Tag: The Citadel

Notre Dame kicker, Army veteran highlighted in NBC Sports video

The Irish have a hero on their team.

Notre Dame walk-on kicker [autotag]Eric Goins[/autotag] is 30 years old, but there’s a reason he’s older than most college football players. After four years at The Citadel and seven years serving in the Army, he decided to pursue his MBA at Notre Dame. While doing so, he also decided to become a walk-on for the football team.

Goins has appeared in six games for the Irish this season and even registered a tackle. But his time at Notre Dame is about more than football. It’s about transition from military to civilian life, and he’s living proof of how much support the university offers military veterans who choose to continue their education there.

Still, Goins surely is bound to have some feels when the Irish go up against the Black Knights during the annual Shamrock Series game at Yankee Stadium. Both teams are fighting for their College Football Playoff lives, so this game is about more than just pageantry.

Regardless, Goins, with some additional thoughts from military brat [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag], talks about his experience in this video from NBC Sports:

Best of luck to Goins for the rest of the season and in pursuing his degree. We also thank him greatly for his service to our country.

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Meet the Army Veteran and Notre Dame Football Walk-On

It would appear that Rudy might need a remake…

Notre Dame football added another player to the roster earlier this week and by doing so the average age of the team went up.

30-year old kicker Eric Goins, who kicked at The Citadel previously has walked-on to the Fighting Irish football team.  Since graduating from The Citadel in 2015, Goins served seven years in the United States Army.

According to FightingIrish.com, Goins:

Served seven years in the United States Army as an active-duty Officer. Began as an Airborne Infantry Officer as a Second Lieutenant before becoming a First Lieutenant. After four years, promoted to Captain and served as a Signal Corps Officer.

When Goins last played at The Citadel in 2015, he was 16-of-21 on field goals and a perfect 42-of-42 on PAT attempts.  He also was a 2015 Second-team All-Southern Conference selection, the 2015 Special Teams MVP at The Citadel, and a 2015 Fred Mitchell Award finalist.

Goins will compete with Mitch Jeter, a transfer from South Carolina, for the placekicking job this fall.

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Micah Shrewsberry speaks after Notre Dame wins home finale vs. Clemson

Hear from the coach.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] was in a great mood after Notre Dame beat Clemson, 69-62. How could he not after a  second straight win over a team headed to the NCAA Tournament? The team is playing a lot better than it was earlier in the year, which is impressive for a team that wasn’t expected to accomplish much.

Fighting Irish Wire was on hand to hear a relaxed Shrewsberry give his take on the game as well as the things that have happened this season. Given that there are no more games at Purcell Pavilion this season, the time felt appropriate to ask questions about the season itself. He seems to be settled in a lot more with where he is with his team and his place within the university.

Listed below are Shrewsberry’s opening statement and his answers to the questions he was asked by Fighting Irish Wire:

Notre Dame beats Marist to end three-game losing streak

Back in the win column.

[autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] wasn’t happy after Notre Dame laid an egg against The Citadel. We may never know what he said during the following practice, but it paid off at least for the next game. The Irish got themselves back on track with a 60-56 win over Marist, snapping their three-game skid.

After a first half that was ugly and boring to watch at times, the second half was far more entertaining. The Irish (5-7) held a couple of double-digit leads during that frame, going up by as much as 11 with over five minutes to play.

The Red Foxes (7-3) wouldn’t go quietly though as they cut that lead to two with over a minute and a half left. With the Irish not making any field goals in the final four minutes, it took two free throws apiece from [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] and [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] in the final minute as well as solid overall defense to ice this one.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field and also had four steals and three assists. Davis scored 12 points and combined with Shrewsberry to make 10 free throws in as many attempts. [autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag] had 11 points and a team-high six rebounds.

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Micah Shrewsberry’s fiery news conference after gutless Notre Dame loss

You wanted a coach that shows emotion? How does this work for you?

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – You longtime Notre Dame basketball fans who have wanted a fiery and emotional coach might have gotten your wish. [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] took his postgame news conference after the Irish lost to The Citadel, 65-45, and turned it into a platform to say everything he and his team did in the game was completely wrong. And he held nothing back.

Fighting Irish Wire was among the outlets in the room as it happened. When we began a question by (admittedly somewhat ignorantly) pointing out that [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] was the team’s 3-point specialist, the elder Shrewsberry snapped back, “He’s not,” citing his son’s recent struggles from that distance, which includes an 0-for-6 showing in this game.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg as to what Shrewsberry had to say. He spread blame around but also put blame on himself. While that’s typical of coaches after a loss, he did it in a way that even reporters who have covered this program for years couldn’t remember seeing anything like that from a Notre Dame coach.

The news conference was too good to leave out, so here it is in its entirety:

J.R. Konieczny, Matt Zona speak after Notre Dame loss to The Citadel

Read the players’ perspectives on the loss.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag] is one of the few Notre Dame players who had Elijah Morgan as one of his teammates. He probably didn’t count on seeing Morgan go off when The Citadel came to Purcell Pavilion. Sure enough, that’s what happened as Morgan scored a game-high 19 points in a 65-45 Bulldogs win over the Irish.

Zona grabbed four rebounds but was held out of the scoring column. Most of the Irish’s production came from [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag], who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. It looked for a while like Konieczny was going to carry his team to victory. Instead, the Bulldogs took over in the second half after allowing six unanswered points to start.

Zona and Konieczny were the two players selected to speak to the media after the loss under the watchful eye of [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] (more on him later). Konieczny looked emotional as he took his seat, and Zona looked like he was just trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. Here’s what they had to say:

Former Notre Dame player Morgan gets revenge in win for The Citadel

Nothing worse than an old friend haunting you.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – In 27 games for Notre Dame from 2019 to 2022, Elijah Morgan never scored more than six points. Since joining The Citadel, he has looked like a completely different player. He showed that and then some as he haunted his old team in a 65-45 Bulldogs win over the Irish.

The first half featured two teams battling closing as neither team could grab momentum or lead by more than four points. The second half began with the Irish (4-7) scoring six unanswered, and the Bulldogs (7-5) called a timeout.

From there, the visitors seized control and ultimately extended the lead to double digits as the Irish simply couldn’t respond. After that Bulldogs timeout, they outscored the Irish, 33-10, the rest of the way.

Whether the game’s location made it coincidental or not, Morgan was the man for the Bulldogs, scoring 15 of his game-high 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range and recording four steals. Irish fans in attendance as well as the few remaining players from Morgan’s time with the Irish had no choice but to endure the sight of him celebrating with his teammates, which included a bench that was vocal all night long.

Of course, Morgan didn’t do it all by himself for the Bulldogs. Madison Durr and Quentin Millora-Brown scored 15 points apiece on a combined 11-of-16 shooting from the field. AJ Smith briefly went back to the locker room after getting banged up early in the first half but returned to score 13 points.

[autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] was the Irish’s top player with a double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] had 13 points but also a game-high five turnovers.

While the other Irish players struggled across the board, none did so more than [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag]. Starting in place of the injured [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag], he missed all eight of his field-goal attempts, six of them coming from beyond the arc. It was part of a night in which the Irish shot only 26.6 % from the field.

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Two Notre Dame guards out with injuries against The Citadel

Hope this only is a minor setback.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – You never want to be down bodies no matter who your opponent is. Yet that’s exactly the situation Notre Dame finds itself in with two of its guards against The Citadel. Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune tweeted the following regarding [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag] and [autotag]Logan Imes[/autotag]:

Roper’s absence is significant in that the transfer from Northwestern has started every game so far this season and is by far one of the most polished players on this young Irish team. He ranks fourth on the team in scoring (8.9 points a game) and third in rebounds 5.2 a game.

Replacing Roper in the starting lineup will be [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag], who hasn’t started since doing so in the Irish’s first three games. Rounding out the starting lineup are [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag], [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag], [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] and [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag].

Imes is another key loss in [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag]’s rotation. In nine games off the bench, he is averaging 18.1 minutes a game, the most for any Irish player who hasn’t started this season. He has a scoring average 2.1 points a game.

[autotag]Tony Sanders Jr.[/autotag] has played in two games this season and has a single 3-pointer in the scoring column.

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Notre Dame releases nonconference schedule for 2023-24

Make your plans accordingly.

Notre Dame is in a transitional period for sure. There’s a new coach in [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag]. Almost the entire roster is different, and the few returning players barely have seen the floor in their careers.

Needless to say, this does not stand to be a winning season in South Bend. However, games still need to be played because how else are you going to gain experience?

To that end, the Irish have released their nonconference schedule for the 2023-24 season. They should earn a few wins simply because some of their opponents don’t come from power conferences. Such is typical in the early days of the college basketball season. The only way the Irish could lose out is if they have absolutely no talent, and these players are with an ACC program for a reason.

Here are the nonconference games for the season, not including the Legends Classic on Nov. 16 and 17 in Brooklyn that will feature the Irish, Auburn, Oklahoma State and St. Bonaventure. The first-round matchups for that will be determined at a later date. For everything else though, mark your calendar:

Alabama’s last 10 matchups against FCS programs

Alabama has outscored FCS opponents 498-53 in previous 10 match ups

The Alabama Crimson Tide has dominated at the highest level of college football for the past decade and a half under head coach Nick Saban. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that teams from the Football Championship Series (FCS) haven’t put up much of a fight against the Tide.

In the Tide’s previous ten match-ups against FCS opponents, Alabama has outscored them 498-53. Yikes.

So, the Austin Peay Governors certainly have a lot to handle this weekend as they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama. The game will kick off at 12:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network.

Alabama may be eliminated from playoff contention, but the team still has some anger to let out after the two tough losses. Coach Saban won’t let this team quit either as he still has aspirations of a 10-win season and New Years Six bowl appearance.