In Notre Dame’s most recent game it was quarterback [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] returning to the field after not playing for three months who helped lead the Irish to victory and secured Gator Bowl MVP honors. Now the rising junior is entering the transfer portal.
So will he or won’t he return to Notre Dame? Having [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] now and[autotag] C.J. Carr[/autotag] for the future certainly lessens the blow to the Irish but this one comes as a bit of a surprise after having heard all spring how close the competition for the QB-1 spot supposedly was.
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Below are some of the best pictures of Buchner’s time at Notre Dame:
Where will Styles end up? And what does this say about Notre Dame’s young receivers?
A somewhat surprising move happened Friday as Notre Dame rising junior [autotag]Lorenzo Styles[/autotag] entered the transfer portal. Styles played two seasons with the Irish, catching 54 passes for over 700-yards and two touchdowns in blue and gold.
Styles recently moved to corner back and earlier this week stated that he planned to play both offense and defense in the annual Blue-Gold game. Instead, Styles will no longer be part of the Notre Dame football program.
Although there is always a bit of an surprise feeling when a one-time starter enters the portal, this move is hardly still hardly comes as a shock. Here is how some of the college football and Notre Dame worlds reacted to the Styles news on Friday.
After battling through injuries in his two years at Notre Dame, tight end [autotag]Cane Berrong[/autotag] entered the transfer portal this off-season. After getting offers from all over the country, Berrong has announced that he will continue his college football career at Coastal Carolina University.
Coastal Carolina is coming off a season where they started 9-1 before dropping three-straight to end it, including a 53-29 loss in the Birmingham Bowl against East Carolina. The Chanticleers are a combined 31-7 over the last three seasons.
Berrrong played in three games in 2021 and one game in 2022 for Notre Dame. He’ll have three years of eligibility remaining as the Hartwell, Georgia native will be a bit closer to home.
Just how big of a get was Sam Hartman for Notre Dame? Uhh, big.
The preliminary window for players in the college football transfer portal to sign with a new school is drawing to a close so we thought it’d be a good time to look back and see where the best players to enter it wound up. Alright, we did think that but with Notre Dame adding quarterback [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] from Wake Forest and so many national outlets loving the pickup for the Irish, we thought we’d compare him to some of the other top players in the portal.
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In an effort to eliminate any bias we went to the folks at Pro Football Focus who ranked the top 25 players to enter the portal this off-season. That way it wasn’t just us reminding you how big Notre Dame’s pickup of Sam Hartman was, but instead using an objective party. Here is how PFF ranked not just Hartman but the 25 best players in the portal this off-season.
Safety Khari Gee didn’t play a single down as a Notre Dame freshman in 2021 and announced after the season that he would enter the transfer portal. Gee has become the newest member of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Gee attended high school at Woodward Academy in Atlanta, so the move marks a return home.
Gee was a three-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class and was one of Notre Dame’s last commitments in that year’s class.
Gee will have four years of eligibility remaining at Georgia Tech.
This would go a long way in getting the wide receivers room up to snuff.
When [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] was first named Notre Dame head coach in December of 2021, he mentioned a couple of times that he didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. That was in reference to him choosing Ohio State over Notre Dame as a recruit. Now a former Notre Dame target and commitment has a chance to “not make the same mistake twice” too.
Wide receiver [autotag]C.J. Williams[/autotag] was a Notre Dame commitment in the 2022 recruiting cycle for months. After [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] left for LSU, Williams ultimately flipped to USC very late in the process. Williams entered the transfer portal last week and according to the great Tom Loy of 247Sports, is supposed to visit Notre Dame this weekend (subscription required).
Williams snagged four receptions for 34 yards in his debut season for the Trojans. He was rated as a four-star prospect out of Mater Dei High School a year ago and was supposed to be part of Notre Dame’s three-wide receiver class that ultimately consisted of just Tobias Merriweather.
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Williams choosing Notre Dame this time around would go a long way in catching the wide receiver room up to speed on where it needs to be. It wouldn’t be considered elite by any means with his addition but it’d be another solid addition to a room that is starting to compile young talent.
We have expected all along that Notre Dame would be trying to find a quarterback via the transfer portal this off-season. What we didn’t expect was that the quarterback that started the majority of their games this season would be entering it.
That is however the case as Notre Dame quarterback [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag] announced he’s entering the portal early Friday afternoon. Pyne started 10 games for Notre Dame in 2022 as the Irish went 8-2 in his starts. He clearly had a limited ceiling as a collegiate quarterback but seemingly had the backing and support of his locker room.
Pete Sampson of The Athletic reports that Pyne will not play in the bowl game. That means that Notre Dame now will either look to [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag], who may be ready to return by then, or freshman quarterback Steve Angeli, to lead them in their upcoming bowl game.
This is a shocker that only adds to Notre Dame’s lack of experience at the quarterback for 2023 as things currently stand.
Stay tuned to Fighting Irish Wire for more as we’ll have more on this huge story.
So who fills in for Lacey upon his sudden departure?
When Notre Dame picked up their first win of the 2022 season against Cal it came with a massive sigh of relief as they stopped the bleeding after an 0-2 start. Perhaps the biggest star on defense that afternoon for the Irish was defensive tackle Jacob Lacey who recorded a pair of sacks and five tackles on the afternoon.
Marcus Freeman did his regular Thursday session with the media via Zoom and discussed Lacey’s departure.
“It’s a position that’s extremely deep. The defensive tackle position is one of the deepest positions we have on our team. Chris Smith will play a little bit more. You’ll see a guy like Gabe Rubio play a little more. Jason Onye has moved from scout team to getting reps with the defense.
“Lacey was a great player who did a lot of great things for us. But it’s a deep position. He made a decision that ultimately was best for him. We respect it. We love Jacob, and the best thing about it is he leaves here with a degree in his hand. That’s what I want for these young men. If you decide to leave in hopes of going somewhere and playing more, don’t waste this opportunity to earn a degree from this university.”
-Marcus Freeman on defensive tackle Jacob Lacey’s departure
Notre Dame looks to move to 3-2 on the season in their first game without Lacey on Saturday night as they travel to Las Vegas to take on BYU in the Shamrock Series game.
Ellen McLain, better known as GlaDOS in Portal, is urging fans to ask Valve for a third installment.
More than a decade has gone by since Portal 2’s cliffhanger ending. Typically, that sort of conclusion comes with, you know – resolution of some kind! Fans still crave another installment, and GLaDOS actress Ellen McLain feels the same.
During an interview with the YouTube podcast KIWI TALKZ, McLain urged fans to contact Valve Software if they want Portal 3 (thanks, Nintendo Life).
“Write in, email Valve,” McLain said. “You’ve got my blessing. Say, ‘Ellen wants to do a Portal 3‘.”
Not only did McLain help bring the murderous machine that is GLaDOS to life all those years ago, but she also sang “Still Alive” and “Want You Gone” songs from Portal and Portal 2, respectively.
Earlier this year, Valve writer Erik Wolpaw was outspoken about potentially making the long-awaited third installment. McLain then went on to reminisce about working with Wolpaw on the original Portal games.
“Usually, a voice actor is one of the last things to be added to a game — everything else happens first, and then they bring in the voice [actor],” McLain explains. “But with Portal 2, since the creators – the people who developed [Portal] – were so used to hearing my voice that they brought me in at the beginning of the process because they didn’t want to listen to anybody else. Typically, they’ll have a stand-in voice that they know is going to be replaced, but they didn’t do that with Portal 2.”
While a Portal 3 is still nothing but wishful thinking, the Portal Companion Collection is out on Nintendo Switch now.
Notre Dame will host Boston College on senior day this November and that will be the final time 2018 quarterback recruit [autotag]Phil Jurkovec[/autotag] puts on the helmet and shoulder pads at Notre Dame Stadium. The only thing is the former four-star recruit and perceived “quarterback of the future” at Notre Dame will be wearing number-five for Boston College.
Jurkovec redshirted as a freshman in 2018 before seeing action in six games a year later. It was following that season that he decided to enter the transfer portal and eventually wound up at Boston College.
Why?
Jurkovec recently told Boston.com that following that 2019 season he was left in the dark on then Notre Dame quarterback [autotag]Ian Book[/autotag]’s status for 2020 and also wasn’t informed if then-offensive coordinator [autotag]Chip Long[/autotag] would be returning to the program. According to Jurkovec, former Notre Dame head coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] is to blame as he misguided Jurkovec’s parents.
“(Brian) Kelly basically lied to their faces about what he would do, how he would talk to me to explain things about the future,” Jurkovec said. “He basically lied to my parents so after that they were done with him.”
Strong words coming from Jurkovec and they make you wonder what his thoughts are on [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] who remains at Notre Dame since that time.
Kelly is off to LSU with his fah-ma-lee but Jurkovec’s comments certainly only make that senior day matchup that much more interesting.
