Notre Dame played easily its most complete game of the season Saturday, and picked a fine time to do it, dispatching rival USC 31-16 to get this 'bridge season' back on track. There was plenty to like from the Irish's performance, and even more so because the one thing that went seriously wrong - an [...]
September 13th, 2021. That's the day that Troy finally returned the Homeric favor and sacked the protagonist of the Greek tragedy that had unfolded in Los Angeles over the last several seasons. It is with profound sorrow that we Irish fans bid farewell to Southern Cal head coach Clay Helton, a fine gentleman who most [...]
With no game last weekend to recap, let's check in on Notre Dame's statistical profile at the midway point of the regular season. In this wild year, what are the Irish doing well to keep winning close games? And where can they find traction to begin pulling away from opponents and increasing the margin of [...]
Last week we went into the action with 13 total undefeated teams and 8 unbeatens among the Power 5 conferences. Heading into week 8 those ranks have been chopped down to 11 undefeated programs as Iowa and Kentucky both fell. That leaves the following unblemished teams from the Power 5: Georgia, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Michigan, [...]
As it turns out, it was not time to talk to your kids about Iowa football. Purdue's very much non-fluky win over the erstwhile #2 team - they outgained Iowa by almost 200 yards, allowed just 86 yards in the second half, and never trailed on their way to a three-score final margin - was very good [...]
Welcome back to the 18Stripes G5 Top 10. We had some interesting movement due to some surprising results. Let's cut the intro down and get right to it. Also Considered: BYU, Liberty, UAB, App State, Western Michigan Week 7 Recap Movers and Shakers For a quick peek behind the scenes of how I go through [...]
Five Wide Fullbacks returns coming off the bye week and ready for some more Fighting Irish football. But first, we tackle a preview of the NFL Draft, assistant coaching grades, the quarterback controversy, impressive true freshmen, and the desire to coach in Los Angeles or LA the state. 1) The NFL Draft is just over [...]
The first half of this season has been... something. Lots of surprises both good and bad, some recent trend upwards, and very little clarity about the back half. Usually when we do this look-back we can get a pretty good sense of where things are headed, but 2021 is not that kind of year - [...]
The advanced stats box score shows a comfortable Notre Dame victory, while the scoreboard and viewing experience against Virginia Tech were extremely unsettling for most of the game. The Irish may have discovered a new offensive identity under Tyler Buchner with rushing efficiency strengths resembling 2020, only with a clear weakness on passing downs where [...]
We are down to 13 undefeated teams in college football and only 8 from the Power 5 conferences. The biggest news from week 6 was the toppling of Alabama at the hands of Texas A&M. On the bright side, this prevents an unwanted scenario where the Tide and Georgia face off in the SEC Championship [...]
Listen. It's been a rough couple of years for Mike Brey and company. You could be forgiven for thinking this past March that things were approaching an ugly end for Brey's tenure in South Bend. But my how things are changing. A reenergized Brey, reconfigured coaching staff, and renewed roster, featuring a much-hyped graduate [...]
What a wild week, man. And that's without even getting into what happened in our own game... Texas A&M, a week after a comeback that fell short against Mississippi State knocked them out of the Top 25, completed the comeback against erstwhile #1 Alabama - which marked Alabama's first loss to an unranked team since [...]
Welcome back to the 18Stripes G5 Top 10. Despite the fun day across the college football landscape, the Group of 5 stayed relatively tame in comparison. Also Considered: Houston, Nevada, Air Force, UAB, Army Week 6 Recap Movers and Shakers Starting tonight with the biggest upset in the Group of 5 world. Five days after [...]
Are you not entertained? Saturday night in Blacksburg started out as a sleepy punt-fest before morphing into one of the more exciting finishes of the season featuring multiple quarterbacks, flags everywhere, untimely turnovers, and one clutch game-winning kick from Jonathan Doerer. The Fighting Irish now move to 5-1 on the season with the bye week [...]
Sometimes you just have no explanation for anything. Notre Dame pulled off a seemingly miraculous 32-29 win over Virginia Tech Saturday night in a game they frankly had no business winning for a million reasons. But somehow, someway, ND survived and will enter a much-needed off week at 5-1 with a chance to reset before [...]
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