Tag: Tyler Horka

Social media reacts to Notre Dame RB Gi’Bran Payne’s first career TD

This game has been Payne for the Tigers.

Notre Dame’s game against Tennessee State has become a showcase for players getting firsts in their collegiate careers. First, we saw [autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag] score his first touchdown. Next, [autotag]Steve Angeli[/autotag] got his first touchdown pass. Then, Angeli threw his second touchdown pass to a running back, who scored his first touchdown on the play. That running back was [autotag]Gi’Bran Payne[/autotag]:

Like many other second-half contributors for the Irish, Payne’s opportunity was made possible because the Irish went into the half with such a big lead. When Payne scored, the Tigers still had been kept off the scoreboard in the second half. They had been held to a mere field goal just like Navy had against the Irish the week before.

As hard as it is to believe in a blowout, there still were people watching the game when Payne scored. Here are some of the tweets sent out by some of the remaining viewers:

Social media reacts to Notre Dame QB Steve Angeli’s first TD pass

Congrats, Steve!

Buried on Notre Dame’s depth chart in 2022, [autotag]Steve Angeli[/autotag] surely wondered whether he would get to shine beyond the Blue-Gold Game. Now, with [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag] and Tyler Buchner gone, he is firmly in the role of [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag]’s primary backup. With the Irish possessing a 35-3 halftime lead, Hartman had done enough. That meant Angeli would run the offense in the second half.

While it took most of the third quarter for it to happen, Angeli finally got the first touchdown pass of his collegiate career. After [autotag]Jadarian Price[/autotag] lost 4 yards on a run, Angeli threw to Price on the next play after avoiding defensive pressure, and Price took the ball 40 yards to the house:

Angeli will remember this moment for the rest of his life. Perhaps he also will remember [autotag]Clarence Lewis[/autotag]’ 33-yard interception return for a touchdown that happened immediately after. Either way, it was a memorable sequence of events.

We’ve seen impact plays from Lewis before, so let’s focus on how social media reacted to Angeli’s big moment:

Social media reacts to Notre Dame tight end Holden Staes’ touchdown

Tight End U has returned.

As good as [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] has been for Notre Dame thus far, his tight ends haven’t gotten involved. They technically haven’t been needed because the offense has been that good, but you’d still like to see them contribute something. It finally happened just before halftime against Tennessee State.

Fresh off the Tigers’ second unsuccessful field-goal attempt of the first half and with 53 seconds left, Hartman chose to exclusively air it out, mostly to his tight ends, to try and extend a big Irish lead. Six plays and 38 seconds later, he did just that, finding [autotag]Holden Staes[/autotag] for a 4-yard touchdown:

The touchdown was the first of Staes’ collegiate career and his second reception. There’s no telling how much Staes will factor into the rest of the season, but it’s at the very least of reflection of how many backs and receivers Hartman is getting involved. Yes, that includes tight ends.

Here’s what social media said about the score that put the Irish up, 35-3, at the break:

Social media reacts to Jeremiyah Love scoring first college touchdown

Love-ly first score.

[autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag] got four carries in his first collegiate game when Notre Dame beat Navy. While he got 40 yards out of those opportunities, they barely registered a blip on the radar with all the scoring going on. He didn’t have to wait long to find the end zone against Tennessee State. On the Irish’s first drive, they mainly advanced the ball on the run, and Love capped it with a 36-yard touchdown, the first score of the game and the first of his collegiate career:

Love is so new to the Irish that we don’t even have a proper photo of him available at the time this is being written. Rest assured, plenty of images of Love will surface if he continues to have big plays like the one we just witnessed. For now, we’ll settle for the fact that he’s being noticed by those watching the game as these tweets suggest:

Social media reacts to Deion Colzie’s fourth-quarter touchdown

Mercy.

We’re running out of ways to describe how dominant Notre Dame has been against Navy. The Irish didn’t fail to score a touchdown or fail to put up any points on a drive until [autotag]Spencer Shrader[/autotag] missed a 42-yard field goal attempt late in the third quarter.

That quickly was forgotten as [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] went right back to work once his defense did its job once again. He ended a seven-play, 60-yard drive with his fourth touchdown pass of the day, a 25-yarder to [autotag]Deion Colzie[/autotag] that gave the Irish a 42-0 lead:

Nobody could have asked for a better opening to the season. The Irish have dominated on both sides of the ball, and if this game lasted any longer, there’s no doubt they would continue to pour it on. That’s the main takeaway from this game, and they’ll leave Ireland happy.

Here are the best tweets regarding Colzie’s touchdown catch:

Social media reacts to Jaden Greathouse’s second touchdown catch

Another score.

Scoring a touchdown in your first collegiate game is great. Scoring two in that game is a real thrill.

Notre Dame freshman Jaden Greathouse can make that claim after receiving another touchdown from Sam Hartman, this one from 20 yards out. The Irish have a touchdown on each of their first five possessions, thus increasing their lead over Navy to 35-0:

With little reason to believe the script of this game will be flipped, the second half figures to be nothing more than a showcase for how good this year’s Irish can be. They’ve dominated this one from the beginning, and while it wasn’t unexpected, it nonetheless feels great to witness. Those who made the trip overseas will tell you it was money well spent.

Even with the outcome likely decided, people still took to social media to talk about each touchdown. Here’s what they had to say about the latest one:

Social media reacts to Jayden Thomas’ late first-half touchdown

One more for the half.

Only those who had the utmost faith in Navy believed it had any kind of shot against Notre Dame. At this point, it would take a complete collapse by the Irish for their faith to be rewarded. That happens when the Irish have possession four times in the first half and score a touchdown each time. The last of those touchdowns came on [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag]’s 15-yard pass to [autotag]Jayden Thomas[/autotag]:

Irish fans understandably are feeling good about the rest of the game. While 28-0 is not an insurmountable deficit, it’s hard to feel optimistic when Hartman already has exactly 200 passing yards and shows no sign of slowing down. The same can be said for the rest of the team. Barring a complete meltdown by the Irish, it’s no longer a matter of whether [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] will bring in his backups, but when.

Here are some of social media’s best reactions to Thomas’ touchdown:

Social media reacts to Jadarian Price’s clean touchdown run

Nice carry, young man.

[autotag]Jadarian Price[/autotag] has a long way to go in establishing himself as a legitimate college player. It takes more than one game to make that distinction, so it obviously can’t happen in your very first contest.

But Price at least put the rest of the country on notice late in the first quarter of Notre Dame’s game against Navy. He avoided a couple of defenders and ran as smoothly as silk for a 19-yard touchdown, putting the Irish up, 14-0:

You never forget your first impact play at the college level, so Price undoubtedly will have this moment playing in his mind forever. But let’s not forget the reactions of those watching the game, too. You only get one opportunity to make a good first impression, and Price certainly did in this game. Check out some of the best reactions that were posted to social media right after Price’s score:

Social media reacts to Notre Dame unveiling green uniforms

What are your thoughts on the unis?

If there’s one thing diehard college football fans love, it’s tradition. That’s why many of them, including our own Nick Shepkowski, is upset that the regular season will be devalued by the expanded College Football Playoff beginning in 2024. Some don’t like it when nicknames or rivalry trophies are changed. Then, there are uniforms.

Reaction to the revelation of Notre Dame’s green uniforms for its Sept. 23 game against Ohio State has been mixed. While some like how spiffy they are, others see it as a reflection of the program’s apparently misplaced priorities, namely that it’s focused more on dressing well than winning games. Others don’t like that this was lumped in with the announcement that the program is extending its relationship with Under Armour.

Whatever you feel about it, chances are those feelings are reflected among these thoughts we found on social media. Take a look at the following and see if that’s the case:

Watch: Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker does pushups

How many pushups can you do?

Of all the exercises I had to do in school, pushups were by far my least favorite. I just was never able to get the hang of the proper form, but that’s probably because I have sticks for arms even now. So forgive me if I’m a little jealous of the following video from Tyler Horka of Blue Gold Illustrated. Notre Dame offensive coordinator [autotag]Gerad Parker[/autotag] decided he’d start Monday’s practice by showing off how many pushups he could do:

Parker didn’t miss a beat as he immediately got up and resumed his coaching. As much as I wish I was more athletic than what God blessed me with, I wonder how those whose whole life is football are able to keep up at such a high level. All I know is I’m better sharing my thoughts behind a keyboard than showcasing my skills on a football field. Things sometimes just work out for the best.

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