Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver William Fuller (7) catches a pass for a touchdown in front of Stanford Cardinal cornerback Terrence Alexander (11) in the second quarter at Stanford Stadium. Matt Cashore/USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to a series of posts we’re calling “Five Question Marks.” In this inaugural entry, BJ Konkle answers a question on the minds of many Notre Dame fans: Is there another star wide receiver waiting to emerge?

Notre Dame football has recruited, developed and ultimately produced extraordinary college football wide receivers. Some of these athletes – Jeff Samardzija, Michael Floyd, Golden Tate, T.J. Jones, and most recently Will Fuller – have gone on to successful (and lucrative) professional careers.

While Irish fans are proud to celebrate these “Domers,” it’s human nature to wonder: “Who’s next?”

Thankfully for the Irish fandom – and for quarterbacks Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer – Notre Dame currently has an embarrassment of riches in regards to talented wide receivers. The position is probably the most well recruited of any in the recent past (with offensive line nipping at its heels.)

Here’s the talent currently on the roster, with their 247sports.com composite rankings:

• Recruiting class of 2013: Torii Hunter Jr., 4 stars; Corey Robinson, 3 stars
• Class of 2014: Justin Brent and Corey Holmes, both 4 stars.
• Class of 2015: Equanimeous St. Brown, Miles Boykin and C.J. Sanders, all 4 stars
• Class of 2016: Javon McKinley and Chase Claypool, both 4 stars; Kevin “K.J.” Stepherson, 3 stars

This provides 9 scholarship wide receivers to potentially pick from – 10 if you throw in talented walk-on Chris Finke, who I believe is likely to earn a scholarship.

K.J. Stepherson

As talented as this group is, they lack experience as Fuller, Chris Brown and Amir Carlisle took the lion’s share of snaps in 2015. Among those remaining, three are realistically poised and positioned to be the next potential standout wide receiver (and I’m going to throw in a dark horse candidate). It will be difficult for the incoming freshman – even one as impressive early as Stepherson – to be physically and mentally able to crack the depth chart and contribute meaningful snaps. With that being said: Purchase a nice pair of shades, because the future is bright.

Robinson’s current health concern – multiple concussions within a year – likely removes him from this conversation. Sanders introduced his slippery elusiveness in the return game last year with a punt return against UMass and a huge kickoff return against Stanford. The possibility of Sanders’ distinct threat in special teams being converted to an offensive threat makes any Irish fan grin, but he will likely remain a return specialist with the current talent that is in front of him. Brent is now fighting for carries at running back. This leaves us with a diversely talented foursome.

Torii Hunter Jr.

Here’s the case for senior Torii Hunter Jr.: He has the most game time experience and possesses the unique mental and physical ability to play all three wide receiver positions. Playing all three wide receiver positions is nothing when you consider Hunter also found himself on defense last year, contributing as a situational defensive back. He also makes time to run down fly balls in the outfield for the Notre Dame Baseball program (#NDBB). Torii’s versatility oozes out of him and is unmistakably his most attractive attribute. After graduating three seniors, Hunter finds himself in a leadership role among the wide receivers. In a candid interview on WatchND, he elaborates on this role, his ability to play multiple sports, his versatility, and his expectations entering 2016. For these many reasons, he may be the next great wide receiver to emerge from Notre Dame.

Credit: Matt Cashore

The praise that Corey Holmes has received from coaches this spring has been a pleasant surprise to many Irish faithful. The decision to redshirt Holmes last year (his sophomore season) raised questions about his ability to contribute in the future. Holmes credits his father for helping him work through the frustrations of redshirting as a sophomore. “It wasn’t until halfway during the season when I finally stopped worrying about other people and worried about my own game,” Holmes explained. This mindset paid off and the questions were answered when Holmes posted a spring 40 yard dash time of 4.39 – officially making him the fastest player on the roster. Confidence will be key for the Florida wide out as he continues to progress into fall camp. If he can translate his raw speed into football speed – similar to Will Fuller’s path to success – he may become a go-to threat and poised for a breakout junior season.

Notre Dame’s Josh Equanimeous St. Brown celebrates a touchdown during the Fighting Irish’s game against the University of Massachusetts. (SBT Photo/ Becky Malewitz)

Holmes may be the fastest player for the Irish, but Equanimeous St. Brown may be the most polished receiver on the team. “EQ” played sparingly as a freshman as a back-up to Fuller, a future first round NFL Draft pick. The sophomore is listed at 6’4 and weighs 205 lbs. Brian Kelly alluded to the California blue chip’s athleticism stating, “(He) runs like a deer!” Kelly continued his praise during the 2015 season, “I think (St. Brown) would start for a number of power five teams. He’s ready to play right now. I’m just not taking Will (Fuller) off the field unless I have to.” “EQ” has the size and athletic abilities to become a transcendent wide receiver and 2016 may be the year the country learns how to correctly pronounce “Eq-uan-i-me-ous.”

Consider Miles Boykin the dark horse candidate to break out in 2016. Boykin is listed at 6’3 and an overpowering 225 lbs. He has been linked to lapses of inconsistency, whether that is drops or mistaken routes. But the sheer girth Boykin adds to the receiving corps is apparent in his frame. Boykin referred to his size in a recent interview, saying, “Knowing how to use (size) is the difference between knowing how to use it in the high school level, and knowing how to use it in college. People are stronger and you just have to fight through that, like running through friction and going up and getting balls and being physical with them.” Stepping up to the learning curve has been a process. If the consistency can begin to shine through, Boykin could immediately become a red zone threat, utilizing his size to essentially box out defenders in the end zone. Boykin has the summer and fall camp to convince position coach Mike Denbrock and ultimately Coach Kelly that he belongs on the field come game time.

The talent, especially young talent that #NDFB has at its disposal entering the 2016 season is second to none. The question still remains: Who will Zaire or Kizer turn to when the game is on the line…?

The post Will Another Star Receiver Emerge In ’16? appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Holmes was a four-star prospect from St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.), who was considered both “highly overlooked” and “underrated” by professional talent evaluators coming out of high school. Holmes’ best attributes were his length, his speed and his route running ability. The then-senior was most often compared to T.J. Jones, a former Notre Dame captain who now plays on Sundays for the Detroit Lions.

Here are Holmes senior season highlights:

In the highlights, you see a receiver who is fast, who can get open and who does a fairly decent job of blocking downfield on running plays.

Holmes did enough to impress Notre Dame’s coaches in his freshman year, seeing the field for a few plays versus Rice & Michigan in 2014. But he’s sat since; the only opportunity for us to see him play has been during the 2015 Blue-Gold game.

COREY HOLMES CATCHES

In his best catch of the afternoon, Holmes (bottom of the screen) appears to stumble off the line. Travis Allen (#25), a walk-on DB, tries to check him and misses. Holmes finds a seam between the linebacker (Te’von Coney) and the deep safety (Nick Watkins). Everett Golson’s pass is high, but Holmes snags it without a problem. On his high school highlight reel, Holmes is listed as having a 39 inch vertical. That’s more than 5 inches higher that Will Fuller’s result at the NFL Combine recently.

Two different catches here. On the left, Holmes (top of the screen) runs a slight comeback route and then leaps over an unprepared defender (Allen again) to make the first down grab. It’s a nice catch in traffic. On the right, it’s pretty straightfoward. Watkins is giving Holmes (bottom of the screen) a cushion, so Holmes runs six yards and stops. Malik Zaire’s pass is waiting for him. Holmes absorbs the hit without bobbling the ball.

COREY HOLMES GETS OPEN

Holmes (very top of the screen) beats his man – cornerback Jesse Bongiovi, who gives him a slight shove – and gets past deep safety Matthias Farley. It’s hard to say if Farley would had let him get over the top if Zaire’s pass wasn’t looking like a wounded duck. But Holmes was open if Zaire could have stepped into the pass instead of throwing off his back foot.

On a designed pass play, Zaire ends up feeling the pocket collapsing and scampers for a first down. Holmes – at the bottom of your screen – beats Devin Butler with a nice outside fake to inside pivot. My only criticism is that Holmes doesn’t get himself downfield enough to assist with blocking after Zaire continues to run – although Torii Hunter Jr. (#16 – middle of screen) appears to do the same.

Holmes can first be seen in the back of the end zone. He follows DeShone Kizer, who is on a rollout, and manages to get himself open a bit – despite some light holding by Nick Watkins. Unfortunately, Kizer throws the pass out of bounds. Holmes’ athletic attempt isn’t enough.

Holmes (lined up at the top of your screen), gets inside position against Nick Watkins. The throw is low; it’s difficult to tell from the broadcast if Holmes had an opportunity to get his hands under or if the ball skipped right when it got near him. Regardless, it’s an incomplete pass on what could have been six.

AREAS OF CONCERN

True freshman Equanimeous St. Brown passed Holmes on the depth chart last year. As Will Fuller’s backups, neither were expected to see a lot of playing time. Brown managed 15 snaps; Holmes never got one. When St. Brown was hurt during the Wake Forest game, Holmes was listed as Fuller’s backup for the Boston College, Stanford and Ohio State games.

While Holmes was considered a diamond in the rough coming out of high school, St. Brown was even more highly regarded.

Holmes was rated most favorably by ESPN, which had him the 94th player overall in the 2014 class. He was #200 on Scout’s list and #224 on Rivals. St. Brown, meanwhile, was ranked #63 in ESPN’s 2015 class, #144 at Rivals and #207 at Scout.

St. Brown may be higher on the depth chart because he’s about four inches taller than Holmes and – if high school statistics can be believed – runs as fast as Holmes. (St. Brown was listed as running a 4.44 40-yard dash, while Holmes allegedly ran a 4.0 40.)

But it may be other attributes. Holmes’ biggest issues, it appears, is his physicality and his situational awareness. Chris Brown is a similar height and weight to Holmes, and he was an excellent downfield blocker. It can be done by a “lanky” receiver type. These clips would give any coach pause.

Holmes (bottom of your screen) does a poor job of keeping Butler (#12) out of the play. Butler pretty easily pushes Holmes aside. Although the play was, for all intents and purposes, over before Holmes lost his block, the wide receiver would not have known that. Losing contain on your primary responsibility is problematic.

There’s two different plays here. On the left, Holmes (bottom of your screen) makes a late block on the defender – who has sniffed out the play and gotten a good break on Amir Carlisle. The pass is too high – perhaps Carlisle should have walked more toward the sideline so that Holmes’ block could have been more effective. Then he’d have to beat just one defender before the end zone.

On the right, Holmes – playing the slot (top of your screen) – makes contact with his defender but doesn’t keep engaged with him. Meanwhile, a second defender has run right past him to grab Carlisle for a two yard loss. Zaire’s pass is low, causing Carlisle to almost kneel down to get the pass. But Holmes’ block leaves much to be desired.

CONCLUSION

With St. Brown completely healed from a late-season shoulder separation, I’d expect he’ll see the majority of the first team reps at the X (Fuller’s old position) initially. I’d imagine Holmes will see reps with the second team with freshman Kevin Stepherson and others nipping at Holmes’ heels. I’m obviously not privy to practices, so I don’t know why Holmes isn’t seeing the field. But I know this is his make-or-break year. If he can’t find the field this year – whether through talent or through opportunity due to injury of another player – I expect the situation to only worsen for him in 2017.

I’m hopeful Holmes will have a break out junior season, just as Will Fuller emerged on the scene during his sophomore season in a very unexpected (but fantastic!) way.

The post The Case For Corey Holmes appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

For George Atkinson, Bennett Jackson, Prince Shembo, T.J. Jones, Troy Niklas, Louis Nix, III, Chris Watt, Zack Martin, and Stephon Tuitt, the NFL Combine, which runs from this past Saturday through Tuesday, is their first opportunity to address their future employers’ questions about their bodies and minds. Prince Shembo addressed, publicly, his role in Lizzy Seeburg’s suicide. Big Lou spoke of his repaired knee and his disappearing stomach, proclaiming that he felt “sexier.”

The Combine is organized by position. Tight Ends, Offensive Linemen and Special Teams players got us started on Saturday. Sunday saw QB’s, Running Backs, and Wide Receivers go. Monday will see D-Linemen and Linebackers get their turn. Defensive Backs finish the show on Tuesday. The players will go through “workout drills,” e.g. the 40 yard dash or bench press, and “position drills,” such as the “off-tackle reaction drill.” Click here and Mike Mayock will explain everything to you, or you can read it for yourself. If you’re a stat junkie, the NFL’s Combine page will keep you dateless for many weekends to come.

(AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

So how did our boys fare thus far? I’d say pretty well. Two Irish, T.J. Jones and GAIII, are listed as Top Performers as of Sunday evening, with each turning in a brisk 4.48 in the 40. GAIII jumped 38″ in the vertical. T.J. cranked out the 60 yard shuttle in 11.45 seconds. According to Eric Hansen (@hansenNDInsider), five of the six Irish to have completed the bench press “exceeded the 5-year average position group.” Looks like Coach Longo‘s work is paying dividends, as Tuitt, for example, put 225 pounds up 31 times while South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney only managed 21 reps. To put this in perspective, I was able to put 31 pounds up 225 times over the course of the weekend.

MONDAY UPDATE: According to sources, e.g. the aforementioned Eric Hansen, Stephon Tuitt will not compete today due to a Jones fracture in his left foot. He will undergo surgery and expects a complete recovery. Whether he will put together a modified “pro day” at ND or elsewhere before or after that is anyone’s guess. Also, ICYMI, Clowney DESTROYED the 40 today, running it in 4.47. That’s the fastest time EVER for someone weighing more than 260, which he does. In related news, he’ll be starring in Jurrasic Park III: T-Rex Ain’t Nuthin’ out this summer.

The League’s analysis of the Irish hopefuls is pretty accurate, if tough. To wit, GAIII is described as having “underachiever traits.” Big Lou “spends too much time on the ground.” Chris Watt “has a desirable temperament for the position and is a projectable, low-risk prospect.” Troy Niklas “boasts an intriguing combination of size, athleticism, receiving ability and blocking ability to develop into a bona fide, balanced, No. 1 tight end.” T.J. Jones is “smooth-moving.” Tuitt “can play with more violence.” Zack Martin is “[o]ne of the cleanest prospects in this year’s draft.” Shembo is a “see-and-go reactor” but also “highly competitive.”

Big stories from the weekend that don’t involve Notre Dame include Johnny Football’s fast forty time (4.68), Tajh Boyd dissing Teddy Bridgewater, and Cyrus Kouandjio auditioning himself right out of the first round.

So, in all, it was a solid performance by the Irish. Good luck, guys, and we’ll have a complete wrap when it’s all done.

Have a great week, everybody. Go Irish.

The post Combine Nation: Trying Out The Irish appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Even though Kelly had mentioned that the team would prefer to play in a warmer climate, he said in his presser on Sunday that the Pinstripe offer was simply one the team couldn’t refuse:

When you’re dealing with our guys, it’s bowl packages, right? It’s just been a very attractive bowl package for our guys. I don’t want to get into the details because I think we’d like to probably keep that amongst ourselves.

But when I was standing here in front of this big screen, I put up the Power Point, I went from talking about the Pinstripe Bowl, had my guys’ attention. They came out of their chairs when I showed them the bowl package. I didn’t get that popular in a very short period of time. They were very excited about the things they were going to get from the bowl package.

After Kelly’s presser, senior receiver T.J. Jones gave a little insight into the package that got them so excited:

Receiver TJ Jones said the bowl package included a Playstation 4, a bowl ring and “a lot of clothes and hats.” He said a trip to Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center were other selling points for the trip.

Other warm weather destinations such as the Poinsettia Bowl and the Hawaii Bowl were considered: however, Northern Illinois’ final loss of the season took that off the table. As for the Hawaii Bowl, travel concerns were the main issue. With finals ending at ND on December 20, the team would have to leave on December 21 and miss many of the events surrounding the Christmas Eve game.

In short, if the end goal was to try and reward the team, it seems that was accomplished.

While the team will surely enjoy New York City during the holidays and get some great bowl swag, the game itself leaves much to be desired from a fan perspective. The matchup against Rutgers is one of the most lopsided of the entire bowl season. Take any rating match up that you’d like and the game simply looks horrid on paper: 8-4 vs 6-6, #19 vs #98 (FEI rank), #25 vs #103 (Sagarin), #26 vs #82 (BCS), etc.

Unfortunately, this is what happens when Notre Dame has no bowl tie-ins and misses the BCS. As rumors of playoffs swirled, no one wanted to lock ND tie-ins to any contracts, leaving the Irish in no-man’s land for postseason play.

While I am not overly thrilled about the potential matchup, I will always be happy to take another Notre Dame football game in, even one that isn’t that great. Further, from a program building perspective, I will always welcome the chance for the Irish to get more practices under their belt, especially the younger players. Every rep is valuable both in practice and in the game.

One player that will also be finding himself in the role of a fan will be Louis Nix III. Big Lou signed with an agent and as such, he is now a professional, meaning his time as a student athlete for ND is done. This means that he is no longer a member of the team, meaning he gets no bowl swag, no free trip, and he cannot even attend bowl practices (unless he is brought in as a guest, which happens often). I have a feeling though that the future first-rounder will easily be able to afford his own swag quite easily as well and paying his way out there should he chose.

While this move was certainly expected, Nix couldn’t officially leave ND without doing something else that is made of pure Irish Chocolate awesome. As the early NFL games were under way, Nix left a little gift in South Quad:

Just dropped off a duffle bag of my old issued gear to South quad. #Enjoy #OneThingPerPerson pic.twitter.com/CWurU6W5hj

— lOUIS NIX III (@1irishchocolate) December 8, 2013

And, yes, people did partake in the gift-giving:

https://twitter.com/spence_fence/status/409785198763446273

Even fans that didn’t get to the bag in time got a little something, but who knows, there could be more to come:

@MGolicJR57 Golic I have something special for the ND students

— lOUIS NIX III (@1irishchocolate) December 8, 2013

Needless to say, the departure of Nix will leave some huge shoes to fill in not just talent, but personality. He is truly one of a kind and is going to be one hell of an addition to an NFL locker room.

Best of luck Lou, you are already missed.

The post Notre Dame to Pinstripe Bowl, Louis Nix to NFL appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Let’s finish this sucker strong.

As a reminder, all members of the IBG will send a single question and we will all answer of them on our sites, with the exception of our own query. So be sure to visit all the other IBG members to see their answers throughout the day.

My Question: BYU and Stanford are somewhat similar offensively: a strong rushing attack paired with a quarterback that can go mobile. Does the defense’s performance, injuries and all, against BYU make you feel any better going up against Stanford or are we facing a totally different beast in the Cardinal? 

Answers will be linked as posts go live

NDNation warns Stanford is much better than BYU, but there is hope.

Strong & True

Inside the Irish

UHND.com says a similar performance should land us a victory.

Frank Vitovitch (UNHD.com): It’s been a long time since Notre Dame has won a game it has been as big of an underdog in as they are this weekend.  Where would this game rank in your mind in terms of upsets for Notre Dame and when was the last time you went into a game thinking Notre Dame had no chance and they walked home with the victory.   As a bonus, would a win over Stanford this weekend be Brian Kelly’s signature win up until this point in his tenure at Notre Dame?

Honestly, I don’t think it would be overly shocking. Stanford has been far from untouchable this season. The loss to Utah looked like the exception to the rule, but falling to a resurgent Southern Cal was completely unexpected.

They will be a tough test for sure and easily one of the better teams we face all season, but I think that the initial lines that I’ve seen are very much over-valuing Stanford. If I could compare it to anything, it’s how I felt when I saw the initial line for ND at OU. I knew OU would be a very tough win to pull out, but I felt like the Irish did have a chance with the way they were playing. The result: the Irish did what I deemed “double cover” as they won by the same amount of points that OU was originally favored by.

As far as I game in which I thought the Irish had no chance of winning and they won — I think any such game that I was sure the Irish would lose, they lost. Perhaps 2011 Utah might be the closest to fitting that description though. After losing to Tulsa and Navy back-to-back I definitely wasn’t expecting much and the Irish pulled the game out.

As far as a signature win, for me it’s going to be hard to top last year’s win against the Sooners in Norman. That was the game that supposedly would expose Notre Dame, but the opposite happened. With Stanford, they’ve already taken a couple of lumps. This isn’t David vs Goliath.

Aaron Horvath (Strong & True): If someone would have told you that Tommy Rees would leave Notre Dame with 7,000+ yards and most likely 60+ touchdowns when he committed out of high school, most people would call that person crazy. Needless to say, he has surprised many. What are your thoughts on what Rees has been able to accomplish during his tenure at Notre Dame and what other Irish senior went above and beyond your expectations during his time at Notre Dame?

Forgive me if it seems like I’m mailing in this answer, but I think I’ve already put together a good response to this question last week. Simply put, Tommy has done a fine job and I’m glad that the students gave him his proper credit this past weekend. This program is likely struggling mightily if Tommy doesn’t put together the seasons that he has.

As far as another senior exceeding expectations, I’m going with T.J. Jones. Prior to his junior year, I wondered if he’d ever be able to figure it out. In 2012, he had a very solid year and went neck and neck with Tyler Eifert as far as stats are concerned. This season though, he is the unquestioned “go to” guy that will find a way to make a play, especially after the catch. Quite a long way from having a ball bounce off his helmet in 2011.

Mike Coffey (NDNation): Which of ND’s strengths do you believe has the greatest chance of getting ND the win on Saturday, and which of ND’s weaknesses do you fear might keep it from happening?

RUN THE DAMN BALL!

I’m serious on this one. I know it may come as a shock to some people that have read some of my previous posts these past couple of weeks. The main point I have made in those posts is that I think the line of thinking that Notre Dame is a crazy pass happy offense is a bit misguided nor do I think there is some “magic number” of rushes that the Irish need to win.

The simple fact though is that I do understand that this team performs at its best when they establish the run as a legitimate threat which opens up deep play action strikes and the passing games as a whole. Note that I said the rushing game needs to be established. Running into a brick wall over and over again means Stanford has won that battle and Tommy will have to find a way to win. I’m not saying that Tommy can’t do that; however, there is no question in my mind that the easier path to victory is a solid rushing attack.

The biggest weakness that scares me is our lack of depth in the front seven and what that can mean to the rushing defense (hence the question I posed to the group). Stanford will be the most physical team that we’ve faced all season and I am terrified that they can wear the line down and begin to look unstoppable by the end of the game. On top of that Hogan can hurt you with his feet as well and I worry about this depleted unit’s ability to spy properly (just take a look at some of BYU’s bigger plays on scrambles).

Keith Arnold (Inside the Irish): You’ve got your choice of bowl game locations and opponents. Put yourself in Jack Swarbrick’s shoes: Give me the ideal opponent and location.

This means I can be in fantasy land right?

In that case, give me the Cotton Bowl vs. SEC in my own backyard. This season that SEC team is slated to be Texas A&M and I think every Notre Dame fan would be lying if they didn’t want to take some slight Heisman vengeance on Johnny Football and just knocking him down a peg or two in general. Plus, an Irish/Aggie matchup would be more combined tradition that you could ever ask for in a game and the surrounding events.

Oh, and believe me, the Aggies can tailgate. That could probably be one of the most epic tailgating scenes in college football if those two worlds collide on neutral ground.

In general, if I’m still in fantasy land and have my picks of bowl tie-ins, I’m looking for every possible SEC match-up for two reasons. First, because those matchups just simply don’t happen in our schedule, making it the big hole from a conference and even recruiting perspective. People think ND can’t hang with SEC (thanks, BCS championship…) and I’d love to put that to the test every year we aren’t in the playoffs (or this year, the BCS picture). Secondly, such a matchup would be in the south/southeast area which ND would most certainly love to have a game annually, but again, the schedule doesn’t always allow for (hence the reason for the Shamrock Series in Jerry World).

Sure, the new ACC away games will help, but it still feels like a big void. I want to butt heads with the SEC every year.

The post IBG in the Trees appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Yep, this pretty much sums it up. (Screen capture from @SuperManTDJesus)

So where do we even start with Notre Dame’s debacle in Pittsburgh last night?

Perhaps we could start with Tommy Rees. Tommy, quite frankly, had one of his worse games in his career at ND. He may have had 300+ yards through the air, but he did so with a sub-50% completion rate and 2 INTs which may have been two of the worst balls that I’ve ever seen him throw. One of these came in the endzone and when Notre Dame was on Pitt’s 2 yard line no less.

Or perhaps we could point to T.J. Jones’ costly fumble on the door step of the endzone earlier in the game. The game was tied in the early stages of the second quarter and Notre Dame could have likely taken a 14-7 lead. The defense did manage to send Pitt packing on a three and out in the resulting drive and ND did score. Could ND have gone up 21-7 at this point and put Pitt in panic mode?

Or perhaps we should point at the entire defensive line seemingly falling asleep while a fumble bounced around at their feet. There was no whistle on the play and no one moved until the Pitt sideline screamed that the ball was live. Just two weeks earlier, Jaylon Smith, a freshman grabbed a fumble and ran it into the endzone post-whistle.

Maybe the ejection of Stephon Tuitt for playing football targeting (more on that later) was simply too much for the defense to overcome, especially one that is still reeling from multiple injuries.

Was it a poor gameplan? After Folston seemingly grabbed the spotlight, he only saw 4 of Notre Dame’s 23 rushes — T.J. Jones, a wide receiver, got only one less rushing attempt. In comparison, Rees threw 38 times and was sacked once leading to 63% pass on the night.

And despite all that, the Irish still had a chance to steal this game away from Pitt. However, it was simply one mistake after another and the Irish simply couldn’t get out of their own way en route to a 28-21 loss, crushing all remaining hopes for one final shot at a BCS Bowl victory.

There’s plenty of blame to pass around from Rees to Chuck Martin to Brian Kelly (the handling of the final timeouts at the end in particular drove me nuts). And there’s plenty of reason to be angry. The entire performance was one of the worst overall that we’ve seen since Kelly started his tenure at Notre Dame. The Irish lacked the kind of composure that you’d expect from a team that was previously 10-0 in single possession games since 2012. A team that has seen considerable success in November looked like they were in the first couple of weeks in the season.

To be frank, the game was a complete and total disaster. The fact that the Irish even had a shot in this game was more a factor of Pitt being a bad football team than the Irish coming close to overcoming their mistakes. I’m not going to attempt to put a positive spin on this game and say there is a silver lining because there isn’t one for this game.

This is, however, one game. The bigger test for this team in my mind is how Notre Dame and Brian Kelly approach the bye week and BYU.

The last time that I felt this down about Notre Dame was in 2010 when Notre Dame laid an egg against Navy and then followed that up with a soul-crushing loss to Tulsa. Notre Dame had a bye week after those two games and responded by not just upsetting Utah, but winning convincingly. They followed that up with wins against Army and Southern Cal.

I want to see something similar in 2013. I want to see them respond and finish this thing out strong. Come out flat, and I’m going to have some serious concerns.

With all that said, let’s get to the “targeting” that got Tuitt ejected. Here is the rule, direct from the NCAA Rulebook. Rules 9-1-3 and 9-1-4 detail what constitutes a targeting personal foul. 9-1-4 is likely the rule you’re most familiar with as it details a dangerous hit to a defensive player:

No player shall target and initiate contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulder. When in question, it is a foul (Rules 2-27-14 and 9-6).

Now what’s a defenseless player?

Note 2: Defenseless player (Rule 2-27-14):

•  A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass.

•  A receiver attempting to catch a pass, or one who has completed a catch and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a ball carrier.

• A kicker in the act of or just after kicking a ball, or during the kick or the return.

• A kick returner attempting to catch or recover a kick.

• A player on the ground.

• A player obviously out of the play.

• A player who receives a blind-side block.

• A ball carrier already in the grasp of an opponent and whose forward progress has been stopped.

• A quarterback any time after a change of possession.

So, a quarterback running is not defenseless. That leaves 9-1-3 which states:

No player shall target and initiate contact against an opponent with the crown (top) of his helmet. When in question, it is a foul. (Rule 9-6)

And this is where the refs both on the field and in the booth were convinced that Tuitt did. The problem though is that Tuitt leads with his shoulder while Savage is still upright. Tuitt has to do this because he’s a giant in comparison and he must do so in order to make proper contact (yes, what he did isn’t perfect tackling form, but he still has to duck down). Not only that, Tuitt puts his head at a 45-degree angle in relation to Savage’s body as well — again, he wants the hit to be his shoulder, not his head.

When Savage sees Tuitt coming, he ducks his head down, at a 45-degree angle away from Tuitt’s, but in doing so leads it directly towards Tuitt’s head. Yet somehow, Tuitt is flagged and ejected for being the one that “led” with his helmet. There is no way that this is ejection worthy.

What really drives me nuts is that, even if the refs say it’s “the letter of the law”, Amir Carlisle suffered an actual targeting violation that wasn’t called. Amir dropped a pass and was immediately speared by a defender that 100% led with the crown of his helmet, yet there was no flag.

This rule is an absolute joke and needs to be seriously shored up if they are considering letting it live past this season. There is too much left to interpretation, going as far to say “if in doubt, throw the flag” which puts the referees in an awful spot. When they throw that flag because “welp, it was close!” then the booth has to find indisputable evidence to overturn the ejection.

It’s a ridiculous standard and adds even more frustration to an already infuriating loss.

The post Snap Judgment: Pitt appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Via 247 Sports

With two touchdowns in the last three games, Ben Koyack is quietly emerging as a legitimate offensive threat for Notre Dame. While his season stats will not turn many heads, Koyack’s emergence does something more important for the Irish than filling up the stat sheet—it allows the offense to use more multiple tight end formations.

As I have previously written, multiple tight end formations create mismatches that defenses cannot easily counter with changes in personnel or formation. Linebackers are generally too slow to cover tight ends, and defensive backs generally lack the physicality to cover them. As a result, defensive coordinators constantly face a double bind. On one hand, if they use base personnel (e.g., 4-3 or 3-4), the defense is vulnerable to the pass. On the other hand, if they substitute to a nickel package, the defense is vulnerable to the run.

In addition to creating mismatches, using multiple tight ends can disguise the offense’s intention (whether run or pass) and limit the need for substitution. A personnel grouping consisting of one running back, two tight ends and two receivers (12 personnel) could indicate power run just as easily as it could indicate a pass with five eligible receivers. If the tight ends are legitimate blockers and receiving threats, the offense can effectively line up in or motion to just about any formation imaginable.

Let’s look at some examples of the Irish using multiple tight ends against Air Force.

This first play is a good example of how having two tight ends can create mismatches in the passing game.

Notre Dame lines up with tight ends Ben Koyack and Troy Niklas to the boundary and receivers Davaris Daniels and T.J. Jones to the field. Air Force has a single-high safety, which is usually a good indicator that the defense is playing Cover 1 or Cover 3. When facing a single-high safety, the Irish will often use wheel routes like the one Koyack will run on this play.

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The 6-5, 253 lb Koyack ends up isolated against 6-2, 230 lb linebacker Jared Jones. Niklas’ seam route holds the safety and cornerback long enough for Tommy Rees to hit Koyack in the end zone. Air Force has to pick its poison: cover Koyack with two defenders or cover Niklas with two. Either way, the Irish will have a favorable one-on-one matchup for one of the tight ends.

While the first play illustrated how multiple tight ends can create mismatches in the passing game, the next play illustrates how they can aid the power run game.

Notre Dame lines up in a Pistol formation with Koyack and Niklas in-line to the left side. Although Air Force has eight defenders in the box, Rees will motion James Onwualu in tight to control the Sam linebacker and get an extra blocker at the point of attack. With an extra tight end and the backside guard pulling on the Power O, the offense will actually have a numbers advantage to the playside.

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The entire left side of Notre Dame’s line, including Koyack and Niklas, down block and almost push the Falcon defensive line to the far side of the hash mark. Cam McDaniel gets through the hole quickly for a nice gain.

Finally, the video below illustrates how easily a multiple tight end offense can shift from a power formation to a spread formation without changing personnel. Notre Dame opened the second quarter facing a 3rd and 2. With the Irish lining up in the Pistol formation and 12 personnel, the Falcons sub in what appear to be run-stopping defenders. As the new defensive personnel run onto the field, Rees changes the play and empties the backfield.

[youtube id=”WgVIKeL7ols”]

The line gives Rees plenty of time to find an open receiver. Jones eventually breaks open down the sideline for a big gain on 3rd and short. The Irish were able to give Air Force a power look and ultimately send five receivers out on patterns. Neither tight end was targeted on this play, but having two tight ends on the field was at least partially responsible for the defense bringing in run-stopping defenders.

Conclusion

Brian Kelly noted that the increased use of two tight ends in recent weeks has resulted in more consistency on offense. If Koyack continues to be a reliable blocker and receiver, look for multiple tight end formations to be a significant part of the offense moving forward.

The post Bringing Back Multiple Tight Ends appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

1. Which Tommy Rees will show up?

So far, we’ve seen good Tommy Rees, Touchdown Tommy, Reesus, whatever you want to call the opposite of Turnover Tommy.

Thus far, Rees is 65/107 (60.7%) for 969 yards (323 yards/game), 7 TDs, and, most importantly only 2 INTs. Further, only one of those INTs was really a bad mistake by Rees when he completely lost sight of a CB in zone coverage against Michigan. His second INT that night was a tip drill while trying to lead the Irish to a comeback that same night.

This is exactly what I wanted to see from Tommy and to be honest, I’m getting a bit more than I expected. He is doing a lot more than just managing the game, he is one brightest spots of the whole team.

Sadly, when things turn sour, he seems to be the one still catching much of the blame, even when he has nothing to do with it. The fact of the matter is that Tommy isn’t hurting the team at all. Would it be better if he was more mobile and we could throw in a read option wrinkle? Sure, but it isn’t like defenses can now rush 3, drop 8 and expect Rees to eventually fold anymore.

We’ll get some of the reasons why the offense is stagnant a little later, but, needless to say, Tommy isn’t one of them.

2. Will ND return punts for positive yardage?

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: the punt return still needs a lot of work.

The Irish have still stumbled on special teams which was illustrated best this past week by T.J. Jones inexplicably fair catching a ball inside the five yard line.

The Irish still have some work to do here, but it is still encouraging to see an actual effort to return punts and end the fair catch parade. If they can clean up the sloppy play we’ve seen the past few games, we may finally stop having a headache about this every weekend.

3. Who will step up into Te’o’s leadership role?

On the offense, Tommy Rees has definitely stepped up the leadership aspect. The cameras caught him rallying his offensive troops on multiple occasions which is encouraging.

However, I don’t think he’s stepped in to the Te’o role of the team’s emotional leader.

The defense quite frankly plays completely flat at times. While you might see an individual step it up on occasion, there isn’t that one guy that lights a fire under everyone else’s ass so all eleven men on the field run through walls on the next play.

The defense is still searching for their identity and because the defense was such a large part of who the 2012 Irish were, I think the entire team is looking for their identity.

All is not lost here, but someone needs to step into this role and make this their team. Perhaps Tommy will continue to grow and do this or someone else will take the reigns. Either way, I hope it happens fast because we desperately need it.

4. Which freshmen will make an immediate impact?

Jaylon Smith has to be the leader in the clubhouse for this. Yes, it is mostly by default since he is the only freshman getting any real playing time, but that doesn’t detract from what he’s doing on the field. He is playing some solid football and making very few mistakes as a true freshman. I expect his level of play to only improve as the season moves on.

However, I do wonder why most of the highly touted freshmen are riding the pine most of the game. Perhaps Kelly’s tendency as a coach is to hold them back for a few games to ease into the situation before he lets them loose (think Tuitt a couple of years ago). It’s hard to say this isn’t the case because as of now, Jaylon is playing out of need, Elmer got more playing time only when Watt went down, Cole Luke, Bryant, and Folston have seen limited action, and I’m not sure Redfield has been involved in a snap yet (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong on that).

I’m hoping Kelly takes the training wheels off because this team has needed a spark on multiple occasions and freshmen going all out can be a great way to do that. Sure, it’s a risk considering they are more prone to mistakes, but I think it’s a calculated one that can pay huge dividends.

5. First Tate, then Floyd, then Eifert, then…?

Both T.J. Jones and DaVaris Daniels are stepping up in a big way for the Irish. Daniels has been on the end of the more explosive plays, but Jones has been the security blanket for Rees to this point in the season. Both are poised to continue to have big seasons for the Irish and will cause defenses fits in coverage schemes as focusing on one will open up the other and focusing on both let’s someone like Chris Brown burn everyone.

The receiving corps is in great shape and definitely exceeding my initial expectations to say the least.

6. Which running back will rise to the top?

Will the real RB1 please stand up, please stand up?

The real answer to this question is that no one has. Sure, Cam busted out some tough yards while wearing a crimson mask, but he simply lacks the impact that someone like Amir Carlisle or GA3 can provide. The problem is that both backs, especially GA3, are making awful cuts and reads on their runs. Amir Carlisle coughing up the football against Purdue wasn’t exactly encouraging either.

As of now, I’d say Amir might have a slight edge, but no one has separated themselves from the pack yet. This needs to change immediately as the stagnant rushing attack is causing most of the offensive woes. If you wondered why we don’t run the ball more often, the failures of Purdue might just be an example of why. Luckily, the Irish remained in striking distance during that game and weren’t forced into an air raid mode, but if we go down two-plus possessions, I would expect to see everything on Tommy Rees’ shoulders until the running game shapes up.

7. Will ND finally beat Southern Cal at home?

As of now, the answer appears to be yes. Despite ND’s frustrating showings, they would look like All American performances compared to the dumpster fire that is the Trojans.

Their first win was against Hawaii and was only due to Hawaii’s QB being so much worse than the entire Trojan offense was that evening. They followed this performance up by losing to Washington State at home by a score of 10-7 — yes, 10 points beat the Trojan offense. Last week the offense “exploded” for 35 points against a BC team that would have a hard time beating anyone with a pulse.

This is a bad football team; however, they have a lot of talent despite their awful start. They could still figure it out by the time they get to South Bend, but as of now, it’s looking all-Irish for that game.

8. Will ND finally win a BCS Bowl before they’re put out to pasture?

I think we should forget about winning a BCS game at this point and focus more on actually getting there first because that alone will be an achievement at this point.

Things need to improve and fast as a 9 or 8 win season seem like more realistic possibilities than a 10 win season.

BONUS: Will HLS crash during the season?

Thus far, the HLS hamsters have been the only reliable thing about this season. The answer remains: no, we aren’t crashing.

The post 8 Big Questions: Where Do the Irish Stand? appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

So without further ado, here are four pleasant surprises and four areas of concern from last Saturday’s game.

Four Pleasant Surprises

1) Tommy Rees Has Improved

And not just his stat line either.

Oh sure, he had a career day going 16-23 for 346 yards, 3 TDs, and, most importantly 0 INTs, but that isn’t the whole story.

Tommy consistently put his passes in perfect locations, hitting receivers in stride and right on the numbers. His two TD passes to DaVaris Daniels were simply things of beauty and he should have had three perfect TD passes to him, but Daniels unfortunately came up lame.

Now, Rees did have a couple of passes that were bad, but not everyone can be perfect nor do I think any of us were really expecting perfection from Rees.

His passes looked strong, his deep balls looked great, and I really think we got more out of him than we all expected.

2) The Backfield Is Stacked

Once Amir Carlisle broke into the open field on his first carry, you just knew the new running backs were going to be fun to watch.

All five backs saw carries with Cam McDaniel shouldering most of the work. Cam, George Atkinson III, Carlisle, and Greg Bryant all had rushing averages better than 4 yards/carry and all the backs combined for 193 yards total.

Speaking of Greg Bryant, that does not look like an 18 year old kid out on the field. That is a full grown man that looks like he could probably truck anything that gets in his way.

Kelly mentioned that all the backs would continue to see varying workloads. I am almost wondering if he held back a bit during Temple, especially with the younger and possibly more talented backs, in order to keep some surprises for Michigan.

Either way, I’m all for some serious running of the damn ball this season.

3) The Quick Start

The first two scoring drives for the Irish were things of beauty. When was the last time that we saw Notre Dame put 14 points on the board within a few minutes — much less at the start of the game?

Even better was that the Irish did this after starting the game with a rather bone-headed illegal substitution penalty on their first huddle. We are all used to seeing brain-farts like that kill drives before they even start, but this time around the Irish made sure that penalty was quickly forgotten.

More of this please.

4) Actual Attempts at a Punt Return

Yes, it was ugly (and we will get to that later), but T.J. Jones wanted to make damn sure he got some positive return yardage. As long as he holds on to the ball, I’m all for him going crazy to try and make something happen. Tom Zbikowski treated the punt return game with similar reckless abandon and he managed to find the endzone because of it.

There is still loads of room for improvement, but I’m glad the fair catch parade is over.

Four Areas of Concern

1) The Play of the Front Seven Wasn’t Up to Par

This was probably the most disappointing thing from the game. I expected so much from the front seven against Temple and was left scratching my head wondering what happened.

I’ll definitely have to do a full rewatch of the game again for a deeper analysis of what happened, but my first reaction during the game was that our linebackers were not doing a great job of filing in the gaps.

In particular, Louis Nix III would consistently command a double team and have no one filling in the gaps behind him. On far too many plays, Nix would have to turn around and chase the play down, often times being the closest one to the play.

I love Big Lou, but I don’t want to see our NT trying to be a MLB.

I really hope this was just a blip in the radar because I really fear what it could mean for the rest of the season.

2) DaVaris Daniels’ Injury

While Kelly said that Daniels could have played through his injury, I am still concerned that it will keep him from being 100%.

Daniels separated himself from the pack as a true playmaker, especially on deep routes. I don’t want to see that fall to the way side because of a nagging injury.

Here’s hoping I’m worrying too much on this.

3) Failing to Dominate a Lesser Team

The quick start was amazing. I thought the Irish would put up 40 by halftime. Instead, the Irish sputtered for most of the game.

Temple was simply outmatched and the score didn’t reflect that.

I’m not panicking about this, but when the talent is clearly that different, I want to see the Irish crush a team as if they were Oregon playing an FCS school.

4) Pretty Much Everything on Special Teams

Yes, the attempts at actually trying to return punts was nice, but beyond that…yeah, this was all ugly.

There were missed field goals, horrible punts, and even T.J. decided to field a punt inside the 10 and attempted a return.

If the Irish continue such awful performances it will end up leading to a painful loss. The two ingredients for an opponent to pull a surprise upset is for them to capitalize on mistakes. These come in the form of costly turnovers or from lapses on special teams.

Even with their struggles, ND should still have one of the best defenses in the nation; however, even the best defense can’t do much if the opposing team scores on a punt return or a punter hands away great field position.

I really want to have a season in which I don’t complain about our special teams the majority of the time…please make this happen.

The post Four Pleasant Surprises and Four Areas of Concern appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

While we don’t have some of the major burning questions that we did last year (who will be the starting QB?), there are still some unanswered questions coming into season.

Here are the eight questions that I came up with as I pondered the upcoming season in glorious non-slideshow form:

1. Which Tommy Rees will show up?

Yeah, let’s just get the obvious out of the way first.

Rees has given us some wonderful memories such as his winning streak in 2010 and his “closer” moments in 2012. He has also given us all nightmares from his 2011 performances and, unfortunately for him, that is what sticks out most in our minds. And because we can’t shake those memories, every mistake he made, minor or otherwise, during what was otherwise a good 2012 campaign was ridiculously magnified.

Will we get the Rees that can manage a game or will we get the Rees that locks in to his receivers, telegraphs his throws, and becomes a turnover machine?

Right now, I’m leaning towards the one that can put a decent game together. Even though he threw some crazy jump balls in 2012, he put them, in most cases, in spots only his receivers could get them. Here’s hoping I’m right because if not…this season will be quite rough.

2. Will ND return punts for positive yardage?

If there was one major and consistent complaint about last year’s season, it was the fair catch parade from our punt return unit.

While Jack Nolan promised that the plan is to actually return punts, I really want to see it and see it work most importantly. While Jack mentioned a buzz with possible return men in Greg Bryant and Amir Carlisle, it will take a lot more than that to fix the problem. Blocking, and blocking effectively will be key.

Kelly has spoken a lot about depth and I think the depth issues really showed on special teams. Even though Kelly espouses “next man in”, he isn’t going to throw bodies into a higher potential for injury. This means you see a lot of second and third string on the punt return unit and they simply can’t block as effectively, especially against the new shield punting scheme that teams employ.

One Foot Down has an excellent breakdown that I highly suggest you read. A dynamic return man will help a lot, but the Irish will need to see some better blocking to get this unit into shape.

3. Who will step up into Te’o’s leadership role?

I would put my money on Louis Nix III personally; however, I’ll admit that is simply because he is my favorite player on this roster right now.

Yeah, I know, solid analysis.

I want to see who is walking up and down the sidelines getting the team ready to go and who the team rallies around in crunch time. Sure, this probably has very little to do with overall team performance, but it is something that intrigues me purely from a fan perspective.

4. Which freshmen will make an immediate impact?

Simply put, this is one of the most talented classes that we’ve seen come into South Bend in quite some time. In most years, we’d probably see many of them starting right away, but the Irish return eight starters on defense and and the offense, while only returning four starters (I’m assuming 1 RB, 3 WR [counting T.J., Goodman, and Toma as the starters in 2012], 1 TE, QB, and 5 linemen here), have loads of players that have already seen significant playing time.

This will be a hard lineup to crack, but if some of the freshmen do, and I fully expect it to happen, they will be quite special to watch on the field.

As discussed before, Greg Bryant has turned some heads as well as Steve Elmer. I wouldn’t discount Jaylon Smith and Max Redfield to find some playing time before the season is over as well.

With this kind of talent hungry to make an impact, I’m very excited to see what will shake out.

5. First Tate, then Floyd, then Eifert, then…?

Who is next in the line of dynamic playmakers for Notre Dame?

While I previously pointed out that T.J. Jones had similar production to Eifert, I’m not completely sold that the major impact will come from a receiver. There is loads of talent in the Irish backfield and I wouldn’t sleep on either GA3, Amir Carlisle, or Greg Bryant making a huge splash. Speaking off…

6. Which running back will rise to the top?

As I mentioned before, GA3, Amir Carlisle, and Greg Bryant all have great potential, but don’t count out Tarean Folston or Cam McDaniel. I’m not sure if the later two will see a lot of carries, but might see roles in the slot or as long distance third down backs.

There is an embarrassment of riches in the backfield and I can’t wait to see how they are used.

7. Will ND finally beat Southern Cal at home?

The last time this happened was 2001. It’s been far too long and I’m tired of seeing the Trojans celebrate a victory on our home turf.

8. Will ND finally win a BCS Bowl before they’re put out to pasture?

Since the BCS started in the 1998 season, the Irish have appeared in four BCS bowl games and lost all of them. The last time the Irish won one of the bowls now was in 1991 when they won the Sugar Bowl.

I won’t lie, I really, really want a BCS win. The last thing I want to hear for years to come was how the Irish never won anything of worth in the BCS era.

BONUS: Will HLS crash during the season?

Because I know someone is going to ask it to troll me. And the answer is: NO.

…or at least it better be or HLS will kill me well before ND Football ever does.

———————

Those are my biggest questions for the 2013 season. What are yours? Let me know in the comments.

The post 8 Big Questions for the 2013 Season appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.