Notre Dame's 2023 recruiting class added its 6th member and second 5-star of the cycle on Wednesday night as linebacker Drayk Bowen out of Andrean High School (2015 recruit Josh Barajas' school) in Merrillville, Indiana gave his verbal pledge to the Fighting Irish. He was offered by Notre Dame on February 12th of this year [...]
Notre Dame and North Carolina matched up extremely evenly in explosiveness and efficiency in a defense-optional battle. Still, the Irish created just enough advantages on the margins, like converting scoring chances and field position to pull away. Breaking down the ND defensive performance and if Marcus Freeman is still within the return policy window, how [...]
What a great weekend to watch Notre Dame topple North Carolina once again but as an appetizer witness Michigan coughing up a very winnable game to Michigan State. These are the moments on earth when you feel truly alive. We're getting closer to the end of the season and right now it's looking like about [...]
Welcome back to the latest edition of America's favorite question and answer segment from 18 Stripes. Today, we'll tackle the sudden coaching vacancy at TCU, the Heisman race, how the initial playoff rankings will be handled, plus a look at a pair of forlorn head coaches at major programs. 1) The Heisman race is heating [...]
Another week, another effective performance against a flawed but offensively formidable opponent. This time though, the Irish offense was efficient enough that the advanced stats view the game much more positively. An advantage in yards per play, success rate, and points per scoring opportunity led to a solid bump from both SP+ and FPI, right [...]
Welcome back to the 18Stripes G5 Top 10. We had a couple of great games shaking up the snow globe of the Group of 5 this weekend. Before we dive into that, let's take a look at the new Top Ten. Also Considered: Nevada, Liberty, Utah State, Air Force, Northern Illinois Week 9 Recap Movers [...]
It was a very quick first half and a bit of a slow start for both Notre Dame and North Carolina on Saturday evening in South Bend before the offenses finally started piling up the points later in the game. That, and both defenses struggled mightily to contain their opponents. The over/under was 62.5 and [...]
Late in Notre Dame's 44-34 win over North Carolina, the NBC broadcast team discussed that the Irish aren't winning pretty or in dominating fashion - they're just winning. It's something of an 18 Stripes motto that, well, winning is hard. Week after week, doing enough to fight off your opponents, especially on nights you don't [...]
Back-to-back night games inside Notre Dame Stadium is on the menu as the pre-season No. 10 North Carolina Tar Heels come to South Bend licking their wounds with 3 losses inside ACC play while they've fallen off the national radar already by early October. It's been an extremely up and down rebuilding project for the [...]
Notre Dame dictated the game from start to finish, but USC was on par or better in efficiency and explosiveness. A massive early turnover (worth nearly 10 points in EPA, expected points added) set the tone, and the Irish dominated the Trojans in cashing in scoring chances to hold Southern Cal at arm's length. The [...]
Earlier in the year, someone asked SP+ creator Bill Connelly about Notre Dame's upward move in his model after their uninspiring win over Toledo. Connelly replied as such: 91% postgame win expectancy for ND, equivalent to about a three-score win. Massive success rate advantage and some bad turnovers luck. SP+ never ever ever says what [...]
Several programs suffered varying degrees of scares this week including Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Oregon from our current top 5 rankings. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Penn State who crashes out of our rankings following a humiliating 9 overtime defeat, at home, to Illinois. Let's take a look at the latest Top 20 [...]
Everyone likes a good road trip. In college football terms it's even better when there's a fun opponent included, nice stadium, welcoming fans, and either a charming campus or lively surrounding neighborhood/town/city. As the OG road warriors, Notre Dame football has been to a lot of places. Some good ones coming up in future schedules [...]
Welcome back to the 18Stripes G5 Top 10. Had a little bit of shakeup this week so let's dive right into the Top Ten. Also Considered: Liberty, Nevada, Northern Illinois, UTEP, Utah State Week 8 Recap Movers and Shakers We have to start our recap with the game on Wednesday night. Fresh off a game [...]
That's 4 wins in a row over USC, as well as the 4th straight home win over the Trojans. Life is good this week. A whole bunch of recruits were in attendance to watch a festive atmosphere in a night game against Notre Dame's main rival. There were some ups and downs, including a late [...]
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