In their biggest game since the last one, the Fighting Irish pummeled the then twenty-fourth-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies, 45-23.  The match had been pitched as a test of Brian Kelly’s boys’ ability to win an important game away from the friendly confines between the mums.  If crushing a twenty-fourth-ranked team before sixty-seven thousand somewhere in the rural South can exorcise the demons of last season’s self-immolation on South Beach, then Dexter Williams is Father Karras.  ABC’s Kirk Herbstreit said the Notre Dame back ran with “desperation,” to exorcise the demons that kept him from the field for the season’s first four games.  Whatever the motivation, he punished the Hokie D to the tune of 178 yards and 3 touchdowns, one of which was a 97-yard dash and the longest score in their stadium’s history.

There were minutes in the second quarter, long minutes in which the Irish defense was unable to stop the Hokie’s offense between the thirties, and a palpable sense of dread rose across Notre Dame nation.  With the Irish leading on the strength of a solid opening drive for a touchdown and then a field goal from Justin Yoon, now the highest scorer in Irish history, the Hokies started picking away with field goals of their own.  Ian Book stumbled.  An all-too-familiar story was unfolding.

But then Julian Love scored on a scoop and score off a Ryan Willis fumble on a Khalid Kareem sack.  Put aside the Hokie touchdown that followed to end the half.  Notre Dame took a 17-16 lead into the locker room.  That locker room may as well have been a forge, for the players who came out were steeled.  The Hokies were not ready.

After a Tech punt that pinned Notre Dame deep, Dexter Williams went the length of the field in two carries, the first of which went for negative two yards.  On the next possession, Ian Book connected with Miles Boykin for a forty yard score.  Boykin was a favorite target who notched 117 yards and two touchdowns.  Virginia Tech would score in the third quarter.  In the second half, Notre Dame outscored their opponent 28-7.

By Sunday evening, Notre Dame was ranked fifth in the country, behind Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, and Clemson.  By Sunday evening, Notre Dame was squarely in the mix for the playoffs, given the likelihood of running the table.  By Sunday evening, Sandman had come and gone.  His sand had nothing on Irish steel.

The post Six and Oh! Mettle Beats Metal appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Still, a game with rainy conditions, in Florida, on New Year’s Day, facing an opponent with a solid defense, especially in the secondary against a shaky passer, with multiple key ND players suspended, and seeing a last minute stripping of a captaincy from a defensive star didn’t inspire much pre-game confidence. An opening 35 yard strike from Brandon Wimbush to Equaniemous St. Brown restored it. Watching Josh Adams rush for a loss of three on a 4th and 1 behind the Joe Moore Award winning offensive line snatched it back away.

And so started another ride on roller coaster that is Irish fandom. The defense, as they have so often this season, upheld their part of the bargain. While they failed to register a single takeaway all game from an LSU team that does a fantastic job protecting the ball, although in this game, it appeared they really wanted the Irish to recover one of their many fumbles, they forced the LSU offense to enter in to a first quarter punt fest.

The problem: Notre Dame decided LSU needed another team to tango and joined the dance.

But with the maddening frustrations the first half, Wimbush failing to complete the easiest of passes, the Irish running questionable trick plays, and #33Trucking trying to figure out how to start its collective engine came glimmers of hope. The Irish defense stood tall on the goal line to force an LSU field goal which they promptly missed. After the Irish forced another LSU field goal attempt, this time with a different LSU kicker missing the try, Ian Book took the helm in the two minute drill and, showing shades of Thomas Rees (I cannot believe I just typed those words), led the Irish down the field for successful Justin Yoon field goal.

The 3-0 Irish lead at the half still wasn’t much to inspire confidence. Whether Wimbush was still suffering from migraines or just flat-out failing to execute, it was hard for us to all believe that Notre Dame once again was staring a QB controversy in the face. Not only that, it was abundantly clear that Book had to take over.

And, in seemingly true Irish fashion, the QB issue that we all thought would dominate the second half ended up being the last thing on anyone’s mind. An almost inexplicable error on a rolling punt saw a ball careen off an Irish player’s leg and into the waiting arms of the LSU punt team. The Tigers made the Irish pay for the mistake, scoring the first touchdown of the game via a pass completion to stud LSU RB, Derrius Guice.

If 7-3 didn’t seem an already insurmountable task to come back from in this sloppy game, Ian Book threw an interception after leading the Irish into LSU territory. Not only that, the play preceding the interception was a fantastic nine yard run from Tony Jones Jr. that put the Irish into the red zone that was promptly wiped out by a terrible illegal shift penalty that made the already nearing purple-faced Brian Kelly want to explode on the sidelines.

All the nightmares for Irish fans came rushing to the surface. Notre Dame found themselves trailing. They made far more mistakes than their opponent. LSU looked content to bleed the clock, showing the Irish they could dominate on a 75 yard TD drive that lasted 6:34 to bring the lead to 14-6 in the fourth quarter. Hope was all but lost. Painful reminders of past failures from this team and this coaching staff swelled to the surface. Same song, second verse. We’ve all seen this story before and we know how it ends.

Little did we know Book would rewrite the ending to this story.

An impressive 75 yard TD drive, highlighted by a 31 yard Dexter Williams run (who, sadly was promptly yanked after having far too big a role in a sack the next play), a 29 yard completion to Miles Boykin and a career-first TD reception from Louisiana native, Michael Young, brought the game to 14-12. We all knew what was coming next: a two-point try in the rain. If thoughts of the failures in a rain-soaked game at Clemson weren’t already in the front of my mind, my wife made sure that I would by asking me why ND would do this with about half the fourth quarter to go.

This time around, the Irish executed on a beautiful play call. It was a pass, but a high percentage shovel. It put the ball into Josh Adam’s hands. It called upon the strength of the Irish team, the offensive line, to blow LSU off the ball and Quentin Nelson gets all the bonus points in the world for his effort.

pic.twitter.com/xGQVI3kbeX

— OL Watchdog (@OLineScout) January 1, 2018

With the game tied up 14-14, LSU did their best to rip out hopeful Irish hearts. Then the unthinkable happened. We saw an opposing coach play not to lose, kicking a field goal just inches away from the goal line. Coach O’s inexplicable desire to not go for the throat after a review confirmed Guice fell just short of the goal line, on a similar shovel pass that the Irish just converted their two-point conversation, gave a Book-led Irish team one more chance.

After complaining all season that Irish receivers failed to make big plays, we got an all-timer:

ABSOLUTELY JUKED 2 DEFENDERS FOR THE NOTRE DAME WIN. #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/AQ0wY0ZLbw

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 1, 2018

One of the best secondary’s in the nation flat out got dunked on. An offense led by a Purdue QB transfer, despite how good a game he played, wasn’t enough regardless of how much time the Irish left LSU. Book ended the game with a single kneel down and that was that. The Irish had their first fourth quarter comeback of the season to claim their first January bowl victory since the 1994 Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M.

I will absolutely revel in this fantastic start to 2018 (especially considering Michigan and Stanford both blew leads in their bowl games, Southern Cal got embarrassed in theirs and, if your pettiness extends to Miami and Boston College, you can laugh at them as well); however, you won’t see me walking around in a Citrus Bowl Champion gear. There is still much work to be done and this game alone had examples of every issue that plagued the Irish all season. Plus, ND now stares yet another QB competition this season that will see four horses in the race, a trend that is getting highly concerning in the Brian Kelly era.

Still, this win is quite sweet. Notre Dame beat another quality opponent on a rather decent stage at a neutral site. LSU came to play and threw one hell of an effort at the Irish. Personally, I’m excited to see whether or not the Irish will be able to build off of this victory into the 2018 campaign.

The post There and Back Again: A Citrus Bowl Tale appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Credit: Detroit Free Press

Brian Kelly and his staff have convinced 21 student-athletes with Michigan offers to commit to Notre Dame, while Jim Harbaugh and his group have persuaded the same number to forgo Notre Dame offers and come to Ann Arbor, according to Her Loyal Sons research.

Michigan and Notre Dame have historically battled for outstanding players in midwestern states, although the skirmish has also expanded to the East Coast and California in the past 20 years.

WOLVERINES GRAB HIGHER RATED TALENT

Michigan has swayed 3 five-stars with Notre Dame offers to join their team, while Notre Dame has landed zero. The Irish have grabbed 16 four-stars to Michigan’s 13, while the Wolverines have 1 more three-star than the Irish group.

Credit: Melanie Maxwell / MLive.com

The six best players, according to Scout’s recruiting rankings, have all headed north: defensive tackle Rashan Gary (#1 overall, class of 2016); wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones (#22, 2017); running back Kareem Walker (#28, 2016); offensive tackle Ben Bredeson (#36, 2016); cornerback David Long (#64, 2016) and tight end Devin Assisi (#67, 2016).

Bredeson made eight starts at left guard for the Wolverines last year and appeared in all of their games. He allowed five quarterback hurries, three hits and one sack in 256 pass blocking snaps, according to College Football Film Room. He was also given an honorable mention on the All-Big Ten team. Gary played in all of Michigan’s games as well, registering 26 tackles, nine tackles for loss, eight hurries, eight quarterback hits and just four missed tackles.

Asiasi played sparingly – being targeted just five times and catching 2 passes for 18 yards. Long appeared in four games, mostly on special teams. A quarterback never threw his way when he was in at cornerback, so he didn’t register any stats. Walker was a redshirt.

WHO HAS HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT SO FAR?

Credit: MICHAEL CATERINA / South Bend Tribune

Besides Bredeson’s and Gary’s notable freshman seasons, the Irish have two players who have made equal or greater impacts on their team so far.

Dexter Williams was the first to spurn the Wolverines in favor of the Irish after Harbaugh’s hiring in Ann Arbor on Dec. 30, 2014. The running back has registered 281 yards rushing on 61 carries over two seasons. Williams has also found the end zone four times. At this point, he has proven himself a capable second back behind fellow rising junior Josh Adams.

Kevin Stepherson, a three-star unranked in Scout’s 300, had a surprisingly good freshman campaign, becoming quarterback DeShone Kizer’s third favorite target last year. Stepherson caught 25 balls for 474 yards, good for 14 first downs and five touchdowns.

WHAT’S AHEAD?

Despite posting a 4-8 season, the Irish have grabbed as many highly-rated recruits for their forthcoming class as Michigan.

Brock Wright / Photo: Scout.com

The two teams have split Scout’s top 100 that received offers from both schools. Besides Peoples-Jones, Michigan will be welcoming four-star wide receiver Tarik Black (#90, 2017) and four-star outside linebacker Drew Singleton (#93) in the summer. Notre Dame has four-star tight end Brock Wright (#76) and four-star inside linebacker David Adams (#88) coming to South Bend instead of heading farther north.

We cannot discount timing, however. The Wolverines, fresh off their Orange Bowl appearance, have the momentum of late, grabbing five of the last six commits. Those all came since the college football season started. Four-star offensive tackle Aaron Banks (#163) is the lone individual to choose the Irish over Michigan recently.

KELLY & HARBAUGH AREN’T IMMUNE TO DECOMMITS

Of course, nothing is final with 2017 or 2018 recruits until they fax or e-mail their national letters of intent. Both schools have already seen commits suddenly change their minds.

Leonard Taylor, a three-star defensive end, initially picked the Wolverines over the Irish, but then de-committed before the season started. (He’s currently undecided.) Three-star running back A.J. Dillon also picked Michigan over Notre Dame, but then committed to Boston College shortly before Christmas.

Four-star outside linebacker Pete Werner chose Ohio State after initially picking the Irish. Most recently, four-star cornerback Elijah Hicks enrolled in Cal instead of honoring his verbal commitment to Notre Dame. Hicks held a Michigan offer, among several others.

COMPLETE LIST

The post In Kelly-Harbaugh Recruit Fight, It’s Tied appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

For the Irish: Tarean Folston (Sr.), Josh Adams (Soph.) & Dexter Williams (Soph.)

Heading into the 2015 with the questions at quarterback, I felt reassured that Tarean Folston would be stabilizing factor for the Irish. As a sophomore, Folston accounted for nearly 900 yards and a solid 5.1 yards-per-carry average.

Of course, that optimism ended in week 1 vs. Texas when Folston tore his ACL. Folston now returns to a backfield that is much more crowded. Freshman sensation Josh Adams, who set the Notre Dame freshman rushing record with 835 yards, will see a great deal of action. Dexter Williams, who was very impressive in the spring, also looks to play an increased role for the Irish this fall. However, it will be interesting to see if his recent arrest will cut into his playing time.

It will also be interesting to see if Coach Brian Kelly names a starter prior to the Texas game. So far, he has suggested the Irish will ride “the hot hand.” That means that, at least in the early season, all three backs are likely to have opportunities until one clearly separates himself from the group.

For the Enemy: Texas’ D’Onta Foreman (Jr.) and Chris Warren (Soph.)

Credit: 247Sports.com

D’Onta Foreman and Chris Warren – the Smash Brothers – will both present unique challenges for the Irish.

Both are big backs, as Foreman checks in at 6-foot-1, 250 pounds and Warren is 6-foot-2, 250 pounds. I suspect both will probably come into the opener closer to the 240 pound range.

Foreman last year rushed for 681 yards and a gaudy 7.2 yards-per-carry average. Warren put up 470 yards and a 6.6 yards-per-carry average. Both are also described as physical down-hill runners and they are clearly the strength of the Texas offense.

Texas Offensive Coordinator Sterlin Gilbert remarked in the spring that he had never had running backs that big in his offense before. A factor that will likely impact their overall effectiveness will be the quarterback play, which was very inconsistent last year. At this stage, Texas has yet to name a starter.

More concerning for the running game has been injuries along the offensive line. In the last two weeks, three of the five projected starters on the offensive line for Texas have been injured. Zach Shackelford (center), Tristan Nickelson (tackle) and Patrick Vahe (left guard) have all sustained recent injuries. Though it appears they will return for the Notre Dame, that is not set in stone at this point.

With the inexperience at quarterback, it is extremely likely that we will see a large dosage of the physical running of both Foreman and Warren. Given what the last physical runner on the schedule did to Notre Dame (Ezekiel Elliott), I’m very concerned heading into Sunday night!

The post Running Back: Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

2015 starters lost: C.J. Prosise – 156 attempts, 1032 yards, 54.1% of snaps
Incoming freshmen: Tony Jones and Deon McIntosh

Photo: Robin Alam/Icon SMI

Tarean Folston was supposed to be the foundation that supported a very inexperienced backfield. Seven plays into the 2015 season, it was on to Plan B.

Folston, the team’s leading rusher in 2014, tore the ACL in his right knee on his third carry from scrimmage. C.J. Prosise, newly converted to the backfield, entered the game having amassed just 10 career carries.

Prosise turned out to be the first welcome surprise, shouldering most of the load left behind. Freshman Josh Adams turned out to be the second one, when Prosise was felled by injuries late in the year.

Now, in 2016, Prosise is gone – leaving a year early to chase his NFL dream – and Folston is back, but still recovering. Instead of there being an elder statesman and “everyone else,” Folston and Adams are competing for first team reps.

Coach Brian Kelly said Folston, Adams and sophomore Dexter Williams all have an important role to play in the upcoming season.

Dexter Williams (34) runs drills with his teammates during Notre Dame spring football practice inside the Loftus Center. (Tribune Photo/BECKY MALEWITZ)

“What we’re trying to do is really get Folston back into as much of a competitive environment relative to 11-on-11 team work,” said Kelly during his April 1 news conference. “He’s got some strengths. He runs the inside zone play very well. When we get into some of our spread offensive sets, he’s very, very good at keeping the ball inside the tackles and getting some box looks that are very favorable. He runs the ball extremely well inside where Josh runs the outside zone extremely well. Dexter has the speed that we’re looking for. It’s really all three of those guys and balancing their work over the past couple days.”

And although Folston isn’t back to 100 percent yet, Kelly has seen great improvement in the tailback – due, in part, to Adams’ emergence.

“He’s making great progress in the weight room and the realization that this game is one where you are being challenged now by some younger players has really been good for him. I think the competition has brought out the best in him,” the coach said.

Justin Brent, a five-star recruit, has been bouncing between wide receiver and running back. He has been splitting second team reps with Williams. Josh Anderson is a walk-on who received a scholarship last year. He played in the waning minutes of the season opening blowout of Texas and then wasn’t seen again. Tony Jones and Deon McIntosh will join the team after graduating from high school this spring.

The post Blue Gold Game Preview: The Running Backs appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

For the first time in a long time, I found myself downright pissed at Notre Dame at halftime.

The 35-20 lead that the Irish took into the locker room might as well have been flipped. The effort was uninspiring. The offense sputtered far too often, including a terrible interception due to, of all people, Will Fuller trying to catch the ball with his body and not his hands. The defense looked lost, giving up three consecutive UMass drives for touchdowns, including a one-play, 78-yard drive that made Marquis Young look like Leonard Fornette.

I wanted Brandon Wimbush to start the second half. C.J. Prosise should have only needed his impressive 100+ yard first quarter before he took a well-deserved rest for the remainder of the game. Nyles Morgan should have been flying around the field while Jaylon Smith and Joe Scmidt were carefully bubble-wrapped on the sidelines. The Irish looked to be on pace for such a performance for most of the first quarter, but everything just seemed to fall apart.

Then the second half happened and everything was great again.

This game reminded me of so many other non-ND games that I have watched before. You take a top-ten team against a ridiculously weak opponent. The top-ten team falls on their face and, by halftime, you start to entertain the notion of a huge upset. More often than not, halftime is where such thoughts remain and quickly die as said superior team figures it out and just trounces their opponent like it was nothing in the second half.

I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted a Notre Dame team to come out with a similar response. It seemed to be all or nothing with the Irish. If a blowout was going to happen, it went wire-to-wire. If there was a struggle, that too went wire-to-wire.

Something finally clicked against UMass, as the Irish dominated UMass 27-7 in the second half, mostly played by backups, to finish the day with an impressive 62-27 victory that covered any spread Vegas conceived comfortably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3afbWJ5ufQ

By the time the final whistle blew, you could take your pick on impressive and historical stats that the Irish managed to compile. They scored 60 points for the first time since 1996 against Rutgers (man, that school is still taking in the shorts these days) and their 457 rushing yards on 51 attempts for a 8.96 yards/rush average (hell yes, I’m bolding that sexy stat) where the highest since they ran over Boston College in 1996 for 426 yards.

More run the damn ball goodness: Notre Dame has rushed for over 200 yards every game since the Music City Bowl against LSU. The last time the Irish did that was in 2000 under Bob freakin’ Davie when the Irish did it six times in a row (sidenote: I’m now cheering hard for this team to topple that mark now that I’m aware). Notre Dame also came close to having three rushers go for over 100 yards and probably would have if Wimbush didn’t stumble on one of his runs in which he had nothing but green turf ahead of him, finishing with “only” 92 yards.

C.J. Prosise led the day with 149 yards on 15 carries, notching two TDs. He now has 600 rushing yards this season with 495 in the past three games which is the most in a three game stretch since Julius Jones in 2003. Prosise is also the first ND back with three consecutive 100-yard games since Darius Walker in 2005. He was almost outdone by freshman Josh Adams who had 133 yards on 13 carries and a 70 yard TD.

Adams wasn’t the only freshman to find the endzone against UMass. The aforementioned Wimbush had a TD run. Dexter Williams found paydirt. And C.J. Sanders returned a punt for a TD (shockingly, out of what appeared to be a punt safe call) which was the first Irish punt return for a TD since Golden Tate in 2009 and the first in ND stadium since Tom Zbikowski (!) in 2006.

Oh, and that Will Fuller guy got another TD reception, the 22nd of his ND career. Minor footnote.

Even with the second half freshman party, the game wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Despite Cole Luke pulling down the first INT of the season for the Irish on a Mathias Farley tip drill, the secondary had very little to hang its hat on. For quite a bit of the game, UMass receivers consistently burned Irish DBs in one-on-one coverage, which is ever-so concerning with Clemson and Southern Cal right around the corner.

I’m honestly not sure what the issue is here. Brian VanGorder could be trusting his DBs too much against inferior opponents and blitzing more than he should. Both Virginia and this game against UMass had borderline disaster moments against the pass. Perhaps the blitz rate slows down against Clemson next week (although with freshman all over that O-line, I doubt it), but even then, when the Irish drop into zone, the windows appear to be so large that I’m pretty sure I could complete a pass.

Make no mistake, the Irish are getting pressure even if the sacks aren’t coming very often. However, it appears that opposing QBs (Swoopes excluded) are able to find their open receiver quickly than BVG would like.

Whatever the issue is, I’m hoping there is another SWAG team that BK has up his sleeve that can help fix it. While Clemson has shown some holes in their game, the Irish simply can’t afford to let Deshaun Watson pick them apart and place all the pressure in the world on DeShone Kizer on the road.

But all-in-all this was a game that would drive you to drink out of anger and joy. I both hated and loved this game. At the end of the day, the scoreboard reading CFB fan/pollster will chalk this up as a dominating ND victory against a vastly inferior opponent which is exactly what the Irish want. The silver lining to the terrible moments of the first half will give Brian Kelly and staff more than enough ammo in the next week of practice.

EVEN BETTER: no one had a season ending injury. There were some injuries before the game as Tyler Luatua was held out with a concussion and Corey Robinson suffered a knee sprain during warm-ups and will have an MRI to confirm there is nothing more serious. Ronnie Stanley gave us all a scare as he went down after being rolled up on, but Kelly stated after the game it was only patellar tendonitis and not major.

(By the way, big ‘ol h/t to UND.com for all of the awesome historical information for this game.)

The post Notre Dame vs. UMass 62-27: The Game I Hated and Have Always Wanted appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

The junior running back has officially been ruled out due to a torn right ACL for the rest of the season following his Sunday MRI. The injury occurred during Notre Dame’s second offensive possession and the 2014 leading rusher never returned to the field.

While one of the many bright spots in Saturday’s dominant performance on both sides of the ball included the performances of red-shirt junior CJ Prosise and true freshman Josh Adams, the backfield is now officially a thinned area of the Irish depth chart with the loss of Folston adding in with Greg Bryant’s season-long suspension.

Prosise (98 yards on 20 carries) and Adams (49 yards on 5 carries) thrilled the home crowd with smart, explosive and sound runs against the Longhorns, but the injury to Folston begs the question: Can they continue to be productive for an entire season?

We saw last year that Prosise could switch between a running option and a slot receiver as a speedy, elusive, yet big body. It’s unknown whether Prosise was going to be used mainly in the run game before the injury but now it’s certainty. Luckily, for the Irish, the wide receiver position is about as deep and as talented as it has been in recent memory; the spot left open in the passing game will certainly be filled by a capable next man in.  That said, Prosise will now see far more consistent contact and wear as the season progresses. It’s imperative for Notre Dame’s playoff chances that he not only stays healthy, but that he stays fresh.

That second part will be largely in the hands of the young Adams. Josh Adams only got five carries Saturday, but it should be a pretty safe bet that his touches will increase as the season moves on. Head Coach Brian Kelly has often praised the freshman’s maturity and intelligence, citing his ability to pick up the playbook not only in regards to running plays but also in the pass game with routes and protection schemes. It’s this maturity that will allow Kelly to trust in the young player to give Prosise more spells on the sidelines in order to keep his legs fresh.

As Adams feels more confident and stable on the field as a runner, Kelly may also look to speed up the progression of fellow rookie Dexter Williams. Williams is the speedy, “exciting” back for the Irish, but, unlike Adams, Kelly has spoken of Williams’s need to develop schematically. He should get more looks in earlier parts of the game just to aid in the rest of the two top running backs, but likely will not be getting many meaningful playing time until he can prove he is trustworthy within the playbook and not just athletically.

All things said, Notre Dame fans saw plenty against Texas to keep them optimistic for now. It was about as dominating a performance from all eleven positions on the offense as they’ve seen, and the running backs were just as much a part of that as anyone. As long as Prosise and Adams continue to develop and perform, Irish eyes should continue smiling .

The post Tarean Folston Tears ACL, Out For Season appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

The five-star gun show won’t appear until the season is well under way. (AP Photo/South Bend Tribune, Robert Franklin)

Bad things happen in threes. On the day that Everett Golson announced he would transfer from Notre Dame, Bo Wallace announced that he would not be enrolling at Notre Dame. After the one-two punch on that fateful day in May, we’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop and fill the offseason trinity of pain.

Yesterday morning, that shoe came crashing down as Irish247 announced that a source confirmed Greg Bryant would be suspended for the first four games of 2015 for the ever-so-specific “violation of team rules.” There was some smoke about something like this going down even back to the spring, but nothing of substance seemed to come of it. Personally, I just wrote such scuttlebutt off as someone trolling during the offseason to see if it would stick.

Either way, that day is now here and Bryant is gone until Notre Dame visits Clemson.

The good news is that Bryant isn’t a starter and you could argue that C.J. Prosise showed enough at RB in spring ball to, at the very least, give Bryant a run for is money at his spot on the depth chart. The better news is that Byrant is still enrolled at Notre Dame and reportedly has no plans to transfer. The bad news is that this is a five-star recruit that we’ve all been waiting to have a breakout year and riding the pine for four games certainly doesn’t help that cause.

And of course, the further bad news is that this is another crappy offseason story for Notre Dame. Granted, it’s rare for any major college program to survive an offseason without something happening (an issue that Moons is investigating for tomorrow), but that doesn’t make it suck any less.

Still, in an attempt to find a silver lining, file this under “let’s hope correlation equals causation”: in the 2012 offseason, Notre Dame had offseason issues with a quarterback and running back battling for depth chart supremacy. Tommy Rees and Cierre Wood found themselves suspended to start the year and Everett Golson and Theo Riddick took their opportunities and ran with it all the way to a national title berth.

Yes, I am well aware this situation is completely different as Everett transferred and Folston is easily the top back for ND right now, BUT DAMMIT I’M TRYING HERE.

Anyways, and in all seriousness, Bryant staying at Notre Dame should be treated as more than just a sidenote in this situation. Count me in among the hopeful that believe Bryant will indeed live up to his recruiting hype. Count me in as further hopeful that Bryant will come back after his suspension ready to make an impact. And even if he doesn’t, the worst case scenario is that Folston and Prosise tear it up in Bryant’s absence with two hungry freshmen, Josh Adams and Dexter Williams, waiting in the wings and Bryant may struggle to get carries in that crowd.

Let that simmer for a while. Despite this hit to the depth chart, Notre Dame has four options in the backfield (and they likely won’t have to use the freshmen either).

With all that said, please let the end of the offseason come swiftly and without any more bad news because I’ve had my fill and it’s not even July.

The post Cruel Summer: Greg Bryant Suspended for Four Games appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

FROM OUR SITE

• Step one: Northeastern

VIDEO

• WatchND: Brian Kelly press conference – March 17, 2015 (42:18)
• Blue & Gold Illustrated: Video: Kelly previews spring ball (3:03)
• Irish247: Video: Kelly previews spring practice (3:08)
• Irish Illustrated: Video: Kelly welcomes QB battle (3:03)
• Irish Sports Daily: ISD video: Brian Kelly press conference (3:16)

PODCAST

• Blue & Gold Illustrated: The Irish Huddle (28:15)

RECRUITING (2016 offers / 2017 offers)

• Irish Sports Daily: Oden defines determination (Tylin Oden)
• Rivals: Rivals 100: 61-80 updates (Donnie Corley, Dwayne Haskins, Javon McKinley)
• Scout: Scout 300: Big West movers (Jack Jones, Curtis Robinson, Brandon Burton and N’Keal Harry)
• Scout: South 2016 rankings: 10 big moves (Brandon Hill, Keyshon Camp, Devin White, Patrick Bethel)
• Scout: Midwest recruiting notebook (Brandon Peters, Sean Foster and Donnie Corley)
• Scout: West moves outside the Scout 300 (Troy Warner)
• Scout: New 4-star DL in Florida (Keyshon Camp)
• Scout: Gators impress 4-star RB (Elijah Holyfield)
• Scout: Commitment analysis: WR Theo Howard
• Scout: 5-star Calif. LB wowed by Michigan (Part 1 – Caleb Kelly)
• Scout: 5-star Calif. LB wowed by Michigan (Part 2)
• Scout: No. 1 safety talks recruiting (Brandon Jones, although Notre Dame is not in his top 10)
• Scout: Lewis has special feeling in Baton Rouge (Cameron Lewis)
• Scout: Holmes takes Big 12 swing (Darnay Holmes)
• Scout: Week in review: Chicago area (Julian Love)
• Scout: Houston recruiting notebook (3/18/15 – Eric Monroe, Dontavious Jackson, Deontay Anderson and Devwah Whaley)

CURRENT TEAM

• AP: Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly unsure on starting QB
• Bleacher Report (Monaco): Notre Dame football: What to expect at the start of spring ball
• Blue & Gold Illustrated: Notebook: ND ready for spring ball (Everett Golson, Malik Zaire, Nick Martin, Matt Hegarty, Colin McGovern, Hunter Bivin, CJ Prosise, Matthias Farley, John Turner, Doug Randolph, Chase Hounshell, Jalen Brown and Ishaq Williams)
• Chicago Tribune: Notre Dame enters spring with no clear No. 1 at QB
• CSN Sportsnet Chicago: With depth up front, Notre Dame eyes physical practices (Greer Martini, James Onwualu, Jarrett Grace, Nyles Morgan, Jaylon Smith, Te’von Coney, John Turner, Max Redfield, Elijah Shumate, Nicky Baratti, C.J. Prosise, Tarean Folston, Greg Bryant, Matt Hegarty, Quenton Nelson, Alex Bars, Ronnie Stanley, Nick Martin, Sam Mustipher, Mark Harrell and Chase Hounshell)
• CSN Sportsnet Chicago: Notre Dame LB Jarrett Grace cleared for spring practice
• CSN Sportsnet Chicago: Ishaq Williams not guaranteed to return to Notre Dame
• CSN Sportsnet Chicago: Notre Dame hits the reset button on quarterback competition
• Elkhart Truth: Notre Dame football spring storylines: Wide receivers have top-tier potential; tight ends a mystery
• Elkhart Truth: Brian Kelly believes Notre Dame has great opportunity with Golson, Zaire at QB
• Goshen News: Notre Dame football: Irish start spring practice, quarterback battle between Everett Golson and Malik Zaire
• Inside the Irish: Irish open spring: Five quick updates from BK (Ben Councell, Jalen Brown, Alex Bars, Quenton Nelson, Nick Martin, Matt Hegarty, Amir Carlisle, C.J. Prosise, Tarean Folston, Greg Bryant, Josh Adams, Dexter Williams, Chase Hounshell, Durham Smythe, Tyler Luatua, Everett Golson, Malik Zaire)
• Irish247: Defensive line tandem highlights players to watch (Jonathan Bonner, Jhonny Williams, Jerry Tillery, Jaylon Smith, Max Redfield, Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston)
• Irish247: Irish247 extra points (KeiVarae Russell, Ishaq Williams, James Onwualu, Greer Martini, Joe Schmidt, Nyles Morgan, Jarrett Grace, Joe Schmidt, Josh Atkinson, Jalen Brown, Ben Councell, Anthony Rabasa, Drue Tranquill)
• Irish247: Kelly talks depth chart, position moves, QB timetable (Everett Golson, Malik Zaire, Matt Hegarty, Alex Bars, Quenton Nelson, Sam Mustipher, Tristen Hoge, John Turner, Elijah Shumate, Max Redfield, Chase Hounshell, Mike Heuerman, Durham Smythe, Nic Weishar, Tyler Luatua, Doug Randolph, C.J. Prosise and Amir Carlisle)
• Irish247: Notre Dame releases spring football roster
• Irish Illustrated: From second to first? (Jaylon Smith, Max Redfield)
• Irish Illustrated: Spring finally suits Kelly (Matt Hegarty, Mike McGlinchey, Nick Martin, Alex Bars, Quenton Nelson, Colin McGovern, Hunter Bivin, John Montelus, Jarron Jones, Sheldon Day, Isaac Rochell, Jay Hayes, Kolin Hill, Daniel Cage, Pete Mokwuah, Andrew Trumbetti, Jhonny Williams, Grant Blankenship, Doug Randolph, Jerry Tillery, Ishaq Williams and KeiVarae Russell)
• Irish Illustrated: Of graduates, nuts and realigned roles (Avery Sebastian, KeiVarae Russell, Ishaq Williams, Amir Carlisle, Connor Cavalaris, Matthias Farley, Everett Golson, Jarrett Grace, Chase Hounshell, Nick Martin, and Joe Schmidt, Montgomery VanGorder, Ben Councell, Jalen Brown, Matt Hegarty, Jarron Jones, Joe Schmidt, Drue Tranquill, Nicky Baratti, Will Fuller, James Onwualu, Nyles Morgan, Greer Martini, Te’von Coney, C.J. Prosise, John Turner, Doug Randolph, Jonathan Bonner and Jerry Tillery)
• Irish Turning Point: Brian Kelly spring presser recap (Ben Councell, Jalen Brown, KeiVarae Russell, Chase Hounshell, John Turner, Doug Randolph, Greer Martini, CJ Prosise, Jonathan Bonner, Nick Martin, Will Fuller, Drue Tranquill, Jarrett Grace, Jerry Tillery, Te’von Coney, James Onwualu, Quenton Nelson and Alex Bars)
• Journal Gazette: Brian Kelly: Need basketball team’s unselfishness
• ND Insider: No room for excuses for Notre Dame football (Everett Golson and Brian Kelly)
• ND Insider: Brian Kelly opens Notre Dame spring practice with QB questions
• ND Insider: Notebook: Jerry Tillery, Te’von Coney stir interest for Notre Dame’s spring (Charlie Weis Jr.)
• One Foot Down: CTTCS: Brian Kelly’s pre-spring update
• UHND: Return of Ishaq Williams to Notre Dame in doubt (Jarrett Grace, Ishaq Williams, KeiVarae Russell, Matt Hegarty and Ben Councell)
• UHND: Notre Dame’s Jarrett Grace cleared for spring football (Joe Schmidt, Nyles Morgan, Greer Martini and Jaylon Smith)
• UHND: CJ Prosise cross-training at RB for Notre Dame

COACHING

• AL.com: Alabama adds football staff member with a famous name (Charlie Weis Jr.)
• Irish Sports Daily: Irish begin spring practice with eye on leadership and development

SCHEDULE

• College Football Talk: Notre Dame, Ball State to meet in football for first time in 2018
• UHND: Ball State added to 2018 Notre Dame football schedule

MISC.

• One Foot Down: Crossroads construction progress 3/17/15
• Reign of Troy: USC Football: Paying homage to St. Patrick’s Day (Trojans vs. green jerseys)
• WNDU: Kelly Cares Foundation raises more than $750,000 from gala in New York City

The post Morning Roundup: March 18, 2015 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Deeyung Entertainment concept helmet

Good morning! Here are your headlines:

FROM OUR SITE

• Two Notre Dame sons return home

VIDEO

• Scout: Williams bringing a lot to South Bend (Dexter Williams) (5:46)
• Eastbay: Kyle Brindza – Notre Dame (0:15)
• MGoDrone: College stadiums of the midwest! (2:14)

PODCAST

• Irish Sports Daily: 2-23-2015 Power Hour (1:08:52)

RECRUITING

• Scout: Mitchell updates recruitment (Shon Mitchell)
• Scout: Core 6 unites top recruits (Hunter Johnson, Jared Mayden, Byron Murphy and Julian Love)
• Irish Sports Daily: 2016 CA WR hoping to hear more (Grant Porter)
• One Foot Down: 2016 Notre Dame recruiting big board: Wide receiver & athlete (Ervin Barrett, Marquez Calloway, Jordan Fuller, Ahmir Mitchell, Julian Love, Donnie Corley, Dylan Crawford, Divine Deablo, Devin Duvernay, Josh Hammond, Brad Hawkins, Justin Layne, Austin Mack, Javon McKinley, Tre Nixon, Darian Owens, Darnell Salomon, Trevon Sidney, Dredrick Snelson, Eli Stove, Tyler Vaughns, Benjimen Victor, Cameron Chambers and Dillon Mitchell)
• Bleacher Report (Monaco): Notre Dame football recruiting offers of the week (Daniel Bituli and Julian Okwara)
• Slap the Sign: Notre Dame Junior Day visitors (Tommy Kraemer, Brad Hawkins, Josh King, Ron Johnson, Michael Jordan, Brandon Peters)
• MLive: Could Lansing Catholic QB Tony Poljan be the next Ben Roethlisberger? Some MAC schools think so

CURRENT TEAM

• Irish Illustrated: Spring questions: Offensive line (Nick Martin, Matt Hegarty, Quenton Nelson, Mike McGlinchey, Alex Bars, Steve Elmer, Hunter Bivin, Colin McGovern, John Montelus, Sam Mustipher, Mark Harrell, Jimmy Byrne, Jerry Tillery, Tristen Hoge, Trevor Ruhland)
• Inside the Irish: Spring solutions: Offensive line
• Bleacher Report (Arnold): How Brian Kelly and Notre Dame distracted attention from the QB battle
• Bleacher Report: 10 college football programs with the most compelling QB controversies (#8 Notre Dame)

IRISH IN THE NFL

• One Foot Down: A recap of the 2015 NFL Combine (DaVaris Daniels, Ben Koyack, Kyle Brindza)
• ND Insider: NFL Combine results for former Notre Dame players
• The Landry Hat: Dallas Cowboys: Zack Martin provides valuable draft lesson

COACHING

• Tampa Bay Times: USF Bulls start spring football drills (Autry Denson)
• KWCH: Wichita Sports HOF announces 2015 inductees (Kirk Doll)
• 247 Sports: Gilmore expected to leave UNC (Keith Gilmore)
• Go UTSA: UTSA hires Mike Markuson as assistant coach
• Irish Turning Point: Fresh in the Gug: Todd Lyght

SCHEDULING

• Bleacher Report: 25 biggest trap games for 2015 college football season (12. Notre Dame at Pitt)
• Inside the ACC: Top 10 non-conference games for the ACC in 2015 (Notre Dame at Clemson is #7; Notre Dame/BC at Fenway is #2)

MISC.

• ND Insider: Megan Whitt leaving Notre Dame recruiting operations
• 247 Sports: Megan Whitt leaving Notre Dame for job in the NFL
• AL.com: Notre Dame apparently sent recruiting letter to current Rutgers football player
• Yahoo Sports: Rutgers lineman receives recruiting letter from Notre Dame
• UHND: Do Notre Dame’s football facilities measure up to competition?
• Fox Sports: Photos: Awesome helmet designs for UF, Ohio State, LSU & more
• ESPN: The 2015 ACC Oscars (Best picture: The fourth down play(s) in Notre Dame at Florida State)

The post Morning Roundup: Feb. 24, 2015 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.