Well it's finally here, game week!! Team seems to be in good shape and the last covid test came up with zero positives. I hope that continues this week, I know they will have at least 1 more test before Sat. Everybody is expecting a good offense with Book reportedly having had a good fall camp and the OL being experienced and healthy. Seems to be good depth on the OL as well. RB room has some young guys leading the way, Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree both have had good fall camps. Jafar Armstrong seems to have been limited for non-injury reasons which I'm reading as he tested positive and was quarantined. Receivers seem to have had good camps as well. But still little a lot of new faces. Avery Davis seems to have found a home at Slot and will play, Lawrence Keys has had a good camp there and will be the starter. Braden Lenzy and Ben Skowrnek the Northwestern transfer will start in place of injured Kevin Austin. Defense has a lot of battles and we'll likely see a lot of players get minutes. Kyle Hamilton and JOK likely to be the stars of this defense. Duke has a lot of problems on offense and isn't likely to be very good. They do have a solid front 7 that gave us a lot of prolems last year though. The big problem is that rain is expected Saturday, and under Kelly we have not played well in the rain!!! Still expect to win, but rain could keep the game closer than expected. Irish opened as 20 point favorites.
Duke has named Chase Brice the starting QB for Notre Dame. Brice transferred from Clemson where he backed up Trevor Lawrence. He's the kid who came in and saved Clemson when Lawrence was knocked out of his first game as the starter 2 years ago and threw a late TD pass to pull out the win. It was the first game after Kelly Bryant quit on Clemson when Trevor was named the starter.
ND has the depth chart out. Marist Liufau in the 2 deep is interesting. No Lamb or Kiser or Genmark-Heath in the 2 deep is a bit of a surprise. Braden Lenzy and Lawrence Keys sitting behind Avery Davis and Javon McKinley was surprising. OFFENSE QB Ian Book Brendon Clark RB Kyren Williams Chris Tyree OR Jahmir Smith OR C’Bo Flemister OR Jafar Armstrong WR Ben Skowronek Joe Wilkins Jr. WR Avery Davis Lawrence Keys III WR Javon McKinley Braden Lenzy TE Brock Wright Tommy Tremble OR George Takacs OR Michael Mayer LT Liam Eichenberg Andrew Kristofic LG Aaron Banks Dillan Gibbons C Jarrett Patterson Zeke Correll RG Tommy Kraemer John Dirksen RT Robert Hainsey Josh Lugg DEFENSE DE Daelin Hayes Ovie Oghoufo OR Isaiah Foskey DT Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa Jayson Ademilola Howard Cross III DT Kurt Hinish Jacob Lacey Ja’mion Franklin DE Ade Ogundeji Justin Ademilola OR Isaiah Foskey Mike Drew White Bo Bauer Buck Shayne Simon OR Marist Liufau Rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Paul Moala CB Nick McCloud Cam Hart CB TaRiq Bracy OR Clarence Lewis S Kyle Hamilton DJ Brown OR Isaiah Pryor S Shaun Crawford Houston Griffith KJ Wallace SPECIAL TEAMS KO Jon Doerer Dawson Goepferich K Jon Doerer Dawson Goepferich P Jay Bramblett Dawson Goepferich LS Michael Vinson Alex Peitsch Holder Jay Bramblett JD Carney PR Lawrence Keys III Kyren Williams KR Chris Tyree Jafar Armstrrong
Apparently Jordan Genmark-Heath has opted out for the season and will focus on Academics and graduate in December. I imagine that he didn't even make the 2 deep at Buck had something to do with it.
Javon McKinley starting at WR is not a surprise to me. He was one of the greatest high school football players in the history of this state at Corona Centennial. I'm hoping that he will finally get a chance to show what he can do.
Captains were finally announced for 2020. Book, Crawford, Hainsey, Hayes, Ogundeji I'm esp glad for Shawn Crawford, that guy has battled so much injury wise and just keeps battling. Five Captains Selected for 2020-21 Notre Dame Football Campaign
ISD had an interesting article on what each staff member expected this season, they all answered a specific set of questions. This one about Book was interesting and spot on IMHO. This is Mike Franks opinion, but the other staff members all said about the same thing. I think anybody who is expecting a Joe Burrow type of leap in his 5th year, is going to be disappointed. He's a skilled college qb who had a great year last year once he got going, but it'd unfair to expect him to suddenly have a canon for an arm and be 6'5". The other thing most agreed is that Marist Liufau is going to be a standout on defense this year. Can we expect significant improvement from Ian Book this year? Somewhat. I think his completion percentage will be higher. I believe he will connect on a few more deep balls than previously, but overall, he is who he is at this point.
Book is a very good college QB. He glaring weakness is arm strength, His strength is accuracy and knowing when to take off with the ball.
No doubt Burrow had a great team around him, but Burrow was just as athletic as Book and was around 6'5" with a stronger arm. No doubt though that better WR's make the QB look better. All I have to do is think about how good Kizer looked when he had Will Fuller and how he looked the next year without Will Fuller. Book can be better this year, and put up good stats if that OL plays up to it's potential and his RB's who have no game experience but have looked good in camp actually produce on the field this year. Your point about WR's though is valid, there are a lot of new faces and little experience with the WR's this year, potential but has to be proven.
I see that Notre Dame is trying to create some extra buzz for fans this year since they can't attend the games in person for the most part. It's called Rally House, it's an App. It doesn't appeal to me because I don't follow players, former players, ND celebs ( who are they?) etc on the various social media platforms, I don't really care about hooking up with other fans that I don't know in a group chat or Zoom type of call during the game. But it'll probably appeal to a segment of the fan base. RALLY WITH THE IRISH THIS FOOTBALL SEASON
A couple of comments from ND players....from an article on Irish Illustrated. “We had a great Tuesday,” Book offered. “Coach Kelly said it was one of the better Tuesdays he’s been around.” That’s a candid revelation that isn’t often shared. Is it gospel? Nothing is during the week. But this has been a unified program since the pandemic broke. Most indications given to Irish Illustrated in recent weeks have been positive. Robert Hainsey could barely contain himself when talking about how ready he is to play. “I’m so excited to play in Notre Dame Stadium this year, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world,” said Hainsey when asked what the atmosphere without a full crowd would be like. “There was a time this year when we didn’t even know if we were playing football. I don’t care if there is no one in the stands or if it’s a scrimmage. The fact that we get to play football this year is such a blessing. “Any (player) that’s upset that there are no fans in the stands, I don’t know where they’re coming from. It’s so exciting that we get to play football this year. That’s all that matters to me and I think that’s all that matters to my teammates.”
I have been wondering about the testing during the season. For any team a late positive test for key players would be a problem. In an piece that Jack Swarbrick did for the WSJ he outlined the ACC protocol. We are also reassured by the ACC’s testing protocols. Notre Dame and its opponents will be tested three times each week they play: 48 hours after a game, midweek and the night before the next game. So the team will be tested again tonight, I haven't heard that Wed tests had any positive results. But we won't know for sure until today's tests are done. Link is to a ndnation.com post that has the full text. WSJ just posted an op-ed piece written by Jack Swarbrick.