Notre Dame held its annual Blue-Gold football scrimmage today, which provided the Fighting Irish faithful with an extended preview of the 2024 squad. Although I’m not a film junkie, I couldn’t help but jot down a few observations. Overall, the play of the quarterbacks was mixed. The defense was frequently able to bring pressure, and each signal-caller felt the effects. The group put the ball up for grabs on far too many occasions. Steve Angeli displayed poise but has only average arm strength and release. His ball placement on short throws was spotty and he was late on a couple of throws that ..read more

Steve Angeli tossed three scoring passes and Notre Dame’s defense smothered an undermanned Oregon State squad as the Fighting Irish rolled to a 40-8 victory over the Beavers in the Sun Bowl. Notre Dame out gained OSU by 448-197, including a 236-2 advantage on the ground. Jordan Faison, Jayden Thomas and Jeremiah Love had receiving touchdown while Jadarian Price ran for a score on the way to a game-high 109 yards. The Irish dominated from the start. After forcing a Beaver punt on the opening series, Angeli led a 96-yard scoring march for a 7-0 lead. His pass to Faison covered 55-yards and set u ..read more

Notre Dame (9-3) will showcase a few new faces along with several familiar ones on Friday as the Fighting Irish take on Oregon State (8-4) at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The starting lineups for both teams will be markedly different from the regular season. Numerous transfers and NFL-bound veterans are unavailable for this game, clearing the way for young players to get a head start on the 2024 season. The matchup will be nationally televised by CBS starting at 2:00 pm Eastern time. Most of the changes for Notre Dame are on offense, where quarterback Sam Hartman, tailback Audric Estime, an ..read more

Notre Dame (9-3) has accepted an invitation to play in the Sun Bowl on Friday, December 29 in El Paso, Texas against Oregon State (8-4). The Fighting Irish had little choice in the matter, as teams from the ACC and Big-10 grabbed open spots in more prestigious bowls that had earlier appeared to be viable destinations for the program. The Beavers have become refugees from the defunct PAC-12 Conference. Their head coach, Jonathan Smith, has already departed for Michigan State. It has not yet been determined how many of the current Oregon State players will make the trip to El Paso but there is b ..read more

Audric Estime capped his stellar collegiate career with a dominant performance as Notre Dame shook off its early miscues to crush Stanford by 56-23 on Saturday. Estime scored four touchdowns and ran for 238 of the 381 rushing yards the Irish hung on the physically overmatched Cardinal. Notre Dame actually trailed by 16-14 after 20 minutes of play due to three turnovers and inspired play by the hosts. Then the roof simply caved in on them. Audric Estime was a man among boys against the Cards Stanford took a quick 3-0 lead by taking the opening kickoff and reaching the red zone. Backup quarterba ..read more

Notre Dame (8-3) concludes its regular season with a trip to the West Coast to face the Stanford Cardinal (2-9). The Fighting Irish have been healthy and effective on defense this year while the offense has been hampered by injuries and schematic shortcomings under first year coordinator Gerad Parker. The Cardinal have won eight of the past 13 meetings between these schools including a 16-14 upset last season in South Bend. David Shaw was Stanford’s coach in 12 of those years. Television coverage for this game is restricted to the PAC-12 Network starting at 7:00 pm Eastern time. Coach Troy Tay ..read more

Sam Hartman shook off a slow start and proceeded to throw four touchdown passes as Notre Dame coasted to a 45-7 victory over Wake Forest on Senior Day. Audric Estime ran for 115 yards and a score while backup quarterback Steve Angeli joined the party with a scoring strike to Jordan Faison. Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish defense suffocated the Deacons’ slow mesh offense with a dominant performance. The win lifts the hosts to 8-3 on the season with a road game at Stanford next week. Five players caught touchdown passes including Faison. The others were Devyn Ford, Eli Raridon, Tobias Merriweather ..read more

Notre Dame concludes its home schedule on Saturday as the Fighting Irish host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Up to 31 Irish players will be honored on Senior Day although some with remaining eligibility may yet elect to return next season. Marcus Freeman’s squad stands at 7-3 after a poor performance at Clemson two weeks ago. Despite the extra week of rest, injuries continue to plague Notre Dame, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The game will be televised nationally on NBC beginning at 3:30 PM Eastern time. Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson is ..read more

Notre Dame spotted Clemson ten first half points with a pick six and a fumbled punt and the Fighting Irish could not recover in a 31-23. A sputtering offense could find no traction in the final 20 minutes even though the defense tightened up and gave them numerous opportunities. Punter Aidan Swanson pinned Notre Dame deep in its own territory five consecutive times in that stretch while quarterback Sam Hartman could not find time in the pocket or an open receiver. Tailback Phil Mafah was a force for Clemson. He ran for 186 yards on 36 carries with two touchdowns. Special teams also played an i ..read more

Notre Dame (7-2) places its major bowl aspirations on the line at Clemson (4-4) on Saturday. The Fighting Irish are currently slotted at 15th in the Playoff Committee rankings and need to ascend to the top twelve in order to qualify. Coach Marcus Freeman’s squad has been riding a strong defense and rejuvenated special teams of late as they strive to reach their full potential. Meanwhile, the Tigers have won the statistical battle against all opponents this year but have failed in critical moments including two overtime losses.  ABC will televise the game beginning at 12:00 Noon Eastern ti ..read more