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.

Domers all around the country world are psyched with the offensive firepower Notre Dame hopes to unleash this year. Likewise, the Irish faithful are conscientious of how important a well assembled depth chart is – especially on defense. But, how many people are equally aware of the importance of the often forgotten third facet of the game? That’s right, we’re talking about those special teams, baby! Invariably, there will be a moment this year when the game comes down to a last second field goal, or the turning point is a clutch downed punt on the opposing team’s two yard line. Thankfully for the Irish, they return two of the most talented specialists in the country.

For The Irish: #19 K Justin Yoon, (Soph.), 5-foot-9, 190 lbs.

Justin Yoon (UND.com)

Yoo(ooooooo)n, the former number one ranked kicker in the country (according to 247sports), earned a spot on Sporting News Freshman All-America team last year after he made 15 of 17 field goals and 50 of 52 PATs. His long field goal was a 52 yard bomb against Navy – one yard less than the school record. With all of these freshman successes, “inconsistency” was the word that surrounded Yoon’s performance following the 2016 fall camp. Yoon elaborated with NDinsider.com reporter Eric Hansen:

“I’ve been having struggles hitting the ball with my foot properly…having struggles of making sure I’m finishing straight through all the way to the field goal posts in the middle. Sometimes my body alignment is off, my rhythm is off. And so I work on each and every little detail that I could to this point, and I think I’ve overcome all the hurdles. I feel like at this point, I’ve come to a solid point where I could say I’m very confident. It’s just a matter of getting ready for Texas now.”

Yoon appears to have all of the mechanical kinks worked out, picking up where he left off last year, drilling 50+ yard field goals with ease. Yoon should benefit, as he did last year, from a dynamic and explosive offense providing many red zone field goal opportunities (hopefully more PATs as well). Expect nothing short of another highly successful year in regards to the Irish kicking game on the boot of Justin Yoon.

For the Enemy: #15 K Michael Badgley (Jr.), Miami, 5-foot-10, 180 lbs.

Like Yoon, Badgley was the number one rated kicker coming out of high school (according to 247sports). Last season, Badgley set a Miami school record connecting on 25 field goals out of 30 opportunities – beating the previous record of 22. He also was perfect on all 40 PAT attempts. He set additional school records notching five field goals in one game (accomplishing this feat twice last year) and connected on a remarkable 57 yard field goal. Badgley failed to split the uprights on other attempts over 50 yards (51, 53). He was named Third Team All-ACC as voted on by the coaches.

If the Irish defense force the Miami offense into a position where Badgley is called upon five times in one game, I like the Notre Dame’s chances given the Irish potential on offense to put up multiples of 7 compared to Miami’s multiples of 3.

For the Irish: #85 P Tyler Newsome (Jr.), 6-foot-2, 210 lbs.

Credit: Michael Caterina / SB Tribune

Tyler Newsome is not your average punter. Before diving into the wide world of punting stats, let’s instead dive into the life of Notre Dame’s coolest cat. Newsome sports long, wavy, blond hair and completely out of style short shorts, which instantly qualify him as worst dressed on the team. Newsome doesn’t care. Instead he chooses to justify his short shorts with the phrase, “sky’s out, thighs out.” He also has a specific “cookin’ dance” he likes to show off after a quality punt. For more on the interesting punter, I strongly suggest reading this piece by Tim Prister of Irish Illustrated.

On to football – 2015 was the first year of punting duties for Newsome. He booted an impressive average of 44.5 yards per punt. His long punt was a solid 62 yard blast. Many, including myself, believe Newsome was snubbed from the 2016 Ray Guy Award preseason watch list – the award for the nation’s best punter. Fortunately, “watch lists” are meaningless.

Newsome’s specialties don’t end with punting  – he also manages the kickoff duties. In 13 games, he recorded 21 touchbacks in 84 kickoffs. Punting is often a thankless job, but only because everyone hates the idea of fourth down. With an established weapon at punter, the Irish should be confident in their ability to flip field position when needed.

For the Enemy: #46 P Alex Boy (Sr.), Nevada, 6-foot-3, 200 lbs.

Credit: Nevada Wolf Pack athletics

Boy is an extremely talented and experienced punter. In his time at Nevada he has played in 26 games, totaling 124 total punts amassing an amazing 5,346 total yards. He ranks second in the Nevada school record books with an average of 43.1 yards per punt. Boy has been named to the aforementioned 2016 Ray Guy Award preseason watch list. His career long is a 68 yard punt that likely produced a divot in the ground if it wasn’t caught. Fun fact – Boy walked on his freshman year. Hopefully the Irish faithful get to know Boy very well as he is forced to add to his impressive 5,346 career yards after many three-and-outs when Nevada faces off against Notre Dame in the Irish home opener.

May the Notre Dame special teams prove to be nothing short of…special in 2016.

Cheers and Go Irish!

The post Special Teams: Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Depth, baby! Everything this fall will revolve around the exceptional depth that has slowly been built year over year. The coaching staff has recruited exceptionally well over the past few years (the 2017 class aka #IRISHEL17E and the 2018 class aka #IrishBouND18 are stacking up quite nicely as well) especially addressing specific positional needs.

The depth is far and above where it has been in years past. The offense returns multiple assets at every position. Proven running backs Tarean Folston and Josh Adams will lead the ground game along with Dexter Williams guaranteed to be fighting for carries.

The offensive line depth is nothing short of incredible considering it lost two future NFL starters from last year in Ronnie Stanley and Nick Martin. Junior guard Quenton Nelson has been named a Sports Illustrated preseason All-American and senior tackle Mike McGlinchey is garnering elite status as the 64th best player in the nation – according to ESPN. These two woolly mammoths will anchor the left side of the offensive line, and the right side anticipates a battle between junior Alex Bars and seniors Hunter Bivin and Colin McGovern.

Tight end, once a surging position of depth, took a hit in the academic ineligibility ruling against Alize Jones. As reported, Jones will miss the entire 2016 season. The return of transferring/not transferring Tyler Luatua provides the group with a huge (255 lbs. pun intended) veteran h-back, and his decision to not transfer now proves to be vital to the position group. Nic Weishar and Durham Smythe are both capable and consistent targets from a three point stance and split wide – this groups presence and overall utility within the red zone should not be understated.

Credit: Matt Cashore

The wide receiver cupboard is full – yet unproven. The only shoe-in to start is senior Torii Hunter Jr. Behind him will be an intriguing battle between Equanimeous St. Brown, Corey Holmes, Miles Boykin, C.J. Sanders, and potentially true freshman/early enrollee Kevin Stepherson. Finishing on the offensive side of the ball, who could forget the quarterback situation, in which the Irish arguably have the most collective talent at the position in the entire nation (including Brandon Wimbush)? *Insert your own opinions about the QB situation* and find my own here.

The defensive line (also unfortunately known as the Irish’s Achilles heel in recent years) is loaded with talent and (FINALLY) depth. Isaac Rochell, Jarron Jones and Daniel Cage are battle tested veterans while Andrew Trumbetti, Jay Hayes, Jerry Tillery, Jonathan Bonner, Micah Dew-Treadway and Elijah Taylor all look to make significant impacts and potentially break out. Also, look for the word “sub packages” to be thrown around as highly talented true freshman defensive ends Daelin Hayes and Khalid Kareem could be utilized as pass rushers in such schemes.

Nyles Morgan (Credit: Chicago Tribune)

Nyles Morgan is an automatic upgrade at the Mike linebacker position, and while replacing the “once in a century” freakish athleticism of Jaylon Smith is no small task, the linebacker corps is well stocked with young talent. Te’von Coney saw limited action last year and is reported to be fully recovered from a shoulder injury suffered in the Fiesta Bowl. His classmates and other blue chip linebacker recruits, Asmar Bilal (2015 defensive scout team player of the year) and Josh Barajas redshirted last year. This young talent will push upperclassmen, Greer Martini and James Onwaulu for reps.

The secondary returns Jekyll and Hyde aka Max Redfield along with sixth year Cal transfer Avery Sebastian and fan favorite Drue Tranquil – all at safety. Garnering spring ball notoriety was true freshman and early enrollee Devin Studstill, who was my “most likely to make an immediate impact” of the 2016 recruiting class.

Rounding out the secondary at cornerback is senior multi year starter Cole Luke along with juniors Nick Watkins and Devin Butler. They are surrounded by younger talent in sophomore Nick Coleman and Shaun Crawford, who was slated to be the team’s starting nickel back last year until suffering a torn ACL in fall camp. Crawford drew incredibly high praise during the 2015 fall camp before his injury, and his return provides a massive athletic boost to the secondary.

Credit: UHND.com

Over the past few years the Notre Dame special teams have often been regarded as the “not-so-special teams.” Last year, however, the group made great strides and improvements. Returning “The Big Three” key specialists in kicker Justin Yoon, punter Tyler Newsome, and long snapper Scott Daly should pay dividends for the special teams in 2016. DeShone Kizer has been relieved of his holding duties and he will be replaced by Montgomery VanGorder. The Irish also have the luxury of Sanders’ electric and ever-elusive return skills. As a true freshman, Sanders returned both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown last season. The special teams should continue to build off of last year’s success.

With the well-rounded depth in place, #NDFB is primed for an entertaining fall. Don’t forget that it is your civic duty as a Domer to recite one Hail Mary each day of camp for the shake of keeping this vital depth healthy!

Cheers and Go Irish!

The post Analyzing the Fall Camp Depth Chart appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Credit: Gameface Media

Perhaps you’ve heard of the “beer mile,” where participants drink a full-sized beer and then run a quarter mile four times over. It’s a competitive event, sure, but not one I’d suggest doing during the hot August heat in South Bend, Ind.

Fall camp under Brian Kelly usually opens in the first week of August, which is great if you’re not happening to reach legal drinking age soon thereafter. So let’s pour one out for senior TE Durham Smythe, junior RB Justin Brent, junior S Drue Tranquill and junior DE Jay Hayes who will be turning 21 between Aug. 9 and Aug. 16 this year. (Incidentally, Smythe was born on the day Jerry Garcia died.)

Here are some other facts about the Notre Dame football team, some stranger than others:

• The most popular day to be born among scholarship players is Wednesday. The least popular day is Sunday.
• The most popular month to be born was October – 11 players. The least popular was February, May and November – three each.
• Four of the players born in October were born on a Wednesday – junior OL Jimmy Byrne, sophomore NG Brandon Tiassum, sophomore S Nicco Fertitta and freshman WR Kevin Stepherson.
• Six players will have game this year on their birthdays: OL Hunter Bivin & LB James Onwualu (vs. Texas); Stepherson (vs. Syracuse); OL Colin McGovern & RB Josh Adams (vs. Miami); and TE Jacob Matuska (vs. Navy).
• The Notre Dame football team went 5-0 on days their players were born, beating Washington twice and Vanderbilt, Navy and Michigan once apiece.
• There’s a whopping 2,025 days difference between the team’s oldest player (OL Mark Harrell, 23) and its youngest (LB Jonathan Jones, 17).
• Harrell is the team’s lone 23 year old. There are three 22-year-olds, 16 21-year-olds, 17 20-year-olds, 21 19-year-olds, 21 18-year-olds and 2 17-year-olds.
• 

  Credit: C’est La Vie Cakes

  Freshman DE Ade Ogundeji is likely the only player on the team whose shoe size (18) is higher than his age (17).

• Harrell, a fifth year senior, is older than 6th year safety Avery Sebastian.
• DL John Montelus is the youngest senior on the team. He won’t be 21 until September. Sophomore K Justin Yoon is 29 days younger than Montelus.
• WR Corey Holmes is the oldest junior on the team. He’s already 21. TE Tyler Luatua is the youngest junior; there are nine sophomores older than him.
• DT Micah Dew-Treadway is the youngest sophomore. He’s 18 and there are six freshman older than him.
• S Spencer Perry is the oldest freshman. He’s 19.
• Players who share the same exact birthdate (day, month & year): Bivin & Onwualu; junior OL Alex Bars & Montelus; junior OL Quenton Nelson & NG Peter Mokwuah; Luatua and sophomore CB Nick Coleman; sophomore QB Brandon Wimbush & long snapper John Shannon; freshmen WR Chase Claypool & S Jalen Elliott.
• Yoon was born four days after O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of double murder.
• Freshman S Donte Vaughn was born on the same day that musician John Denver died.
• Wimbush and Shannon lived on the same Earth as comedian Chris Farley for just one day.
• The Drudge Report gains national notoriety after breaking news of President Bill Clinton’s affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. The Eichenberg family welcomes their son Liam the following day.
• Freshman S Devin Studstill and J.K. Rowling’s second Harry Potter novel, “Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets” emerged on the same day.

Thanks to Blue & Gold Illustrated’s fall preview for the birthdates of most Notre Dame players.

The post Four Irish Footballers Turning 21 During Fall Camp appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

It’s a more-than-fair question, for it highlights a major problem with these postseason polls. Notre Dame lists its athletes by academic year. This seems to be held against them. Is this simply a case of the pollsters not being able to crack Notre Dame’s enigmatic code? Or, are they deliberately using Notre Dame’s practice against the Irish in a deliberate conspiracy to deny them their share of national recognition?

The truth is out there.

https://youtu.be/rbBX6aEzEz8

Consider the case of Justin Yoon.  To the outside world, this is what Justin looks like:

Justin is in his first year at Notre Dame. He is thus listed by the football team as a freshman. He finished the season with an eye-popping 89.47 field goal completion-percentage (15/17). This puts him like three one-somethings behind John Carney (17-19, .895, 1984) in the ND record books for field goal percentage for a season. His fifty-two yarder against Navy is the second-longest in ND history. On extra points, Justin was 46-for-48 for a 95.83 completion-percentage.

USA Today’s Freshman All-America place kicker, however, was Clemson’s Greg Huegel. To the outside world, this is what Greg looks like:

On the season, Huegel was 22-for-25 on field goals for a .880 completion average. On extra points, he was 49-for-54 or 90.7%. AND WHEN HE WAS A FRESHMAN AT CLEMSON, JUSTIN YOON WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL.

Next, consider the case of Josh Adams. To the outside world, he looks like this:

After starting his collegiate career with a touchdown against Texas, and making us all gasp against Wake Forest, Josh put together a pretty remarkable season. He carried the ball 102 times for 760 yards, an average of 7.45 yards per carry. He scored five touchdowns and averaged 63.33 yards per game.

One of the USA Today All America running backs is Iowa State’s Mike Warren. To the outside world, Mike Warren looks like this:

Warren carried the ball 227 times for 1,339 yards, an average of 5.9 yards per carry. He, too, scored five touchdowns. He too was in college when the Notre Dame player was in high school.

So do Notre Dame “redshirts” get similar treatment? Consider the case of DeShone Kizer. Perhaps you’ve seen him on Showtime’s fantastic embed program A Season With. Or, perhaps you remember him from such Saturday thrillers as The Last Play of the Virginia Game or That Other Time He Hit Will Fuller In Stride. To the outside world, this is what DeShone looks like:

Because he is in his second academic year at Notre Dame, he is listed as a sophomore. On the season, his first according to the NCAA-eligibility rules, one in which he did not see action until the second half of the second game, Kizer finished with 2,596 yards passing (19 TDs, 9 INTs), 499 yards rushing (9 TDs), and a quarterback rating of 151.77. Kizer completed 188 of 297 passes for a 63.3 completion-percentage.

All-America honors went, instead, to an academic freshman at UCLA, Josh Rosen. Rosen finished the season with 3,350 yards passing (20 TDs, 9 INTs), 27 yards rushing, and a quarterback rating of 133.19. Rosen completed 266 of 447 passes for a 59.5 completion-percentage.

Finally, consider the case of Tyler Newsome. To the outside world, Tyler looks like this:

For real. That’s really his hair. Tonsorial criticisms aside, Tyler booted 79 kickoffs this year for 4,856 yards, an average of 61.47 yards per attempt. Nineteen went for touchbacks. Five went out-of-bounds. As a punter, he boomed 49 for 2,157 yards, an average of 44.02 yards per punt.

But the All-America award went to Missouri’s Corey Fatone, a true freshman. Corey kicked off 43 times for 2,700 yards, an average of 62.79 yards per attempt. Eighteen were touchbacks. One went out-of-bounds. He punted a remarkable 81 times for 3,477 yards, an average of 42.93 yards per punt.

These aren’t perfect comparisons. For example, Josh Adams was not the featured back in the way Mike Warren was. Tyler Newsome didn’t have to punt as much as Corey Fatone because Missouri was an offensive dumpster fire. Justin Yoon was… what? Korean?

Whatever the case, the pollsters seem to be having it both ways against the Irish.

The post Should Notre Dame’s Sophomores Be Redshirt Freshmen? The 2015 All-America Team appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Moons you need a good hook to draw readers in, then maintain your story arc and you’ll net a good story…if you keep it to 3 good points

I think he’s onto something here. If my placement is even slightly off, things could drift and get away from me in a hurry, so let’s jump right in to talking about kickers and punters:

The Irish: For Notre Dame to get a leg up on the competition in 2015, they’ll have to replace kicker/punter Kyle Brindza who was lost to graduation. The horror of graduating players. Despite a rough senior season which saw Brindza convert just 58% of his field goal attempts, he still ended his career as Notre Dame’s all-time leading kicker. Brindza also finished the season 3^rd nationally in touchbacks in 2014 and had a punt average of 41.4 yards. He was a one stop shop for all your kicking needs.

Enter…

Justin Yooooooooooooooooon.

HLS has spent a great deal of time discussing Yoon this offseason. Perhaps kickers are the staff’s Achilles heel, or perhaps we’re geniuses (only time will tell). Andrewwinn toed the line for Yoon naming him Notre Dame’s 9^th best player in his countdown of this year’s team. It’s obvious all the other writers who contributed to Keith Arnold’s countdown had cold feet about Yoon. I also set out my expectations for Justin Yoon and compared him to some other recent highly touted kicking recruits. If we split the uprights with these previous predictions, everyone in Notre Dame land should be happy.

There’s not a lot else to say about a kicker who’s never appeared in a collegiate game. He’s got all the tools. As importantly, he’s got an amazing name for kicking. This is where you Loyal Readers come in. There are many opportunities for some great name puns:

• Just-inside the uprights
• Yoon-ever know what’s going to happen when a kicker lines up.

4 years to improve and take advantage of this A+ kicking name. And with #HLSRecap set to return this weekend, you won’t have to wait long to try a few out. In the meantime, here are some highlights of Justin Yoon kicking odd shaped balls:

Punting duties will be handled by another player seeing his first ever game action: Tyler Newsome. Newsome, a sophomore, has two things going for him: 1) He’s from Georgia. I may be biased, but I find Georgians to be remarkably likeable, and they have a decent recent track record at ND (Stephon Tuitt, Darius Walker, TJ Jones to name a few). 2) Please take a look at Newsome’s profile at ND’s official site. The guy’s hair looks like it has some fantastic hang time. Let’s hope his punts follow suit.

The opponent: So…..speaking of amazing names for a kicker, ND will be exposed to some rarefied air of kicking names when they match up with Pitt’s prolific pedi-athlete: CHRIS BLEWITT. This may sound like a name out of a Matt Christopher book or a name made up for an Ashley Madison account, but nope, it’s real, and it’s spectacular. Don’t worry, Chris has already performed his Pitt duties by totally Pitt-ing a game versus Duke last season. If you click on that link, you can see a sampling of what the Internet had awaiting him. Again, Loyal Readers, this is on you…you have MONTHS to prepare for this opportunity. Please don’t (ahem) blow it Blewitt.

The thing you should know about Blewitt is that when his name’s not serving as Internet fodder for the worst of us punsters, he’s actually a pretty good kicker. For his career he’s converted 30/39 attempts with a long of 52. His 98 points tallied last season was 5 points ahead of Brindza’s tally.

As for punter…we’re going to give it to Navy’s Pablo Beltran as he had the best yards per punt average of any opponent kicker ND will see this year. Notre Dame might face 3 or 4 of the best quarterbacks in the nation, but they seem to have successfully tap danced around seeing the nation’s best punters. So who knows, maybe CJ Sanders and Will Fuller (named as the 2-deep at punt returner for Texas) will get a chance to work some Irish magic on the punt returns this year. Leave your snickering for the comments.

The post Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy: Kicker/Punter appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Are kickers people?

This is a difficult question. Most fans refuse to accept that kickers are included in the definition of “football players.” As it turns out, HLS’s very own Molly may have confirmation from Football 101 that BVG feels the same way:

BVG recommends your daughters date linebackers. (Kicker and long snapper were suggested but he said they aren't really football players)

— Molly (@LluckoftheIrish) June 9, 2015

Kickers lead a tortured existence. You see, kickers are the United States Postal Service of football. They are expected to accomplish their jobs without fail, no matter the conditions. They are understood to be necessary but there is always a rumbling growl just below the surface about how they’re antiquated and should be eliminated. For doing their job well, there is no thanks. Just expectation that they do it again the next time. One instance of failure is met with anger and outrage that they couldn’t complete their one simple task. And sure, there are times when they bring gifts of great joy, but those instances are generally few and far between. The majority of the time they just deliver the mundane and unremarkable. I wouldn’t wish being a kicker on my worst enemy. Kickers are rarely remembered for their best makes. It’s far more likely he’ll be remembered for his worst miss.

Wide right.

Wide left.

Eternal damnation.

Come to think of it…maybe I would wish being a kicker on my worst enemy. I think Pete Carroll would have looked good in a single bar face mask, yipping about the field, and then missing a field goal to the right as time expires to give Notre Dame the win. One man’s nightmare is another man’s fantasy.

Okay, okay…there is a point to all of this. Notre Dame’s lost a pretty darn fine kicker in Kyle Brindza. His senior year won’t go down as the greatest in history, but Brindza’s career was still quite good…for a kicker. Better for him, he’s someone who has a chance at being remembered for his final make versus LSU as opposed to some kicks earlier in the season that I’ve selectively blocked from my memory with the assistance of my personal therapist, Dr. Jack Daniels. Brindza’s graduation means the reign of the next great postal worker is upon us. His name is Justin Yoon. The expectations for Yoon will be the same as they are for all kickers: Know your place, thank you for not having the name Blewett (for the non-PITT familiar, that last name is pronounced BLEW-IT), and NEVER MISS.

Erase from your mind the possibility of Justin Yoon ever reaching these pattern expectations for kickers, and you just might realize that he’s got a great opportunity to be a great one (or at least as mildly disappointing as a kicker may be). Yoon comes in as the #1 kicking prospect in the country according to most of the recruiting services. Kicker ratings are volatile like most other rankings. Consider Brindza himself. Kyle was ranked #1 by 247 Sports, #6 by ESPN, and #17 by Rivals. Probably because, let’s be honest, most recruiting services don’t spend a ton of time trying to research kickers. Yet, Yoon is as close to a consensus #1 as you can get. Rivals had Yoon #1. 247 Sports had Yoon #1. ESPN had Yoon #2. So, at bare minimum, the Massachusetts product did a good job getting his name out there.

I could say my expectations for Yoon are that he will kick dat ball good, and I think that would be a fair, complete assessment. Yet, I wanted to have some guidepost as to what that might mean. So, I decided to look at the top 2 kicking prospects according to 247 Sports Composite rankings for each year from 2010 to 2014 and see how the best of the worst (because they’re still kickers, these jokes write themselves!) faired on field goal attempts:

*Christy only served as a punter during his collegiate career.

** Comically, it does not appear Williams ever kicked or punted. He may have been recruited to punt, but it appears he ever even did that.

If the chart above tells you anything, it’s that being a top flight kicker does not mean you’re going to kick at 80+% automatically. Only Duke’s Ross Martin has a legitimate shot at the moment to achieve that lofty feet. As shocking as it may be to some, none approached kicking 100% of their field goals for their career. Andre Heidari, Ross Martin, and Harrison Butker all had very good kicking seasons as true freshmen. That’s promising given that Yoon will similarly see his feet (but primarily his right foot) put to the fire this Fall. Of course, all three of those guys also saw percentage-wise poorer seasons as sophomores.

Also, remember Kyle Brindza’s “terrible” 2014? He was less than 1 percentage point (less than a kick! Maybe a dribble) away from Adam Griffith’s career field goal percentage of 59.1%. Griffith was the “best” of the 3 Bama commits on this list. Seriously, if you’re feeling a bit down and want to see Nick Saban fail at something, Google you some “Nick Saban Alabama kickers.” You will find some hilarious articles and message boards (as I did) discussing Saban’s inability to stabilize the kicking game at Bama. You see, in the SEC they play this sport the rest of the nation is unfamiliar with. It’s called “man ball.” Man Ball needs mighty fine kickers because no one bothers to score actual touchdowns. As such, the Ess-eee-see takes them some kicking very seriously. RAAAWWWWLLLLLL TAAAAAHHHHDDDDDDDDD.

But I digress. This is about Justin Yoon and what to expect. Like it or not, the freshman name ND fans will hear most often is very likely to be Justin Yoon. I won’t go so far as to proclaim him the “most important” for the coming season, but he will certainly be the most prominent. As far as kicking recruits go, he’s as good a one as you can ask for. How that translates to the college game is up for debate. There are two ways of describing the chart above: 1) That the well recruited kickers are all fairly similar. Looking at the kickers who actually tried their foot at kicking and eliminating the high and low man, the career field goal percentages of the middle ranged from 65.6% to 75%. Basically 1 extra made field goal per 10 attempts. The circumstances surrounding that one extra attempt, circumstances we would all acknowledge are well out of the kicker’s control because he’s not a football player and whatnot, generally dictate the practical reality of that kicker’s existence. If it’s at the end of a close/tied game, that one extra make is everything. If you’re Oregon settling for once, it probably means very little.

The other way of considering this chart is to take it as a lesson: The position that most fans believe should execute without fail is subject to extreme variability and never perfection. Justin Yoon’s got a great chance to be a very good kicker, but if you’re basing your concept of kicking based on any vintage of NCAA Football (RIP sweet friend), you’re bound to be disappointed. If you’ve ever tried to go out and kick a 20 yard field goal, you’ll be able to appreciate just how good Justin Yoon will really be.

The post Straight Expectations: Chapter Three – Justin Yoon appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

FROM OUR SITE

• Comparing apples to (pine-)apples: Jaylon and Manti in Year Two

PODCAST

• Irish247 (F): 1-on-1 with Notre Dame WR Jalen Guyton (9:32)
• Irish Sports Talk: Georgia Tech summer preview (19:36)

CURRENT TEAM

• Inside the Irish: Updates from South Africa point to student-athlete experience
• Irish247 (F): Notre Dame Fighting Irish seniors ready to leave their mark
• Irish Illustrated (F): ND A-to-Z: John Montelus
• Irish Sports Daily (F): Williams ready for college (Dexter Williams)
• Irish Sports Daily (F): ND freshman kicker smashes 40-yard kicks left and right footed
• Irish Sports Daily (F): Williams ready for Notre Dame (Mykelti Williams)
• Slap the Sign: 91 days until kickoff: #91 Sheldon Day

COACHING

• Inside the Irish: $35 million gift from Richard Corbett helps endow head coaching position

SCHEDULE

• ESPN: Pac-12 mailbag: Nonconference showdowns, conference contenders (USC v. Notre Dame)
• Irish247 (F): Notre Dame all-time record against 2015 opponents
• Irish Illustrated (F): Trouble Spot #9 – Virginia
• One Foot Down: Notre Dame football 2015 off-season preview: Navy Midshipmen

IRISH IN THE NFL

• Cardinal Football Report: Cardinals have the worst tight ends in NFL (John Carlson, Troy Niklas)
• Irish Illustrated (F): Living a dream, answering a prayer (Manti Te’o)
• Titan Red Zone: Brandon Harris suffers torn ACL: “The injury to Harris hurts the depth at a position in which the team could not afford an injury, and could open the door for undrafted rookie free-agents Cody Riggs & Curtis Riley to find a place on the roster.”
• Viking Update: Turner has fully loaded weaponry (Kyle Rudolph)

MISC.

• CSN Sportsnet Chicago: Why American Pharoah’s Triple Crown win is good news for Notre Dame
• Irish247 (F): Notre Dame Fighting Irish top five quarterbacks
• Irish247 (F): Darius Walker working double-duty in post-NFL career
• Irish Illustrated (F): First football, now family first (John Carlson)
• ND Insider (F): Former Irish RB Julius Jones hardly running on empty
• UND.com: Sixth annual football 101 on June 9

The post Morning Roundup: June 8, 2015 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

RECRUITING
COMMITTED

• Irish247 ($): Heistand showing what loyalty means (✰✰✰✰✰ OH OL Tommy Kraemer, ✰✰✰✰ OH OL Liam Eichenberg)

OFFERED

• Fightin’ Gators (F): Gators one of four on Clayton’s mind (✰✰✰ GA DE Antonneous Clayton)
• Horns Digest (F): The Heard: Eric Cuffee talks recruiting (✰✰✰✰ TX CB)
• Inside the Auburn Tigers ($): Big cat commitment: Stove chooses Tigers (✰✰✰✰ FL WR Elijah Stove)
• Inside the Auburn Tigers ($): Duvernay enjoys first look at Auburn (✰✰✰✰ TX WR Devin Duvernay)
• Irish247 ($): Notre Dame checking in on elite pass rusher again (✰✰✰✰ AR DE McTelvin Agim)
• Irish247 ($): Analysis: Antonneous Clayton (✰✰✰ GA DE)
• Irish247 (F): Oluwole Betiku names top six (✰✰✰✰ CA DE)
• Irish247 ($): Army All-American with high interest in Irish (✰✰✰✰ CA CB David Long)
• Irish Illustrated (F): In the film room…Chacho Ulloa (✰✰✰ CA S)
• Irish Illustrated (F): Irish close on elite safety? (✰✰✰✰ GA S Isaiah Pryor)
• Irish Illustrated ($): Mack, Roberston get final look (✰✰✰✰ IN WR Austin Mack, ✰✰✰✰ IN DE Auston Roberston)
• The Michigan Insider ($): Cut down fast approaching for Nixon (✰✰✰✰ FL WR Tre Nixon)
• The Michigan Insider ($): Decision on the horizon for Pryor? (Part 1) (✰✰✰✰ GA S Isaiah Pryor)
• The Michigan Insider ($): Decision on the horizon for Pryor? (Part 2)
• ND Insider (F): Four-star DE target Oluwole Betiku puts Notre Dame in top six (CA)
• Scout (F): Ferns playing things close (✰✰✰✰ OH LB Brendan Ferns)
• Tiger Sports Digest (F): LSU makes 4-star safety Eric Monroe’s top 10 (TX)
• USC Football.com ($): Oluwole Betiku doesn’t disappoint in Oakland (✰✰✰✰ CA DE)

ND INTERESTED, BUT NO OFFER

• Irish Sports Daily (F): McQuitty in for invasion (MO WR Jaevon McQuitty, class of 2017, no rating yet)
• Irish Sports Daily (F): Boateng interested in Irish (✰✰✰ TX WR Kofi Boateng)
• Scout (F): This Louisville commit’s still looking (✰✰✰ GA CB Baylen Buchanan)
• Terrapin Times ($): Burks breaks down Terps trip (✰✰✰ IN OLB Noah Burks)

CURRENT TEAM

• ESPN: KeiVarae Russell says his suspension from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish has been lifted
• Irish247 (F): Details is the focus for Notre Dame kicker
• Irish Illustrated (F): ND A-to-Z: Jarron Jones
• Irish Illustrated (F): End of May musings
• ND Insider: Notre Dame CB KeiVarae Russell: “I’m back”

SCHEDULE

• Irish Illustrated (F): Irish brace for 7 close and late
• Slap the Sign: How many primetime games will Notre Dame play in 2015?

IRISH IN THE NFL

• Falcon Insider: Falcons waive Shembo after charges surface
• Fantasy: Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater says TE Kyle Rudolph is ‘the biggest weapon we have’
• ND Insider: Former Notre Dame LB Shembo waived after animal cruelty charge
• State of the Texans: Texans OTAs: Day One in the books
• State of the Texans: Rough rookie season not slowing down Louis Nix
• Viking Update ($): Video: OTA highlights (Kyle Rudolph)

MISC.

• ESPN: Eilar Hardy officially transfers from Notre Dame Fighting Irish to Bowling Green Falcons
• ESPN: Fired coaches who are still on the payroll
• Inside the Irish: For Golson, challenges won’t disappear now that he’s at FSU
• ND Insider: Q&A part 1: Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick on Irish athletics

The post Afternoon Roundup: May 31, 2015 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

RECRUITING

• Bleacher Report (Keith Arnold): Brian Kelly opens up on 2015 recruiting class
• Fansided: Notre Dame recruiting 2015: Who will contribute right away?
• Irish Illustrated: Adams ready to work
• Blue & Gold Illustrated: Four preferred walk-ons join Irish
• Rant Sports: Top 5 offensive recruits Notre Dame landed on Signing Day
• One Foot Down: 2015 football recruiting: OL & TE review
• Irish Illustrated: Combining the classes: Defense
• UHND: How Notre Dame’s 2015 class hit and missed on needs
• CSN Chicago: No pressure: Notre Dame will turn to true freshman K Justin Yoon
• CSN Chicago: 10 numbers explaining Notre Dame’s 2015 recruiting class
• One Foot Down: An early look at the positional needs for the 2016 Notre Dame recruiting class
• The Detroit News: Trieu: MSU in mix for Corley, other top ’16 recruits
• Blue & Gold Illustrated: Notre Dame offers Tennessee wide receiver
• 247 Sports: Oregon commit adds Notre Dame offer
• Scout: Victor will do his due dilligence

PODCAST

• WatchND: The Jack Swarbrick Show, part 2 (Tony Alford) (27:44) (Alternate site)
• ND Sports Blogger: #14: We keep our Whitts about us  (38:45)

COACHING

• Land Grant Holy Land: 6 possible candidates to replace Stan Drayton at Ohio State (Tony Alford)
• NBC Sports: Reports: VanGorder staying, LaFleur going
• One Foot Down: Notre Dame quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur headed to Atlanta Falcons
• Irish Illustrated: Former ND teammates endorse Lyght
• Irish Illustrated: Urban targets Alford

CURRENT TEAM

• News-Sentinel: Notre Dame football notebook

HISTORY

• 247 Sports: Brady Quinn almost chose rival school, talks Notre Dame career
• Dallas Morning News: Tim Brown, first DISD player in the pro football HOF, gives district a role model who’s eager to help

MISC.

• CBS: Friday Five: The best names in the 2015 recruiting class
• NFL.com: Under-the-radar storylines to watch (DaVaris Daniels)
• ESPN: Ohio State leads rankings in ESPN’s preseason FPI (ND is #7)

The post Morning Roundup: Feb. 7, 2015 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.