set up for them to be able to break in a new offense, while still being able to win. Louisville and Pittsburgh are ranked opponents, but would they be in a normal season? Doubtful.

The defense looks like it won’t skip a beat from last years very good group. They will give the offense a cushion to get comfortable. Brian Kelly’s group should be fine going forward as they compete for the ACC title.

 

Williams grabs ACC conference honor

Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams is the first Irish football player ever to earn an ACC weekly award.

Notre Dame’s sophomore running back Kyren William’s introduced himself to the ACC on Saturday and his efforts were recognized as he was named the conference’s running back of the week.

Balling out was an understatement for Williams as he accounted for 205 total yards with 2 touchdowns in his first Irish start. He showed that he could grind out hard yards and then find a crease and explode like this:

The fourth-and-1 run was huge, as the Irish clung onto a 10-6 before Williams’ defining moment of the game. The Irish wouldn’t look back after that, as they would finish off Duke 27-13. Williams had 112 yards on 19 carries while he caught 2 passes for 93 yards. The 75-yard screen pass was a thing of beauty.

It was a breakout performance that was needed out of the Irish offense. Williams was exceptional all afternoon.

Congrats to Kyren Williams on earning Notre Dame’s first ACC honor.

Takeaways from Brian Kelly’s Monday press conference

A few key notes from what Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly told the media on Monday afternoon.

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly did his weekly Monday visit with the media and here are a few takeaways from what the Irish leader said.

-Kelly thinks Rees’ did a good job in play calling. Mentioned that the blocking scheme has changed to an outside zone scheme, and “coach Rees did a good job being patient and sticking with the running game.” Later, Kelly would note that the run blocking “looked better in the second half. Got to have live reps.” The offense was much more effective in the second half, after a very slow start to begin the game

-Michael Mayer’s debut was impressive. Kelly was excited for the freshman’s development and this game was a confidence builder for the Kentucky native. Expect to continue to see Mayer as part of the tight end rotation.

-A young wide receiver needs to step up. Kelly was very happy with getting a lot of players game experience, “it allows them to develop as the season goes on.” Two players were called out at the position, Xavier Watts and Jordan Johnson. Both true freshman came into the program with plenty of hype, Johnson being the more sought after prospect. The opportunity is there for one of them to emerge, we’re all just waiting to see it happen.

-Details, details, details. They say that the best football teams do the little things right and that’s exactly what Kelly is suggesting. Focus on the small aspects and then big things will happen. This seemingly was more towards the offense than the defense, but both sides can work on it.

-When asked about this weeks opponent South Florida, Kelly likened their offense to Virginia’s Tech’s. The Bulls “structure is hard to pick up,” with them running an option offense. He was also very complimentary of their offensive line, saying it might be the biggest one they face all season.

–Here is the latest injury update, with news on safety Kyle Hamilton and two wide receivers.

Irish ranked high in CBS Sports first power poll

Dennis Dodd reacts to the first real weekend of college football and puts Notre Dame in a very good spot.

Usually outlets have a preseason power poll, then make adjustments after that. Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports didn’t do that, and waited until after the ACC and Big XII started play. As much as we all love preseason polls, this makes plenty of sense to wait, watch a weekend of games, then make decisions on where teams will slot in.

After an uninspiring 27-13 win over Duke, the Irish are fourth in Dodd’s initial power poll. It’s a great place to be in, as Dodd called Brian Kelly’s squad a front-runner in the ACC, along with Clemson.

Dodd saw the problem with the “veteran offensive line wasn’t overly impressive, but it was enough in a two-touchdown win over Duke.” I didn’t have much of an issue with a group that paved the way for 178 yards on the ground. Yes, Ian Book was sacked 3 times, but he wasn’t sharp early, as two of them came in the first half.

But enough with the supposed bad, the Irish are a top 4 team, which is exactly where they want to be. The November seventh matchup with Clemson continues to loom larger and larger. It is nice to be in a good spot, but it would be even better to finish the season inside the top four.

Notre Dame jumps in up Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports

The Irish move up after defeating Duke 27-13 yesterday.

After one week the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports saw some significant movement inside the Top 25. The Irish were #10 entering the day and after beating Duke 27-13 they moved up three spots to #7.

Part of the movement was the omission of the Big Ten, who according to reports will try and have a fall football season after all. The polls also dropped Pac-12 teams as well.

The Irish are set to face off against South Florida on Saturday, with the kickoff set for 1:30pm CST. Both teams enter the contest undefeated, USF beat The Citadel 27-6 in their opener. The Bulls got 3 votes in today’s poll.

Below is the full Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports, with the ACC teams in bold.

Clemson – 1 (last week: 1)

Alabama – 2 (3)

Oklahoma – 3 (6)

Georgia – 4 (4)

LSU – 5 (5)

Florida – 6 (8)

Notre Dame – 7 (10)

Texas – 8 (14)

Auburn – 9 (11)

Texas A&M – 10 (13)

North Carolina – 11 (19)

Oklahoma State – 12 (16)

Central Florida – 13 (21)

Cincinnati – 14 (22)

Memphis – 15 (NR)

Louisville – 16 (NR)

Tennessee – 17 (NR)

Miami – 18 (NR)

Virginia Tech – 19 (24)

Kentucky – 20 (NR)

UL Lafayette – 21 (NR)

BYU – 22 (NR)

App. St. – 23 (NR)

Baylor – 24 (NR)

Army – 25 (NR)