Tag: shamrock series

Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin: Third-Quarter Analysis

Oh boy.

Just when it looked like Notre Dame might take control of the game, Wisconsin has come out in the second half looking like a different team. While they haven’t lost control of it, the outcome is a lot more uncertain. We have a 10-10 tie after three quarters.

The Irish’s offense gain no yardage on its first two drives, but something more serious might have happened instead. Jack Coan was sacked on one play and something appeared to happen to his knee. It was serious enough that he went to the locker room, forcing Drew Pyne into action. More on that in a moment.

On the first play of the Badgers’ second possession, Graham Mertz hit Chez Mellusi for a 35-yard completion. He then found Kendric Pryor on two of the next three plays, the latter of which was an 8-yard touchdown pass, Mertz’s first of the season. Hey, it took him long enough.

Pyne had a decent first drive, getting the offense from its own 16-yard line to the Wisconsin 39. That was as far as it got, though it set up Jay Bramblett to punt the ball 37 yards to 7. The Badgers went three-and-out, and a 10-yard punt return by Kyren Williams allowed the Irish to start in Badgers territory. But any hope for a successful drive was immediately dashed when Rodas Johnson forced the ball from Pyne’s hand on the first play and Jack Sanborn recovered to give the Badgers excellent field position.

With basically the equivalent of a big offensive play having just taken place, the Badgers made the most of the opportunity. By the end of the quarter, they had reached the Irish’s 10, though they were moved back to the 11 on a loss. Things are looking grim right now. Let’s hope that changes.

Watch: Jay Bramblett flips the field for Notre Dame with huge punt

What a punt!

In this defensive back-and-forth battle with Notre Dame and Wisconsin, there have not been many offensive highlights. Yes, the Irish scored on a perfectly throw pass from Jack Coan to Kevin Austin but that’s the only score of the game so far at halftime.

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How about the punter for the Irish Jay Bramblett. He blasted this punt 73-yards to completely flip the field for the Irish and put the Badgers in bad field position. It is plays like this that win games when both of the offenses are struggling. Take a look below at Bramblett’s massive punt right before the half.

Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin: Second-Quarter Analysis

This is looking better.

We’ve reached halftime of this Shamrock Series game, and we still don’t have a clear direction of where this is going. There have been some plays that had potential to turn the tide, but they mostly haven’t meant much. We say “mostly” because Notre Dame has been able to separate itself from Wisconsin a bit as it holds a 10-3 lead.

The Irish began the second quarter with a long possession, converting on two third downs and one fourth down, the latter of which came on a Kyren Williams run against a tough Badgers run defense. That defense came alive once the Irish reached the Badgers’ 30-yard line as Jack Coan found him swarmed by Badgers on every play during that series of downs. Faced with a fourth-and-14 after a C.J. Goetz sack, Jonathan Doerer came on to attempt a 51-yard field goal after missing from 39 in the first quarter. This time, he converted to tie the game.

The Badgers nearly went three-and-out on their first possession of the quarter but for a roughing-the-passer call against Kyle Hamilton of all people. It turned out not to matter because on the next third down, Cam Hart came up with an interception near midfield. Coan nearly gave the ball right back two plays later on a Leo Chanel interception. That turnover was wiped out when Noah Burks was called for pass interference, allowing the Irish to keep the ball.

The negated turnover ended up costing the Badgers more than only the ball. The drive culminated in the game’s first touchdown as Coan found Kevin Austin for a 36-yard completion. There was a review to determine whether Austin maintained control of the ball as he fell in the end zone, but it didn’t take long to confirm the ruling.

Both teams went three-and-out on their next drives, but it led to a big play on special teams for the Irish. Jay Bramblett punted the ball a career-high 72 yards to pin the Badgers at their own 9. That, in turn, led to the Badgers failing to pick up a first down and punting once again. Having the lead and with little time remaining, Coan opted to take a knee, and that’s all she wrote for the first 30 minutes.

Watch: Coan finds Austin as Notre Dame finds endzone first against Wisconsin

Touchdown Austin for the lead!

It looked like the Badgers had stopped the Irish with a interception, but a flag came out and kept the Irish drive alive. The pass interference call didn’t change possession for Notre Dame and just a few plays later, quarterback Jack Coan found wide receiver Kevin Austin down the left sideline for a 36-yard touchdown reception.

It was a perfectly thrown ball from Coan, and after a quick review from the referees to make sure that it was actually a catch by Austin, they kept the call on the field as a score for the Irish. The second quarter has been all Notre Dame, as they’ve scored 10-points and taken a 10-3 lead over the Badgers.

Watch: Cam Hart gets his first interception of the year for Notre Daem

PICK !!!

I don’t want to say I told you so, but I did. Cornerback Cam Hart has been all over the ball this season, leading the team in pass breakups and it was just a matter of time before he recorded his first pick of the year. Earlier this morning in our Let’s Get Wild article, I predicted Hart to grab that pick.

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It happened right after he was called for a pass interference, which was declined due to a Kyle Hamilton roughing the passer call. It looked very much like the same play Wisconsin ran and Hart read it like a book

Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin: First-Quarter Analysis

Not the start we were hoping for.

This year’s Shamrock Series game looks like it will the barn burner everyone expected it to be. The game could just as easily swing as a dominant performance for one team or another. For now, Notre Dame has some work to do as it trails Wisconsin, 3-0, after one quarter.

The Irish took the ball first at their own 22-yard line and only moved backwards as Jack Coan was sacked by Matt Henningsen. Jay Bramblett couldn’t punt the ball out of Irish territory, and Graham Mertz made him pay with a 23-yard completion to Kendric Pryor on his first play. The Badgers couldn’t move much after that, but Collin Larsh salvaged the drive with a 37-yard field goal.

After Coan took another sack, his next drive went a lot better as he executed a pass-heavy attack to counter the Badgers’ strong run defense. He completed six passes to set up first-and-goal on the 10. When a pair of runs went nowhere, Coan went deep in the pocket for a pass but fell down at the 21. Jonathan Doerer came on to tie the game but missed a 39-yard field goal, keeping the Irish off the scoreboard.

The game then reached a stall as the teams traded three-and-outs. After that, Mertz seized momentum on a 42-yard pass to Clay Cundiff to set the Badgers up on the Irish’s 30. The Irish soon put a stop to that by stuffing Chez Mellusi on fourth-and-1. You never know what’s going to happen next in a game like that.

Best of ESPN’s College Gameday from Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin

This looked like a lot of fun, relive it here!

A neutral site for ESPN’s pregame show, College Game Day, is a central point between the two schools, the Windy City and Soldier Field. Wisconsin and Notre Dame face off in a Top-25 matchup and the hype was real. Check out below some of the best Tweets from the broadcast and the sign’s made by the fans.

Watch: Notre Dame unveils logo, hype video for 2021 Shamrock Series

The Shamrock Series is back for 2021.

Notre Dame’s Sept. 25 contest against Wisconsin at Soldier Field in Chicago technically will be a home game for the Badgers. However, it was announced Wednesday that this matchup will be the latest in the Shamrock Series.

This news came on the same day of the announcement that Soldier Field will allow full capacity for Bears home games in 2021, and it also will be allowed during the Shamrock Series game. With all of this news made public, it only made sense to announce the game’s logo and put out a video to promote the game:

Notre Dame has not lost a Shamrock Series game since it debuted in 2009. This will be the second time the series is played at Soldier Field, the first resulted in a 41-3 blowout of Miami in 2012. The Irish have an all-time record of 10-0-2 at the NFL’s oldest stadium. They first played there shortly after its opening in 1924 and defeated Northwestern, 13-6.

Watch: Band of the Fighting Irish plays Victory March everywhere

The Band of the Fighting Irish will play the Notre Dame Victory March anywhere.

Wednesday was a great day for Notre Dame football fans as it was announced that Notre Dame Stadium will be open at full capacity in 2021. As the day wound down, the football program’s Twitter account tweeted out a sound that sorely has been missed:

Yes, there’s nothing like the Band of the Fighting Irish playing the Notre Dame Fighting March with over 77,000 fans making noise in the background. Simply hearing this sound makes us wonder why September can’t get here sooner. However, you never have had to go to Notre Dame Stadium on game day to hear the most famous fight song in college sports. Often, the band has taken its act on the road if the football team is traveling to a prominent location, or it will play for a select group of people on campus. Here are a few examples of the band playing outside its most famous surroundings in recent years:

Will Notre Dame not be playing in NFL stadiums in 2020?

Will Notre Dame be playing schedule games in NFL venues in 2020? Brian Kelly spoke to Mike Tirico about potentially changing that Tuesday.

For playing a plenty respectable schedule in 2020, Notre Dame has a very kind set of games in terms of where they’re played.

Sure they have to play Wisconsin who is almost always in the top 15, but they get them at Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers instead of at Camp Randall in Madison.

Wake Forest doesn’t present the most difficult of places to play but the Irish are slated to play the Demon Deacons in Charlotte, home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers instead.

And the meeting with Georgia Tech on Masters weekend is currently set to be played in the Atlanta Falcons stadium, not on Georgia Tech’s campus.

That only helps things for Notre Dame in terms of the of the likelihood of a victory in each of those games by not having to go play a true road game.

But it all might be changing according to Brian Kelly, who spoke on Mike Tirico’s new show on NBCSN Tuesday.

The one thing worth mentioning there is that Pitt does not have a stadium on their campus as they play at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Wisconsin would then come to Notre Dame Stadium as well since it is technically a Notre Dame home game in the Shamrock Series.

I can’t at all get upset about any of it.  One, the Badgers having to come to Notre Dame Stadium, even if the crowd is nowhere near capacity only does Notre Dame favors.

College football is made to be played on campus, though.  I know some of those in Georgia and Florida or Oklahoma and Texas will discuss how great their rivalries are when they’re played annually on neutral fields, but is there anything better than a football Saturday in the fall on your favorite college campus?

As cool as it is for teenagers to get to play in NFL venues and as much as Notre Dame promotes doing so, there is nothing like college football being played on campus and not in neutral or watered down professional stadiums.

Some might get upset because Notre Dame doesn’t play as many games in NFL venues but to me, this would be more how college football is meant to be played.