Tag: Shaun Crawford

Notre Dame beats Florida State 42-26: 5 takeaways

Notre Dame moved to 3-0 on the 2020 season

Notre Dame moved to 3-0 with a win over now 1-3 Florida State on Saturday night in a game that will go down as a victory that was impressive on some fronts for the Fighting Irish while it looked downright bad in others.

With the Florida loss earlier in the day we could see Notre Dame ranked fourth in the updated Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY on Sunday as well as the AP Poll.

As we await that news however, let’s look at five of the takeaways from the Notre Dame victory.

The Rust was There…

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Notre Dame vs. Florida State: Fourth-Quarter Analysis

Notre Dame saw another scoring threat from Florida State to begin the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame saw another scoring threat from Florida State to begin the fourth quarter. The Seminoles had the ball for nearly the entire first half of the frame. But any thoughts of points were snuffed out by an interception from Shaun Crawford in the end zone, the Irish’s first pick of the season, and that broke any hopes of a change in the game’s outcome. The Irish remain undefeated after a 42-26 victory.

Once they got the ball back, the Irish (3-0, 2-0) took their time since they didn’t need anymore points. That meant going back to the run and burning even more time than the Seminoles (1-3, 0-3) did on their previous possession. They got all the way to the 2-yard line but failed to score. Even though Chris Tyree couldn’t find the end zone on the Irish’s final play from scrimmage, it didn’t matter because there was so little time left.

Hopefully, the way this game played out is a metaphor for how the rest of this season plays out. The first 2 1/2 games were good for the Irish, if not unremarkable. The rest of the way, they looked more like a team that was playing to win. Maybe the slow start to this game, however attributable to rust it was, is what they need to kick into another gear that will keep them dominant at least until the Clemson game.

Watch: Crawford’s position change results in pick for Notre Dame

The senior defender makes a big play for Notre Dame to stop a Florida State drive.

In a move made prior to the game Shaun Crawford moved from safety to cornerback and change paid off. Crawford intercepted a pass in the redzone, keep Florida State from inching closer to Notre Dame.

Crawford’s takeaway keeps the Irish lead of 42-26 over Florida State.

Notre Dame announces 5 captains for 2020 season

Notre Dame has announced it’s five captains for the 2020 season. Find out who they are here.

Notre Dame has announced their five captains for the 2020 football season and none come as any real surprise.

Quarterback Ian Book is a captain for the second time in as many years as is offensive lineman Robert Hainsey.

Joining them will be graduate student and starting strong safety Shaun Crawford, defensive linemen Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji.

The five team captains are scheduled to meet the media Tuesday evening and we’ll share it all here at Fighting Irish Wire, your daily stop for everything Notre Dame.

Brian Kelly supports Ian Book and Notre Dame Captains Desire to Play

Notre Dame’s SWAT captains released a statement Monday night that their head coach quickly got behind and supported. Read it all here.

Each day over the last four or five has brought news in regards to the 2020 college football season being played.

One day it was the MAC cancelling its season while yesterday it was the Big Ten shutting its doors, only to have them reopened a few hours later.

Notre Dame’s 2020 SWAT Team captains released a statement Monday night that essentially begged for a chance to play football this fall.  You can read the complete statement below:

The SWAT Team leaders are the captains for Notre Dame’s off-season workouts and members include: quarterback Ian Book, offensive linemen Liam Eichenberg, Robert Hainsey and Tommy Kraemer, defensive lineman Daelin Hayes, Kurt Hinish, Ade Ogundeji and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, tight end Brock Wright, linebacker Drew White and cornerback Shaun Crawford.

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly endorsed his players desire to play shortly after they released the statement Monday night.

It by no means guarantees anything in terms of games being played but it’s certainly nice to see a coach going to bat for his players wishes like this.

I don’t know if there will be college football this year as this morning Massachusetts has cancelled their season, which brings the total now to 27 of the 130 FBS teams.  However, at least the idea of college football in 2020 isn’t going away without a fight at this point.

Notre Dame Football: Is Kyle Hamilton a Top-5 Safety Nationwide?

Now to the question some may be asking: is Hamilton really a top-five safety?

Notre Dame loses talent in the secondary in 2020 as Alohi Gilman has entered the NFL Draft while Donte Vaughn and Troy Pride, Jr. are both out of eligibility.

Earlier this month Shaun Crawford announced he’d be returning for a sixth season at Notre Dame which will be incredibly beneficial for the Irish as long as Crawford can stay healthy.

What will also help is Kyle Hamilton returning after a freshman year that landed him on both the Pro Football Focus and FWAA Freshman All-American Teams.

PFF released their “Top 30 Returning Defensive Backs” Saturday and Hamilton found a spot at number 20 there.

True freshman safety Kyle Hamilton could not have done much more in coverage for the Fighting Irish this year. The 6-foot-4 defensive back finished among the five best safeties in the country in PFF coverage grade and had more interceptions plus pass breakups (nine) than catches allowed (seven). That production paved the way to just a 1.3 passer rating allowed. He read quarterbacks like books and made special plays all year long — he’ll be a vital piece to the Irish secondary over the next couple of seasons.

If you rank only safeties then Hamilton comes in fifth.

Although the eventual starting defensive backfield won’t have much experience playing together, the likes of Hamilton, Crawford, transfer Isaiah Pryor create a pretty high floor.

Now to the question some may be asking: is Hamilton really a top-five safety?

Frankly, five seems a bit low for a guy who it was newsworthy to pull in a reception against in 2020.

Shaun Crawford Returning to Notre Dame for Sixth Season

In just 25 career games in five seasons, Crawford has recorded 66 tackles and four interceptions and 1.5 sacks.

Notre Dame received some much-needed good news at the cornerback position Friday when Shaun Crawford announced via video on Twitter that he’ll be returning for a sixth season with the Fighting Irish.

Crawford had said back in September that his fifth year was going to be it for him at Notre Dame but seemed to hint at a return for 2020 once the regular season concluded but official word did come down Friday afternoon.

In just 25 career games in five seasons, Crawford has recorded 66 tackles and four interceptions and 1.5 sacks.

For a secondary that is strong at safety but loses a ton at corner with the departures of Troy Pride, Jr. and Donte Vaughn, keeping Crawford around is a massive win.

Crawford figures to enter the season at one coner position while TaRiq Bracy who played over 400 snaps in 2019 is likely headed to the other.

This move doesn’t make Notre Dame suddenly great at corner but it certainly helps.  Now if Crawford can just catch some good luck and have a healthy, final, sixth season.

Crawford was Notre Dame’s winner of the Pietrosante Award this past season for leadership and courage.