Tag: Notre Dame football

Notre Dame 2025 football commit has a big Wednesday full of awards

What a day for the future Irish star

It was quite the Wednesday for Notre Dame football 2025 commit [autotag]Christopher Burgess Jr.[/autotag]

Early in the day the 6-foot, 4-inch and 240-pound edge rusher found out that he was named as a first-team All-State player by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association. According to MaxPreps, Burgess had 96 tackles, 5 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 8 hurries and a forced fumble on the year.

It was quite the senior season for the future Irish pass rusher, but that wasn’t the only recognition that he’d receive on the day. The Navy All-American Bowl also honored him by presenting him his jersey for the all-star game.

Burgess is one of the top recruits in Notre Dame’s 2025 class, as he’s ranked as the nation’s No. 118 overall prospect by the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Unfortunately for him, his high school career is over, after him Simeon team lost in the first round of the state playoffs. Burgess will have one more opportunity to play in the All-American Bowl before he heads off to start his career in South Bend.

Notre Dame doesn't move up in the AP Poll, nor does it move down.
Oct 19, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates after a victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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Tale of the Tape: Notre Dame defense vs. Virginia offense

The Cavaliers will need all the luck they can get.

Notre Dame continues to have a big season on defense. No matter who’s on the other sideline, they can’t count on scoring too much. It’s become as much a part of life as paying taxes, at least this year. There’s not much their opponents can do besides hope their own defense is nearly perfect.

Virginia will be the next team to crack the code that is the Irish’s defense. Its best shot will be to lean into its passing game, but that will be difficult with the Irish’s pass defense being among the absolute best in the country. The situation the Cavaliers find themselves in is almost impossible to emerge unscathed from, so the only thing it can do is play how it best knows how and pray it works out.

To illustrate just how tough a task the Cavaliers have, look no further than the below rankings that compare their offense t the Irish’s defense:

Notre Dame stay hot on recruiting trail, add 2026 LB, son of former NFL star

The Irish are once again on fire on the recruiting trail

It has become clear over the last few recruiting cycles that Notre Dame has targeted football family bloodlines.

The Irish have had multiple former, current and soon-to-be players whose fathers played in the NFL, and on Tuesday night added another one in 2026 linebacker [autotag]Thomas Davis Jr.[/autotag]

The son of Thomas Davis, the former NFL linebacker for the Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Football Team is one of the best prospects in the country, ranking as the No. 146 overall player according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Davis is the first defensive player for the Irish in the class, as he joins quarterback Noah Grubbs and wide receiver Dylan Faison in what looks to be another impressive collection of talent assembled by head coach Marcus Freeman.

Davis Jr. has an impressive offer list as well, as Clemson, Auburn, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State and a host of others were vying for his commitment as well.

Notre Dame releases a hype video with EPMD’s ‘You Gots to Chill’
Notre Dame football Head Coach Marcus Freeman arrives at the Marriott hotel ahead of the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on Dec. 24, 2023.

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Notre Dame makes the top group for 2026 4-star offensive lineman

The Irish are still in the hunt for one of the Midwests best offensive lineman

With the early signing period rapidly approaching, many teams like Notre Dame football are already looking to the 2026 class options.

One of those for the Irish is Michigan offensive lineman [autotag]Ben Nichols[/autotag], who trimmed his list down to nine schools recently. The 6-foot, 5-inch and 315-pounders remaining teams are a who’s who of college football which includes Alabama, Ohio State, Tennessee, Penn State, the Irish, and others.

It will be a highly competitive recruiting battle between his final nine, as the nation’s No. 234 overall recruit according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings has a difficult decision ahead of him.

Nichols hasn’t taken many visits this fall, but one of them was to South Bend, even though he was on hand for the loss to Northern Illinois. Hopefully the play of the Notre Dame offensive line has gotten his attention, as they were named as a Joe Moore Award semifinalist on Tuesday morning.

Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, second from right, talks to offensive lineman Aamil Wagner (59) during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in South Bend.

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1982 USC-Notre Dame game had its own controversial ending

1982 was the last time John Robinson of USC and Gerry Faust of Notre Dame coached against each other. The game ended in controversy. The Irish remain angry.

As you know by now, former USC football coach John Robinson and former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust both died on Monday. Both men died at the age of 89. You might instantly wonder if Robinson and Faust coached against each other, being of the same age and working in the same era of college football history. The short answer: Yes. They faced off only twice, but they did become part of the larger story of the USC-Notre Dame football rivalry.

Their first meeting was in 1981, Faust’s first season at Notre Dame. USC went into South Bend and defeated the Fighting Irish, 14-7. The second and last meeting was in 1982, just before Robinson went to the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams. College football writer and editor Stewart Mandel collected this excerpt from a writer for the Notre Dame athletics website, providing the Irish’s view of what happened in that 1982 USC-Notre Dame game in the Los Angeles Coliseum:

The scene was bizarre enough because USC coach John Robinson had announced his resignation earlier in the week. He called the cause “Win one for the fat man.” And I’ll never forget picking up the Sunday Los Angeles Times and looking at the picture of USC running back Michael Harper flying over the goal line without the football (Kevin Griffith recovered it at the two after Harper fumbled before he scored). Believe me, Gerry Faust hasn’t forgotten that image, either. But there was no replay back then and the officials ruled a touchdown with 48 seconds to go and that was enough for a USC win. No one from Notre Dame believes Harper actually scored that day, and no one from USC wants to hear any of that.

This was not Robinson’s last game as USC coach against Notre Dame. Robinson returned in the 1990s to coach against the Irish several more times. He beat Notre Dame in 1996 in what was the last game for Fighting Irish coach Lou Holtz. He beat Notre Dame in 1997 in his last USC-Notre Dame game as the Trojans’ head coach. Robinson was fired at the end of the 1997 season.

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Former Notre Dame coach Gerry Faust dies on same day as USC’s John Robinson

Former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust and former USC football coach John Robinson both died on the same day. They both died at age 89. Wow.

Some events in life — and death — are improbable in ways which defy description. This is incredible and eerie: On the same day that USC football legend John Robinson died at the age of 89, former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust also died at age 89. Can you believe it? Fighting Irish Wire has more on Faust:

Over his five seasons in South Bend, Faust accumulated a record of 30-26-1, good for a .535 winning percentage. Under his leadership, the Irish won the 1983 Liberty Bowl over Doug Flutie and Boston College. The following year, they lost the 1984 Aloha Bowl to SMU in its last game before it was handed the death penalty a few years later.

A disappointing 1985 season in which the Irish went 5-6 prompted Faust to announce that he would resign after the final game against a Miami team coached by Jimmy Johnson. The Irish lost that game, 58-7, and the university would go on to hire Lou Holtz as Faust’s successor.

Faust and John Robinson did coach against each other as part of the Notre Dame-USC football rivalry. They met in 1981 and 1982 before Robinson went to the NFL and the Los Angeles Rams in 1983. USC won 14-7 in South Bend in 1981 and then won 17-13 in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1982.

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Notre Dame’s offensive line is a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award

The Irish OL has been dominant this fall

Notre Dame football’s offensive line has had some issues this season with injuries, but that hasn’t stopped them from performing at an extremely high level.

The starting group of Anthonie Knapp, Bill Schrauth, Pat Coogan, Rocco Spindler, Aamil Wagner along with backups Sam Pendleton and Tosh Baker, have all been great when they’ve stepped on the field.

The unit helped the runners average 6 yards-per-carry while allowing just 12 sacks through nine games. That was enough for the Joe Moore Award to name the Notre Dame offensive line as one of its semifinalists for the best group in the country. A good amount of credit is due to the coaching of Joe Rudolph.

While the award is fairly new, it started in 2015, the Irish already have one of its former line take home the honors in 2017. That unit was highlighted by [autotag]Quenton Nelson[/autotag], who was an All-American that year, before getting drafted at No. 6 overall by the Indianapolis Colts.

With a few more impressive performances from the Notre Dame offensive line, there is a very good possibility that a second Joe Moore Award is heading to South Bend.

Notre Dame offensive lineman Aamil Wagner (59) throws wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (1) into the air after a Greathouse touchdown during a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Louisville at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in South Bend.

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The flip is complete, Notre Dame adds a running back to its 2025 class

The Irish complete the flip

As we found out on Monday morning, it seemed like Notre Dame football had a great chance to flip Boston College 2025 running back commit [autotag]Nolan James[/autotag].

Well, it didn’t take long for that to happen, as the 5-foot, 11-inch and 200-pound back changed his commitment to the Irish on Monday evening. He’s the second running back in the class, joining Justin Thurman.

While being ranked as the nation’s No. 986 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, James shouldn’t be viewed as a fallback option. He is a quality prospect, one that holds a lower ranking due to the question of his position.

It no doubt that the visit this past weekend pushed James over the edge to verbal to Notre Dame, it was a raucous environment with Florida State in town for a prime time game.

You have to believe that this isn’t the end for flips in the class, as the Irish have other prospects they are working on to join the 2025 class.

Oct 4, 2024; Ramsey, New Jersey, United States; DePaul football at Don Bosco. DP #1 Nolan James Jr. avoids a tackle.

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Notre Dame football trending to flip 2025 Boston College commit

The Irish hosted the running back this past weekend, and it looks like it went well

Notre Dame football hosted multiple prospects over this past weekend, and by most reports, it was a smashing success for the Irish.

One of the visitors was New Jersey running back [autotag]Nolan James[/autotag], who committed to Boston College in December of last year. The 5-foot, 11-inch and 200-pound prospect is currently ranked as an athlete by the 247Sports Composite Rankings, as the No. 985 overall prospect.

The ranking shouldn’t matter much, as the Irish have shown the ability to find lower ranked prospects and make them into very good collegiate players. That could very well be the case with James, as 247Sports Tom Loy believes that he will eventually flip to the Irish.

Currently, Notre Dame has Justin Thurman in the 2025 class as the position, but typically bringing in two running backs in each cycle is a good idea. James would be a great addition to the Irish class.

Oct 4, 2024; Ramsey, New Jersey, United States; DePaul football at Don Bosco. DP #1 Nolan James Jr. avoids a tackle.

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Notre Dame star DT Howard Cross III’s status for Virginia has been updated

Not the news that anyone wants to hear

The biggest question mark following Notre Dame football’s win over Florida State is the status of star defensive tackle [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag].

The second-team All-American last year has been performing at an extremely high level this season, most likely heading to similar status this season. Unfortunately, Cross went down with an ankle injury on Saturday, and didn’t return to the field.

He was seen on the sidelines with a large brace on his ankle, and on Monday, head coach Marcus Freeman updated his status, as he will be out this weekend against Virginia.

It’s clearly a big loss for the Irish, but [autotag]Donovan Hinish[/autotag] played extremely well filling in for Cross. The good news is that this doesn’t seem like a long-term injury, as he is expected to suit up for the Irish in the coming weeks.

Notre Dame has shown impressive depth along the defensive line this year, and that looks like it will have to continue for at least this weekend.

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 28: Howard Cross III #56 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks on against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on September 28, 2024 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

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