by Leprechaun Express & Steve Welsh
Inside #NotreDame #Football covers some of the latest news, featuring Brian Kelly, Jack Nolan and some Notre Dame players, including a Notre Dame vs. Army recap and Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech preview.
“… After Sanders completed his 92-yard dash in 12 seconds, the Irish were off running to a 44-6 victory over Army in a Shamrock Series game. ….”
“C.J. Sanders 92-yard kickoff return to open the game set the tone in Notre Dame’s 44-6 win versus Army West Point. …”
“… That feeling of respect could be felt everywhere in the stadium. Patriotism buzzed around the building on this Veteran’s Day weekend, creating an inclusive atmosphere. The Notre Dame band performed the hymns of all five branches of the military, marching in the formation of each branch’s abbreviation during halftime. The show ended with a spectacular arrangement of the outline of the country while the band played ‘America the Beautiful.’ …”
“Remember the Alamo for the experience, not necessarily the football. The Irish were good. Effective. Efficient. Army just happened to be the worst team on Notre Dame’s schedule. The Black Knights have feasted on the likes of Rice, UTEP, Lafayette and North Texas, and will become bowl eligible by beating Morgan State next week. …”
“A brief recap of Notre Dame’s 44-6 win over Army at the Alamodome ….”
#NotreDame and Army met in the latest Shamrock Series outing Saturday in San Antonio—with the Irish roaring to a 38-6 halftime lead on their way to a 44-6 victory. … 1.The Irish have regained some confidence. … 2. There has been measurable progress on defense. … 3. The Irish had a great day on offense. … 4. Freshman wide receiver Kevin Stepherson has a chance to be a star. …
“The Shamrock Series was a snoozer. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t refreshing. After all, that’s what a good nap does. Recharge the batteries, unplug for a moment, and wake-up refreshed and ready to tackle what’s ahead. … “
ND’s 44-6 victory over Army on Saturday … broadcast in the 3:30 p.m. ET time slot, earned a 1.0 overnight rating, according to SportsMediaWatch.com. That’s lower than last year’s Shamrock Series game (1.3) on NBCSN that ended in a sloppy 19-16 ND win over Boston College and aired on [cable’s] NBCSN in primetime. Two late November games broadcast on NBC in the same time slot–ND’s 28-6 win over Wake Forest last November and a loss to Northwestern in 2014–delivered ratings of 1.4 and 2.0, respectively. SportsMediaWatch.com believes the 1.0-mark could be ND’s lowest overnight rating on #NBC in the 25 years since it signed a contract with the television network.
Brian Kelly meets with reporters after Notre Dame’s 44-6 victory over Army in San Antonio.
Highlights of Notre Dame’s 44-6 Win Over Army at the Alamodome.
“… Notre Dame’s 32-point halftime lead was its largest lead at intermission since the Irish led Stanford 34-0 on November 29, 2003 … Notre Dame had 11 different players register a catch, a team season high. …”
“Notre Dame … improved to 4-6 … with a 44-6 victory over Army (5-5) in a Shamrock Series game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday afternoon. The Irish utilized a balanced attack to take down the Black Knights, rushing for 261 yards while passing for an additional 215 yards. DeShone Kizer threw three touchdowns in the contest and rushed for an additional 72 yards. Two of Kizer’s scoring tosses ended up in the hands of native Texan Durham Smythe in the first half. Notre Dame returns home next week for senior day to face Virginia Tech at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC”
Notre Dame vs. Army live box score/stats – ESPN
Go Irish! Beat Army!
[PDF] Notre Dame vs. Army extended game notes
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: “… Army and Notre Dame have at least one thing in common this season: Each has had trouble against option attacks. When they meet on Saturday in San Antonio at the Alamodome, Army (5-4) just might have a small edge. The Black Knights use the clock-chewing triple option, and the Irish (3-6) are reeling from a one-point loss to Navy, their third setback in four games in what so far is the worst of Brian Kelly’s seven seasons as head coach. The chance to play in a bowl game is still a possibility for both teams. Kelly said he planned no changes. …”
1. Notre Dame Defensive Adjustments to Defend the Option … 2. Army Pass Defense vs. DeShone Kizer and the Notre Dame Receivers … 3. Waiting for the Notre Dame Special Teams Mistake … This season has a chance to be one to remember for Army and already is a season to forget for Notre Dame. But there is still a huge talent disparity, despite the records of the two teams. The Irish are bigger and faster. Of course, Notre Dame was bigger and faster than Navy too, but the Black Knights are just a notch below the Midshipmen. Army will make it competitive, but Notre Dame will control a good portion of the game and get an elusive win.
“… In commemorating Notre Dame’s 125 years of football history in 2012, Blue & Gold Illustrated’s Football Preview that summer compiled a top 50 countdown of the most iconic moments in Fighting Irish football lore. ….”
“According to Edgar Allen Poe — the wide receiver from Tucson, not the macabre poet — a much brighter aura surrounds the Army football team this season, and not just because the Black Knights are finally winning more games than they lose.”
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: “…. ‘I talk mostly about Notre Dame, and where does he want to be as it relates to the Notre Dame quarterbacks?’ Kelly said. ‘Most quarterbacks are judged by not their numbers, but by their wins. And we’re all, right now, 3-6.’ ….”
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: Brian Kelly talks with Jack Nolan and Notre Dame players, and covers the latest in Notre Dame football as the Irish prepared for West Point.
“Notre Dame heads to San Antonio, needing a win …. in the Black Knights, the Irish have a foe that’s fitting—a double-digit underdog, but one who presents some of the same challenges that made Navy so difficult. Jeff Monken’s third Army team has shown considerable improvements. They’ve won big games, beating Wake Forest and Temple while hanging tight with Duke. But coming off a tough loss to Air Force that ends their chance at winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, The Black Knights come to the Shamrock Series hoping to spring an upset, the latest opponents to add to Notre Dame’s nightmare season. …”
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: “… Junior linebacker Greer Martini is a player that is suited to play against the triple option. He thrived in last week’s game against Navy, and should again play a major role this week against Army. ….”
“The mission is clear, and it is critical. Win a football game, or stare a school record for futility straight in the eyes.”
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: “… when it comes to having profound and lasting impact on an entire sport, it’s tough to argue that any rivalry matched the Notre Dame-Army rivalry of the 20th century. The two teams met for the first time 103 years ago, when the upstart Notre Dame team traveled east to play the powerful Cadets at West Point. To counteract Army’s superiorities in size and strength, Notre Dame coach Jesse Harper unleashed a potent passing attack, facilitated by new rules intended to make the game safer. …”
“… immersed in … the worst of his 27 seasons as a … head coach, it would be easy for … Brian Kelly to make wholesale changes within his program. He did so last month by firing … Brian VanGorder, but from a personnel standpoint, Kelly has decided to stay the course even after losing for the sixth time in nine games …. ‘If you look at the six games that we’ve played,’ Kelly said, ‘what needs to change is a little bit better play calling here, maybe a little bit better execution there, and the players just maturing.’ … To Kelly’s point regarding the ‘maturing’ of his team, the Notre Dame depth chart listed 39 players out of 59 that were either in their first or second season of being on the field. …”
[featured image is file photo]
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: “Notre Dame is hoping that its second game against the triple option goes better than its first. The Irish are coming off a 28-27 loss to Navy, but Army has put up better numbers on both sides of the ball than has their arch-rivals at Navy.”
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL:
“The vision Brian Kelly is selling to recruits of how Notre Dame’s defense will evolve … ‘Quite frankly, we’re going to be in both (3-4 and 4-3 fronts), because I’m not going anywhere,’ he said. ‘So it’s going to be a three-down, four-down defense, and they’re going to have to be somebody that can do both.’ They are the eight defensive recruits already committed in the 2017 class, the four defenders in the 2018 group, and … prospects Kelly and his staff are still chasing [for 2017]. The nuances and even some of the basic tenets of the next scheme … attacking vs. read/react, how much man vs. zone — will and should likely have to wait until Kelly makes perhaps the most momentous hire of his head coaching career, deposed defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder’s permanent replacement. Interim Greg Hudson … remains in the running.”
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: The Fighting Irish return to the field with a matchup against the Army Black Knights. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. (ET) in San Antonio, Texas.
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL #NotreDamevsArmy:
1. Expect minimal possessions (again). … 2. Quarterback play will be critical. … 3. Another Notre Dame-Army connection. … 4. Notre Dame might be one of the better opponents Army has faced. … 5. Check out the military angles. Anytime Notre Dame plays one of the service academies, the military connections are front and center … Joining the captains and officials for the coin toss will be former standout Notre Dame running back and 1967 team captain, four-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Vietnam veteran Rocky Bleier. Retired U.S. Army Major General Patrick H. Brady will be recognized at the end of the opening period and presented with a framed Irish jersey. … the only living Notre Dame alumnus to receive the Medal of Honor, Brady commanded an ambulance helicopter in Vietnam. He flew more than 2,000 combat missions and helped evacuate more than 5,000 injured soldiers stranded near enemy lines …
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: “When Army battles Notre Dame on Saturday, Black Knights head coach Jeff Monken will be looking across the field at a head coach he knew a long time ago. And it can’t help but trigger a trip down Memory Lane.”
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: It was 1958 when Notre Dame lost most recently to the Army West Point Black Knights in football, a 14‑2 setback. That was the final season Army had under coaching legend Earl “Red” Blaik, who led the Cadets to an 8‑0‑1 record and a No. 3 finish in the Associated Press poll, with Heisman Trophy winner Pete Dawkins leading the charge.
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: Notre Dame vs. Army, 3:30 p.m. ET; Saturday, Nov. 12; Alamodome (72,000); San Antonio, Texas.
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: “It would be hard for things to get much lower for the Notre Dame program right about now, following last Saturday’s one point loss to Navy, although losing to Army this week would definitely represent the bottoming out of the Irish market. And the question that has befuddled fans for a little over a month now has been what in the world is going on with the offense? It’s been the tale of two seasons, pre and post VanGorder. Prior to VanGorder’s firing, the Notre Dame offense was a formidable force, scoring 40 points a game and tallying 500 yards of offense. Since the firing they’ve tallied 371 yards per contest and 24 points a game. And all of this was done with what most everyone considers to be a first down talent at quarterback.”
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: Video from July unveiling Notre Dame’s custom alternative uniforms for this year’s Shamrock Series game against Army — including a Celtic font; a dark, understated forest green; understated burnished gold trim on the uniform; and a somewhat clashing helmet. (The uniform looks like a stylish moisture-wicking, post-modern t-shirt, while the helmet arguably has a kind of 1970’s industrial equipment look with a tacky glossy finish, perhaps calling to mind background images from 1970’s crime dramas like Dirty Harry or Starsky and Hutch).
#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: Brian Kelly met with reporters early in the week as Notre Dame prepared to take on Army.
Notre Dame introduced their customized uniforms for this year’s Shamrock Series game in this July video. The 2016 Shamrock Series game, broadcast by NBC, will pit Notre Dame against Army at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. CT (3:30 p.m. ET)
You’ve seen the #ShamrockSeries uniform — now take a closer look at the details. pic.twitter.com/9CNsD9M5wm
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) July 22, 2016