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 [...]
I swear, I could never hear the sentence "Shea Patterson is the difference" again and it would be too soon. For five months, that was the talk. Michigan finally has a real quarterback. Michigan's offense is gonna be unleashed. Well, there are still 11 games to go, but Michigan's offense looked pretty much like they [...]
Breaking down the advanced stats for Notre Dame vs. Michigan - how can the Irish come out on top in what figures to be a defensive struggle? What parallels are there for this opener and the UGA game of 2017? And what four toss-up stats will help determine the winner Saturday night? When Michigan has [...]
Following a lovely 4-year break we now welcome the odorous Michigan Wolverines back to Notre Dame once again. When we last saw the winged helmets the Irish delivered one of the sweetest victories this century, sending Michigan on its way to a 5-7 season and a firing of head coach Brady Hoke. Now, with the [...]
The second annual 18S preseason prediction poll is here. Whee! You may remember our somewhat crestfallen end-of-season review of last year's results; undeterred by experience, we enter once more unto the breach, dear friends. As much of a downer as the final three games were, last season actually exceeded many of our preseason expectations. Our [...]
Hello, and welcome to another season of college football. This is my 11th campaign covering the Fighting Irish where does the time go? I'm continuing to tweak my weekly picks and poll. Last season, I tried out the Top 11+2+3 type of a ranking system that listed the top 11 Power 5 teams, the next [...]
Eight scant days until the season starts! We'll keep this short and simple - like last year, we're doing a staff preseason prediction poll, and like last year, we want your opinions too. Those of you with better memories than us will recognize a lot of the same questions, with several tweaks and additions. Please [...]
Over the course of a season not many traditional stats remain relevant these days. One exception to this would be yards per play differential, a simple yet fairly effective metric on a macro-level. Consider this the antithesis to Michael Bryan's in-depth advanced preview from earlier this week. Over two years ago in the nascent days [...]
It's not surprising that advanced stats see the Irish as a top 10 team entering 2018. After a significant leap forward on defense last season, Notre Dame returns more production on that side of the ball than almost every team in the nation. The offense, which fueled by a dominant run game performed like a [...]
The Big Ten was so close to getting a team in the 2017 College Football Playoff but fell just short. Even still, the conference had a bit of a Renaissance as it sat out the most important part of the post-season and led to some calling it the best league in the nation for 2017. [...]
The 8th Shamrock Series uniform, to be worn on November 17th against Syracuse inside Yankee Stadium, was unveiled this afternoon. There were whispers leading up to the announcement that the one-off uniform would lean heavily into the Bronx Bombers and in that regard they certainly did not disappoint. Let's grade this thing. Concept: F This [...]
Recent Comments