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Morning Roundup: Sept. 6, 2016

andrewwinn — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 09:00:16 +0000

Here are the headlines about Notre Dame football from the past 24 hours.

NEXT GAME: vs. Nevada (3:30 ET Saturday, NBC)

Irish Sports Daily ($): Nevada preview

2016 TEAM

Blue & Gold Illustrated: Brian Kelly takes a defensive stance after Notre Dame defeat
Forbes: Despite opening game loss, Notre Dame is national championship material
Irish Illustrated ($): Crossing the lines
Irish Sports Daily: Kelly says tap the brakes
UND: Brian Kelly teleconference transcript

OFFENSE

Bleacher Report: Torii Hunter Jr. injury: Update on Notre Dame WR’s possible concussion, return
CSN Chicago: Brian Kelly will wait on Notre Dame QB decision, but not for long
CSN Chicago: Too early for clarity on injured Torii Hunter Jr., Avery Sebastian
ESPN: Wide receiver Torii Hunter is in concussion protocol after Notre Dame’s loss to Texas
Irish Illustrated ($): Can St. Brown lead with Hunter in doubt?
One Foot Down: Bagpipe Monday: The duel is over

DEFENSE

Blue & Gold Illustrated: Defensive woes remain offense at Notre Dame
Chicago Tribune: Brian Kelly says to ‘tap the breaks’ on criticism of Notre Dame defense
Goshen News: Brian Kelly preaches patience on defense after Texas loss
Irish Illustrated ($): Tim Prister’s Point After
ND Insider: Lesar: Brian Kelly stays the course with Notre Dame defense
UHND: Brian VanGorder’s Notre Dame defense shredded, again
UHND: Torii Hunter Jr., Avery Sebastian injury updates

SCHEDULE

CSN Chicago: Schedule watch: Rough opening week for Nevada, USC
Detroit Free Press: Notre Dame presents golden opportunity for MSU in eye test
UND: Q&A on Notre Dame Stadium football game days for 2016

RECRUITING

Blue & Gold Illustrated: DE target Josh Paschal shines in season opener
Irish Illustrated ($): Recap: Werner returns to form

IRISH IN THE NFL

State of the Texans: Nuggets: Veteran leadership from within and more (Will Fuller)
Viking Update ($): ‘Steep learning curve’ for Bradford (Kyle Rudolph)
Viking Update: Bridgewater remains among teammates (Rudolph)

MISC.

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Linebacker: Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy

IrishElvis — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 09:00:45 +0000

This preseason series highlights Notre Dame’s 2016 stars by personnel grouping and identifies who to watch on opposing teams. Today’s position group: the linebackers.

For the Irish: #5 Nyles Morgan (Jr.)

Credit: Irish Sports Daily

Nyles Morgan takes over the linebacker corps and is tasked with comprehending Brian VanGorder’s defensive scheme. Joe Schmidt’s graduation clears the way for Morgan’s elite talent, and the defense will look to rebound from large portions of 2015 where their red zone performance suffered.

While Morgan appeared in all 13 games last year, it was mostly in spot duty and accompanied by all-everything Jaylon Smith, who’s now departed for the Dallas Cowboys. Opposing offenses hope to capitalize on Morgan’s relative inexperience and the youth in Notre Dame’s defensive secondary, so the linebacker’s dual role in stopping run & pass efforts will be crucial to the team’s overall success.

Across the front seven, the Irish have enough experience to stack up well against most offensive rosters they’ll face. Morgan is the key cog in Notre Dame’s defensive system. If his potential turns to dependable play, the linebacker unit will perform well. Should Morgan’s inexperience lead to mental lapses, miscommunication on the field, or subpar positioning and fundamentals, the 2016 offense will be playing from behind more often than is prudent.

Preseason news implies that Morgan has grasped the linebacker role, and that mental understanding has caught up with his elite physical gifts. Let’s hope he can continue his improvement as fall camp concludes and the season commences.

For the Enemy: #46 Malik Jefferson (Soph. / Texas)

SEPTEMBER 5, 2015 – Texas’ Malik Jefferson, left, and head coach, Charlie Strong come out onto the field for the second half against Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind., on Saturday, September 5, 2015. Notre Dame defeated Texas 38-3. (RODOLFO GONZALEZ / AMERICAN-STATESMAN)

As soon as the euphoria of last year’s 38-3 Texas victory wore off, I’ve been dreading this defensive rematch with Malik Jefferson. Playing in his first collegiate game at Notre Dame and with the game out of reach for most of the second half, Jefferson still notched 9 tackles (5 solo) and 2.5 tackles for loss (a season high for him). The preseason watch lists already have tabbed him for a host of various defensive awards, and he will look to make his presence known opening weekend against Notre Dame with a large TV audience watching.

His 2015 freshman campaign was good enough to earn him a consensus spot on the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America squad as well as Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and an All-Big 12 honorable mention. His size and impact on the defensive side of the ball will remind Irish fans of Jaylon Smith, and Longhorn fans certainly hope Jefferson makes a sophomore leap as the defense’s leader. Much of the critique of Charlie Strong’s Texas tenure has been directed at his scoring offense, because the defense has been stout — the 2015 defense ranked 7th-best in yards allowed per play (4.68).

For a top-25 defense that returns seven starters, Texas will pose an immediate thread to the Irish offense. Win or lose, ND fans should expect to see Malik Jefferson quite a bit on the evening of Sept. 4.

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Experts: Brian Kelly is Among Ten Best College Coaches

andrewwinn — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 13:08:52 +0000

While there will always be a segment of Notre Dame fans unhappy with Coach Brian Kelly’s performance, it’s getting harder to argue against his inclusion in the list of top, active FBS coaches.

Kelly was ranked in the top 10 of all 128 FBS coaches in two separate publications Tuesday. Athlon Sports, which boasts an online readership in excess of 1 million readers annually, chose Kelly as the 10th best coach. The Sporting News, which has covered college football since before the second World War, put Kelly at #9.

Here’s what Athlon said:

The Fighting Irish just missed out an appearance in the College Football Playoff last season, but Kelly has the program on stable ground and poised for another run at the top four in 2016. Since taking over in South Bend in 2010, Kelly is 55-23 at Notre Dame, including an appearance in the BCS National Championship game in 2012. The Fighting Irish have won at least eight games in each of Kelly’s seasons at the helm and finished No. 11 in the Associated Press poll last year. Winning at a high level at different programs is nothing new for Kelly.

From 1991-03, Kelly went 118-35-2 at Grand Valley State, including back-to-back Division II titles (2002-03). Additionally, he went 19-16 in three years at Central Michigan (2004-06) and 34-6 at Cincinnati from 2004-06. Kelly is a proven winner at four different jobs and clearly has a place among the top 15 coaches in the nation.

Here’s what the Sporting News said:

Last Year: 11
Record: 55-23 (108-45)
Lowdown: Give Kelly credit. He’s the steadiest presence the Irish have had on the sideline since Lou Holtz, and he’s coming off his second double-digit win season. He’s still just 11-12 against ranked teams. He’ll test that against the same tough schedule in 2016.

Athlon and The Sporting News both considered Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, TCU’s Gary Patterson, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer and Alabama’s Nick Saban to be better than Kelly. Athlon also ranked David Shaw ahead of Kelly, while the Sporting News had Stanford’s head coach at #11 – behind LSU’s Les Miles. (Miles was #25 at Athlon, so there’s quite a discrepancy there.)

Here are the coaches Kelly will face in 2016 and their respective rankings:

Team	Coach	Athlon	Sporting News
Texas	Charlie Strong	#11	#8
Nevada	Brian Polian	#91	#91
Michigan St.	Mark Dantonio	#4	#5
Duke	David Cutcliffe	#15	#27
Syracuse	Dino Babers	#46	#64
NC State	Dave Doeren	#63	#56
Stanford	David Shaw	#8	#11
Miami (Fla.)	Mark Richt	#16	#13
Navy	Ken Niumatalolo	#40	#36
Army	Jeff Monken	#105	#112
Virginia Tech	Justin Fuente	#33	#39
USC	Clay Helton	#86	#45

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Notre Dame’s Easiest, Scariest & Toughest Games

Jimmy Grant — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 09:45:22 +0000

The Easiest: Navy

Nov 1, 2014; Navy Midshipmen running back Geoffrey Whiteside (29) runs for a touchdown in front of Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Cole Luke (36) in the third quarter at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Yes, Navy!

Before readers attempt to tar and feather me – or worse – I’m going with the Midshipman for a couple of reasons. But wait, what about the vaunted option attack and Ken Niumatalolo’s offense? Remember the years Notre Dame has struggled with it?

Consider this: In the last five meetings with Navy, Notre Dame’s average margin of victory has been 22.6 points. This includes a decisive 41-24 victory last year against a Navy team that featured Heisman Trophy candidate Keenan Reynolds. The 2016 Midshipmen also face extensive losses on both sides of the ball. In fact, the Naval Academy returns just eight starters which is the fewest of any team on Notre Dame’s schedule.

On offense alone, Navy returns just two starters. They must replace the quarterback (Reynolds) and fullback, both of which are staples in the option attack that Navy employs. Of the seven players that carried the ball last year versus Notre Dame, only two return to Annapolis.

If there is a bright spot for Navy, it is that they return six starters on defense. However, it is a defense that has consistently struggled to stop the Irish in recent years. This is no disrespect at all to Navy, as it is a given the Middies will play hard and to the final whistle. That being said, given the inexperienced Navy offense and the talent “gap” that is always present in this game, it has the feel of a two to three touchdown spread.

The Scariest: Texas

Courtesy of Fansided.com

Wait you mean the team Notre Dame beat 38-3 last year? The team coached by Charlie Strong, who is on the hot seat? Yes, that’s the one.

One of my biggest concerns is that Strong is that he is a good football coach. You don’t have the success he had at Louisville without being a good coach. Despite the struggles that Texas had last season, they still knocked off Baylor and Oklahoma. This is also a Texas team that lost three other games by a combined seven points. A few more breaks last year, and Texas is perhaps coming off an 8-4 season.

The other major concern is the timing. You have a Sunday night nationally televised game on the road in a tough environment. Opening games are always tricky, and most often are not won but rather lost by mistakes and sloppy play (see South Florida, 2011).

In addition, you have a team that returns 14 starters (7 offense, 7 defense) and is looking to erase the humiliation of last year’s blowout loss on national television. Texas returns their top two running backs, D’Onta Foreman and Chris Warren, who averaged 7.2 and 6.6 yards per carry, respectively. They will certainly test the middle of an Irish defense that was hit hard by graduation and early departures to the NFL. A big upset here could jumpstart Texas, which follows with UTEP and Cal minus Jared Goff. A win over Notre Dame likely sends Texas to their bye week at 3-0. Las Vegas has Texas pegged for 6.5 wins. However, I seen some outlets forecasting as many as 9. As spring turns to summer my concern over the Longhorns is growing. This has all the makings of a disaster. If I was Brian Kelly, I would be on upset alert today!

Most Likely To Look Like Clemson: USC

Not Miami?

What about Stanford or Sparty?

This was a really tough call; the biggest difference is that USC is the only road tilt of these games. It also comes during a difficult section in the schedule. I always hate the trip to California around Thanksgiving. At this point in the year, you have run a really long gauntlet and your team is fatigued. Now you have to go on the road and play a good team, and particularly this year where you are likely are coming off a physical and emotional senior day vs. Virginia Tech.

The Trojans have been ranked as high as 11 in ESPN’s pre-season rankings and return 16 starters to Troy. More importantly, the Trojans return their top 4 pass catching targets and their top 2 tailbacks.

The most obvious question will be the quarterback position where they have to replace team leader and three year starter Cody Kessler. The quarterback will not matter nearly as much in this game due to stage of the season when the two teams meet.

Another major question for USC will be the coaching staff changes by Coach Clay Helton. How quickly his staff gels and builds chemistry will go a long way in defining USC’s season.

It is always hard to pick a most likely loss. USC has been a wild card recently. In some years they have been ranked highly in the pre-season and finished outside the poll (2012 and 2015) and in other years (2011) they began the season ranked 25^th, but finished the season in the Top 10. The recent roller coaster element of their program makes this road tilt a major concern. While there may be stronger candidates to deal the Irish a loss, the location and timing in the schedule place USC as the most likely loss.

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Friday Roundup: The “Back to Business” Edition

Ryan Ritter — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:00:10 +0000

After a nice solid holiday break from work, a bit of serious writing here (and non-serious writing like the Roundups), a trip out to the BCS title game (post coming soon), catching up from a load of work at the day job, and completely failing at trying to host a Google+ Hangout, it’s time to get back into the swing of things. So yes, that means it’s time to get the Friday Roundups going again in 2014.

Now, unfortunately, I don’t have anything particularly witty, funny, or really anything intelligent to say to lead off this week’s version. Let’s just say I’m going to set the bar extremely low so I can continuously trip over it all year.

Thankfully though, there was quite a bit of news that broke this week from Notre Dame and around college football to make up for my failures at creativity so let’s get to it!

The Roundup

Charlie Strong is NOT screwing around. Around here, a common narrative is that Texas has had a “country club” culture for years and has created a soft team prone to failure. Well, that is definitely gone now. I can only imagine how nervous this made some regents when he was hired. Perhaps this is why his contract has no buyout.

So college football managed to effect the WWE and it’s a dream true. The only downside, it was Rose Bowl Champion Sparty that caused this, leading Daniel Bryan’s now famous “YES!” chant in a packed arena. Still though, rumor is the WWE caught wind of that and accelerated Daniel Bryan’s storyline in this past week’s episode of RAW.

Big Lou is talking and you should listen. He did an interview with Eric Hansen and filled in the blanks on why he signed with an agent so early among other topics like the NFL draft. Speaking of…

Dear Jerry Jones, please give me something to be happy about again. The team is a disaster, especially on the defensive line. Mel Kiper has three Domers hanging around your draft slot, grab one. Bonus points if it’s Nix because I will buy that jersey immediately.

Austin Collinsworth, Christian Lombard, Kendall Moore and Justin Utupo will be back for fifth years. Irish Illustrated apparently broke this news, but the only thing that I could find to link was an ESPN mention of the report. Lo Wood, another potential fifth year, has decided to go to Miami University along with his former position coach Chuck Martin.

And now your moment of zen…THE SUBWAY DOMER IS BACK, Y’ALL! (Hey does this mean I’m off the hook of IBG leadership duties now?)

Put These Games Shows on Your Radar

There will be two Notre Dame specials of note this weekend. Be sure to tune in or set your DVRs!

The Booze

So, yeah, Subway’s back and that means it’s PBR time y’all (save the Trojan Bloods for later).

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