Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.
Top News
Notre Dame linebacker Kahanu Kia is out for the season with a torn ACL.
Defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio fractured his foot at the opening practice of fall camp and is expected back sometime in the fall.
TCU has added Dana Holgorsen and Todd Graham to their football staff as analysts and advance scouts.
Mel Tucker is suing Michigan State over his firing.
Georgia wide receiver Rara Thomas been dismissed from the team following allegations of family and domestic violence.
Uniform of the Week
UAB, what are you doing?? I simply cannot trust Trent Dilfer as a head coach when he continues to allow these uniform crimes in year 2. Now, they’ve gone and removed the gold helmets (maybe the one defining characteristic of UAB’s entire existence) and sent gold on the uniforms mostly to the shadow realm, too. I guess the Blazers are a green, lime, and gray football program now. They even introduced another white helmet for 2024 with a lime dragon logo.
The black uniform is the “Smile-A-Mile” edition which is an organization that works with children’s cancer patients. The gray and lime jersey is the “Children’s Harbor” likewise helps children who are seriously ill with refuge and care. All honorable motives but you simply cannot have uniforms this ugly attached to such great deeds. I’m picturing a poor child who is sick, grew up a Blazers fan their whole life, and receiving one of these weird gray jerseys to hang in their room. It’s not right.
Recruiting
The blue-chip commits for the week:
TE Da’Saahn Brame (0.9487) – Tennessee
S Rylon Dillard-Allen (0.8902) – Washington
LB Logan Anderson (0.8908) – Clemson
DL Josiah Sharma (0.9124) – Texas
DL Antonio Coleman (0.9380) – Auburn
S Anquon Fegans (0.9751) – Auburn
WR Derick Smith (0.9721) – Auburn (flipped from Alabama)
DL Reginald Vaughn (0.8918) – Arkansas
CB Blake Woodby (0.9517) – Auburn
S Lagonza Hayward (0.9521) – Tennessee
QB Adam Schobel (0.9130) – TCU (flipped from Oklahoma State)
S Demetres Samuel (0.9083) – Florida
LB Jadon Perlotte (0.9338) – USC
YouTube Channel
Everyone loves realigning conferences…as long as it’s done their way! Many people are rearranging things now in the video game world of College Football 25, too. Would you put the Pac-12 back together? Drop a bunch of teams back to independent status like the 1970’s and 1980’s? Ressurect an old conference that went out of business decades ago? Or how about change things to a new look that has never been adopted. Here’s what Josh Pate did in the video below:
SEC: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Miss State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee
Big Ten: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Big East: Boston College, Cincinnati, Louisville, Maryland, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, UCF, USF, West Virginia
Southwest: Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Oklahoma, Rice, SMU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU
Big 8: Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Utah
Pac 10: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State
ACC: Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Independents: BYU, Northwestern, Notre Dame, UConn, Vanderbilt
This is a pretty good job from a tradition standpoint. It’s basically early 2000’s college football, with a few exceptions, except the Big 12 and Midwest mixed up for some 1960’s and 1970’s vibes, as well.
Tunes
I thought about a bit back when Lil Nas X had “Old Town Road” at no. 1 for almost 5 months 5 years ago. Recently, the song “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey hit no. 1, as well. The first single off Post Malone’s upcoming album titled “I Had Some Help” also hit no. 1 this year in collaboration with Morgan Wallen. It feels like the merger of country pop and hip-hop is well on its way!
Personally, I’m not a fan. I’ve long been a critic of the soulless country pop scene and I think it’s a bad sign, when certain artists like Post Malone who have at least shown a variety of creativity within the industry, are coming down to the more generic, vanilla, and low-hanging fruit of the packaged country song. “I Had Some Help” is fine in a vacuum. I just think we’ll see a lot more of these collaborations and even the two styles starting to merge a lot in the coming years.
Trivia
With Texas A&M approaching, what kind of dog breed was Reveille I?
The Other Football
The quarterfinals are set in the Olympic’s men soccer tournament. The U23 United States opened up with a loss against France but rebounded with a 4-1 win over New Zealand and 3-0 win over Guinea. This Friday, the Americans will face Morocco while Japan vs. Spain, Egypt vs. Paraguay, and France vs. Argentina round out the other quarterfinal games.
The American women beat Australia 2-1 on Wednesday to move to a perfect 3-0-0 in group play during the Olympics. This Saturday, USA will face Japan in the quarterfinals. The other games will include Spain vs. Colombia, Canada vs. Germany, and France vs. Brazil.
USWNT forward Christian Press is being activated by Angel City after rehabbing her knee injury for 2 seasons.
16-year old forward Chido Obi is leaving Arsenal’s academy and signed a contract with Man United for a reported 30,000 per week.
TV & Movies
November 2024 is shaping up to be a monster movie month. We’ve already covered several other films in the Rambler that will be coming out during the month and the next up is Wicked, actually the first installment of a two-part series coming out from Universal Pictures. Mrs. 18 Stripes has been wanting me to see this musical for years but we never coordinated it right when it was in town or in a nearby city. Now, we look forward to the films.
So this movie is set 40 years before Dorothy comes to Oz. My oldest is obsessed with trying to figure out the plot and I keep telling her just wait and we’ll watch it in the theater. I’ve avoided any spoilers but it looks like Glinda and other forces in Oz are going to push Elphaba (I had to look this up) to turn into the wicked witch of the West. I don’t know, will it get more complicated than that? Maybe some fun stuff will be included in Oz along the way.
A Look Back
Apologies in advance for the use of the r-word in the Tik-Tok video embedded below. It should never be used. However, most of the time I put shoes and socks on I think about this video. Do you put both socks on first, then your shoes? Or one sock with the shoe and then your other sock and the shoe? I do the latter most of the time and here’s why:
@justin.rocha Two socks, then two shoes…everyone knows this!!!
While playing hockey as a kid, I’d put a sock on and then put the skate right on that same foot. I didn’t want to risk putting both socks on and then accidentally stepping on some melted ice in the locker room. If I’m going to do that, let it be with the bare foot. Isn’t it more efficient to put one sock on, remain bent down, and put that shoe on? There’s extra bending by putting both socks on first and then the shoes afterward, no? I do think having one sock and shoe on with the other foot bare does look weird. But beware the soggy socks and watch where you step before putting that shoe on!
18S Paddock Club
Have Mercedes been cheating and for how long? People are asking. Kidding aside, the Belgium Grand Prix brought us one of the weirdest outcomes in F1 history after the winner ended up disqualified within a few hours of taking the podium in celebration.
*Mercedes didn’t look threatening all weekend until race day when Lewis Hamilton and George Russell displayed outstanding race pace with the former clearly on his way to another win. But, Russell executed a perfect one-stop strategy and ended up holding off his teammate for the win.
*Until Russell’s car was deemed 1.5 kg (over 3 pounds in freedom units) overweight following the race and he was disqualified. It the became the 105th win of Hamilton’s illustrious career.
*Max Verstappen took pole but started P11 after engine penalties were applied for the weekend. He could only manage to finish P4 as Red Bull’s era of dominance looks over.
*Sergio Perez started the race P2 (after Verstappen’s penalty) and finished P7. Despite being on the hot seat, Red Bull issued a statement this week saying Perez’ seat is safe for the remainder of 2024.
*F1 heads to summer break with Verstappen still nursing a healthy 78-point lead for the driver’s championship. In the constructor’s standings, McLaren have closed the gap to Red Bull to only 42 points.
Trivia Answer:
Partly a trick question, it was a mutt.
Wait, now you don’t like lime green and gray jerseys? I’m so confused.
Why?
Speaking of the morning routine, hockey, and Notre Dame, have you ever seen how Cal Petersen eats his cereal?
https://x.com/NHL/status/1250886345507188736
You have to be a little off your rocker to be a hockey goalie.
Make the B1G take back Northwestern and the ACC take UConn and give us PSU and Miami. That’d be a fun group of indies.
Independents: BYU, Penn State, Notre Dame, Maimi, Vanderbilt
Auburn….sheesh.
Is there some additional news?
Of the 13 blue chip recruits noted above, Auburn has 4 of them…Not a bad week.
Wellllll, Deuce Knight visited Auburn as well.
Yea, that’s what I was worried about he was referring to.
I’m sorry….I was referring to Deuce in addition to the 4 above. The bag man cometh to Auburn this past week and the bag was L A R G E. He gone…
yea i wonder how much he was offered and whether auburn will be able to keep it up.
The 247 board has been having a full-on 2 week meltdown over Knight. I am typically a glass-half-empty type fan I suppose, but I honestly don’t get it. Given how Carr has looked, if you had given me an over/under for games started at ND by Knight and set it at 3.5 I would have taken the under even if he stayed in the class and showed up on campus.
If it’s taken as a signal that things are not going Freeman’s way, then, ok, fair enough, but it’s not so bad that the bottom is falling out or anything. That only begins if we lose our second regular-season game this year IMO.
I think the draw of Knight is that he seems to have even a higher ceiling than Carr does (whether he’ll reach it or not is obviously another question).
2025 – Carr (Knight = fresh)
2026 – Carr (Knight = soph)
2027- Knight
etc.
I guess the question is assuming Carr starts next year (not a given for sure) would Knight be willing to wait around for his turn? It’s hard to think that he would be willing to wait so he’d probably transfer.
But his talent (and now improved accuracy) almost makes it seem like he could beat Carr out (obviously this is all projection); this would be more likely if Carr did *not* win the job in 2025. Knight does seem like a unique prospect with athletic ability and arm talent.
At any rate I think that’s why people would be in a “meltdown” over Knight. But I big picture if Carr hits (big), it’s not likely Knight would contribute for us anyway. Obviously though we need to keep stacking these kind of talents because one never knows how things will go and who will hit or not.
I understand it is better to have both, but IMO if there was a recruiting meltdown-worthy recruit situation in the recent past it was not getting Meadows, not losing Knight. Obviously people weren’t happy about that on the 247 board either but it didn’t get this level of reaction and strikes me as probably more important.
I agree Meadows in a way is a bigger loss due to our own current needs (and wonder if that even plays a role of Knight’s keeping other options open actually).
But QB is also obviously a much more important position.
I’m more or less with you though in being more worried about our WR recruiting right now than our QB recruiting.
It helps that we already have a top guy in 2026 too (even if it seems like we’d be better off with a different 2026 guy who was a little more athletic). Grubbs doesn’t seem to have quite the talent of Carr or Knight.
A top 100 uncommitted WR is a bigger loss than a committed top 50 QB ? I don’t think so.
In general of course not (though On3 has Meadow’s composite as a top 50 as well). Given the context of our recent recruiting and the state of the 2025 class, arguably it is.
And maybe more importantly, in the context of CJ Carr looking pretty darn good this spring. It seems probably that Carr is going to start next year, and in that case the likeliest scenario is Knight comes in for one semester and then transfers out.
Obviously things can change/Carr could get hurt or not be as good as he looked, sure, but there appears to already be a very solid QB who (probably) would have blocked Knight from ever playing at ND whereas you really can never have too many good WRs, and recently ND arguably hasn’t had any.
On mobile, so apologies in advance and not replying directly to your comment but the thread in general.
I’m having hard time getting upset about losing Knight or Meadows tbh. Never for a minute thought Knight was actually coming after he left that school in Tennessee midway thru the season last year and then seemingly only committed after he was told jump in now or were taking this other commit. This isn’t a larger character flaw, I just never believed he was staying on.
As for Meadows I’m not too broken up on him. He has so little in game production but is more of a 7on7 camp star who’s very athletic. WR’s are historically hard to predict from HS to CFB, but i got the feeling he was going to be more of a message board practice superstar than game breaker.
Ivan Taylor hurt the most to me especially with the rest of the DB class, that one stung.
I think the WR room will be just fine in the transfer portal again and I think they will get very good flips here in the next few months after the team hits the field. I think this season is going to spring board the team to a top 3 class in 2026
With respect to WRs, I’m not sure that Meadows himself is necessarily going to be a stud but the problem is we have no one else in the class or even close to being in the class that could be elite.
The transfer portal has obviously given us some decent WRs but it’s not likely to give us an elite one (say 1st/2nd rounder).
And so practically speaking Meadows was the best shot (it seems) at getting a guy who could be that elite player. You obviously need as many bites of the apple to assure of getting an elite player. And it’s the most important element that ND has/is lacking (given that it seems we have improved the QB room).
That I can agree with wholeheartedly and especially tough when the best receiver at ND over the last 7 years has been tight ends, it’s tough.
The strategy for WR recruiting seems to have been all over the board this year which was concerning. I think they landed on 3 good ones in Williams, Gilbert and Soldate and I think Burress is going to be good.
I’m still buying stock in Mike Brown the developer and I think if they can get a dynamic passing game going and they start 8 or 9-0 they’re going to flip a couple of kids late. It wouldn’t shock me if Meadows flips late if that happens.
I think you might be mixing up the years if I’m understanding what you are saying correctly.
Williams, Gilbert, and Soldate were in 2024 and yes it seems like we got 3 really good ones from early reports.
2023 – looks like Greathouse will be great and KK Smith maybe still has some potential.
But this year’s – 2025 – where we lost Meadows – has only Burress and Bettis. Neither of which seems to have an elite ceiling. Bettis ranked super low and Burress is not even top 500 (even if sons of former NFL players often out play their rankings). So it seems pretty close to a “miss” this year at WR without even a 4 star – let alone multiple 4 stars. Meadows would have been a huge get because of that dearth. It’s tough to miss completely at WR in one year and will come back to haunt us a few years from now unless we get another 3 elite ones in 2026 I suppose and the 2025 class pans out and doesn’t leave too early for the NFL.
I agree that Meadows could flip back. Anything is possible. and I also agree that we desperately need the games to start so we can show off a new passing game. (Though I am worried that 2 of our top 4 receivers will be TE’s again, and that with a young OL we might run the ball a lot or that OL will force Leonard to run a lot with a breakdown in pass pro).
Watching recruiting for 40+ years , I wouldn’t be surprised if Meadows flipped but, would be if it was to ND. ND went after him hard for a long time. He kept looking for something else.
Knight on the other hand seemed all in. Which is why I still give ND a very good chance of hanging on to him. Players aren’t usually scared away by guys in classes in front of them(Carr). If Leonard has a big year, his legs being a big factor like Knight’s, I’d give ND an even better chance.
My guess is ND flips one WR but, not an elite one.
Yea that’s all likely true. Though it did seem like Meadows as ND until the end where instead of looking for something like, something else kinda found him. But I don’t know the details of his recruitment.
I agree about Knight.
And whether we flip one or grab another late bloomer senior who impresses, we have to grab at least one more for this class, maybe two if there’s another one worth taking.
Never wore socks with my skates. Bobby didn’t either. Yep, after a while they stunk.
To be clear, Since 1966 (Reville III) all A&M mascots have been Rough Collies. They are now on #10. Seems to be a trend.
Here’s what I went with for conference realignment. I put no thought into traditional rivalries – if a game is that important, schedule it as a non-conference. My only criteria was all states in each conference have to touch another state in the conference: ACC: Connecticut Huskies Boston College Eagles UMass Minutemen Navy Midshipmen Maryland Terrapins Rutgers Scarlet Knights Syracuse Orange Army Black Knights Buffalo Bulls Pittsburgh Panthers Temple Owls Penn State Nittany Lions American: Arkansas Razorbacks Arkansas State Red Wolves SMU Mustangs North Texas Mean Green Rice Owls UTSA Roadrunners Baylor Bears Houston Cougars TCU Horned Frogs Texas Tech Red Raiders Sam Houston Bearkats UTEP Miners Texas Longhorns Texas A&M Aggies Texas State Bobcats Big Ten: Michigan Wolverines Michigan State Spartans Central Michigan Chippewas Eastern Michigan Eagles Western Michigan Broncos Cincinnati Bearcats Ohio State Buckeyes Akron Zips Bowling Green Falcons Kent State Golden Flashes Miami (OH) RedHawks Ohio Bobcats Toledo Rockets Big XII: Indiana Hoosiers Purdue Boilermakers Notre Dame Fighting Irish Ball State Cardinals Louisville Cardinals Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Kentucky Wildcats Virginia Cavaliers Virginia Tech Hokies Liberty Flames James Madison Dukes Old Dominion Monarchs West Virginia Mountaineers Marshall Thundering Herd C-USA: Duke Blue Devils NC State Wolfpack North Carolina Tar Heels Wake Forest Demon Deacons Charlotte 49ers East Carolina Pirates Appalachian State Mountaineers Clemson Tigers South Carolina Gamecocks Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Memphis Tigers Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Tennessee Volunteers Vanderbilt Commodores MAC: Iowa State Cyclones Iowa Hawkeyes Illinois Fighting Illini Northwestern Wildcats Northern Illinois Huskies Kansas Jayhawks Kansas State Wildcats Minnesota Golden Gophers Missouri Tigers Nebraska Cornhuskers Tulsa Golden Hurricane Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma Sooners Wisconsin Badgers Mountain West: Arizona Wildcats Arizona State Sun Devils Colorado Buffaloes Air Force Falcons Colorado State Rams Boise State Broncos New Mexico State Aggies New Mexico Lobos Nevada Wolf Pack UNLV Rebels BYU Cougars Utah Utes Utah State Aggies Wyoming Cowboys Pac 12: California Golden Bears Stanford Cardinal UCLA Bruins USC Trojans Fresno State Bulldogs San Diego State Aztecs San Jose State Spartans Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Oregon Ducks Oregon State Beavers Washington Huskies Washington State Cougars SEC: UAB Blazers Jacksonville State Gamecocks Alabama Crimson Tide Auburn Tigers South Alabama Jaguars Troy Trojans Tulane Green Wave Louisiana Tech Bulldogs LSU Tigers Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Louisiana Monroe Warhawks Mississippi State Bulldogs Ole Miss Rebels Southern Miss Golden Eagles Sun Belt: Florida State Seminoles Miami (FL) Hurricanes Florida Atlantic Owls South Florida Bulls UCF Knights FIU Panthers Florida Gators Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Kennesaw State Owls Georgia Bulldogs Georgia Southern Eagles Georgia State Panthers Breakdown of conferences, number of teams and their average team rankings – decent parity by doing it this way. Overall Defense Offense SEC 14 80.07 75.79 80.07 American 15 80.80 76.00 80.80 Pac-12 12 79.83 76.83 79.83 Mountain West 14 78.43 74.43 78.43 MAC 14 82.14 73.79 76.14 Sun Belt 12 81.33 77.33 81.33 Big Ten 13 78.31 76.31 78.31 ACC 12 77.42 74.92 77.42 Big XII 14 79.57 76.64 79.57 C-USA 14 81.07 77.21 81.07 Thus far, I’ve avoided the stupid… Read more »
This is certainly something!