Texas Archives - Her Loyal Sons

HLS Podcast: Conference Realignment 2 – Red River Boogaloo

Ryan Ritter — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 03:51:41 +0000

Shane and I had plans of discussing the national previews of Notre Dame. Then Texas and Oklahoma decided they were off to the SEC.

So, here we go again: it’s conference realignment time. While we spend a fair amount of time making fun of Texas and laughing at the Big XII getting caught with their pants down, we examine what this means for college football’s future, the planned playoff expansion, and if Notre Dame’s independence still fits into all of this.

We’ll try that whole preview magazine thing next week.

Podcast

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HLS Recap: Keep on Truckin’

Ryan Ritter — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 11:01:52 +0000

Turns out not playing for two weeks and having a decent chunk of the roster bouncing around isolation and quarantine can lead to sloppy football. Despite that, Notre Dame flat out plowed through Florida State for a comfortable win, even with all the rest.

While the Irish kept on trucking, others weren’t as lucky. We were close to a blood weak with multiple ranked teams finding themselves on the wrong side of the score sheet. We were also blessed with what had to be the most insane Red River Shootout and Mike Leach setting a record he probably never expected to.

Podcast

Twitch VoD

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HLS Recap: The Sober One

Ryan Ritter — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 12:53:13 +0000

After our annual bye week gong show, it’s time to get things back to normal and, hopefully, the Notre Dame schedule will as well. Considering that I had one hell of a time getting this audio together in a listenable form (please pray for my PC), those odds are good.

Traditional technical issues aside, the rest of college football is keeping the straight up rollercoaster of 2020 alive and well. The Big XII continues to lobby their way out of the playoff, Mississippi State got the full Mike Leach experience in two weeks, leading Shane and I to try to figure out just what we actually know about the national picture at this point.

We also take a look ahead to Notre Dame and Florida State and discuss the roller coaster of emotions of these last couple of weeks, including Notre Dame getting far more of a pandemic spotlight than either of us ever wanted.

Podcast

Twitch VoD

Remember the audio issues I mentioned? That’s because I had some kind of crazy static in my audio that I had to edit out. If you really want to witness it, you can find it here, but I’m not going to embed that mess.

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HLS Recap: Sticking to Sports?

Ryan Ritter — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 11:24:16 +0000

So how do you recap an unplanned bye week? Well, you can read some podcast reviews, laugh at the ones demanding you stick to sports.

Next, you immediately pivot to Fr. Jenkins showing up at Washington D.C. without a mask. An act of “leadership” that I’m sure went over real well for every Notre Dame football player sitting at home this weekend as well as students that aren’t allowed to go see their friends in any type of situation that resembles normal.

Finally, you top it off with the most epic edition of #snacktalk possible as it was the true highlight of football this week.

After that’s all done, then, and only then, do you actually stick to sports.

Podcast

Twitch VoD

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Friday Roundup: The HVAC Edition

Ryan Ritter — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 06:51:41 +0000

Teams are always looking for ways to up their home-field advantage. Iowa paints their visitors’ locker room pink. Notre Dame installed a comical tunnel for visiting teams to use. So when Ed Orgeron said that Texas cut off the air conditioning to the visitors’ locker room, it sounded plausible even if it bordered on the bush-league absurd (even moreso than Weis’ tactic of letting the grass in ND Stadium grow to absurd lengths).

Coach O didn’t stop there though. He said Texas pulled the same stunt on Louisiana Tech. In fact, he called them to scout the conditions and brought extra blower fans to combat the under-handed tactic.

Problem is that Skip Holtz, head coach of Louisiana Tech, said that Coach O never called him and he had no recollection that Texas attempted to stoop so low.

Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz weighs in on whether Texas had AC in visitor locker room: “I do not know the answer. I wasn’t the one who talked to anybody in Baton Rouge. I don’t remember it being like a sauna, and I don’t remember it being cool.”
— The Morning Drive (@MorningDrive977) September 10, 2019

Texas of course denied all the allegations and athletic director, Chris Del Conte, launched–and I can’t believe I’m about to write this–an internal investigation on their HVAC functionality. The report came back stating the A/C was working just fine and–I also can’t believe I’m about to write this–those records were FOIA’d:

This is a fantastic spreadsheet, too. I mean, we got airflow info. Lots of lines, charts, gobs of data. pic.twitter.com/jmJgrKvrIN
— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) September 12, 2019

But don’t worry, y’all, we can get dumber. Because our Austin correspondent and fellow degenerate game picker, NDEddieMac, received third-party confirmation from…*checks notes*…a BBQ vendor:

The BBQ joint has weighed in on the UT AC controversy and I have all the info I need now pic.twitter.com/W4ZAn5cQ95
— NDEddieMac (@NDEddieMac) September 12, 2019

Friendly reminder, LSU won this game.

For some reason though, Coach O decided to go down this fabricated rabbit hole. Why? I honestly have no clue. It was originally triggered by questions about his players cramping on the field, which, you know happens in upper-90-degree Texas heat. He didn’t even have to mention this insanity at all.

But nope, here we are, complete with spreadsheets and BBQ joints calling bullshit.

Never change, college football. Ever.

The Roundup

Note: Some links are from The Athletic and require a subscription to read. These are denoted with ($). If you are considering a subscription, please use our discount!

Friendly reminder if you are looking for ND/SC tickets: HLS is doing a charity silent auction for a pair. Details are here.

Winning is hard, but losing is harder. And losing so badly that it’s clear the season is done after just a couple of weeks? That’s a whole other level ($).

California passed a bill that would allow players to profit of their image and likeness. So, naturally, the NCAA responded to this first domino of the Olympic model falling by calling the thing unconstitutional and threatening to kick all California schools out of the NCAA. Makes sense.

Tennessee finally got a win. In response to the news that a Florida boy found himself bullied because he made his own Tennessee shirt since he had none, Tennessee not only sent him a care package of swag, but are now selling the very shirt the boy designed to benefit anti-bullying groups. They are selling like hotcakes with over 16,000 sold as of Tuesday.

Mark Richt has lost control of giving a single, solitary fuck:

Life doesn’t get much better than this! Just think I could be grading film right now!! pic.twitter.com/6s5V6JMYJE
— Mark Richt (@MarkRicht) September 9, 2019

Want to read a story entirely about an epic punting performance? You know you do ($).

RIP, T. Boone Pickens. While many know him for his contributions to Oklahoma State, it’s well worth reading more about one hell of a full life that includes him going to the grave with a promise that 90% of his wealth will go to charity.

Opponent Watch

Regardless if he’s on the sidelines or not, this weekend is about Bob Davie. While his tenure at Notre Dame absolutely went south, the coaching staff that he had here was nothing short of incredible ($) and all the more maddening that it never worked. While I’m happy to hear he’s recovering from his undisclosed health issues, it is worth bringing up his rather rocky legacy that includes unceremoniously firing Joe Moore and orchestrating a spying operation.

And always remember, now and forever, the hot dog machine incident.

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Friday Roundup: The “Notre Dame-Free” Episode

Ryan Ritter — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 06:04:57 +0000

Yes, a Notre Dame-free episode might sound a little crazy to publish in this space, but let’s be honest with each other. We need a break from talking about terrible ND Football things and you need a break from hearing it. Shane and I took this task so seriously that we did our damnedest to not even utter the words “Notre Dame” all episode.

Besides, there is loads of college football to talk about. The CFB playoff rankings could end in the biggest possible clusterfuck imaginable. The coaching carousel spun off its axis this week. And there was even a college football rivalry that bled into Twitter via website fight (which Shane and I gave a dramatic reading treatment to).

Don’t let Irish football kill your college football joy completely. There is still quite a bit of fun to be had.

The Roundup

Yes, bowl committees everywhere will cheer for a Navy loss this week. Navy winning the AAC title could end up screwing everyone’s schedule up.

In the least surprising news ever, one of college football’s top running backs, D’Onta Foreman will forgo his senior year to get paid.

THIS IS NOT ND NEWS. This is important college football news for teams that need a quarterback: Malik Zaire is officially on the grad transfer market.

I hope no one thought Dave Aranda was going anywhere. Thanks to Coach O taking less money than Les Miles, Aranda is gonna GET. PAID.

We all had Indiana as the team to have the craziest coaching carousel, right? IU suddenly had Kevin Wilson resign over “philosophical differences” and promptly named a replacement within hours. The whole thing doesn’t pass the smell test when you dig in a little deeper. After just signing a new extension, Wilson willingly resigned and only took $500k in a buyout? Riiiiiight. IU swears this isn’t over player mistreatment or anything medical although the players themselves appear to disagree. This whole thing is weird.

THIS IS NOT ND NEWS EITHER. This is a super-hot tip on a potential coach for Oregon.

Apparently you should never question Lamar Jackson. Otherwise, Petrino will get pissed, storm out of a presser, and give you the biggest death glare imaginable.

Prayers to the SC community. They lost former RB, Joe McKnight, to a senseless act of violence in NOLA.

Sometimes, tragedy finds humor. Despite the terrorist attack on Ohio State’s campus, one professor made sure to remind everyone who won a certain football game.

And if you ever want to feel incredibly dirty about college football. Have fun taking a deep dive into the quagmire that major-program CFB head coaches step into.

Eddie is on the road to 50%. I’m likely toast for the rest of the regular season. Feel free to keep track of our success, or lack thereof, so far. Also, keep your eye out for a HLS Podcast bowl pool, with a gift card from Amazon on the line, and pick directly against the spread, Eddie, and I.

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After Last Night, I See Only Four “Likely Wins” Left

Jimmy Grant — Sun, 18 Sep 2016 22:08:17 +0000

We can now confidently conclude that the Texas loss was no aberration. It was not the result of a hostile crowd, an outmatched-but-inspired Texas team or some fixable defensive errors.

R.J. Shelton #12 of the Michigan State Spartans scores a touchdown in front of Drue Tranquill #23 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half of a game at Notre Dame Stadium on September 17, 2016 in South Bend, Indiana. Credit: Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Notre Dame is a deeply flawed team this year; last night confirmed that. It was almost hard to watch the Irish make huge errors on special teams, continue to play defense with the density of Swiss cheese and make questionable coaching decisions in a game they absolutely had to win. There was seemingly no rational reason for handing the ball back to Michigan State down 36-28 with 3:37 remaining.

I know we will hear the arguments and excuses.

The Irish had three timeouts left.

It was fourth and 7 and the Irish were on their own 32.

Blah, blah, and blah!

COACHING FAILURES DOOMED IRISH

With 3:37 to go, the Irish needed two yards on third down to keep the drive and, in all reality, the season alive. Did Brian Kelly have that little confidence in the run game that he didn’t believe they could get him two yards? If the run is stopped, it’s fourth and short.

Despite analysts dramatizing time, football fans know a team almost never runs out of clock. A turnover or a failure to get 10 yards in four downs kills the two minute drill. Kelly opted to take the ball out of his best players’ hands and put the game on a defense that allowed more than 500 yards of total offense.

I predicted the Irish would win this game last week because of Kizer. But, for me, the Irish sealed their fate the moment Kizer trotted off the field and the punt team entered. I would have “rolled the dice” on fourth and 7 in favor of leaving it the hands of the defense.

This week is no easier for Brian VanGorder. The Irish defense struggled. The Spartans manhandled them on the line. The tackling and pass coverage was simply abysmal. I don’t see any scenario where VanGorder returns next year.

It’s difficult to see many wins on the remaining schedule. I think Syracuse, Army, Navy and Duke are likely wins. But, at this point, who knows? NC State, Miami and Virginia Tech – games which, just weeks ago, seemed very manageable – now go into the “toss up” category.

CBS’s latest project has Notre Dame in the Russell Athletic Bowl versus Oklahoma. The leaves haven’t even fallen, and the Irish are out of the playoff race. It’s hard to believe.

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Morning Roundup: Sept. 10, 2016

andrewwinn — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 09:00:33 +0000

Torii Hunter Jr. is ruled out for today’s game due to ongoing recovery from a concussion. This story and much more from the past 24 hours of Notre Dame football.

FROM OUR SITE

PODCAST

Irish247: Wrapping Notre Dame-Texas, previewing Nevada
Irish247: On-air talking Kizer, Notre Dame football with Fox Sports
ND Insider: Recruiting update 9-8

NEXT GAME: vs. NEVADA (3:30 ET SATURDAY, NBC)

ABC57: First Notre Dame game for Virginia couple, 50 years in the making
Athlon Sports: Nevada Wolf Pack vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish preview and prediction
Blue & Gold Illustrated: Staff prediction
CSN Chicago: For Notre Dame, Nevada game an opportunity for positive momentum
ESPN: College football line moves, sharp and public bets according to Las Vegas bookmakers
Inside the Irish: Pregame six pack: No place like home
Inside the Irish: Concussion to keep Torii Hunter Jr. out against Nevada
Irish Sports Daily: Game predictions
Irish247: Staff predictions Nevada game
ND Insider: Campus activities for Notre Dame – Nevada
ND Insider: Lesar: Keys to the game for Notre Dame-Nevada
NWI Times: Looking back and ahead
One Foot Down: The anti-preview: Notre Dame vs. Nevada
One Foot Down: Notre Dame vs. Nevada weather report
One Foot Down: Game preview: Notre Dame vs. Nevada
One Foot Down: Notre Dame vs. Nevada: Staff picks
One Foot Down: Picks to click – Nevada week
One Foot Down: What’s special about playing Nevada?
The Oregonian: Notre Dame football vs. Nevada Wolf Pack: What time, TV channel, live stream, live score updates
Record Courier: Pack take on Notre Dame
Reno Gazette Journal: Three keys to Nevada-Notre Dame game
Slap the Sign: When does Notre Dame vs. Nevada kick off and other questions
Slap the Sign: Friday night picks: Predictions for Notre Dame vs. Nevada
South Bend Tribune: What to expect heading to Notre Dame home opener
UHND: Frankie V’s prediction: Notre Dame vs. Nevada ’16
UND: Notre Dame – Nevada 2016: Five things to watch

https://vine.co/v/5JqQ2WXm1hu

OFFENSE

AP: Watching Golson helped Kizer win job as Notre Dame QB
Irish247: Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer named the starter
Irish247: St. Brown calls Denbrock ‘a major key”
Irish247: Sanders on WR group: “Guys are ready to ball out”
ND Insider: Notre Dame WR Equanimeous St. Brown a viral sensation
ND Insider: Voices from the past and present inspire C.J. Sanders’ ascent at Notre Dame
UHND: Torii Hunter Jr. injury update
UHND: Desmond Howard: DeShone Kizer ‘one of the best QBs in college football’

DEFENSE

Irish247: Kelly confident Irish DBs will rebound from Texas loss
Irish247: Martini: “We left a lot out on that field”
Irish247 ($): Kelly, VanGorder focus on maximizing personnel strengths
Irish247: Notre Dame’s Isaac Rochell talks message from Brian VanGorder
Irish247: Morgan appreciative for fight, effort of defense
Irish247: Luke impressed with early play of Devin Studstill
Irish247 ($): Roll the dice with Studstill and Elliott

SCHEDULE

MLive: Michigan State puts positive spin on early bye with Notre Dame looming

RECRUITING

Irish Sports Daily (Free/$): ISD Intel
Irish247 ($): Hezekiah Jones locks in Notre Dame official visit
Irish247: Notre Dame commit update (Sept. 9)

LAST GAME: Texas 50, Notre Dame 47

Burnt Orange Nation: Texas victory over Notre Dame could come to resemble 2004 win over Arkansas
CSN Chicago: DeShone Kizer puts offseason improvements on display against Texas
Football Scoop: Here’s the video Texas showed its players before beating Notre Dame

MISC.

Forbes: Saturdays in the fall mean college football, tailgating and private jets
FOX Sports: Watch basketball hall of famer Allen Iverson dominate as a HS football star
Irish Sports Daily ($): The bigger picture: ND has come a long way
ND Insider: New parking strategy set for Notre Dame Stadium
UHND: Notre Dame’s road woes continue under Brian Kelly

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Morning Roundup: Sept. 9, 2016

andrewwinn — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 09:00:37 +0000

Mike Tirico says he’s not a Michigan man. Bleacher Report has us reaching for the tissues with its remembrance of Greg Bryant. These stories and more from the last 24 hours of Notre Dame football below.

Morning Roundup: Sept. 8, 2016

andrewwinn — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 09:00:07 +0000

DeShone Kizer says he’s starting against Nevada and won’t rotate with Malik Zaire at quarterback. The BGI guys debate the effect of Torii Hunter’s absence. Brian VanGorder’s defense remains under the microscope. All these stories and more from the past 24 hours of Notre Dame football below.

FROM OUR SITE

PODCAST