You Aren’t Brian Kelly and Other Random Coaching Thoughts

More so than any other season of college football, 2020 has proven to be the ultimate test for coaches. The pandemic has produced more unique challenges for every program and the cream has truly risen to the top when it comes to coaching. Now, I wanted take a moment to talk about the coaches who [...]

By |2020-12-02T23:23:36-05:00December 1st, 2020|18S Reads, Football|33 Comments

Finishing Strong: North Carolina Instant Reaction

Notre Dame couldn't stop North Carolina and they lost one of their best defensive players to a targeting call in the second quarter. Deep trouble, right? Clark Lea laughs in the face of deep trouble. Notre Dame allowed 3 points in the final 3 quarters Friday and downed North Carolina, 31-17. It won't go down [...]

By |2020-11-27T19:56:39-05:00November 27th, 2020|18S Reads|38 Comments

Advanced Stats Review: Boston College

It wasn't the cleanest performance, but a sparkling performance from Ian Book and timely stops by the Notre Dame defense prevented Boston College from posing a real threat. While the Eagles surprisingly created seven scoring chances, they settled for early field goals while the Irish offense piled up touchdowns early (when not fumbling for dramatic [...]

By |2020-11-23T09:17:36-05:00November 23rd, 2020|18S Reads|7 Comments

Clemson Preview: Time to Tame the Tigers?

Finally, the day of days is upon us. What though the odds, Notre Dame will play Clemson in the biggest game at Notre Dame Stadium since 2005. The importance of this showdown has somehow remained a constant throughout a global pandemic and chaotic election season. In many ways, it felt like we would never arrive [...]

By |2020-11-06T09:55:48-05:00November 6th, 2020|18S Reads, Football|29 Comments

Advanced Stats: Georgia Tech Review & Clemson Lookahead

Breaking down a business-like win in Atlanta with an eye towards the showdown with Clemson - can the Irish expect some positive regression creating explosive plays and gaining turnovers? How does the efficiency of rushing and passing this year compare so far? And what else should Brian Kelly, Clark Lea, and Tommy Rees be thinking [...]

By |2020-11-03T12:48:41-05:00November 3rd, 2020|18S Reads|19 Comments

So Fresh, Mostly Clean: Georgia Tech Instant Reaction

It was a little tougher than last week, but the Irish had little trouble with the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta. ND used a balanced offense and typically strong defense to overcome an early GT fumble return TD. Here's a few takeaways from an occasionally annoying, but mostly comfortable 31-13 win over Georgia Tech. 1. Balanced [...]

By |2020-10-31T20:24:07-04:00October 31st, 2020|18S Reads|10 Comments

Advanced Stats Review: Louisville

An anticipated shootout turned into a slow, grinding affair thanks to a low possession game, red zone struggles, long fields, and a lack of explosive plays from both teams. The advanced stats liked the Irish offensive performance more than most fans, and the defense impressed by creating havoc while simultaneously limiting big plays from a [...]

By |2020-10-20T19:25:43-04:00October 21st, 2020|18S Reads|3 Comments

A Win Is a Win?: Louisville Instant Reaction

Notre Dame won a game Saturday against Louisville, 12-7. At least, I think they won. It can be hard to see sometimes on a day where Clemson - the one measure of this season - utterly blowtorched Georgia Tech 73-7 and invited some (more) pessimistic thoughts about whether the Irish can hang in when the [...]

By |2020-10-17T18:18:48-04:00October 17th, 2020|18S Reads, Football|19 Comments

Florida State Preview: If You Can’t Say Anything Nice

Florida State is a bad team this year and we should win by a lot.  I seriously considered ending this preview after that.  But I'm pretty excited that we're (probably, don't want to jinx us) playing some football! Florida State (+21) at #5 Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, Indiana Date: Saturday, Oct 10, [...]

By |2020-10-08T09:54:14-04:00October 8th, 2020|18S Reads|13 Comments

Notre Dame/Wake Forest Game Postponed as COVID Outbreak Hits Team

To date, Notre Dame has earned nothing but praise from the sports media for how it's handled its reporting of COVID-19 cases, and deservedly so. The school has released regular testing updates and been fully transparent about the results. It certainly helped that most of the news they delivered was good: Only a small handful [...]

By |2020-09-22T17:25:13-04:00September 22nd, 2020|18S Reads|9 Comments
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