Notre Dame averaged 3.6 yards per play on offense, was stuffed on more than a third of its runs, and had the same number of offensive scoring chances as Wisconsin. Jack Coan was injured and Tyler Buchner unavailable, and the Irish averaged 4.2 yards per pass attempt to trail Graham Mertz who threw for 5.7. [...]
After a brief hiatus - life can be like that - we're back with some more advanced stats fun. We'll do the Lindsay Nelson thing and tell you that SP+ liked the Purdue game and FPI didn't before skipping ahead to later action. Interestingly, FPI was more impressed by the Wisconsin win than SP+ was, [...]
Ahead of a massive Week 5 and long list of intriguing matchups we had a pretty sleepy Week 4 free from a lot of drama. A few teams like Oklahoma, Iowa, BYU, Michigan, and Michigan State struggled to put their competition away only to survive and advance anyway. As evidence, only 2 teams in the [...]
Welcome back to the 18Stripes G5 Top 10. This week was a "slower" week for G5 compared to others; but still some interesting games to talk about. Let's dive into the new Top 10. Also Considered: Army, Liberty, Western Michigan, UAB, Marshall Week 4 Recap Movers and Shakers Let’s start with one of the headliners [...]
As expected, a defensive battle broke out in Chicago between Notre Dame and Wisconsin with the Badgers clinging to a 3-point lead early in the 4th quarter. With the Irish quarterback sidelined due to a leg injury things were starting to look a little bleak for Notre Dame. Instead, one of the most fun and [...]
It's the long-awaited return of the Shamrock Series, except Notre Dame is the away team, wearing their home blue, for a game that is on the Fox Big Noon lineup, and in the Fighting Irish territory of Chicago at Soldier Field. Okay, let's break down this super weird college football game. Modern Wisconsin football has [...]
Alabama survives a scare in the Swamp, Penn State holds serve over visiting Auburn, while UCLA blows all the goodwill they built up early in this 2021 season. Elsewhere, Clemson survived a near brutal upset by the Bees and Cincinnati comes back to defeat Indiana in the scorching Bloomington heat. Let's take a look at [...]
Notre Dame picked up its fifth 2023 commitment today when Florida running back Sedrick Irvin Jr. committed to Notre Dame. The 5'10", 190-pound Floridian is in fact the son of that Sedrick Irvin, who fans of the late-90s Irish will remember running very well for Nick Saban's Michigan State, and the cousin of Michael Irvin. Pops [...]
The Irish still haven't looked dominant this season, but Notre Dame destroyed Purdue in the explosiveness battle to cement a third straight awkward win. The offense survived ghastly efficiency numbers against a bad Boilermaker defense, including many self-inflicted wounds in the passing game. Defensively, Marcus Freeman and company finally limited big plays and made Jeff [...]
Welcome back to the 18Stripes G5 Top 10. This week had a ton of shake up, yet the top of the list remains unchanged. Let's dive into the rest of the list. Also Considered: San Diego State, Army, UAB, Marshall, San Jose State Week 3 Recap Movers and Shakers We have to start with the [...]
We're 3 games into the 2021 season and the one thing Notre Dame has firmly established so far is that nothing will be easy. Granted, you could find plenty of entertainment in this product if you'd like but the reality is the Irish are giving us all plenty of heartburn through September. After trailing early [...]
Notre Dame football might not be as entertaining, or as good, as a year ago, but for the moment the Irish remain undefeated after beating Purdue 27-13. The game was, mostly by default, ND's best performance of the season. It also tied Brian Kelly with Knute Rockne with 105 wins at Notre Dame. As the [...]
In the Toledo postgame episode of The Athletic's Notre Dame podcast, The Shamrock, longtime Irish reporter Pete Sampson noted that this wasn't what he had in mind when he said the one thing he knew for sure about this season was that Notre Dame would be entertaining. We hear you, Pete. We hear you. An [...]
Week 2 is in the books and with it a little more stability across the country as many power programs inserted easy opponents before the bulk of their conference scheduling begins. While ESPN did not choose the Fox telecast of Oregon-Ohio State for GameDay the Buckeyes loss (only the 3rd defeat of the Ryan Day [...]
I have good news! After re-watching the game against Toledo I came away a little surprised and not quite as disgusted with the offensive line than I originally thought watching live. I also have bad news. As I'll explain, I don't think the ceiling for this offensive line is that high at all. Maybe that's [...]
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