Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Watch: Quenton Nelson vs. A Punter

I can’t personally think of more than a couple people in the NFL who’d be a worse matchup in a fight for a punter than one Quenton Nelson.

I admit, that headline makes me think to a certain degree that Quenton Nelson for some reason laid one of his highlight blocks on a punter Sunday, as the Colts were getting ready to take on the Buccaneers in Tampa.

Before the matchup began however it was Bucs punter Bradley Pinion, a Clemson product, who had a pregame punt hit Nelson, who was going through his warmup on the other side of the field, in the head.

Nelson was reported to be none too pleased as you’ll see below, and confronted Pinion himself.

Nelson punts the ball in the video after a second punt lands closer to him than he’d like.

The Colts entered the day 6-6 on the year and two games behind Houston for the AFC South lead.

I can’t personally think of more than a couple people in the NFL who’d be a worse matchup in a fight for a punter than one Quenton Nelson.

Amway Coaches Poll: Notre Dame Holds Still

Stack resumes and you can easily make the case that Notre Dame is worthy of a top-10, perhaps top-seven spot.

The final regular season Amway Coaches Poll Powered by USA Today is out and if it offers any hint of how the College Playoff Committee will see things, they’ll fall exactly in line with what we thought they’d be last night.

Here is the latest Amway Coaches Poll Powered by USA Today:

1. LSU

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Oklahoma

5. Georgia

6. Oregon

7. Florida

8. Baylor

9. Alabama

10. Utah

11. Wisconsin

12. Penn State

13. Auburn

14. Notre Dame

15. Memphis

16. Minnesota

17. Michigan

18. Boise State

19. Iowa

20. Appalachian State

21. Navy

22. Cincinnati

23. USC

24. Air Force

25. Virginia

Stack resumes and you can easily make the case that Notre Dame is worthy of a top-10, perhaps top-seven spot.

However you could also make a case (not saying it’d be correct) that they could be a few slots lower as well.

Notre Dame: Hockey Routed 4-0 at No. 7/10 Boston College

Notre Dame fell to 8-5-2 overall on the 2019-20 season while the Eagles improved to 10-4-0.

No. 9/10 Notre Dame’s hockey team continued their rough-stretch Friday night losing the first of two consecutive games against Boston College, 4-0.

Logan Hutsko finished with a goal and assist for Boston College while Notre Dame failed to find the back of the net on any of their 26 shots on goal.

Julius Mattila’s power play goal started the scoring in the second period for Boston College before goals by Hutsko and Patrick Giles made things 3-0 by period end.

David Cotton added the fourth and final Boston College goal while Spencer Knight turned away all 26 Notre Dame shots in the 4-0 Boston College victory.

Notre Dame fell to 8-5-2 overall on the 2019-20 season while the Eagles improved to 10-4-0.

The two teams face off again Sunday evening at Notre Dame as the Irish play host to Boston College, now winners of eight straight, at Notre Dame.

The Irish have now lost four-straight games in regulation and sit at 8-5-2 overall and 4-2-2 in Big Ten play while Boston College improves to 10-4-0 overall and 5-2 in HEA play.

Irish in the NFL: DeShone Kizer elevated to backup QB

The Oakland Raiders have bumped former Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer to number two on the depth chart, and plan to activate him Sunday.

Former Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer is inching closer to being a starting NFL quarterback.

The third-string QB for the Raiders behind Derek Carr and Mike Glennon for the majority of the 2019 season, Kizer was recently informed that he has passed Glennon on the depth chart and will be active for the first time this season on Sunday against the Titans.

“We’ve looked at him and we’ve made the decision that we’re going to move him up to the number two spot this week,” said offensive coordinator Greg Olson. “But I’ll let Jon [Gruden] answer those questions in regards to the entire depth chart and the decisions that were made there. We do like what we’ve seen out of DeShone.”

Glennon fumbled twice against the Jets two weeks ago when he came in to replace Carr in a blowout loss.

Kizer is a third-year vet who signed with Oakland just before the season started, and has spent the entire year getting caught up.

It appears he is ready to go now, and should anything happen to Carr he would be the man under center for this Raiders squad.

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Notre Dame Football: We’ve Got a Forum!

We have launched a forum for exactly that and it costs you nothing to be a contributing part of the message board.

Hey you.

Yeah, you.

Have you been looking for somewhere other than Facebook or Twitter to share your thoughts about your favorite college sports team?

Good news.

We have launched a forum for exactly that and it costs you nothing to be a contributing part of the message board.

Mad about last night’s game?

Have a best guess on who the bowl opponent will be?

Or do you need to vent because your favorite player isn’t getting the respect they deserve nationally?

Now you’ve got a community to share all of your thoughts on all things Notre Dame athletics.

Simply go to our Fighting Irish Forum, create an entirely free account and start posting your thoughts immediately.  It’s as easy as that!

We hope to see you and your thoughts over there soon.

Thanks and Go Irish!

Notre Dame Football: Jones Headed to Collegiate Bowl

Others are taking notice of the late charge Jones has put on as well as he will be a part of the NFLPA Collegiate Game

Jamir Jones saved his best for last at Notre Dame, having easily his best year in his senior season.

The Rochester, New York product finished the regular season with career-highs in tackles with 24, forced fumbles with two and sacks after registering four-and-a-half this season.

Others are taking notice of the late charge Jones has put on as well as he will be a part of the NFLPA Collegiate Game held at the Rose Bowl Stadium on January 18.

Jamir is the brother of former Notre Dame defensive lineman Jarron, who has been a part of several NFL practice squads and was drafted in the first round of the XFL’s linemen draft back in October.

Irish in the NFL: Te’o Back With Saints

Manti Te’o is back to work in the NFL as the former Heisman Trophy runner-up is going back to work with the New Orleans Saints. Originally a fourth round pick of the Chargers, Te’o spent the last two seasons with New Orleans where he recorded 80 …

Manti Te’o is back to work in the NFL as the former Heisman Trophy runner-up is going back to work with the New Orleans Saints.

Originally a fourth round pick of the Chargers, Te’o spent the last two seasons with New Orleans where he recorded 80 tackles and seven tackles for loss in that time.

Te’o’s signing likely has to do with Kiko Alonso leaving the most-recent Saints game, a Thanksgiving Night win over the Falcons, with a thigh injury.

Te’o joins a roster thought by many to be as good as there is in the NFC. His girlfriend (pause for dramatic effect) Jovi Nicole posted her excitement of the news on Instagram late Tuesday afternoon.

Te’o will turn 29 on January 26.

Notre Dame Basketball: Previewing Test at No. 3 Maryland

The teams have not met since Jan. 15, 2014, a 74-66 win for the Terrapins.  It will be the Irish’s first true road game and their first contest against a ranked opponent since suffering their only loss of the season Nov. 6 at No. 9 North Carolina.

Notre Dame (6-1) faces its toughest test of the season to date Wednesday when it visits No. 3 Maryland (8-0) for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.  The teams have not met since Jan. 15, 2014, a 74-66 win for the Terrapins.  It will be the Irish’s first true road game and their first contest against a ranked opponent since suffering their only loss of the season Nov. 6 at No. 9 North Carolina.

Looking for their fifth ACC/Big Ten Challenge victory in seven appearances, the Irish once again will rely on John Mooney to do the heavy lifting.  Mooney posted a double-double in four of his first five games and extended his streak of at least 13 rebounds to four games Nov. 26 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson.  If the Preseason All ACC First-Team member can make it five straight 13-board games, he will be the first Irish player to do it since Luke Harangody in 2008-09.

Also recording double-doubles in Juwan Durham, doing so twice over the past three games.  With Mooney sidelined by illness Nov. 18 vs. Presbyterian, Durham had 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.  In the Fairleigh Dickinson game, he scored 12 points, grabbed 11 boards and blocked four more shots.  Joining Mooney against North Carolina last season, Durham is the sixth Notre Dame player under Mike Brey to reach double figures in scoring and rebounding while also achieving four blocks.

Through seven games, Rex Pflueger has done his best to come back from the torn ACL that prematurely ended his season last year.  In addition to averaging 7.3 points a game, he is one of 12 major conference players to average at least four rebounds (4.1), three assists (3.4) and two steals (2.0).  Other prominent players in that group include Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, North Carolina’s Cole Anthony and Kansas’ Devon Dotson.

Watch: Notre Dame Commit Tyler Buchner’s Highlight Tape is Ridiculous

Buchner finished his 13-game junior season averaging 467 total yards per game, 6071 total yards and 81 total touchdowns.

Tyler Buchner won’t be playing quarterback at Notre Dame until at least the fall of 2021 but his recently released highlight tape has fans and scouts alike lighting up with excitement.

Although his team The Bishop’s School or La Jolla, California lost the state championship last week, the fault hardly fell on Buchner who threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 353 and scoring five times on the ground.

No, that Lamar Jackson-at-Louisville stat-line isn’t a misprint.

Buchner finished his 13-game junior season averaging 467 total yards per game, 6071 total yards and 81 total touchdowns.

His highlight tape is somehow even more impressive than the stats.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUPvz3qGics&w=560&h=315]

Notre Dame is in a very good place having just wrapped up their third straight ten-win season, but Fighting Irish fans are understandably stoked for when Buchner will arrive in 2021.

Irish in the NFL: Bennett Jackson waived by Ravens

Former Notre Dame Irish safety Bennett Jackson was waived by the Baltimore Ravens after the 28-year-old made his NFL debut this year.

The Baltimore Ravens waived former Notre Dame safety Bennett Jackson on Monday. He is now a free agent.

An immediate roster move was not announced, but the Ravens are expected to activate safety Brynden Trawick from the injured reserve to take his place.

Jackson has primarily been a special teamer in his time with the Ravens, which began in Week 7. He was active in four of the team’s six games since then, recording two combined tackles.

It was Jackson’s first NFL action, despite being drafted in the sixth round way back in 2014 by the New York Giants. A plethora of time on the practice squad and on the injured reserve prevented Jackson from actually playing until this year, at age 28.

Jackson starred at Notre Dame from 2010-2013, recording six interceptions and 158 combined tackles in the secondary for the Irish.

Now, he’ll have to work hard to find another team willing to take on a 28-year-old journeyman – but at least he was able to realize his goal of playing in an NFL game with Baltimore.

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