Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.

Top News

Notre Dame’s 2023 recruiting class came to a close on Wednesday with a 24-man haul, including decommitments from Peyton Bowen and Jayden Limar. Still we rise.

The Irish have added grad transfer wide receiver Kaleb Smith from Virginia Tech. Since his namesake is also in the 2023 recruiting class, we are referring to him as Kaleb the Elder.

It didn’t take long for Drew Pyne to find a new home. He’ll be transferring to Arizona State for 2023.

Former Notre Dame corner Jayden Bellamy transferred to Syracuse.

Notre Dame has added Penn punter Ben Krimm as a preferred walk-on. The Columbus native spent 4 seasons with the Quakers and has 2 years of eligibility remaining.

NC State quarterback Devin Leary is transferring to Kentucky.

Navy has decided to promote defensive coordinator Brian Newberry to the head coach position.

Bret Bielema has received a contract extension at Illinois through 2028.

TCU quarterback Max Duggan announced he’s heading to the NFL.

Bo Nix is returning to college football to quarterback Oregon next year.

Former USC/Georgia/West Virginia quarterback JT Daniels is transferring to Rice.

Graham Mertz is transferring to Florida, okie dokie.

Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt has announced he will return to the Green Wave in 2023.

Texas running back Bijan Robinson has declared for the draft. Syracuse tailback Sean Tucker has also declared for the NFL.

Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims is transferring to Nebraska. Former Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King is transferring to the Yellow Jackets.

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels announced he’s returning to Death Valley for 2023.

2022 5-star corner Travis Hunter made waves committing to Jackson State and has transferred to Colorado to follow Deion Sanders.

Former 5-star corner Tony Grimes has transferred from North Carolina to Texas A&M. Denver Harris, a 5-star corner from Texas A&M has transferred to LSU.

California quarterback Jack Plummer has entered the transfer portal.

The NCAA ruled last week that there will be a one-year blanket rule where no player uses eligibility during this 2022-23 post-season.

Uniform of the Week

Orange and black gang, stand up. I was watching Oregon State absolutely toy with Florida in the Las Vegas bowl recently and came to the decision that the Beavers have elite uniforms. Years ago I used to get so mad at the monochrome pajama look but these days I’ve cooled–and it does tend to look best in all-black if I’m being honest.

It’s the subtle use of cream inside the numbers and fabric striping that really takes this next level. It gives off San Francisco Giants vibes. Oregon State even has an all-cream uniform set, too. My only quibble is that the helmet stripe should match the shoulder (very awesome design) and pant stripes, while the orange stripe at the sleeves should be removed altogether.

Recruiting

Peyton Bowen (0.9919) put on an Oregon hat but ultimately signed with Oklahoma.

Jayden Limar (0.9081) signed with Oregon.

Former Irish target quarterback Dante Moore (0.9947) has flipped his commitment from Oregon to UCLA.

Baylor commit Austin Novosad (0.9465) flipped to Oregon on Wednesday. The Ducks also got LSU commit and corner Daylen Austin (0.9495) to flip, as well. Defensive lineman Mateyo Uiagalelei (0.9851) signed with the Ducks.

5-star linebacker Anthony Hill (0.9900) committed to Texas.

5-star offensive lineman Samson Okunlola (0.9898) committed to Miami. The Canes added cornerback Damari Brown (0.9268) on Wednesday.

After leaving Georgia’s class 5 weeks ago, corner Daniel Harris (0.9356) signed with Georgia anyway. The Dawgs also signed edge rusher Damon Wilson (0.9926) and defensive lineman Jordan Hall (0.9653).

Athlete Malachi Coleman (0.9590) left Nebraska’s class 3 weeks ago but signed with the Huskers, as well.

Alabama signed both edge rusher Qua Russaw (0.9891) and defensive lineman James Smith (0.9902). They also added corner Desmond Ricks (0.9889).

Corner Javien Toviano (0.9739) committed to LSU.

Alabama wideout Karmello English (0.9280) committed to Michigan. The Wolverines also added corner Jyaire Hill (0.9248) on Wednesday.

Edge rusher Rico Walker (0.9198) committed to Maryland.

Edge rusher Josh Mickens (0.9436) signed with Ohio State.

Athlete Micah Tease (0.9249) committed to Texas A&M.

Edge rusher Tausili Akana (0.9515) committed to Texas.

Running back Kendrick Reescano (0.9310) committed to Ole Miss.

Wide receiver Taeshaun Lyons (0.9161) committed to Washington. The Huskies also signed corner Caleb Presley (0.9310), too.

Auburn picked up defensive lineman Keldrick Faulk (0.9595).

The top ranked 2024 recruit and quarterback Dylan Raiola (1.000) decommitted from Ohio State’s class with rumors he may be joining Nebraska(!).

YouTube Channel

I have a few things to discuss about this video. Firstly, how did they collect data on the most famous person from every country? Secondly, the transition from Jesus Christ from Israel to Justin Bieber from Canada right next to each other made me chortle out loud. Thirdly, I was waiting and waiting in anticipation to see who the person would be for the United States and…

…Ben Franklin?

I figured this had to be some sort of list taken from modern people today if Biebs and freaking Salt Bae are included. If that’s the case, there’s no way in hell Ben Franklin is the most famous person from the United States. You could argue there may be more than 20 American politicians more famous around the world!

If we’re talking the USA I imagine the real answer would have to be someone from pop culture or music. If this were 10-15 years ago I am certain the correct answer would be Michael Jackson. Right now is it Brittney Spears? Taylor Swift? Snoop Dogg? Beyonce? Possibly still Elvis Presley? Or, would a movie star like Dwayne Johnson, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, or Arnold Schwarzenegger be the choice?

Tunes

It’s Christmas time and the holly jolly tunes are playing everywhere. I have vague memories of the “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” video when I was a kid, but it became duplicated and parodied so many times I was unaware of some of the musicians involved. Recently, I caught myself wondering why the drums went so hard in this song. Sure enough, there’s Phil Collins in his prime providing the backbeat to the track.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite holiday songs:

“Baby It’s Cold Outside” (Dean Martin version)
“Please Come Home for Christmas” (Eagles)
“Wonderful Christmastime” (Paul McCartney)
“Jingle Bell Rock” (Bobby Helms)
“Little Saint Nick” (Beach Boys)
“Blue Christmas” (Elvis)
“Last Christmas” (Wham!)

Trivia

How many times has Florida lost by 10+ points since the beginning of the 2021 season?

The Other Football

My goodness, buckle up and lock in if you’re one of the few people in the world who have not watched the game and/or highlights to the 2022 World Cup Final this past Sunday. I watched the first half on my commute to my parent’s house for our annual Christmas party and it was 2-0 Argentina by the time we unloaded all the gifts out of the car. Thank goodness my dad watches soccer so the game was on the TV and boom all of a sudden…France tied it up before we barely had our shoes off. The rest of my family, not really soccer fans, we’re absolutely enthralled by the game and it ended up delaying lunch for a while.

It certainly felt like a Moment™ for soccer in my family. I nearly had 6 heart attacks watching the game with all the back and forth emotion. I was rooting for Argentina (Je suis désolé More Noise) and it felt like they won it with the Messi extra time goal, then France was absolutely stoned in the 123rd minute (honestly maybe the greatest save in soccer history???), and that was before the shootout drama. It was easily a top 10 sporting event of my life.

Streaming

I never really got into Harry Potter. I mentioned in a past Rambler about working at Media Play as a teenager and in this 1998-2000 window the store was overwhelmed with anything and everything related to the books. So much so that when the movies started coming out starting in 2001 I was both tapped out and not in the right age range to be that interested. I do remember seeing the first movie in the theater, though. I don’t think I’ve watched any of the other releases in their entirety. My brother visited the Harry Potter museum this summer in Watford, England and that does look amazing.

Recently, my oldest (she’ll be 5.5 on Christmas) started playing around the house as Harry’s friend Hermione and wanted to watch the first movie. They are on Peacock, so we put it on a few night’s ago and my goodness the opening to the first movie does not keep her attention. She didn’t even make it Hogwarts. It’s a bit of a slow burn, isn’t it? I forgot how boring the beginning had been.

A Look Back

Between the 3 service academies I wish we played Air Force a lot more often. As I write this they are handling Baylor in the Armed Forced Bowl game. There have only been 6 meetings against AFA since 2000 and given Notre Dame’s reputation (unfairly outside of Navy) you’d think there’d be so many more games played. One person who probably wished he had more games against Air Force was one Thomas Rees out of Lake Forest, Illinois.

Rees started in the last 2 games against Air Force and he went off into Heisman mode as the team scored a combined for 104 points in a 2011 home win and 2013 road victory. The latter win, is embedded above. In these 2 games Rees finished 40 of 54 (74.0%) for 545 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions.

18S Paddock Club

Previewing each team on the grid for the 2023 season…

Team: Haas
Founded: 2016
2022 Result: 8th
Base: Kannapolis, North Carolina, Maranello, Italy & Banbury, UK
Owners: Gene Haas
Power Unit: Ferrari
Team Principal: Guenther Steiner
Drivers: Kevin Magnussen (9th season, 2nd with Haas) & Nico Hulkenberg (12th season, 1st with Haas)

The Good: Not being dead last place was a great start! The Haas team did a pretty good job with the regulations and benefitted from the horsepower of the Ferrari engine. They turned in some really impressive results for their standards and climbed out of the basement of F1. Magnussen coming back to the sport was heart warming (led by his pole in Brazil), especially with Russian Nikita Mazepin getting banned from participating. Even Mick Schumacher had a few highlights along the way like battling with Max Verstappen in Silverstone.

The Bad: As per usual, the car development was pretty poor. Despite some career milestones in his sophomore campaign it was a really up and down season with some brutal crashes for Mick Schumacher. As a team, they only scored 2 points over the final 11 races of the season. With some better luck from other teams it could’ve been a worse finish than 8th place for Haas.

2023 Hope: It wasn’t a very popular move but Schumacher hasn’t been re-signed to the team and is no longer a part of the Ferrari academy. In comes veteran veteran Nico Hulkenberg who should quickly raise the floor of the team even if the 35-year old isn’t inspiring a ton of hype. No doubt, Haas will be more competitive in 2022. Just how much higher they can rise remains to be seen but the money from new sponsor MoneyGram has provided promise that they can spend to the budget cap which is exciting.

Trivia Answer:

7(!) times from 14 total losses.