Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame Shown Major Disrespect in “Too Early” Top 25

Brett McMurphy of Stadium released his “Top 25 Rankings for 2020” and quite frankly, they should be rolled into a ball and thrown into the closest fire pit.

I hesitate to even draw attention to this because I think it was done for that exact reason.

That or someone is entirely oblivious to the world.

We’re at the time where “Way Too Early Top 25” polls are being released daily as the focus now shifts to 2020 after Clemson and LSU get done Monday night in New Orleans.

Brett McMurphy of Stadium released his “Top 25 Rankings for 2020” and quite frankly, they should be rolled into a ball and thrown into the closest fire pit.

Clemson checks in at one which nobody should have any problem with.

No. 2 is Ohio State before the water-carrying for the SEC begins as LSU, Alabama, Auburn and Texas A&M check-in three through six.

A few more spots down you’ll find the team Notre Dame just dismantled in Orlando, Iowa State tenth, and no, the Irish are not listed in that 7-10 range.

Nor are they right after Iowa State.

You have to go to 15, one spot behind even USC to find Notre Dame, where you’ll find this write up:

Last year, Notre Dame might have been one of the most under-appreciated two-loss teams in recent memory. Only a close loss at Georgia and a blowout loss at Michigan kept the Irish out of the playoff and New Year’s Six bowl contention. Still, Brian Kelly became the first coach in Notre Dame history with three consecutive double-digit win seasons since Lou Holtz (1991-93). Quarterback Ian Book, 20-3 as a starter, announced he would remain at Notre Dame for his senior season, which will be a huge boost for the Irish, who lost RB Tony Jones Jr. and TE Cole Kmet early to the NFL Draft.

Excuse me, what?

In what was perhaps the biggest bowl game in the history of Iowa State football they got fired into the sun by Notre Dame, who we weren’t sure had any interest in being there much of the week.

The talent discrepancy was as evident in that game as it was on any Saturday in South Bend this year besides the New Mexico or Bowling Green clashes. Yet those close games Iowa State lost get rewarded with a top ten ranking.

Hilarious.

And USC at 14 in their current situation is just as laughable. In a bad Pac-12 they were an after-thought in regards to the conference championship. A notorious underachiever who just got their doors blown off by Iowa in the Holiday Bowl are going to finally put it all together in 2020?

Good luck with that.

Notre Dame returns a ton on both sides of the ball. Obviously replacing Claypool and Kmet will be a challenge but the offensive line figures to be better, defense should be nearly as good even with a dip at corner and potentially a game-changing offensive coordinator could still be brought in.

15?

If Notre Dame finishes 15th in the final rankings next January it will have been an incredibly disappointing season for the Fighting Irish.

Side note —

Should I do my own of these? Warning: I would use actual logic behind them and not just fire crap at the wall to see what sticks.

Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton Named FWAA Freshman All-American

Hamilton saw the playing field starting in Week One at Louisville and made an instant impact.

It was known fairly early on that Kyle Hamilton was going to be different for Notre Dame, in that they haven’t had an impact freshman defender quite like him in a while.

On Monday it was announced that Hamilton was named to the 2019-FWAA Shaun Alexander Freshman All-American Team.

Hamilton saw the playing field starting in Week One at Louisville and made an instant impact. He finished his freshman campaign with four interceptions, having returned one for a touchdown and 41 tackles, 27 of which were solo. He was also credited with six passes defended.

Quarterback Kedon Solvis of USC, running back Javian Hawkins of Louisville and linebacker Azeez Ojulari of Georgia were the three Notre Dame opponents from 2019 to also make the squad.

First year head coach Ryan Day of Ohio State was selected as the first-year head coach for the squad.

Watch: Muffet McGraw’s Emotional Response to Blowout Loss

As frustrating as it’s been for fans and players, it’s been that much harder on legendary head coach Muffet McGraw and she let it show after Sunday’s game.

It’s been a trying year for Notre Dame Women’s Basketball.

Rebuilds are tough and whether you like it or not, it’s what you get when your five best players from a season ago are playing in the WNBA now.

After a decade of Final Four appearances being the norm, getting even a home victory has become tough as the Irish sit just 6-11 overall and 1-4 in ACC play after getting routed Sunday by No. 9 North Carolina State.

As frustrating as it’s been for fans and players, it’s been that much harder on legendary head coach Muffet McGraw and she let it show after Sunday’s game.

An incredibly rare moment to see a coach wear their emotions on their sleeve quite like that, especially one as accomplished as McGraw.

Hopefully this dark season is an exception and things get turned around soon because seeings videos like this much longer will get rather tough to watch.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Roughed Up by NC State

Three separate 6-0 runs by the Wolfpack in the quarter helped guide them take 39-25 lead to halftime before a monstrous 16-1 run to start the third quarter but things out of reach.

A frustrating season met an incredibly frustrating match Sunday as the Notre Dame Women were blown out at home against No. 9 North Carolina State, 90-56.

Anaya Peoples left halfway through the second quarter, aggravating a shoulder injury that has bothered her throughout the year. Three separate 6-0 runs by the Wolfpack in the quarter helped guide them take 39-25 lead to halftime before a monstrous 16-1 run to start the third quarter but things out of reach.

Elissa Cunane was too much as the Wolfpack starting center put up a team-high 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Jada Boyd added another 16 points and six rebounds off the bench for the now 15-1 Wolfpack who improved to 4-1 in ACC play.

Katlyn Gilbert led the Irish with a game-high 25 points while Destinee Walker was the only other Irish player to score more than six, as she put down 11 points on the afternoon.

Notre Dame falls to 6-11 overall and just 1-4 in ACC play. They return to action Thursday night when they travel to Durham to take on Duke in a game that can be seen on ACC Network.

Notre Dame Offers Top 100 Class of 2022 Safety

Friday night Brian Kelly and his staff offered Braelon Allen, who Rivals ranks as the 76th best player overall and sixth best Safety in the 2022 class.

It’s still extremely early in the process but Notre Dame is getting work in on the recurring trail for 2022.

Friday night Brian Kelly and his staff offered Braelon Allen, who Rivals ranks as the 76th best player overall and sixth best Safety in the 2022 class.

Allen recently competed in the All-American Bowl National Combine and left San Antonio impressing many scouts.

Allen is a 6-1, 200 pound safety/athlete from Fon Du Lac, Wisconsin who plays everywhere for his high school team. A quick viewing of his sophomore highlight tape shows a young man that certainly “looks the part“.

Notre Dame joins Wisconsin and Iowa who have also already offered him.

Notre Dame Checks into Top 10 in 2020 “Way Too Early” Top 25

The Sporting News released their “way too early Top 25 for 2020” today and if it’s any indication, it could be the highest Notre Dame enters a season since 2006.

Yesterday we went over “The Ten Most Exciting March-ups for 2020” as rated by 247Sports and saw how Notre Dame made a pair of appearances.

The game against Clemson is setting up to be massive as the Tigers could be riding a nearly 40 game winning streak by then.

Clemson again figures to be a top two or three team entering 2020, but how high might Notre Dame check in?

The Sporting News released their “way too early Top 25 for 2020” today and if it’s any indication, it could be the highest Notre Dame enters a season since 2006.

Bill Bender ranks the Irish at No. 8, just behind Oklahoma and just-ahead of Penn State and states Notre Dame will again he in the heart of the College Football Playoff conversation.

There will be a million different things to discuss as the season approaches but expectations nationally appear to be as high as they are for Notre Dame fans entering 2020.

Notre Dame Football All-Decade Team – Running Backs

I know I wasn’t the only one invigorated by the short-lived Adams Heisman run as I’ve seen other people wearing the campaign-sanctioned trucker hats at games,

One position down on our All-Decade Team, now it’s on to the Fighting Irish backs that carried the rock at a high level during the last decade.

The three players selected had the first, fifth and eighth most carries among running backs from 2010-2019, but we didn’t simply weigh longevity. We weighed impact on the program during the time they played.

There are really good backs we left off this list but the three backs we did include were the only three running backs to have seasons of at least 900 rushing yards while averaging six yards per carry. That wasn’t the determining factor, it just so happened to work out that way.

First up – The Backups:

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Notre Dame Football: Top 10 Returning Quarterbacks Ranked by PFF

Notre Dame may be getting their experienced signal-caller back but what they won’t be getting is a top ten returning quarterback.
At least not according to Pro Football Focus.

Notre Dame received great news on December 29 when starting quarterback Ian Book took to social media to announce that he would be returning to South Bend for one final season.

The Irish get their QB-1 back and their starter since he took over for Brandon Wimbush in late September of 2018.

All he’s done since is help guide the Irish to their only ever College Football Playoff appearance and helped lead them to victories in 19 of his 22 career starts.

Notre Dame may be getting their experienced signal-caller back but what they won’t be getting is a top ten returning quarterback.

At least not according to Pro Football Focus.

PFF released their list of “The Top Ten Returning Quarterbacks for 2020” on Wednesday and Book was nowhere to be found.

What you did find however was that the best returning quarterback will be in South Bend on November 7 as Trevor Lawrence was given that honor (no surprise).

Jamie Newman checked in at number three and was supposed to take on Notre Dame as Wake Forest’s quarterback but he announced recently that he’d be transferring and is yet to announce his next destination.

It’s not surprising to see Book unranked as I can’t put him over anyone on the list. I am however more optimistic than some about the steps he may be able to take before the regular season as I thought he played perhaps his best month of football to date this past November.

With that said, I’m not going to argue that he was wronged in any way as the difference in quarterback play in two of Notre Dame’s three most recent losses (Clemson ’18, Georgia ’19) has been as glaring as anything else on the field.

Notre Dame Football: Irish Offer Elite Texas Cornerback

He has already received scholarship offers from traditional powerhouses Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M among several others.

For the second time this week Notre Dame has made a scholarship offer to a player in the 2021 recruiting class, this time to cornerback Ishmael Ibraheem.

Ibraheem, a 6-1, 175 pound junior from Kimball High School in Dallas is rated a four-star prospect and is ranked the 11th best corner in the 2021 class by 247Sports. He has already received scholarship offers from traditional powerhouses Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M among several others.

Notre Dame currently has seven commitments to their 2021 class which is ranked second overall by 247Sports. However, just one of those seven commitments is on the defensive side of the ball, that being defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio of Missouri.

Notre Dame Football: Phil Jurkovec Enters Transfer Portal

Jurkovec appeared in mop-up duty several times this year as he completed 12 of 15 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns while not throwing any interceptions.

Sophomore quarterback Phil Jurkovec’s days at Notre Dame may be numbered as he entered the transfer portal Wednesday.

Despite being a highly regarded, four-star recruit Jurkovec has been unable to pass Ian Book on Notre Dame’s depth chart.

Jurkovec appeared in mop-up duty several times this year as he completed 12 of 15 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns while not throwing any interceptions. He added another 130 yards on the ground, averaging 5.9 yards per carry.

Per SI/Bryan Driskell, it wasn’t simply a lack of playing time that is the reason for Jurkovec’s portal entry. Jurkovec is said to have been upset about comments made about the coaching staff lacking trust in him.

Although in the portal it is not a guarantee that Jurkovec is gone from Notre Dame as they can still try and talk him into staying.

As it sits now Ian Book enters 2020 the obvious starter at quarterback while freshman Drew Pyne is set to enroll this month. Reserves Brendon Clark, JD Carney, and Cole Caplan also all return to the team next year.