Tag: Notre Dame Stadium

Chad Bowden is Notre Dame’s New Defensive Director of Recruiting

Notre Dame found itself a nice asset when Marcus Freeman left Cincinnati to become the Irish’s new defensive coordinator.

[jwplayer UVDKFHLl-er0jUifI]

Notre Dame found itself a nice asset when Marcus Freeman left Cincinnati to become the Irish’s new defensive coordinator. It turns out the Bearcats, from whom Brian Kelly joined the Irish, are not finished losing personnel to South Bend. Chad Bowden has been the Bearcats’ director of recruiting. Not anymore:

This move represents a shift in Bowden’s thinking. He recently told the Cincinnati Enquirer he was pleased with where he was at and who he was working for (Bearcats coach Luke Fickell). Now, he’s decided a change of scenery is in order. It makes the storyline for when these teams meet Oct. 2 at Notre Dame Stadium all the more intriguing.

Cincinnati also has lost associate head coach and running backs coach Dan Enos to Maryland, where he will be the offensive coordinator. All of this turnover on the coaching staff already has resulted in two de-commitments from the Bearcats. To say this has been a tumultuous month for that program would be an understatement. Alas, there’s no choice but to press on because college football stops for nobody, especially at the highest level.

Date for 2023 Blue-Gold Game set

Mark your calendars.

Sure, college football may have just ended, but that doesn’t mean the next season is far away. If you need further evidence, look no further than the date for Notre Dame’s annual Blue-Gold Game, which was just announced. Mark your calendars for April 22 because that’s when the 2023 edition will take place. For those who can’t make it to Notre Dame Stadium that day, it will be streamed live on Peacock.

Make no mistake: This is a big deal for Irish fans who are hungry to see their team back on the field. Now that [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] has arrived, that hunger has to be growing even now. It’s likely Hartman won’t finish the game because the Irish have to get reps for everybody on their roster. Still, any opportunity to see him is better than none at all.

Don’t be discouraged by the winter, Irish fans. College football will be back soon enough.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Photos from last Notre Dame-USC game with both teams ranked

Do you remember this game?

When Notre Dame and USC are both ranked, the Irish have an all-time series lead, 17-14-2. Not counting Saturday’s meeting, that has happened only twice since 2007. One was in 2009, when an Irish fourth-quarter rally came up just short in a 34-27 loss. The most recent such occurrence before Saturday was in 2017, which was a 49-14 Irish victory to kick off the four-game winning streak that was brought into the 2022 contest.

[autotag]Josh Adams[/autotag] was the star of the show, running for 191 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. [autotag]Brandon Wimbush[/autotag] threw two touchdown passes but also ran in for two scores himself while picking up 106 yards on the ground. [autotag]Te’von Coney[/autotag] paced the Irish’s defense with 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

The Irish went on to win the Citrus Bowl over future Brian Kelly employer LSU, while the Trojans fell to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Perhaps this game was an omen of how both programs’ season would end. In any case, here are some memories of that night at Notre Dame Stadium:

Marcus Freeman speaks after Notre Dame win over Boston College

The coach sounds off.

Marcus Freeman had little reason to be upset about Notre Dame’s 44-0 win over Boston College. Any coach in his shoes would feel the same way. He indicated such during his postgame news conference. Thanks to the folks at Irish Illustrated for providing these quotes:

Notre Dame-Boston College: Incredible snow-filled photos from Irish win

A beautiful senior day was only made that much better by an incredible snow fall at Notre Dame Stadium.

Saturday was a storybook-type day for Notre Dame football. Just about everything Notre Dame touched turned to gold as it routed Boston College, 44-0. The offense rolled for Notre Dame while the defense seemingly forced turnovers every other possession. The special teams unit didn’t end up blocking any kicks, but it went 3 for 3 on field goal attempts.

Related:

Instant takeaways from Notre Dame’s blowout win over Boston College

Notre Dame PLOWS ahead to Southern Cal

Isaiah Foskey becomes Notre Dame all-time leading sacker

As pretty as the performance was, a second-half snowstorm created a beautiful scene at Notre Dame Stadium. Check out the best photos from Saturday’s dominating victory for the Irish as the first in-game snowstorm in three decades fell on Notre Dame Stadium.

Tale of the Tape: Team Stats – Notre Dame vs. Boston College

Feeling good about the Irish’s chances?

Notre Dame appears to have a clear edge over Boston College as the teams prepare to meet during senior day at Notre Dame Stadium. Some areas give the Irish a bigger advantage than others, which is no surprise in any matchup. The biggest ones include first downs, third-down success and scoring. Also, the Irish are a better team on both offense and defense, and that should play the biggest factor of all.

We know the Eagles have been struggling this season, but some areas are flat-out awful. Their rushing offense is the worst in the country, and they just don’t gain a lot of yardage. That said, they do have a much better passing game, but will that even play a factor given their uncertainty at quarterback and the wintry forecast for South Bend? While we won’t know for sure until the game is played, it doesn’t look great for the Eagles.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

What the experts are predicting: Notre Dame vs. Boston College

The Irish are gonna win this, right?

It’s supposed to be a cold, wet and snowy day at Notre Dame Stadium for senior day. That could make for an unpredictable game between Notre Dame and Boston College. Don’t think that’s going to stop the usual expert predictions though.

Let’s look at what some college football experts, including fellow College Wire sites, are predicting for this game:

Notre Dame football: The coldest games in recent memory

Coldest you’ve ever been at a sporting event?

When Notre Dame hosts Boston College for senior day on Saturday it will be one of the coldest games in recent memory at Notre Dame Stadium.  According to the Notre Dame game notes from the 2013 win over BYU, that particular day was then the coldest game at the stadium since 1991.  There have certainly been cold ones since but I haven’t found one officially listed as colder.

Temperature is one thing but wind, rain, snow, and perhaps icy seats can make things significantly worse, even if the temperature is warmer.  With this game in mind and the idea of bundling up in my head I threw a question out to the masses on social media.  I simply asked: “What is the coldest you’ve ever been at a sporting event? (Not necessarily the air temp but worst physical cold feeling you sat thru)”

I’ve got answers that involve Notre Dame and have nothing to do with Notre Dame.  Living around Chicago my entire life has provided plenty of April baseball games and winter football games to freeze my rear-end off at.

Here are some of the best replies to the question.  The only ones I posted are related to Notre Dame but my mentions are full of classic memories of fans freezing their fingers off while watching their teams.

Tale of the Tape: Leading Receivers – Michael Mayer vs. Zay Flowers

Worried about this matchup at all?

Notre Dame’s home game against Boston College is a big one for [autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag]. Barring an unexpected change of heart, all signs point to this being his final time suiting up at Notre Dame Stadium before he jumps to the NFL. The Walter Camp Player of the Year semifinalist has been a real bright spot for the Irish in a season that has had its ups and downs. Hopefully, he can provide the South Bend faithful with one more solid game.

The Eagles’ Zay Flowers, an NFL draft prospect himself, will prove to be a challenge for the Irish’s secondary. Flowers has the most receiving yards in the ACC and the second-most receiving touchdowns. Then again, it could depend on who’s starting at quarterback for the Eagles because we still don’t know as of this writing. Regardless of who it is, the Irish can’t be too sure of their ability to stop him, or Flowers will burn them.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Tale of the Tape: Leading Rushers – Audric Estime vs. Pat Garwo III

The Irish have a clear advantage here.

When you think of battles between running backs, Notre Dame’s [autotag]Audric Estime[/autotag] isn’t always the one who appears to have the edge. While he certainly has had a fine season, he doesn’t wow people every week. That said, there have been moments where he has been so good that those same people question why they didn’t have more faith in him to begin the season. Now, the opportunity to watch him is worth getting excited about every week.

Boston College enters Saturday’s game with Pat Garwo III as its top running back. While he is targeted more as a receiver than Estime, that shouldn’t be a factor for this contest. The big story here is that the Eagles have the worst rushing offense in the country, and it’s not even close. If they want to pull off the upset at Notre Dame Stadium, they likely will need to exceed expectations on the ground.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89