Tag: virginia cavaliers

Watch: Notre Dame QB Coan finds Austin as Irish take big lead over UVA

Coan throws his 3rd touchdown pass, this one to Kevin Austin

The Irish offense had gone quiet for the majority of the third quarter, but after Virginia went for it on 4th-down and didn’t complete the attempt, it was game on. The Irish marched down the field in under 2-and-a-half minutes, on just 5 plays that spanned 61-yards to add to their lead.

It was big play after big play, first a trick play to wide receiver Braden Lenzy for 31-yards. Then quarterback Jack Coan found tight end Michael Mayer for 11-yards. After two short runs on third down, Coan found wide receiver Kevin Austin in the back of the end zone to extend their lead over Virginia 28-0.

Watch: Notre Dame RB Williams has another amazing TD, this time vs UVA

Another Williams spectacular TD

The beginning of the season, the Notre Dame offense was somewhat sluggish aside from the opener against Florida State. It was a combination of factors which included four new offensive linemen, and a new quarterback.

The tide has turned significantly for the Irish offense and a lot of it has to do with running back Kyren Williams finding his form from last year. It seems like every week he’s making some sort of amazing play. Well, surprise, he did it again with Virginia as his latest victim. The sophomore broke tackles, weaved in and out of UVA defenders and ended up in the end zone to extend the Irish lead for 21-0.

Watch: Notre Dame extend leads as Coan find Lenzy for TD vs UVA

Lenzy finds pay dirt

The Irish are making sure that the Cavaliers won’t be able to hang with them at home this evening. The defense has been exceptionally good, both of Virginia’s possessions have resulted in 3-and-outs.

The Irish offense, well their first drive they came up short on a 4th-and-1, but since then, they’ve moved the ball at will against UVA. This drive was a bit longer than the first scoring one, spanning 7-plays and 60-yard as quarterback Jack Coan was pressured, escaped and found wide receiver Braden Lenzy underneath and he did the rest. Lenzy leaped over Virginia defenders and found the end zone, pushing the Irish lead to 14-0.

Watch: Notre Dame freshman RB Logan Diggs hurdles UVA defender

WOW LOGAN DIGGS!!!!

As this season has progressed, Notre Dame true freshman Logan Diggs has see his playing time increase. Part of it was an injury to sophomore Chris Tyree, part of it has been Diggs impressing the coaching staff and earning playing time.

The backfield is deep for the Irish, but Diggs has forced his way into the rotation and getting time to play early in games as well. It’s plays like the one we saw him have against Virginia that we should start some hype for the young man. On a 3rd-and-two, Diggs was given the ball and went to the left, it seemed like he was stopped but then speed off down the sideline and did this:

All aboard the Diggs hype train.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Coan finds Mayer to take lead over Virginia

Baby Gronk find the end zone

The Irish benefitted from great field position after forcing a 3-and-out from Virginia on their first series. A punt that went just 14-yards gave the Irish the ball on the Cavaliers side of the field, the 43-yard line.

The Irish moved down the field and faced a 4th-and-1 situation. Head coach Brian Kelly decided to call a time-out to think it over after initially sending Jonathan Doerer out to kick a field goal. Kelly changed his mind and went for it, with running back Kyren Williams busting through the UVA defense for 14-yards. The next play quarterback Jack Coan found tight end Michael Mayer to give the Irish and early 7-0 lead on the road.

Five keys for Notre Dame to defeat Virginia on the road

What are your keys for Irish success against UVA?

The Irish have their toughest test on the remains schedule Saturday night, as they travel to Scott Stadium to take on the Cavaliers of Virginia. They boast one of the best offenses in the country, so the Irish will have to score plenty of points to go back to South Bend with a win. Here are five keys for Notre Dame to get a win in Charlottesville.

Know you foe Virginia: Five Cavaliers who could give Notre Dame problems

Lots of solid Cavaliers will be on the field Saturday

The Irish travel to take one of the highest scoring offenses in the NCAA, the Virginia Cavaliers. They are the ACC version of Oklahoma, a high powered passing attack with an average running game and a below average defense. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some solid players on the UVA squad and here are five that could give Notre Dame trouble Saturday night.

Pitt drops another buy game to begin its season

Dissecting Pitt’s latest season-opening loss.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “buy game,” it’s basically this: a much superior opponent pays an inferior non-conference opponent to play against them.

And for the third straight season, the University of Pittsburgh basketball team has lost such a game — including back-to-back season openers at home. First it was a 75-70 loss to Nicholls St. during the 2019-20 season. Then Pitt dropped its home-opener 80-70 to Saint Francis last year. The latest season-opening defeat came at the hands of The Citadel, a 10.5-point underdog who went into Petersen Events Center and handed the Panthers a 78-63 loss.

What makes Pitt’s latest loss all the more appalling is the fact that there aren’t any excuses for it. The 2020-21 season was filled with oddities; no fans, scrimmage-like feel, etc., and the season prior could be considered an unlucky break — Pitt trailed by just one point with under a minute left and had a chance to tie with around 10 seconds to play. The beatdown that The Citadel gave Pitt on Tuesday night was inexcusable. There were fans and plenty of opening-day energy from the crowd, yet Pitt was outclassed from the opening tip onward.

The previous two losses set the tone for how each season played out as Pitt finished both with a losing record. Hoping to avoid a similar outcome this year, Pitt heads to West Virginia looking to get to .500 early in this season.

While Pitt’s loss took the cake for the most embarrassing on Tuesday night, there were a few other strong ACC nominees. Georgia Tech, a 9.5-point favorite at Tipico Sportsbook, couldn’t shake the Miami (OH) Redhawks. They don’t get a pass, but the Redhawks did return basically its entire team from a season ago. So, I get it; cohesion and familiarity help early in the season. No. 25 Virginia’s loss to Navy, however, was bad.

This isn’t your mid-to-late 2010s Virginia team that has national championship expectations. But it is a nationally ranked team that still has Tony Bennett at the helm. That seems like a recipe ripe for covering a 15.5-point spread, let alone winning a home-opener against an opponent that hadn’t beaten a Top 25 team since David Robinson was on the roster. Apparently not, though, because Cavaliers fell 66-58 to the Midshipmen on Tuesday.

As it stands, the ACC is off to an interesting start. Be sure to monitor the action on Wednesday night when Florida State opens as 19.5-point home favorites vs. Penn, and Wake Forest (-15.5) hosts William & Mary.

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ESPN names two Notre Dame parts that could shake up College Football Playoff

The Irish aren’t out of it yet!

The Irish are currently on the outside looking in for return trip to the College Football Playoff, sitting at No. 9 overall. There is still a path for the Irish to make the final four, but plenty of things will need to happen.

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ESPN recently looked at which games and players (insider) could impact the race for a National Title and named two Irish parts, running back Kyren Williams and the Virginia contest this coming weekend. Bill Connelly, who penned the article, had Williams and the game against the Cavaliers as his No. 15 and No. 16 points. Connelly first went over William’s impact.

In the past four games, he has averaged 159 rushing and receiving yards per game (6.2 yards per touch) with seven touchdowns. The Irish’s offense has ignited right along with him, averaging 35 points per game and 6.5 yards per play.

As for this Saturdays game against Virginia, well you might see a whole lot of points up on the board if Connelly is correct.

… UVA boasts one of the most explosive offenses in the country and could suck Notre Dame into a shootout.

It’s important for the defense to show up and hold off Virginia as much as possible. The Irish are still in the race for a CFP spot, but can’t afford to trip up this weekend or any other for the remainder of the regular season.

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5 Big Ten men’s basketball teams earn AP Top 25 preseason ranking

Which Big Ten teams are ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll?

The dawning of a new era of Penn State basketball is nearly upon us as the Nittany Lions begin building a new identity this season under Micah Shrewsberry. On Monday, we got our first look at the kind of company Shreewsberry hopes Penn State will be a part of soon enough as the Associated Press released its preseason AP Top 25 for the upcoming men’s basketball season.

Last year’s preseason No. 1 team is once again sitting on top at the start of the season. The Gonzaga Bulldogs, after ending last season as the national runner-up to Baylor, received 55 out of 63 first-place votes to take the top spot in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, which was released on Monday morning. UCLA, whom Gonzaga defeated in the Final Four last season, received the remaining eight first-place votes to help secure the nation’s No. 2 ranking.

Five Big Ten teams appear in the preseason AP Top 25, starting with the Michigan Wolverines at No. 6. Michigan finished in first place in the Big Ten’s regular season last year and is once again a favorite to win the conference this season. But Purdue, who is ranked No. 7 in the preseason poll, is just behind the Wolverines to start the season.

Illinois, last season’s Big Ten conference tournament champion, is ranked No. 11 in the preseason AP Top 25. Ohio State (No. 17) and Maryland (No. 21) also appear in the preseason AP poll.

Other Big Ten teams receiving votes in the preseason poll include Michigan State, Indiana, and Rutgers.

NEXT: The full preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll

Here is how the AP Top 25 men’s basketball preseason poll looks ahead of the 2021-2022 season.

  1. Gonzaga (55 first-place votes)
  2. UCLA (8)
  3. Kansas
  4. Villanova
  5. Texas
  6. Michigan
  7. Purdue
  8. Baylor
  9. Duke
  10. Kentukcy
  11. Illinois
  12. Memphis
  13. Oregon
  14. Alabama
  15. Houston
  16. Arkansas
  17. Ohio State
  18. Tennessee
  19. North Carolina
  20. Florida State
  21. Maryland
  22. Auburn
  23. St. Bonaventure
  24. UConn
  25. Virginia

Others receiving votes:
Michigan State 87, Indiana 41, USC 30, Arizona 26, Virginia Tech 25, Oklahoma State 25, Xavier 22, Texas Tech 17, Richmond 13, Rutgers 11, Colorado State 11, LSU 7, Belmont 7, San Diego State 5, St. John’s 5, Mississippi State 5, Syracuse 5, Drake 4, Colorado 4, BYU 3, Notre Dame 3, Louisville 3

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