Once again the 18 Stripes crew was invited to participate in the annual "Counting Down the Irish" list of top 25 preseason Notre Dame players. While the votes are tied to my name, I like to go with a "wisdom of the crowds" approach each year, opening voting to the staff and then averaging our [...]
Our annual preseason list of the top 25 Notre Dame football players for 2021 is live! As always this is a collaborative effort with the staff as we discuss and debate who will have the biggest impact on the upcoming season with fall camp underway. How is the balance between offensive and defensive players? Which [...]
A little over a year ago I published my annual Way (Way) Too Early Guess at Notre Dame's Recruiting Class of 2020. As always with these posts, there is a ton of projection and guesswork involved. At this point in February, the Irish are still going through some evaluations, loads of kids haven't even started [...]
At the beginning of the season, most people agreed with Bill Connelly's preview of Notre Dame's schedule. His SP+ forecasts suggested that our three toughest games were, in order of difficulty: Georgia, Michigan, and Stanford. He called for losses in the first two and 6 point win against Stanford. It sucks that he was correct [...]
The Irish checked all the boxes for a perfect game against Navy - scoring every possession early, forcing turnovers and passing downs, and limiting first down yardage. Second-half garbage time stats obscure in the final box score what was an incredibly dominant performance by Notre Dame against a Navy team that's still competing for the [...]
In a hostile, very red environment, Notre Dame was able to create the same number of scoring opportunities as Georgia, and hang close in efficiency and explosiveness. What were the advantages that tipped the scales in the Bulldogs favor, and what encouraging signs and questions remain for the rest of the season, where the Irish [...]
Notre Dame averaged ten yards per play and held New Mexico to a 9.5% passing success rate in an explosive home opener. Yet there were some lingering red flags that will need to be cleaned up to have a shot at an upset in Athens. Breaking down the blowout of the Lobos and highlighting some [...]
I scatter the sidelines but only one of me is allowed on the field of play at a time. Woody Hayes often said there are 3 things that can happen when I'm thrown, and 2 of them are bad. Players like me broken in and sometimes my size or feel can vary. What am I? [...]
Welcome back to the 2020 Football Recruiting Big Board! In case you missed it, check out Jaden's Offensive Big Board Update from a couple weeks ago. Today we are taking a look at Notre Dame's targets along the defensive side of the ball. There are a lot of names on the list, so let's just [...]
Notre Dame football received its first post-2019 Signing Day commitment for the 2020 class today, as four-star defensive tackle Aidan Keanaaina has decided to verbally commit to the Fighting Irish. The 6'3"/300 pounder out of Denver, CO is the 5th commit overall for Notre Dame's class of 2020, and the 2nd on the defensive side [...]
Signing Day 2019 has come and gone, which means it's time for me to review my Way (Way) Too Early Guess at Notre Dame's Recruiting Class of 2019. Of the 23 recruits (I was just over on the actual total number of 22) I predicted would end up signing with Notre Dame this cycle, only [...]
Since the recent Clemson announcement regarding the positive tests for anabolic agents by three of its players, there has been abundant wailing and gnashing of teeth, along with the usual twitter array of conspiracy theories and complaints of NCAA overreach. Hair creams and tainted float tanks have been blamed in feeble attempts to excuse the [...]
Notre Dame football fans received some excellent news tonight, as 2019 4-star linebacker JD Bertrand has verbally committed to the Fighting Irish. The 6-1/220 pounder out of Roswell, GA is the 21st commit in Notre Dame football's recruiting class of 2019 (22nd if you also want to count PWO kicker Harrison Leonard). I am very [...]
Notre Dame's recruiting Class of 2019 got a little bit bigger this Thursday night -- and it didn't even require the use of a scholarship to do so -- as specialist Harrison Leonard has committed to the Irish as a preferred walk-on. The 5-11/180 pounder out of Avon, CT visited Notre Dame back in mid [...]
Notre Dame's solid Class of 2019 received a nice boost this Saturday night, as blue chip cornerback Isaiah Rutherford has decided to verbally commit to the Fighting Irish. The 6-0/175 pounder out of Sacramento, California is the 19th commit in this Irish Class of 2019 -- a class which now includes nine players on the [...]
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