any chance we can get lenzy back in the fold? elite speed and can play WR or CB...that's exactly what we need Do like Porter also though since we don't have Lenzy - he's got serious speed and some size to him
I still believe there's no way Nelson falls out of the top 8 picks next year...if I were a GM, he's worth a top 3 pick Coach D's opinion on Nelson: Nelson has been more dominant than any Notre Dame OL I've ever seen. As good as Martin was in 2013 and as good as Stanley was in 2015, neither was in the same universe to what we've seen from Nelson this year. He's the one ND lineman who was just as good against Georgia as he was everyone else. He looks like a seasoned NFL veteran playing against college kids. He's been that dominant.
Porter gives me a bit of an Atkinson vibe. Tall, fast, etc. Lenzy would be cool, but I'd bet we are all in on Amon-Ra now.
Nelson is the top ol this year, I know tackles are worth more but i would not hesitate to take him in the top 10. Best player available philosophy
great guards allow mediocre tackles. its what the saints had in brees' prime. evans and nicks were just incredible and allowed brees to pretty much always step up and evade pressure
just got my first text about buying rose bowl tickets now before the price goes up. We’re officially jinxed. Time to sandbag like a motherfucker.
I would be more nervous if I wasn't confident we will dominate the trenches in all remaining games. Hard to get upset when you're built on power running
OL will be damn good again next year. I've been pretty blown away by Hainsey. True freshman has more than held his on at tackle this year.
They're pushing this narrative that they don't care too hard - makes me think that they held a ranking watch party and all celebrated together.
o'malley Spoiler Reply Quote 1 – “Leverage” is a very popular word for coaches these days. Not sure it applies in every way they use it, but Notre Dame is 7-1 so what the hell do I care? 2 – Love this one by Mike Tirico: “You know it’s a big time of the year. Why? Because we’re talking wind chill.” 3 – Tony Jones, Jr. might have injured his hip on the opening kickoff. Looks like a helmet directly to his left side. Kid can’t catch a break. My pre-season Top 10: Nelson, McGlinchey, Morgan, St. Brown, Adams, Wimbush, D. Hayes, Jones, Tranquill, Love. I’d say I missed on two and ranked one too low (Adams). 4 – Adams hits the opening snap read-option for 21 yards to the field side (left, in this instance). McGlinchey with an inside seal and Durham Smythe the same – the latter in dominant fashion to open an easy lane. 5 – Future starting left guard Tommy Kraemer surrenders an Ole! sack at right tackle. Kraemer was caught reaching, then flailing after the quicker Kentavius Street who smacked Kraemer’s hands out of the way in textbook fashion. 6 – Bradley Chubb eschews a solo block on the boundary from Alizé Mack (Yikes!) to sack Wimbush. Kraemer was pushed into Wimbush’s outside throwing lane as well by Street. In fairness to Mack, I believe Josh Adams was supposed to offer help vs. Chubb, but when Adams set outside Mack’s left shoulder, Chubb flashed inside for the sack. That’s consecutive sacks for the first time this season. Lesson learned: Mack vs. Chubb is a no-go. Actually that’s not a lesson I needed to learn, I knew that entering the contest… 7 – Notre Dame has flipped its corners, apparently for good now. Julian Love is the new boundary and Nick Watkins has thus gone to the field side. Irish defense furnishes a three-and-out highlighted by a Love PD on 2nd Down and Nyles Morgan/Andrew Trumbetti pressure on third. Love’s play proved a portent as the Irish corners grew confident playing “on ball” vs. the Wolfpack receivers throughout the evening. 8 – Troy Pride started and stayed as the field side corner in the Nickel package in place of Nick Watkins. Shaun Crawford remains the Nickel (slot) cover man and also rotates with Watkins at the field in the base package. 9 – Of note, both Todd Lyght and Kerry Cooks (and also Bob Diaco) said the boundary corner has to be the “better athlete” of the two (field or boundary), the more “rugged.” 10 – That’s probably enough about the corners for my first 10 thoughts, right? 11 – Adams loses 7 yards on a slow developing read to the boundary. Chubb and Street knifed through to destroy the play. 12 – Mike Tirico notes the Irish are “4-for-24 on 3rd-and-10 or more this season.” Make that 4-for-25 as a wisely conservative screen to Adams on 3rd-and-16 goes nowhere. Chubb right around McGlinchey (part of the play’s screen design to get him outside, of course), but ultimately he beat McGlinchey too quickly to set up the screen pass. 13 – Calamity. Punt Block touchdown and NC State leads 7-0. Long-snapper John Shannon failed to pick up inside (looked like Daelin Hayes did his job as did Mack) and Shannon’s mistake was exacerbated by Tranquill ignoring that up-to-gut defender as well. (Tranquill took responsibility post-game noting he didn’t make the right check; Kelly offered that he was just being a good captain in doing so. I think both were right. Tranquill never blocked anyone but rather released after his two count.) Spencer Pratt dives on the ball for the score – kid had a heckuva first half as you’ll read. 14 – Notre Dame answers immediately with a C.J. Sanders kick return to the 40-yard line (fielded at the 8). Credit Nic Weishar, Cole Kmet, Asmar Bilal, Greer Martini and Durham Smythe with blocks. 15 – Adams for 35 yards behind Nelson, McGlinchey, and Smythe downfield. Two-back set this time with Jones motioning to the field at the snap and it drew the field side ‘backer out of the gap. (For ND, that would be the “Buck.”) Mustipher wins too, per usual. 16 – Up tempo and Wimbush makes the Wolfpack pay with a post to Smythe down the seam. Great anticipation/confidence by Wimbush on that toss but an easy read as the strong safety was far too flat against Smythe. 17 – Smythe had an impressive last minute of football, eh? 18 – Khalid Kareem rotates in for the ‘Pack’s second series. Quick pursuit down the line diving for Nyheim Hines who escapes his grasp but injures his ankle in the ensuing scrum. I’m curious regarding the snap total for the true sophomore Kareem. I’ll ask Sampson later this week. The Irish defensive edge is in great hands next season with D. Hayes/Okwara and J. Hayes/Kareem. 19 – Finley sneaks on 3rd-and-1 for two yards and an easy first down. Doug Flutie calls him “slick” then references Tom Brady. 20 – Nick Watkins breaks on an accurate slant by Finley for the pass defensed. I’ll find out Thursday from BK why Coach Elko has flipped Waktins to the field side. (Relevant in that they felt he was perfect for the boundary back in August.) Regardless, good anticipation by Watkins. 21 – Irish D handles an option pitch from Finley as Troy Pride helps out (with Jalen Elliott) to make the stop. Pride used the cross-body block technique to aid that “tackle.” Hey, it worked… 22 – Robert Hainsey pulls from right tackle, Quenton Nelson seals inside, Mike McGlinchey outside and Sam Mustipher kicks out six yards downfield. The end result? Josh Adams for nine yards. First six were clean up the gut. And the forward lean equals three more. What a life for Adams right now…. 23 -- Adams is dropped for a 1-yard loss to which Flutie offers, “The run game is hit or miss right now.” Adams has 64 yards on 7 carries with more than three minutes to go in the first quarter, mind you. 24 – Wimbush underthrows Claypool and the pass is broken up by Mike Stevens who barks at the Irish sophomore. Remember that play… 25 – On 3rd-and-10, Mack loses his block against the Mike ‘backer, otherwise Adams has momentum and one man to beat at the second level. Punt. 26 – Studstill with a nice run force allowing Morgan and Tranquill to combine for a 1-yard Stuff on Samuels. After a State penalty, Julian Love with another break on the ball, expertly using his left (outside) hand while deftly keeping the right on the receiver’s body. PD #2 “They’re not afraid of NC State’s speed,” says Flutie. I agree. I hope I don’t find myself doing that sort of thing often… 27 – 3rd-and-14 after a Wolfpack penalty but the visitors convert thanks to a diving grab by the Swiss Army Knife, Samuels. Well-timed and placed pass in front of Crawford, too. 28 – Next snap, Love gets greedy and bites on the double move – gain of 42 down the right side and the ‘Pack are threatening. 29 – Another red zone Stuff (no gain) as Tillery penetrates and Martini finishes Samuels at the line of scrimmage 2nd QUARTER 7-7 ND, NCST @ ND 15-yard line 30 – After a QB Hurry (Trumbetti, with Martini on the coverage) Finley connects on 3rd-and-10 with a leaping Kelvin Harmon for the 15-yard score. Jalen Elliott was beaten in off-man coverage on a quick out-and-up from the slot. Decent coverage – just tip your hat; the other guys have scholarships too. 14-7 Wolfpack. Nice start by the underdogs. Now: let the bundling commence… 31 – Flutie: “For the most part, the NC State D-Line is shutting down the run game. It’s going to have to be big chunks in the pass game and pick your opportunities in the run game.” Yeah… 32 -- Dexter Williams checks in and picks two first downs on three rushes, the highlight a back-pocket run behind Sam Mustipher up the gut. 33 – After a Stuff (Williams +0) and a throwaway, Wimbush is faced with 3rd-and-10 and promptly turns Notre Dame Stadium into a sandlot, escaping up the middle, making two would-be tacklers miss before the sticks while running through another. Nice block by Kevin Stepherson to aid the cause. 20 yards and an Irish first down. Make that 5-for-26 on 3rd-and-10 or more. Take that! 34 – 3rd-and-2 and Notre Dame’s “inconsistent” rushing attack rips off 14 yards over the right boundary as Bars pulls, Smythe seals Chubb inside and Brock Wright plows through as an I-formation fullback. Josh Adams follows untouched for the first 8 yards. 35 – More boundary run action, this time behind three tight ends for five yards. Opposite, Claypool extracts a measure of revenge vs. Stevens, burying the Wolfpack corner but then unfortunately clapping in his face (Just stare at him, man. No flag coming if you stare). Penalties offset when the little guy slaps the big one in his facemask… 36 – Claypool wide open on a field-side slant but Wimbush throws to St. Brown (who was held in the end zone and drew the flag). Irish set up for 1st and Goal at the Wolfpack 1-yard line. 37 – On 1st-and-Goal at the 2, Adams is stopped at the 1-yard line. Strong tackle by safety Jarious Morehead as low man wins. There’s one instance of Adams running too high if you’re into such scouting criticisms. 38 – 2nd-and-Goal at the 1…Just sneak it, man. Every time it’s Goal-to-Go at the 1-yard line, just sneak it. Instead, Adams loses 2 yards cutting outside when there’s no gap over left tackle. Quality solo tackle by Pratt who scored earlier on the blocked punt. 39 – 3rd-and-G at the 3 and Wimbush score easily on the read-option keeper. Mustipher, Nelson, Bars, and a pulling McGlinchey allow the Irish triggerman to score untouched. Mack held away from the play, incidentally. 14-14 ND with 9:37 remaining in the 1st 40 – Samuels is dropped for a loss of four yards by the Coney/Tranquill combination –coming next summer to a pre-season All-America Team near you. It’s not just that Tranquill set the edge defensively, it’s that he often recreates it. Reading the play (pre-snap) and exploding outside the key field-side blocker this time and Coney cleaned up the cut-back attempt as Jay Hayes won with early penetration. Hayes and Tranquill have been outstanding in tandem to the field this season. 41 – Coney again. +1 Stuff. And the ensuing 3rd-and-13 has no chance with miscommunication between Finley and Harmon. Troy Pride on the coverage with outside leverage. There’s that word again… 42 – Flutie points out that Finley threw too early in long yardage situation. “He’s not comfortable holding the ball.” Gotta say…he’s had two quality points today. Yeah, but let’s get back to that comment about the Irish running game. 43 – St. Brown nearly reels in a circus catch deep (underthrown) from Wimbush but can’t hold on upon ground contact. Draws pass interference regardless, his second in as many series. 44 – Adams for 5 (leg drive bowls over defender) Adams for 5 on 3rd Down (huge push up front). Adams for 4 on 1st Down… And after a fade route incompletion to Stepherson, Wimbush dials up Durham Smythe who makes a leaping, fully extended, toe-tapping catch to move the chains on 3rd-and-6: (+11) What a game by Smythe! 45 – From the 10-yard line, Stepherson wins off the snap (one stutter, one hard step to the slant before breaking to the corner) but Wimbush’s fade delivery is a touch late. No matter: the sophomore playmaker plants a foot down before tumbling to the turf. Touchdown, Irish. Stepherson has 7 touches for 106 yards and two touchdowns in two games since the bye 21-14 with 5:30 remaining 46 – Harmon strikes again for the Wolfpack, +24 on a right-to-left cross (passes both hashes in the process) to beat Nick Watkins in off man coverage. That’s not solely Watkins’ fault, just the perfect call to isolate a corner that had to run 30 yards through traffic in coverage. 47 – After a 24-yard gain, Mike Elko’s defense stiffens thanks to Nick Coleman/Nyles Morgan blitz pressure (vs. a flea-flicker), a Drue Tranquill PD on 2nd Down, and Julian Okwara pressure on 3rd. 48 – Notre Dame’s final drive of the half highlighted by a 16-yarder from Wimbush to Smythe to get the offense out of its black zone. Wimbush stood strong in the pocket, stepped up and delivered a strike to the crossing Smythe. That’s a sentence I haven’t written often. 49 – The drive stalls when Mack can’t hang onto a 3rd-down strike from Wimbush. (Conversely, that’s a sentence I’ve written too often.) Great throw on the roll by Wimbush. Mack was concussed on the play and had the ball stripped out on the way down. 50 – Wolfpack cross midfield after Crawford is flagged for holding Samuels down the pipes (correct call). Prior to the ensuing snap, it appeared Samuels took out his mouthpiece and said to Crawford: “Hey 20. All day.” Then motioned that he was one-on-one with Crawford again. Three snaps later (including the third pressure of the half by Julian Okwara), the Tranquill/Trumbetti combo record a sack with straight bull rushes up the middle from the Dime package. Following the play, Crawford barks at Samuels who had jammed him in the face during the route. 51 – Julian Love breaks up the ensuing Hail Mary with authority – his third PD of the half. HALFTIME NOTRE DAME 21 NC STATE 14 52 – Tranquill late to fill off tackle vs. Samuels. You don’t see that often. He read the play, too. Wonder if J. Hayes gave up too much ground to the inside? 53 – D. Hayes with force on the edge and the result is a 3-yard loss to the boundary. Jonathan Bonner was a monster on that snap as well. 54 – Kelvin Harmon won me over this weekend, this time +20 to the aptly described “dead zone” in Notre Dame’s Cover 2 (between the short corner and safety). Harmon had three of the Wolfpack’s five biggest impact plays Saturday. 55 – Dare I say Notre Dame’s DE combos will be better next year than this season? (And they might be the second best position group on the squad at present.) This time Khalid Kareem penetrates and joins Daelin Hayes for the +0 Stuff to set up 3rd and 10, and… 56 – A Julian Love interception touchdown. I’d laud him more but it was basically a bad ball drill with skeleton blocking for the playmaking corner. Finley was cavalier with the throw but I object – nay, strenuously object – to snapping the ball while the rest of the linemen sit in a stance. 28-14. Might as well be 40-14…. 57 – I think this is what they mean when they say, “...then they remembered they were NC State,” or something to that effect. 58 – No Notre Dame tackler in kickoff coverage has breached the 30-yard line when Jalen Samuels fields the ensuing boot at his own 1-yard line. The end result is a 58-yard return, longest of the season. Isaiah Robertson soft on outside containment and Tony Jones went down in a heap. Was that where he was injured? 59 – The major bust we’ve talked about for more than a month is coming, folks. Let’s hope it’s not in Palo Alto. 60 – Coney and Samuels have words after a short gain in which the latter unleashes a stiff-arm of some consequence. Both of them have that look. What look? The look you don’t want any part of in a fight, though Coney has the inherent advantage of Quenton Nelson being in the stadium… 61 – Tranquill and Coleman bracket Samuels on 3rd-and-5 and as a result, Finley finds Harmon to move the chains. Crawford was there but was boxed out by the bigger receiver. 62 – 1st and 10 at the ND 15 and – stop me if you’ve read this before – the Irish D bows up, first with a Julian Love Stuff of +1 against the pass (my favorite stat!) then with a busted play tackle by Coleman for minus-7 in space against Samuels – and they exchange words as well. By my count that’s Crawford, Coney, and Coleman with words for Samuels. Tirico mentioned there was another incident prior but I missed it. 63 – If Notre Dame got anything from its field safety this defense would be lights out. Err, more lights out. This time Jalen Elliott is wiped out on a tunnel screen that gains 15, setting up… 64 – Gallaspy meets Te’von Coney in the hole and the Irish breakout junior star tackles him for loss on 4th-and-1 near the Irish goal line. I took Dave Doeren to task on Twitter for eschewing the field goal during the game but I think he made the right decision in retrospect. They needed to put game pressure on Wimbush with the touchdown. Terrible play-call, however. Why not give it to Mr. Tough Guy Samuels? Instead, Coney murders Gallaspy and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa blows up Samuels’ lead block. 65 – Flutie was a lot better at throwing and running with a football than he is talking about people doing the same… 66 – After an exchange of three-and-outs (including a 3rd-Down PD by Shaun Crawford) Josh Adams takes a garden-variety handoff from his own 23-yard line. Unfortunately for the Wolfpack defense, that’s just too close to the goal line – 77-yard touchdown Irish. 35-14 thanks to two blocks by Nelson including the latter in congress with Mustipher, plus Alex Bars with an inside seal. 67 – Honestly, it looked like SS Jarious Morehead wanted nothing to do with Adams in that hole. Everybody Breaks… 68 – We’re near the outset of the fourth quarter. Deon McIntosh, come on down! 69 – Nick Coleman PD. You know who’s pretty good? Nick Coleman… 70 – Rank the disparities: -- Irish running game 2016 vs. Irish running game 2017 -- VanGorder defense vs. Elko defense -- Your feeling watching football November 2016 vs. November 2017 71 – McIntosh doesn’t care what the score is. I love that. 72 – 3rd-and-8 early in the 4th Quarter and we have Brian Kelly’s favorite play of the day: Wimbush checks the first option (deep left), a check down second (out left), his third (Sluggo from right slot) and finally hits the comeback to the field for 13 yards and a first down. 73 – I thought Wimbush had one of his three best days as a passer Saturday. Good delivery, decisive, pocket awareness, touch, and a few snap throw – all against a quality defense. 74 – Boykin is held on a go route for about 3 full seconds, no call. Come on, man. It’s not as if that’s in-line holding. The kid was the outside receiver! 75 – Back on defense: Julian Love is there again – would have had a pass Stuff if not for a dropped ball. Troy Pride there one-snap later to negate a 3rd-and-7. Pride replacing Watkins in the Nickel is a sign that no one is standing pat on this coaching staff -- nor the players in their development. Not usually the case for this program in November. 76 – Post for Claypool (open) and a seam route for Stepherson (likewise) – that should have been six points. Instead Wimbush throws a touch too far and Stepherson didn’t lay out. I suppose at 35-14, laying out and losing the rest of the month to a collarbone injury might not be prudent. 77 – Three-and-out (Again). That’s four straight. -- Love PD (Bad throw) -- Okwara Stuff -- Hayes and Tillery Stuff vs. a screen +2 78 – With 8:40 remaining, Notre Dame just decides to keep the ball for the rest of the evening. I had a friend that was once so mad we lost a 3-on-3 game he took his ball and went home. Five of us stood there wondering why no one else brought another ball. 79 – Was Notre Dame’s offense wise to kneel at the 5-yard line at the tail end of this 15-play, 76-yard drive? Absolutely. It’s not like they were playing Michigan…
tale of the tape Spoiler Tale of the Tape: N.C. State @ Notre Dame Mike Elko forced the issue against N.C. State’s methodical offensive approach, limiting the Wolfpack to 263 yards total offense – a whopping 204 yards below its average. Tim Prister - Oct 30, 9:29 AM VIP 15 ELKO AND THE SECONDARY CHALLENGE (Photo: Matt Cashore, 247Sports) Mike Elko could have done what just about every defensive coordinator has done when the No. 9 Irish took on No. 14 N.C. State Saturday afternoon in Notre Dame Stadium. From 2014-16, as the coordinator at Wake Forest, Elko’s Demon Deacons lost by a combined 64 points while allowing an average of 458 yards total offense with zero turnovers created. Allow Ryan Finley and Co. to methodically move the football down the field with hitches and quick outs and you’ll find your defense on the field all day. Elko, whose defense has yet to allow more than 20 points in a game, chose a much more aggressive approach while still limiting Finley and the Wolfpack to less than six yards per attempt in Notre Dame’s 35-14 victory. “They’re not afraid of N.C. State’s speed (at receiver),” said NBC analyst Doug Flutie. Only once did Finley – a 70 percent passer who went 17-of-37 against the Irish – connect on a deep ball, and that was a 42-yarder to Steph Louis on a double move after Wolfpack offensive coordinator Eliah Drinkwitz finally used Julian Love’s aggressiveness against him. N.C. State would go on to take a 14-7 lead, but it would be its last points of the day – with 44:48 remaining. “This shows what we’re about,” said Love, who finished with three passes broken up and the back-breaking, momentum-clutching 69-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter. “We don’t care what you’ve done in the past. We’re going to come out and attack. We do all these turnover drills to create turnovers and make the most of every turnover. That’s us attacking, and that’s what we’ve tried to be about.” On Finley’s first pass of the game, a quick throw to Louis, Love jumped the route, knocked the pass away, and two plays later, the first of eight punts came off the foot of N.C. State’s A.J. Cole. All told, the Wolfpack had 12 possessions. One of them was four plays; seven of them were three plays. Six of the possessions went for single-digit yardage. Just one drive was longer than 43 yards. The Irish were “aggressively cautious” in their coverage. They didn’t press at the line of scrimmage, but rather, gave Louis, Kelvin Harmon and Jakobi Meyers a six-or-so yard cushion. Love and Co. read the body language of the receivers, and if it looked like they were going to cut that route off and come back to the football, the Irish jumped the route. After Love’s first PBU, a series of aggressive breaks on the football ensued with a few other results mixed in. • Love defended a deep ball to Harmon. • Nick Watkins batted away a 2nd-and-9 pass to Louis. • Love gave a six-yard cushion and then jumped a sideline hitch to Louis for a PBU. It was at this point that Love fell for Louis’ double-move, which set up a Wolfpack touchdown and a 14-7 lead. “I got burned on one for trying to be too aggressive,” Love said. “I started hot by driving down on the ball. I feel so confident. I know I can run with these receivers and I know I can make plays. “We had a feeling they would try the quick-game on us, so you could see I was pretty aggressive early on. I got a little greedy on one, but our main goal is third-down percentage.” The Irish held the Wolfpack to 5-of-16 on third down, and the PBUs – and passes defensed -- kept coming. • Troy Pride Jr. was not credited with a pass broken up, but he was all over Harmon on a 3rd-and-13 incompletion. • Drue Tranquill PBU on Meyers over the middle. • On the play in which Nyles Morgan and Greer Martini collided near the Irish sideline, Morgan was not credited with a pass broken up, but he should have been. • N.C. State’s Jaylen Samuels barked at Shaun Crawford when a pass that Crawford knocked away was not called interference. The Irish secondary had gotten into their head. • Nick Coleman PBU over the top of Meyers. • Love in the end zone on the last play of the first half. There were several pass breakups like the one Samuels complained about that were borderline interference. But in virtually every instance, you see the Irish defender deftly reaching around the arms/body of the receiver to make the play. Elko came up with a plan and his defense executed it, limiting Finley to 213 hard-earned yards through the air and, of course, the first interception pass of the season that Love took to the house. THE PICK SIX (Photo: Matt Cashore, 247Sports) Can’t help but think about the howling that would be going on around these circles had the Irish been victim to the interception return for a touchdown under the circumstances that transpired. Conspiracy theories would be rampant. ACC officials would be cheaters. Jerry Tillery jumped early, N.C. State’s offensive line remained still as it’s instructed to do, and Julian Love slowly picked his way up the Notre Dame sideline with Daelin Hayes serving as a personal protector on the 69-yard interception return for a touchdown. When Hayes finally threw a block, Love deftly cut it back inside for his second pick six of the season. It could have been called offside, but it’s not a shock that it wasn’t. It was the equivalent of a baseball check swing; it was that close. Tillery jumped, but he immediately halted his progress toward the line of scrimmage. Frankly, I think the correct call was made because of the way Tillery prevented his momentum from continuing forward. But if you’re on the other side of it, you have to feel cheated. There’s a lesson to be learned here for N.C. State on absolutes and always. Once you’ve made your point by holding your ground to get the offside call, there’s really no reason to stand still. They’re not going to throw a flag during Love’s return. You’ve made your point, but you’ve lost because the judge has sustained your objection. Now you better get off the line of scrimmage and help bottle things up downfield. WIMBUSH: THE SUBTLE TURNS TANGIBLE (Photo: Matt Cashore, 247Sports) After the USC game, I commented on how much I thought quarterback Brandon Wimbush had improved against the Trojans since suffering a foot injury and missing the North Carolina game, followed by a bye week. It had been three weeks since Wimbush had played in a game, but he showed better awareness, more decisiveness and a better mastery of what the Irish were trying to do against the Trojans. Wimbush picked up where he left off, completing 10-of-19 passes for 104 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. In fact, he added a couple more layers. One must “see” – not just “watch” – what Wimbush is doing. If you turn to the completion percentage and yards passing, you’re going to come to one conclusion. If you observe the game he’s playing, you’ll understand his effectiveness. Consider: Wimbush now has 10 touchdown passes and 11 rushing touchdowns. He’s thrown two interceptions with his last one coming against Boston College in game three. He’s lost three fumbles – two against Georgia in game two and one at Boston College. In other words, he’s accounted for 21 touchdowns and five turnovers. (See red-zone stats below.) Wimbush’s decisiveness and vision of what’s happening in the game clearly have taken a jump up since the Miami (Ohio) game. He didn’t hesitate to throw to Kevin Stepherson’s back shoulder on one of two touchdown passes against USC. Against N.C. State in the first quarter, he recognized the Wolfpack’s coverage on tight end Durham Smythe coming from attached left. As Equanimeous St. Brown ran a quick out to the right – attracting attention from the cornerback as well as the safety – Smythe got a free release when Mike Linebacker Jerod Fernandez made no effort to reroute him. Wimbush saw the safety shade toward St. Brown. He also saw Smythe’s unencumbered release. If he waits – as he did earlier in the season with Nic Weishar in the end zone – the football gets knocked away, or worse, he throws his third interception of the season. But Wimbush decisively and deftly set the football on Smythe’s fingertips for the first touchdown by an Irish tight end since Weishar in the opener against Temple. “Wimbush has been the difference in why Notre Dame is leading at the half,” said NBC’s Chris Simms. The progressions are computing as well. You can see it in his eyes. The game is slowing down for him. His confidence in his ability to read coverages has increased. He’s trusting the process. He’s trusting his accuracy. “We ran one play in the fourth quarter when he went to his fourth progression – Stepherson on the curl,” Kelly said. “He started into the boundary with Smythe, went to a boundary up-read and worked all the way back. That’s the first time he’s done it this year. I was pretty excited on the sideline myself. There are little things that are coming.” On the play prior to his perfectly-placed touchdown pass to Stepherson, Wimbush drifted to his left. As play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico heard an audible cry from the Notre Dame Stadium crowd for Wimbush to run – from our press box vantage point, there certainly looked like ample room to run it – he patiently waited for Smythe to come open. Smythe made the Kodak moment play along the sideline, and the Irish scored the first of four straight touchdowns on the next play. “The throw to Smythe where he does a great job getting his foot down, (Wimbush) may have taken off last week or two weeks ago,” Kelly said. “There is a fine balance there. “He’s confident, he wants to throw the football and he can throw the football. He’d like to have the throw back to Stepherson (in the fourth quarter) when he overthrew him a little bit. But there’s a lot of really good growing that’s happening each and every week with Brandon.” Wimbush can always fall back on his legs when necessary, like the 20-yard 3rd-and-10 scamper that kept the second scoring drive alive as he escaped the collapsing pocket and picked up a block from Quenton Nelson. He also has Chip Long’s play-calling in the red zone, an area where the Irish have now converted 26-of-28 entries into touchdowns with Wimbush at the controls. (Note: After the game in Snap Judgments, I said Wimbush was 2-of-3 in the red zone. But the one “miss” was the Irish taking a knee as time expired. That shouldn’t count against his record.) With trips right, Wimbush faked the zone-read to Josh Adams with right guard Alex Bars leading the first wave and a pulling left tackle Mike McGlinchey establishing the second wave. In just his seventh game as a starter, Wimbush broke DeShone Kizer’s single-season quarterback record for rushing touchdowns, which is a testament to Wimbush, Long and the Irish offensive line. There were no deep connections as we anticipated against N.C. State’s No. 117 defense on passes 30 yards or longer. His longest completion was the 25-yard touchdown to Smythe. But he put one inside the 10 to St. Brown, who couldn’t hold on when his body hit the ground. He did pick up an interference call on another deeper throw to St. Brown, and should have gotten at least a holding penalty perpetrated against Miles Boykin. On the play in which Alize Mack suffered a concussion, the throw was perfect, but Mack couldn’t hold on – before his head hit the ground. The touchdown pass to Stepherson, right after Smythe’s sideline catch, was right on the money. Wimbush ran the football just seven times. He clearly had an awareness of where Bradley Chubb was, which may have led to a few more handoffs than keepers. Now he has a balky left foot/ankle to go with what presumably by now is a fully-healed right foot injury from week five. The development of Wimbush is obvious in many respects, subtle in others. But there’s nothing subtle about the overall productive of the offense with Wimbush at the controls. 33TRUCKING (Photo: Matt Cashore, 247Sports) The way the first two offensive series transpired with seven plays, one first down, a punt and a blocked punt – with Bradley Chubb running all over the place – it looked like it might be a very long, challenging day for the Irish offense. After Josh Adams ripped off a 21-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, Chubb and Kentavius Street recorded back-to-back sacks. They would prove to be N.C. State’s only sacks of the day. Even without Wimbush taking an aggressive approach to keeping on zone-read, Adams – Notre Dame’s Heisman Trophy candidate – still managed to crack the 200-yard mark. It’s rather astonishing against N.C. State’s defense, which hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher on the season and not more than 133 yards to an opponent (Furman). Notre Dame finished with 318 yards on the ground – right at their average for the season – as the Irish chewed up the interior of N.C. State’s stout defensive line. The Wolfpack entered the game with four frontline defensive tackles, but finished with just two as Justin Jones and Eurndraus Bryant – both three-techniques – went down with injuries. Including nose tackles B.J. Hill and Shug Frazier, N.C. State has four interior defensive linemen that weigh a minimum of 312 pounds (Jones) and a maximum of 325 (Bryant). The Irish left them a battered and broken crew. Left guard Quenton Nelson, center Sam Mustipher and right guard Alex Bars had a phenomenal day against the middle of that line. The red-shirt freshman/freshman combination of Tommy Kraemer and Robert Hainsey struggled at times – Hainsey was called for two false starts; the Irish have just four penalties on the day – but Kraemer was a physical force at times. Mike McGlinchey bounced back like a champ against Chubb after the first couple series. I love how some message board aficionados are so quick to declare McGlinchey incapable of doing the job based upon the first series, and then fall silent the rest of the game when Chubb’s game settled down and McGlinchey stymied him. Chubb finished with eight tackles, a sack and two other tackles for loss, which is about par for the course. He’s a complete defensive end against the run and pass, and he’s going to parlay his skillset into a first-round draft selection. When you play against players of his caliber, you’re going to lose a few. McGlinchey is a right tackle on the next level, but after some shaky moments along the way, he’s stuck with the plan, kept his nose to the grindstone, and is the leader – along with Nelson – of a group that has helped launch a Heisman campaign. “He’s a heck of a player,” said Kelly of Chubb. “(But) there are so many things that we have in our arsenal that if we feel like we’re not going to be able to hold up one-on-one, we try to do a lot of other things. “There was some chipping going on. There was extending him out with a tight end to his side. We flipped the formation a couple times to extend him out. We read him a lot in the option game to keep him out of the backfield. We ran the ball and tried to minimize the effectiveness in terms of the pass rush.” Adams did the rest. In addition to the 77-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, there was the 21-yard run to start the game and the 35-yard run that set up Notre Dame’s first touchdown. That’s 133 of Adams’ 202 yards. In other words, his other 24 carries netted 69 yards. That’s some tough sledding. But when Nelson and Mustipher double-teamed the three-technique, and Bars easily turned the nose tackle out, Adams had the crease he needed on the 77-yarder. N.C. State strong safety Jarulus Morehead was late to the party filling the hole, and it was gallop city for Adams. Normally, I’m not a big fan of Heisman campaigns. It distracts from the more important team goals. I don’t like orchestrated videos with the players. I don’t like attention on individual accolades. But with Adams and this offensive line, there’s a perspective that is maintained. They know that nothing is guaranteed. You’re only as good as the next performance. And Adams makes it easy to maintain that perspective. “I know it has my number on it, but I don’t think it’s built around me,” said Adams of the 33Trucking campaign. “It’s built around 11 guys on offense, defense and special teams. That really represents us as a team and how we’ve been able to approach each game. “Wherever we’re at in the season, we’re not here by any one individual. We’re here collectively as a team, and we’re going to continue to strive for the goal that we have set for ourselves as a team. “At the end of the season, if they want to give out those individual awards, then that’s what it is. But we’re staying focused on what we want to accomplish. Everything special that we’ve built here as a team, we’re going to stay focused on that.” Additionally, it was nice to see Dexter Williams back in action. He had eight carries for 33 yards with a long of nine yards. There was a spark there, and when the Irish run tempo with Williams, he’s that much more dangerous. The Irish always have a great chance to crack the 300-yard rushing mark with a guy like Deon McIntosh in the fourth quarter. McIntosh – who wants his moment in the sun – keeps plugging away like the game is on the line. He added 63 yards on 11 carries with 52 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter. The Irish keep on trucking. CONEY AND THE RED-ZONE DEFENSE (Photo: Matt Cashore, 247Sports) There are not enough superlatives to encapsulate how well Te'von Coney has played in the last two games against USC and N.C. State. Not that anyone thought that Coney wouldn’t or couldn’t do it. But his physical transformation since last year is rather incredible. His confident, aggressive decisiveness is impressive, and he looks well prepared by defensive coordinator Mike Elko and linebackers coach Clark Lea. He knows what he’s supposed to do and where he’s supposed to be, which was seldom the case in 2015-16. In the last two games, Coney has made 20 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, a fumble forced, a fumble recovered, a pair of quarterback hurries and somewhere between one-to-two dozen influential plays that don’t show up on his stat line. He has been a physical force and an emotional leader. When Jaylen Samuels was chirping at Shaun Crawford, Coney got himself involved by verbally setting the record straight as to who was in charge of this football game. N.C. State was held to one touchdown on two red-zone entries as the Irish finished October ranked fifth in the nation in defensive red-zone touchdown percentage (40.0; 10-of-25). Notre Dame still has allowed just one rushing touchdown. If the game turned in Notre Dame’s direction for good on Julian Love’s interception for a touchdown, the momentum stayed in its favor because of Coney and the defense. After Love’s pick six, N.C. State returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards. Within a heartbeat, Ryan Finley and the Wolfpack offense were at the Irish 15. On first down, Love made the stop on a pass to running back Reggie Gallaspy II for a gain of one. On second down, the shotgun snap eluded Finley. Samuels picked it up 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage and nearly got all of it back. But Nick Coleman eluded a downfield block and sliced through for a nine-yard loss. On third down, Harmon slipped through the Irish defense on a wideout screen for 16 yards on 3rd-and-17. Go for it or kick the field goal? Dave Doeren didn’t hesitate, nor should he have. A field goal still leaves you two scores behind and you haven’t stemmed Notre Dame’s momentum. Plus, kicker Carson Wise has missed five field goals inside of 38 yards this season. So on 4th-and-1 at the Irish six, freshman three-technique Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa split center Garrett Bradburyand right guard Tony Adams. That forced Samuels to account for MTA, which allowed – guess who? -- Coney a free run at Gallaspy for the one-yard loss. The Irish weren’t out of the woods yet because the offense followed the fourth-down hold with a three-and-out. N.C. State took over at its own 42 with plenty of time – there was 5:53 left in the third quarter – to put together a scoring drive and make it a one-score game again. But on first down, Coney stopped Gallaspy for three yards. On 2nd-and-7, it was Coney again who made the stop for three yards on a pass to Samuels. When Crawford knocked down a pass on third down to force an N.C. State punt, the Irish were two snaps of the football away from Adams’ 77-yard touchdown run. Now the game was over, and a big reason for it was Coney and Notre Dame’s defense. SMYTHE’S BALLET…AND BEYOND (Photo: Matt Cashore) I hate it when I’m re-watching the game, hit pause to type in a note or two, and then Doug Flutie says what I’ve just written. It steals your thunder a little bit, not to mention puts you in a category with a Notre Dame analyst universally panned by Irish supporters. But here goes. In watching the replay of Durham Smythe’s incredible tightrope catch on the sideline, I typed in “ballet” and the fact that Smythe likely would want a still shot of that grab for his archives. Flutie said both things when I hit play. I cringed. It was a great play by Smythe, one that converted a critical 3rd-and-6 and set up Notre Dame’s game-tying touchdown by Kevin Stepherson, which catapulted the Irish on a four-touchdown run. “He is so important to the chemistry of this team,” said Kelly of Smythe. “He’s such a consistent piece and so assignment correct in everything he does. “He’s incredibly popular and well-regarded by his teammates. Not only is he popular, but he’s having his best year by physically performing at a high level as a blocker, and then making plays down the field.” After scoring five touchdowns last year, Smythe’s emphasis in the passing game has been sporadic. In fact, his three catches for 52 yards and a first-quarter touchdown from 25 yards out were just his eighth, ninth and 10th catches of the season. Several of them have been clutch and several of them have been difficult, including one that led to early-season head and shoulder injuries. He’s been a warrior and a leader in his quiet way. HOW THE PUNT WAS BLOCKED PUNT (Photo: Matt Cashore, 247Sports) Drue Tranquill took the blame. “I take ownership,” said Tranquill of N.C. State’s first-quarter blocked punt for a 7-0 Wolfpack lead. “They gave us a loaded front to our right. I believe they twisted a guy back around from the load side. It was a look we hadn’t seen, but totally my fault as the personal protector to get us in the right protection and to clean up any garbage that might get through.” A review of the play shows a four-against-three edge for the Wolfpack off Notre Dame’s right side. When long-snapper John Shannon pealed off to help to his left, it was now four-on-two including – of all people – Bradley Chubb. Alize Mack entered the picture as part of the personal protection and Tranquill helped to the wrong side. Asmar Bilal, Mack and Daelin Hayes were no match as punter Tyler Newsome had no chance against James Smith-Williams. When the punt block occurred at the one, Tranquill already was at the seven-yard line and headed up field. Linebacker Germaine Pratt, who had a great game for the Wolfpack, arrived from the second wave to make the recovery. So the veteran Tranquill screwed up…Not exactly. “Drue is a very standup guy, but it wasn’t his mistake,” said Kelly Sunday. “Our long snapper has to block in protection. There was some miscommunication as to whether he was going to be part of the check. “We moved it from an overload right to an overload left. The center thought differently. Everybody else was on the same page. We had a looper come from the right up through the center – the A gap – and he wasn’t blocked. It was a blown protection. “That’s why it’s so crucial that everybody is communicating and everybody is on the same page. We’ll go back to work on it and make sure it never happens again.” We haven’t heard much about Shannon, which is a good thing. Justin Yoon has converted 43 straight extra points. Shannon was with Tranquill when USC’s Jack Jones fumbled a punt a week earlier. In case you were wondering, N.C. State’s special teams are coached by Eddie Faulkner. I also found it interesting to see Notre Dame’s Dr. Amber Selking PhD. speaking with Newsome on the sideline after the blocked punt. Selking is Notre Dame’s “mental coach.” “Dr. Selking is a trusted advisor and consultant for me personally and our football program,” Kelly has said about Selking. “She has the ability to talk about really complex matters like team culture and brain science in a really understandable manner, which has allowed us to implement Mindset training into how we function on a daily basis. From culture to mindset to leadership, Dr. Selking has become a critical element in our program.” AROUND THE GRIDIRON How do the Irish get caught a man short on their first punt? Jordan Genmark Heath runs on late to join Drue Tranquill and Alize Mack. And that wasn’t the punt that was blocked…N.C. State kicker Carson Wise transferred to N.C. State from Carson-Newman. Now that’s got to be a first…On C.J. Sanders’ 32-yard kick return following the blocked punt, key blocks by Nic Weishar, Durham Smythe, Cole Kmet and Asmar Bilal make it happen…Key injury to Nyheim Hines on a running play as Khalid Kareem makes backside contact, Daelin Hayes comes off a block and Nyles Morgan converges. Hayes and Morgan wrap him up from behind and Te’von Coney bends Hines’ upper body back. On the next play, Hines moved up alongside Ryan Finley and picked up a blitzing Morgan. Hines went low for the block and Morgan matched his pad level as Hines is put in a compromising position. We didn’t see Hines again as N.C. State had to call a timeout because there was confusion as to who would take over for him. Huge for Notre Dame… On one of the few longer runs by N.C. State – a 13-yarder by Reggie Gallaspy II – Andrew Trumbetticouldn’t get off the block. A rare moment in which Trumbetti 2017 has looked like Trumbetti 2016 and before. He hung in there, however, with half a sack with Drue Tranquill, a couple of tackles, and a quarterback hurry… Remember when we thought what a relief it was to not have to see Georgia again? Don’t look now, but the playoff committee and how it plays out the rest of the year could create a rematch beyond Notre Dame’s control. The committee is obligated to rank them in the order they deserve to be ranked, not to avoid a rematch…Got to love what Troy Pride Jr. is doing in Irish secondary. He’s listed with one tackle and nothing else on the stat sheet against N.C. State. He’s impacting the game way more than that. In nickel, he comes out of a lockout block by a wide receiver to stop Gallaspy on 3rd-and-9. He quickly has become an integral part of Notre Dame’s sub-packages…Credit to Doug Flutie for warning of a potential double-move on Julian Love. Of course, 10.4 million Notre Dame fans said/thought the same thing…Really tough route to defend by Jalen Elliott on Kelvin Harmon’s 15-yard touchdown reception, but Elliott continues to struggle with the basics of pass defense. It’s hard to imagine one PBU in eight games for a starting safety…Nice work by officials to call offsetting penalties against Chase Claypool and N.C. State cornerback Mike Stevens. Claypool taunted and Stevens pushed back…Jonathan Jones draws block-in-the-back penalty on N.C. State kick return…Another kick coverage tackle for Robert Regan, his fifth of the season…Wow, 10 penalties against N.C. State – in the first half!...Would love to know what field judge Tom Potts is looking at to so definitively and nonchalantly call Kevin Stepherson’s touchdown out of bounds. Of course, he’s also responsible for making sure that Stepherson secures the catch over cornerback Nick McCloud…Good to see Devin Studstill playing a winning role in such an important game. But he has to be careful about overplaying and overreacting in certain keys. He vacated the back end of the defense on a Jaylen Samuels motion, which led to a 24-yard reception by Kelvin Harmon…Donte Vaughn almost gets a snap in dime, but Notre Dame called a timeout. Notre Dame came out of the timeout in dime, but this time it was Watkins, Love, Pride, Crawford, Elliott and Studstill… The officials sure had a difficult time naming the proper player guilty of the penalty…Great job by NBC on late-second quarter sack in which they showed three quick shots of each of Notre Dame’s five defensive backs in tight coverage…That’s Bill Rees on the binoculars prior to N.C. State’s final pass of the first half and whenever they showed Mike Elko in the booth...Good use of hockey pucks by Liam McHugh and Chris Simms to keep their papers stable on the field…Smart adjustment by Dave Doeren in the second half inserting tight end Cole Cook as an H-back to lead Samuels through the hole. But it didn’t matter much. N.C. State had 11 carries for 20 yards in the first half and 13 carries for 30 yards in the second half. The Wolfpack, at a certain point, had to abandon the extra blocker for another skill-position weapon…Snow flurries in South Bend on Oct. 28. Welcome to our world…How good is Khalid Kareem going to be? Yet another player getting better and more confident every week…Justin Yoonand Notre Dame’s kicking-game operation better keep it tight because that’s two weeks in a row where the opposition is coming dangerously close to blocking an extra point…Could have sworn Te’von Coney, Jonathan Jones and/or Nicco Fertitta were held on Jaylen Samuel’s 58-yard kick return…Have to see Kentavius Street squat 700 pounds to believe it…Can’t imagine a more blatant hold than the early-fourth quarter play in which Jarulus Morehead latches on to Miles Boykin on a deep ball. Wimbush tried to show the official the proof on the video board. The official wouldn’t take the bait.
Spoiler Notre Dame’s pursuit for another linebacker has them in the running for North Carolina commit Payton Wilson. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Wilson is slated to take an official for ND’s final home game against Navy. Wilson has been a verbal to the Tar Heels since May and it seems staying close to home for the Hillsborough (NC) Orange standout has been important. UNC has struggled this year which has opened the door for N.C. State, where h’s been this fall, and Virginia Tech. However the combination of what Notre Dame brings on and off the field along with this season’s success has intrigued Wilson, who in addition to that, has a prior relationship with Clark Lea and Mike Elko dating back to their time at Wake Forest. Spearheaded by Lea, ND has been in contact with both Wilson and his father. We’re not saying Notre Dame is going to flip him but the Irish check all the boxes and will have an opportunity to make a major move later in the month. Wilson attended the Irish’s win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill. If you’re ND you hope a recent knee injury Wilson sustained won’t prevent him from visiting at some point, even if it’s in December instead of in two weeks. With that, Notre Dame believes taking another linebacker is a priority with what they’ll lose following the season. In addition to Wilson, they’ll heavily recruit Solomon Tuliaupupu and it wouldn’t be surprising if a new name popped up as the staff continues to evaluate senior film. ———————————————————— The defensive back hunt is also a priority for Elko, Todd Lyght and company. We’ve reported in the last few Tunnel Visions among other places that we felt Notre Dame was in the driver’s seat for Anaheim (Calif.) Servite four-star defensive back Julius Irvin. However, now Loy is hearing that USC has the slight edge after talking to a source very close to Irvin. He's told Washington is third in the fray. ND has sold the dad and brother on the opportunity for Irvin in South Bend, but distance could be too much for Irvin himself as he closes in on his decision. Elko and Brian Polian will continue their strong push to sign Irvin. Look for them to get creative in their pitch, as well. Notre Dame still appears to be in the top two for Top247 cornerback Kyler Gordon. Loy likes ND for Top247 athlete Alonte Taylor following his official visit over the weekend. The spiritual side of Notre Dame is very intriguing to him. The Basilica, The Grotto, those were highlights for him on his official visit. Tariq Bracy and Avonta Crim are two others we still have Crystal Balled to the Irish. Look for Crim to pop after he gets a qualifying test score. On Bracy, we haven't heard anything that makes it look like USC will offer. That staff, we're told is split, but they do like him a great deal. One source believes he would be a nice get for Notre Dame. Notre Dame had a good visit with four-star cornerback Noah Boykin, a Maryland commit who took his official last weekend to South Bend alongside Taylor but questions remain if he thinks ND is the type of scene he’s interested in. It’s the stage he wants to play on, but maybe not the culture on campus he’s looking for. We’ll see what happens. Boykin made the visit with his mother. Notre Dame is bringing in North Fort Myers (Fla.) High defensive back Joe Wilkins Jr. on an official visit this weekend. Wilkins is the only official slated for Saturday’s game against Wake Forest. He’s another name if things go sideways with others we’ve already mentioned that could be next man up. Keep an eye on Georgia speedster Terell Smith, a current Minnesota cornerback commit. The Irish are monitoring and if they offer should get a visit. This young man would be the fastest player in the class if he joined the fold. He ran 10.39 to win the state championship in the 100m dash. ———————————————————— Notre Dame defensive line coach Mike Elston, Lea and Elko are headed to New Jersey on Friday where he’ll stop by and see Jayson and Justin Ademilola along with Shayne Simon play. While in the state he also plans to go see Top247 defensive end Jayson Oweh who remains a priority recruit. ND trails with the pass rusher but they’ll keep swinging and try and get him back for an official. ———————————————————— On Nicholas Petit-Frere, it’s now wait-and-see how the five-star offensive tackle’s eventual official to Ohio State goes. We believe the Irish lead but as we’ve been saying, he’s in no rush to decide. It’s a family big on relationships so unless the new Florida staff has a rapport with Petit-Frere, the nearby Gators will be playing from behind when they get everything solidified. We continue to like Notre Dame for tight end Tommy Tremble. We expect him to visit UCLA and we still think in-state Georgia could have a lot to say here but we’re also monitoring the official to Michigan at the end of the month. The Wolverines will certainly have an opportunity to make a move. ———————————————————— Loy already Crystal Balled Cincinnati (Ohio) Anderson Top247 2019 offensive lineman Zeke Correll to Notre Dame and Wiltfong is close to following. Cornell had a great visit to Notre Dame this past weekend. The Irish offered joining the likes of Ohio State, Wisconsin and Kentucky where there are family ties. A source close to Correll said the ND offer may have made a tough decision easier.
Damn, this kind of shit is all too familiar. We're kings of moral victories and being just a few plays away. It's nice to be on the other side of it (reality), realizing that NC State simply got dominated and the score doesn't even accurately reflect how far apart the two teams were.
"If we didn't have any injuries, if every 50/50 referee call broke our way, if we stopped ND from making more big plays than us, if we had played better ... well, folks, it could have easily been a closer game."
What a whiny bitch. About to bet the farm on Clemson given that doeren seems to still be living in last week
Already did this. If that's all they took away from our game then they learned nothing. Love Clemson -7.5.
the only reason i dont is that clemson does not score easily. only team they scored a lot on was louisville and the TMB football team could score on that D
We can’t let these dip shits drag us into believing nd is good. We need to continue to sandbag hard. Wake is a good team and a trap game. Wake 31 Nd 27
Spoiler INTEL: Thoughts from the Outside By Matt Freeman More from Matt November 2, 2017 2 1,972 Tweet Share Jump to Discussion Notre Dame firmly put a stamp on the College Football Playoff as the Irish checked in at No. 3 in the first batch of rankings on Tuesday night. We spoke to a source at a high-profile Division-I program to get his thoughts on the last week of Notre Dame football, but also how the ranking impacts the program. “I think it is appropriate based on their resume,” the source said of the No. 3 ranking. “It shows the committee is impartial to conference affiliation.” The next step for the Irish is to win out to make the playoffs at the end of the month, but it’s also a chance to show off the brand to recruits on the radar and even those off the radar. “It is impactful,” stated the source. “All kids watch ESPN, and this makes Notre Dame on it all the time. It will be impossible for recruits not to be aware of their success. Very good for the program.” There has already been a few big-time names surface on the recruiting trail in recent weeks. 2018 four-star linebackers Solomon Tuilaupupu and Payton Wilson highlight the group, but how does this happen? “The recruiting coach should always be recruiting them and keeping a good relationship,” the source said. “A lot of things can happen in recruiting. His favorite team can fill up, he can see a big season like Notre Dame is having and warm up to them, or coaches can get fired, etc. It’s the recruiting coach’s job to maintain a good relationship, so when a team needs a linebacker, they have several options on hand.” Coming off a big 35-14 win over NC State on Saturday, the Irish will face an injured Wake Forest squad before taking on 10th ranked Miami on the road. If the Irish win the next two games, Notre Dame will face a pesky Navy squad before heading to Palo Alto (Calif.) for a showdown against Stanford with playoff and Heisman implications on the line. So how does a program avoid a trap game with high stakes on the table? “Preaching the same thing to your team on a consistent, daily basis for the entire year is what avoids trap games,” explained the source. “As long as the message is the same this week as it was last week, it is easy to avoid. Naturally, players will be more excited to play a big opponent, but good programs do everything they can to have a co distant message.” When it comes to avoiding an upset, Notre Dame is going to rely on Heisman candidate Josh Adams. The junior running back has taken the nation by storm, and his position coach deserves some major credit. “He’s a great coach,” the source said of Autry Denson. “Incredible mentor for his players and a very good recruiter. His guys will play hard for him. I have great respect for Coach Denson. He didn’t necessarily make Josh Adams, a lot of that is talent and opportunity, but he’s well coached. Denson would be a great coach whether Adams was a Heisman contender or not.” With Adams firmly in the top group for the Heisman Trophy, we asked our source who would be in his top group. “I haven’t paid enough attention to be completely honest,” said the source. “Saquan Barkley is the most talented player in the country, but I don’t think that means he should win the award.” 6 Thoughts on a Thursday: I have a confession to make: I didn’t watch a single second of the College Football Playoff rankings show last year. I barely paid attention to it until the last two weeks of the season. I’m sure many of you were in the same boat. Normally I would say that I’m not really looking forward to having to pay attention to it every week this year, but who am I kidding? Notre Dame is right in the thick of the Playoff race right now. I didn’t expect it. No one did. And they’ll stay in the thick of it as long as they keep on winning, so I’ll be paying attention every week. All of this also means that now I’ll be checking scores and watching random games like I have money on them. Because now it’s much more than Notre Dame’s games that matter. It’s the teams they have or are going to play that matter too. And all of those teams that are in the top-13 or so of the first edition of the rankings? Yup, those games matter as well. I’m going to start doing a piece on the other games that matter each week on Fridays that will dive more into that part of it. Right now, though, my mind is only on who the Irish have and will play. In the end, all they can control is their own level of play. So far, they haven’t given anyone any reason to believe that they won’t handle that part of it. Let’s say that Notre Dame wins out and finishes 11-1. I’m not going to compare that against anyone else’s record for now, but I will look ahead to how that 11-1 could look. Temple, Miami (OH), and North Carolina are the throwaway games. Every win counts, but for resume purposes, these wins count less than the others. Or at least they should in the eyes of the committee. Throw in the “good loss” against Georgia on that pile. That is better than losing to Syracuse, but the wins matter more. The other eight games are going to be more important. Boston College: Currently 5-4, this is on track to be a good win for the Irish. That’s shocking when you consider where things stood for them a few weeks ago, but it’s good news for Notre Dame that things changed. With games left against UCONN, Syracuse, and NC State, BC has a good chance at finishing 7-5. Michigan State: It’s a top-25 win. It’s probably not going to be by the end of the season. They have back to back games against Penn State and Ohio State before two winnable games against Rutgers and Maryland. If it finishes how it’s expected, they’ll be 8-4. It’s a good win, but it would look much better if they could somehow upset either PSU or OSU. USC: If you’re one of those people who loathes to root for USC in any situation, it might be a good time to throw out your moral code for the next month. They may finish 10-2 and win the Pac-12 South if they can beat Arizona this weekend. They have Colorado and UCLA after that. The Trojans should win those games. 10-2 and possibly 11-2 if they win the Pac-12 would be ideal. If that were to happen, then USC will end up in the top-10. NC State: It would sure help Notre Dame if they could knock off Clemson this weekend. The game is at home, so there is a shot for the Wolfpack. Assuming they don’t win, they have BC, Wake Forest, and North Carolina. If they are 9-3 with a loss to Clemson, that’s still a good win for Notre Dame and potentially still a top-25 win. Wake Forest: With a loss to Notre Dame, they have Syracuse, NC State, and Duke to close out the season. At 5-3 currently, this is going to be a bowl team by the end of the season. It would be a solid win if the Irish take care of business. Miami (FLA): The Canes are 7-0 and being 8-0 heading into a game at home against the Irish would work out well if they beat Virginia Tech on Saturday. They only play 11 games this season due to the hurricane, but 10-1 with only a projected loss to Notre Dame would put them in the ACC Championship game. They finish with Pitt and Virginia. Those are games they should win. 9-2 seems like the worst case scenario. 11-1 and winning the ACC is the best one for Notre Dame. Navy: Currently 5-2, they’ve got a shot at 9-3 with Temple, SMU, Houston, and Army left aside from the Irish. As Group of 5 wins go, this would be a decent one. Stanford: They are 6-2 and have big games back to back against Washington State and Washington. They also have their rival, Cal, before they play Notre Dame. Sweep the next three, which seems unlikely, and they win the Pac-12 North. Lose two out of the next three and this is no longer a top-25 win for the Irish. Looking ahead, there is a real possibility that Notre Dame will only have two top-25 wins at the end of the season (Miami and USC). However, they should have eight wins against bowl eligible/winning teams. If things break exactly how everybody reading this would want it to, then they would end up with wins against four top-25 teams and the Pac-12 and ACC champ. In the worst case scenario, their resume will still be pretty good. Good enough to get into the Playoff without committee members arguing about them not playing in a conference? I guess we’ll see if that’s the case. 2. The other argument for how this plays out is that none of that other stuff will be as important as Notre Dame continuing to blow out teams. Seven wins and the closest margin of victory in those games was three touchdowns. If they win the next four by twenty one points or more, the good old eye test is going to count for something as well. That is really going to be the most interesting part about this. Brian Kelly and his team have direct control over that. If they continue that trend, it’s going to be a bad look if they somehow get denied an opportunity because someone had one more top-25 win. 3. The college football coaching carousel is already spinning and I’m glad Notre Dame is not a part of it this year. There are going to be too many big jobs open and not enough qualified candidates. That’s not to say that they wouldn’t have ended up with a great coach or that the job in South Bend wouldn’t be one of the best available, it’s just that I wouldn’t want to miss out on the best candidate to another opening. (See Meyer, Urban) If there was an opening at Notre Dame, the two best candidates in my opinion would be Scott Frost and Matt Campbell. My darkhorse candidate would be Greg Schiano. No one asked for it and the administration certainly isn’t looking for a new coach, but if Jack Swarbrick had a list in his desk for when the time comes, that would be my top choices. 4. Kelly has been asked a lot of questions recently about the strength and conditioning program at Notre Dame and the improvements the players are making. It's the most anyone has ever mentioned speed squats in the history of football press conferences. The one thing that seems to have shocked many is that the players are actually getting stronger during the season and aren’t just maintaining. I guess that’s understandable when you consider that the players in the program have either worn down or got weaker during the season under the previous strength program. But what is happening now is what was supposed to happen. The days of maintenance in this area have been gone for awhile, it’s just taken them this long to catch up to where things were headed. My cousin has been a strength and conditioning coach in the NFL for over a decade. He would tell me years ago when he was with the San Francisco 49ers that All-Pro defensive lineman Justin Smith was accomplishing personal bests in several lifts during later weeks in the season or that he just squatted six plates on each side on a Tuesday during a game week. He was one of many guys who was doing that kind of thing with them. At the time it seemed crazy to me based on when I played and went through a strength and conditioning program. Lifting during the season was important, but nothing was set up for us to push ourselves like what is being done now. All credit for the strength staff who are accomplishing this with the Notre Dame players. I’m excited to see where it progresses from here. The reality is that they are just getting to the level they could have been at much sooner, though. 5. People might not like this, but it’s true. David Pollack is spot on with this assessment of Notre Dame compared to Clemson, Alabama, and Georgia and their defenses. Those defenses can suffocate opposing offense and Notre Dame is not at that level yet. The Irish don’t have the same personnel that those three teams have. They can’t match the size and athleticism of those teams, at least when it comes to comparing the defenders. Todd McShay said, though, and I agree, that the defense has got a lot better and that has to do with the coaching staff and the strength and conditioning improvement that I just mentioned. My argument for Notre Dame as someone who has watched them each game this season is that they are on their way to becoming a suffocating defense. They are closer to it now than they were during the Georgia game and they may get there by the end of this season. I believe that because I see so many ascending young players that are growing week to week. Even if they don’t get there by the end of this season, they are still on the right path to be that good in 2018. And if they follow up and recruit the right pieces like Shayne Simon, Jayson Ademilola, Jack Lamb, Derrik Allen, and others, then they may be able to stay that way for a long time. 6. I can look directly to one example of a player who is ascending that is putting the defense on track to reach the levels of the other teams in the top-four. Te’von Coney has been someone who split with Greer Martini the last two years. With an opportunity to play more when Martini was injured, Coney has run with it and taken his game to another level. He’s now the leading tackler on the team. He is also tied for second on the team in tackles for loss. If he keeps playing as well as he has, then he could be the leader in both categories by the end of the year. Coney has always been one of my favorite players on the team and I’m happy to see him show that he deserves to be more than just someone who is splitting reps, although it’s not a slight on Martini. Coney has just played better and the defense needs players to show that kind of development in order to compete at a Playoff level. We’re seeing it with Coney and he’s not the only one. Khalid Kareem is someone that I wanted to single out too for how much his game as grown. Right now he is getting to the level Coney was before and then hopefully you see him and others make the next step. I’m sure some rolled their eyes when Kelly was talking about the process before the season, but it’s paying off now with players like Coney. Buying into that process has allowed him to go from a starting level player to one of the best players on the defense.
Spoiler Talkin' Targets: Reexamining The Board By Christian McCollum More from Christian November 2, 2017 2 700 Tweet Share Geordon Porter, which follows safety Paul Moala’sannouncement last week. The Irish figure to bring in somewhere close to a full class of 25 prospects, we’ll use the number 24 for now, which leaves room for about six more players and Notre Dame has plenty of targets left who could fill the room. But as always with Notre Dame, the number of available scholarships will fluctuate based on how many seniors are brought back for fifth years in 2018 along with the usual possibilities of injuries, transfers and other potential departures. The Irish are certainly done at quarterback with Phil Jurkovec as one of the highlights of the class. They’d figure to be finished at running back as well with Markese Stepp and Jahmir Smith already in the fold. Notre Dame is actively recruiting all of the other offensive positions, though. Porter’s pledge gives the Irish three commits at wide receiver as he joins Kevin Austin Jr. and Micah Jones. There are three names left on the Target List for now – Lawrence Keys III (pictured), Chase Cota and Amon-ra St. Brown – and the Irish would figure to take at least two of them if they wanted to come. With Porter onboard, the best bet of the group by far is Keys. The Louisiana native is set to take his official visit to Notre Dame for the Navy game in a couple of weeks and we believe the Irish are in a very strong position. Keys has a top six that includes Notre Dame along with Auburn, LSU, Nebraska, TCU and Houston, but there’s no doubt the Irish are in the top half of that list, and probably higher. Keys is in no rush to make a decision and other visits are likely to come down the road, but for now, the Irish are in a great spot. Oregon’s Cota also has top six, his consists of the Irish, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Cal and Alabama. He’s already taken official visits to Notre Dame and UCLA along with an unofficial visit to Oregon, where he’s been plenty of times as the homestate school and his father’s alma mater. He isn’t sure of his remaining visits yet and isn’t in a rush, but he will need to have a decision sooner than most as he’s an early enrollee candidate. Notre Dame isn’t the clear favorite for Cota, but the Irish are definitely a factor here. A couple weeks ago, St. Brown was in South Bend to see Notre Dame beat USC, one of his other favorites. There’s certainly a connection with his brother, Equanimeous, already on the roster, but as we’ve said multiple times, he also has connections at Stanford (brother Osiris) and USC (2019 quarterback commit JT Daniels). He’s also taken an official to Michigan already and is also considering UCLA and Stanford, but USC is by far the biggest threat at the moment. St. Brown enjoyed his official to Notre Dame, but we’re not sure the Irish have created enough – if any – distance between themselves and the Trojans to pull this one out. He’ll announce his decision at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January. It’s hard to imagine a player of St. Brown’s caliber ever being turned away, but you can’t hold off a guy like Cota or Keys to wait for him. Cota will likely be the first to make his announcement and if he wants to come, you gladly take him. Keys may not announce until the end of the process, but if he gives an indication that he’s coming, you save a spot for him in the class as well. That said, landing all three would be extremely unlikely and would be one of those “good problems.” Tennessee OL commit Cade Mays As expected, new names are popping up all over the radar for Notre Dame. One of those new names is Tennessee offensive line commit Cade Mays, a top-level prospect who will be in South Bend for the banquet weekend Dec. 9th. Notre Dame remans in strong contention for Nicholas Petit-Frere, but it will be interesting to see who Florida hires as head coach and whether that gets the Gators back in the mix. California’s Chris Murray took an official visit last month, but we’'re not sure he's a top-of-the-board target at the moment. Notre Dame would still like to add Tommy Tremble at tight end to complement current commit George Takacs. Tremble’s father played at Georgia, but the Bulldogs have never been the lock some thought they were initially. He was intrigued by an offer from Michigan, but the Wolverines have since publicly landed a pledge from Texas’ Mustapha Muhammad. Tremble says he’ll likely still take an official to Ann Arbor along with trips to Georgia, UCLA and Cal, but Notre Dame seems to be in a great spot. Joseph Ossai and Jayson Oweh remain on the board at defensive end, but if the Irish are intent on adding another end, they’ll likely need to expand their board. It looked like they could be finished at linebacker with Jack Lamb’s pledge back in July, but when a player like Solomon Tuliaupupu says he’ll take an official visit, you send him tickets, which is what Notre Dame did last month. Tuliaupupu liked the trip, more than he probably expected, and we think the Irish are in contention, but it’ll be tough to beat out USC. North Carolina linebacker commit Payton Wilson is the newest name back on the board and he’ll take an official for the Navy game in two weeks. We believe there’s still plenty to do with regard to Wilson, but he wouldn’t be coming if he didn’t have some interest and the Irish wouldn’t be bringing him in if there wasn’t interest on their end as well. Kyler Gordon All of a sudden, the Irish seem to be in decent shape with recruiting in the secondary. Moala’s commitment gives them a pair of safeties along with Derrik Allen and they’re firmly in the mix for two more – Avonta Crim and Julius Irvin – and could even be at the top of the list for both. As we reported a couple weeks ago, Notre Dame seems to be surging with Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon, who would represent a huge pull. The Irish now find themselves in a very good position for Maryland cornerback commit Noah Boykin, who took an official visit this past weekend. Tennessee commit Alontae Taylor was also on campus last weekend and was impressed as well, although he doesn’t seem to be as close to pulling the trigger for Notre Dame as Boykin. Florida’s Joe Wilkins Jr. takes his official visit this weekend. With six spots left, the Irish could easily add another wide receiver and a tight end (or two receivers) along with an offensive lineman, and either three defensive backs or two defensive backs and a linebacker. If they wanted to stretch that number to seven, they’d have even greater flexibility.