Tag: Tommy Kraemer

Notre Dame in ’emergency situation’ vs. Syracuse

Notre Dame has struggled early against Syracuse, forcing Brian Kelly to make a move he clearly didn’t want to earlier this week.

Earlier this week Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly discussed right guard Tommy Kraemer returning from an appendectomy and said that he would only play versus Syracuse in an “emergency situation”.

As it turns out it only took until the midway point of the second quarter for Notre Dame to find themselves in that “emergency situation” as Kraemer entered the game for the Irish while trailing to 1-9 Syracuse, 7-3.

Notre Dame’s first drive with Kraemer in the contest was stopped on fourth down, but the Irish responded the following possession as Ian Book capped the drive with a 28-yard touchdown run to retake the lead, 10-7.

It has been anything but a pretty first half by Notre Dame, but as bad as it has been the Irish still lead.

I didn’t expect it to come easy today as Senior Day seemingly never does, specifically early on, but I wasn’t expecting this, either.

Stay tuned.

Notre Dame’s offensive line named best in the country

The big guys up front for Notre Dame get some recognition from Pro Football Focus.

Although they don’t normally get much recognition, the Notre Dame offensive line continues to impress. We all knew going into the year the starting five was among the best in the country, but they still had to prove it on the field. Well, they certainly have lived up to the billing.

The Irish have graded out by Pro Football Focus as having the best offensive line in the country. Aaron Banks, Liam Eichenberg, Jarrett Patterson, Tommy Kraemer and Robert Hainsey should get the majority of credit for the group, but you can’t discount what Zeke Correll and Josh Lugg have done filling in as well.

PFF singled out Eichenberg as well, and rightfully so. That’s a extremely impressive stat not having given up a sack in over two full seasons.

The line has given time for Ian Book to find his receivers and opened up huge holes for runnings backs to run through. Kyren Williams is 10th nationally in rushing yards while the offense averages over 450 total yards a game.

Games are typically won up front, and the Irish have a distinct advantage with their offensive line.

Notre Dame Offensive Line Makes Joe Moore Midseason Honor Roll

Losing starting center Jarrett Patterson for the season has forced Notre Dame to make changes to its offensive line.

Losing starting center Jarrett Patterson for the season has forced Notre Dame to make changes to its offensive line. However, contributions from Patterson and the rest of that unit have not been lost on people. The Irish’s O-line has been named to this year’s Joe Moore Award Midseason Honor Roll. The award, which the Irish won in 2017, goes to the “toughest, most physical offensive line in the country.”

This is the second season in a row that Notre Dame’s unit has been so honored. It’s one of the most seasoned in the country with 147 collective starts between Patterson, Robert Hainsey, Liam Eichenberg, Tommy Kraemer and Aaron Banks. Four of these five players have been named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week in 2020.

The Joe Moore Award is the only major college football award given to a group rather than an individual. If the Irish make the College Football Playoff, this unit will be a big reason why. Major props go to offensive line coach Jeff Quinn for keeping the group at the top of its game.

Shaun Crawford, Tommy Kraemer Earn Weekly ACC Honors

Notre Dame is reaping the benefits of its win over Boston College.

Notre Dame is reaping the benefits of its win over Boston College. Not only did it retain its No. 2 ranking, but the ACC has decided to reward a couple of players for their performances in that game. Shaun Crawford and Tommy Kraemer have been named the conference’s Defensive Back and Offensive Lineman of the Week, respectively. That makes 11 weekly ACC awards for the Irish.

Against the Eagles, Crawford had a team-leading and career-high nine tackles, an 8-yard sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. No other defensive back in the ACC this past week recorded nine tackles and a sack. Without him, Phil Jurkovec would have had a better day against his former team.

Anyone on the offensive line could have won Offensive Lineman of the Week, but the honor went to Kraemer. The Irish’s offense gained 561 total yards, and Ian Book never was sacked during the contest. If the unit is to repeat that success at all the rest of 2020, it will have to do so without starting center Jarrett Patterson, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in the game.

Notre Dame vs. Clemson: Positional breakdown advantages

A breakdown of each position for Notre Dame and Clemson and who has the advantage.

This is the game of the year in the ACC, if not all college football, at least in the regular season. No. 1 Clemson travels to South Bend to take on No. 4 Notre Dame. This highly anticipated game will feature a number of future NFL stars.

A look at each position and which team has the advantage in Saturday’s huge contest.

Don’t forget to take a look at each of our tales of the tape as well (wide receivers, running backs, and quarterbacks)

(Some photo’s courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics)

Notre Dame offensive line named best through 4 weeks

Pro Football Focus has graded every college football offensive line in the nation a month in and you-know-who is rated first.

The first four weeks of college football have come and gone and as we turn our calendars to October, we look back a bit on the first month of the season of college football.

When you do that with Notre Dame a good place to look in terms of performance level is their offensive line unit.

Why?

Well, it’s not just because the program has developed into “O-Line U” in recent years but because this was the unit that was supposed to be the strongest of any for Notre Dame entering 2020.

Now a month in (just two games in this case) Notre Dame’s offensive line is graded by Pro Football Focus to be the best so far early on in this young college football season.

The Pro Football Focus writeup on the Notre Dame offensive line:

1. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

LT: Liam Eichenberg — 93.7 PFF grade
LG: Aaron Banks — 82.2 PFF grade
C: Jarrett Patterson — 91.4 PFF grade
RG: Tommy Kraemer  — 72.9 PFF grade
RT: Robert Hainsey — 88.6 PFF grade

The Fighting Irish came in at No. 1 in our preseason rankings, and they have certainly played like it thus far. On true pass sets (i.e., no play action, screen, quick throw, etc), The Irish have the highest-graded offensive line (88.5) in the country among those with at least 25 such reps. For perspective on how good that is, second place has a 76.2 grade. As you can find in CFB Premium Stats, the Irish offensive line is also the highest-graded unit in the run game.

Starting left tackle Liam Eichenberg leads the unit and is the highest-graded tackle in the country. He’s the only tackle to produce grades above 85.0 in both pass protection and as a run blocker. Center Jarrett Patterson also leads his position in PFF grade, while guard Aaron Banks and tackle Robert Hainsey each crack the top 10 at their respective positions. Guard Tommy Kraemer may not have a top-10 grade like his peers, but it’s still a solid mark relative to his counterparts. He has also allowed just one pressure in 2020.

Because of questions at running back coming in and injuries and a lack of production early on from the wide receivers, it’s more important than ever to get great results from the offensive line and through a pair of games its safe to say that Notre Dame is getting exactly that.

Joining the Irish in the top 5 were:

2. BYU
3. Appalachian State
4. Clemson
5. Marshall

Could another Styles be headed to Notre Dame?

The Fighting Irish coaching staff are trying to have Sonny Styles, young brother to commit Lorenzo, join him in South Bend.

The Fighting Irish already have secured a commitment from one Pickerington Central star in Lorenzo Styles Jr. and there is plenty to be excited about his pledge. There could be another Styles on the way to South Bend as Lorenzo’s younger brother, Sonny was offered by Brian Kelly and his staff on the first of the month.

After watching Lorenzo’s highlights from their season opening win, I thought they could be making a move on the younger Styles soon. That’s exactly what happened as Sonny put on a show during a nationally televised game.

The Irish joined instate powerhouse Ohio State in offering the star sophomore, and once again more flip ideas went into many peoples minds. The Buckeyes have done well keeping the best talent in state, but the Irish are one of the very few schools that can pull elite talent out of Ohio. Recently, Notre Dame has pulled offensive lineman Zeke Correll, Tommy Kraemer and Liam Eichenberg away from their home state to play for the Blue and Gold.

Rivals once again revisited Lorenzo’s potential for a flip and both of their recruiting experts Mike Farrell and Adam Gorney don’t believe the Buckeyes will be able to. They actually see Michigan as Notre Dame’s biggest threat to flip Styles Jr., but I just don’t see that happening.

Back to Sonny, who seems to be on the verge of blowing up nationally, already with two Midwestern power programs after his pledge. Having a family member as a teammate is always something players will consider and when Lorenzo ultimately signs with the Irish, a build in recruiting advantage will be made.

The recruitment of Sonny is just beginning, but already having a relationship with the Styles family, father Lorenzo played for the Buckeyes, is an advantage that Kelly must take. Lorenzo Jr. is already asking Irish Nation to show his younger brother some love. The Irish coaching staff has already done that and hopefully they will once again be reunited on the field wearing the same colors.

Notre Dame Football: Irish all over PFF’s Preseason All-ACC Team

What is particularly interesting to me here is that by simply counting, Notre Dame has three more members on the First Team than Clemson, with only Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne receiving that honor for the Tigers. 

This is weird to write.

Looking at Pro Football Focus’s Preseason All-ACC Team and seeing Notre Dame players listed is strange.  I’m used to seeing Notre Dame listed as an independent and not really looking much at it.

But it’s 2020 and Notre Dame is playing in the ACC as a full-time member this season.  The Irish are all over the list with five players earning First Team status, a pair more making the Second Team, three more being named to the Third Team and one player earning an Honorable Mention.

Notre Dame’s First Team Selections:

OT – Liam Eichenberg
Eichenberg already earned the 18th-best pass-blocking grade among FBS tackles over the entire season, but his grade from Week 7 on actually cracked the top-10 (7th).

C – Jarrett Patterson
Patterson finished as the 19th most valuable player in the FBS at the position and produced an above-average pass-blocking grade on his true pass sets.

OG – Aaron Banks
He allowed zero pressures in seven of his 13 games and dominated against Power 5 competition. He actually produced an 85.6 pass-blocking grade in those matchups, third in the country among those with at least 175 such snaps.

LB – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
From Week 10 on, Micah Parsons and Isaiah Simmons were the only Power 5 linebackers who earned a higher PFF grade.

S – Kyle Hamilton
The 6-foot-4 safety allowed only seven catches on 23 targets in coverage while making four interceptions and breaking up another five passes en route to a 1.3 passer rating allowed.

Notre Dame’s Second Team Selections:
OG – Tommy Kraemer
K – Jonathan Doerer

Notre Dame’s Third Team Selections:
OT – Robert Hainsey
Edge – Ade Ogundeji
LB – Drew White

Notre Dame’s lone Honorable Mention:
QB – Ian Book

What is particularly interesting to me here is that by simply counting, Notre Dame has three more members on the First Team than Clemson, with only Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne receiving that honor for the Tigers.

Clemson had four players on the Second Team, six on the Third Team and one player receive honorable mention.

Notre Dame actually has more players combined on the first and second teams than Clemson does but the Tigers have 13 players mentioned in total to Notre Dame’s 11.

Irish have 6 players on Senior Bowl Top 250

There could be up to six Notre Dame Football seniors who could play in this years version of the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The Reese’s Senior Bowl has been a great sendoff for collegiate seniors since 1950, giving them once more opportunity to impress the NFL scouts as the finish off their eligibility. This year six Notre Dame players made their top 250 list, which were: offensive linemen Tommy Kramer, Liam Eichenberg and Robert Hainsey, quarterback Ian Book, and defensive linemen Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji.

This game has been a spring board for some great prospects, as their alumni consists of Cowboys quarterback Dan Prescott and New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. The Irish have had one MVP of the Senior Bowl, coming all the way back in 1959 when running back Norm Odyniec shared the title with Georgia full back Theron Sapp.

All six of the Notre Dame players on their top 250 list have a great shot at making the All-Star game. Last year Chase Claypool impressed many while Troy Pride Jr., Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott each made their marks during the week. Hopefully they all get their chance to shine one more time wearing the Blue and Gold.

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.