Notre Dame's most friendly new ACC brethren is back on the schedule once again. The Irish face Wake Forest for the 5th time in 8 years after previously spending over 100 years never having faced the Demon Deacons. Due to weird scheduling quirks this will break up 3 straight games in the series that took [...]
S&P+ gave Vanderbilt a 56% post-game win probability based on an advantage in yards per play, more scoring opportunities, and perceived poor turnover luck. An efficiency edge and slightly better performance converting scoring opportunities (even though it was ugly) saved Notre Dame is this one. Confused? Check out this advanced stats glossary. Efficiency Vanderbilt’s defense is [...]
Week three is in the books and we remain heavily blue-blood at the top of the polls. We were treated to a couple really fun ranked matchups that debuts a couple of new teams in the Top 5 of our rankings. Let's get to a recap of this past week and a look forward to [...]
Notre Dame continues to search for something on offense. An identity perhaps. A game-breaker for sure. More consistency no doubt. For the third straight week another strong defensive effort began bursting at the seams as the Fighting Irish sweat out a comeback by an opponent that ultimately fell short for the bad guys. It's a [...]
The talk about Notre Dame going into the 2018 season at least partially revolved around whether the defense might be as talented as the 2012 unit that propelled the Irish to a 12-0 regular season. Through three games, we don't have a clear answer on that question, but the season as a whole sure seems [...]
Note the 2:30 eastern start time this week, friends. A little bit of the SEC is coming to South Bend this weekend. I do stress a little bit. The Vanderbilt Commodores return to Notre Dame for the first time since 1995 when the Irish won 41-0 while opening the following season in Nashville in a [...]
Week two is in the books and a pair of 2017's best teams came away with big road victories to cement their early claim as the best teams of 2018. If you're waiting for a shake-up at the top of the polls it may be a while. 18 Stripes Top 20 Poll RANK TEAM [...]
Our eyes told us it was ugly, and the advanced stats confirm that and then some. The Ball State defense put up a havoc rate and run stuff rate against Notre Dame that would have been best in the nation last year! The Irish also struggled to capitalize on scoring opportunities, and were extremely inefficient [...]
Kendall Abdur-Rahman boosted Notre Dame's 2019 offensive skill position group when he announced for the Irish today. The tea leaves suggested Notre Dame made a big move for the 6'1", 180-pound Illinois product on his official visit for the Michigan game; today, it seems like those suggestions were dead on. Abdur-Rahman keeps things extremely close [...]
A classic let down felt entirely normal this week but also so blatantly obvious that any more than a brief discussion in a game preview was worth the time. Anyway, a let down was supposed to be maybe a 24-point win not what transpired before our eyes in South Bend this Saturday. Notre Dame looked [...]
From east-central Indiana the Cardinals of Ball State are heading up north to face Notre Dame on the football field for the very first time. It doesn't come at a great time for their program as 3rd-year head coach Mike Neu has won just 7 out of his first 25 games with one single win [...]
Just like Larz, I've been away from the Film Room for quite some time. But the 18 Stripes crew is already in mid-season form which means we have two film posts this week. Larz already looked at the defense so today we'll move to the offensive side of the ball. We'll take a look at Notre [...]
Total yardage and yards per play were almost identical. Michigan had a significant edge in efficiency. So how did Notre Dame control the game and come away with the win last weekend over Jim Harbaugh and company? Confused? Check out this handy-dandy advanced stats glossary. The Basics As you can see, the Irish and Michigan [...]
And we're off! One full week of games is in the books and it feels great to get on the board with a win over Michigan. At the top of our poll the best teams held serve and move into a sneaky good week 2 (this week usually really sucks so the bar is quite [...]
Sometimes Notre Dame comes out for a football game not ready to answer the intensity and emotion of the big game spotlight. Saturday night was not one of those occasions. A strong start and stingy defense allowed the Fighting Irish to come up just short of a dominant but entirely controlling first half against the [...]
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