One Foot Down - All PostsA never-ending discussion about Notre Dame and the greater CFB landscapehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52610/ofd_fav.png2024-03-19T03:44:45-04:00http://www.onefootdown.com/rss/current/2024-03-19T03:44:45-04:002024-03-19T03:44:45-04:00You should probably know... Notre Dame just won its 3rd Gaelic Football National Championship in a row
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<p>A dynasty</p> <p id="WBXwDM">Something that may have slipped off of some of your radars is that <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com">Notre Dame</a>’s Gaelic Football team just won the National Championship after taking down Navy in Salt Lake City, Utah.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">NOTRE DAME GETS THE NATTY IN GAELIC FOOTBALL!<br><br>3peat baby! <a href="https://t.co/ouUKEYsuf9">pic.twitter.com/ouUKEYsuf9</a></p>— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) <a href="https://twitter.com/SickosCommittee/status/1769476925846622465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a>
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<p id="IwllJO">Against Navy... on St. Patrick’s Day... in a “football” sport... Gold Seaters are wiping tears away from those wrinkled eyes. </p>
<p id="B1Un1b">Seriously though — LIGHT GRACE HALL UP! </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Notre Dame Gaelic Football took home the cup on St Patrick’s Day after a strong 3-peat defeat over Navy at Zions Bank Stadium in Salt Lake City. Catch the replay on ESPNU on Tuesday 19 March! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gaelicfootball?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#gaelicfootball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/espn?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#espn</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/notredame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#notredame</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/navy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#navy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/USNavy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USNavy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ncgaa?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ncgaa</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GAA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GAA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NCGAA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NCGAA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/USNavy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USNavy</a> <a href="https://t.co/R34egOfAc3">pic.twitter.com/R34egOfAc3</a></p>— ☘️ Wicked Shamrock ☘️ (@Wickedshamrock) <a href="https://twitter.com/Wickedshamrock/status/1769828367505801419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2024</a>
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https://www.onefootdown.com/2024/3/19/24105587/you-should-probably-know-notre-dame-just-won-its-3rd-gaelic-football-national-championship-in-a-rowJoshua Vowles2024-03-19T01:12:19-04:002024-03-19T01:12:19-04:00Florida WR Dylan Faison commits to Notre Dame
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<p>You might know the name</p> <p id="LnVjAN">On Monday, the <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com">Notre Dame Fighting Irish</a> got its first commitment for the 2026 class when wide receiver <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/dylan-faison-46148390/">Dylan Faison</a> gave his verbal pledge. Dylan Faison, the brother of Irish star Jordan Faison, is also one of the nation’s top lacrosse players and is expected to play both while at Notre Dame.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NotreDame</a> has landed its first class of 2026 commitment.<br><br>Reciever Dylan Faison has committed to the Fighting Irish.<br><br>Story: <a href="https://t.co/sgjdhac6SR">https://t.co/sgjdhac6SR</a><a href="https://twitter.com/dylan_faison7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dylan_faison7</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/247Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@247Sports</a> <a href="https://t.co/WRVpNa6Fb5">pic.twitter.com/WRVpNa6Fb5</a></p>— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomLoy247/status/1769821529787810034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2024</a>
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<p id="jmsgIg">Notre Dame had just offered Dylan the day before during its “Pot of Gold” campaign, and the 5’11” 170 pound WR from St. Andrews School in Boca Raton, Florida, wasted no time in securing a place at his dream school.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">After a great conversation with <a href="https://twitter.com/Im_MikeB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Im_MikeB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeDenbrock?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MikeDenbrock</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Marcus_Freeman1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Marcus_Freeman1</a> and Chad Bowden I’m honored and blessed to announce that I have received an offer to my dream school, the University of Notre Dame. Thank you coaches, already feels like family!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PotOfGold?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PotOfGold</a> <a href="https://t.co/tApk3OruJD">pic.twitter.com/tApk3OruJD</a></p>— Dylan Faison (@dylan_faison7) <a href="https://twitter.com/dylan_faison7/status/1769417817047068674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a>
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<p id="EUiMsj">There’s still almost a year and a half until signing day for the 2026 class, but I think it’s fairly safe to say Faison will definitely be a part of this class. </p>
<p id="2ispDh"><a href="https://irishsportsdaily.com/s/22900/film-dont-lie-dylan-faison">From ISD’s Jamie Uyeyama:</a></p>
<blockquote><p id="Tdrz1k">It’s impossible to watch him and not see the exact traits that stood out with his older brother as a freshman. Toughness, lateral agility, and speed can go a long way at receiver and Dylan Faison checks those boxes. He has a longer frame than his brother as well.</p></blockquote>
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<p id="Otj0bD">Dylan is currently unranked as a recruit, but that’s not all that uncommon given how early in the cycle it is for the 2026 class. When he does get his first ranking, it will likely be as a 3-Star. What happens after that will remain to be seen.</p>
<h2 id="ULlBiG">WELCOME TO ND DYLAN!</h2>
https://www.onefootdown.com/notre-dame-football-recruiting-news/2024/3/19/24105542/notre-dame-football-recruiting-florida-wr-dylan-faison-commits-to-the-irish-lacrosse-wide-receiverJoshua Vowles2024-03-18T16:04:47-04:002024-03-18T16:04:47-04:00EARNED 5-STAR PODCAST: Still planning the future for Notre Dame Football and the CFP
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<figcaption>Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Arguments were made</p> <p id="vC09EC">Joshua, Jude, and Brendan used an Irish car bomb or two to blow open the doors of the podcast machine to speak directly to the people about the college football playoff and <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com">Notre Dame</a> Football’s place in it moving forward. In this episode:</p>
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<li id="jsQaiM">HELLO!</li>
<li id="5sNWPt">Greatest St. Patrick’s Day movies of all time.</li>
<li id="cr6Lw3">Other Notre Dame sports were in action this weekend, so let’s talk about it.</li>
<li id="TaVoxz">REVIEWS!</li>
<li id="FmAxtO">Brendan and Joshua have different views about the college football playoff and Notre Dame’s place in it.</li>
<li id="Hrmab0">Notre Dame is making a lot of money (which is good).</li>
<li id="FR3z8J">Scheduling arguments. </li>
<li id="W1GX4f">Tires and the best/worst place to get them. </li>
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<p id="CYbesf">And plenty more weaved in and out of the show. </p>
<p id="ln8na3">Please RATE and REVIEW!</p>
<p id="4UIrD7">All reviews left on Apple Podcasts will be read on the next Earned 5-Star Podcast.</p>
<div id="8iSuxy"><iframe frameborder="0" height="200" scrolling="no" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=RRTET1538347009" width="100%"></iframe></div>
https://www.onefootdown.com/2024/3/18/24105163/still-planning-the-future-for-notre-dame-football-and-the-cfp-irish-nd-news-acc-sec-big-ten-sankeyJoshua VowlesndjrsBrendan McAlinden2024-03-18T15:41:04-04:002024-03-18T15:41:04-04:00Notre Dame Men’s Lacrosse dominates Michigan to the tune of 19-9
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<p>Big victory for Notre Dame as we head into a little break, next up is Syracuse on Saturday, March 30th</p> <p id="hZkLPi">Let’s get this out of the way, right away, and no other way to start this column than the following:</p>
<p id="u1lnLi">WE ARE OFFICIALLY STARTING THE LIAM ENTENMANN FOR THE TEWAARATON AWARD CAMPAIGN RIGHT HERE</p>
<p id="0D4zru">Hop on board folks, there is room on our bandwagon and more to come in our “Notes and Thoughts” section. </p>
<p id="0FFfT9">Had to get that out there and out of the way, okay, now onto everything else...</p>
<p id="Qdapdg">Growing up a fan of all things <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com">Notre Dame</a>, and especially growing up a fan of Notre Dame football, I felt there were three teams that I could not ever be a fan of - the University of Southern Cal, the University of Miami and the University of Michigan...and there is not a lot more that I take joy in, than seeing those three teams get beat in sports. </p>
<p id="N3Xseh">I have a lot of good friends who are University of Michigan graduates / fans and while I genuinely was happy for them when they won the football national championship this year, there is nothing like Notre Dame playing the <a href="https://www.maizenbrew.com">Michigan Wolverines</a> (insert USC and Miami as well) and beating them. To note, I have been to Ann Arbor four times to see the Irish play the Wolverines in football and I am 0-4. So I know what punishment feels like (and especially go back and watch the highlights from the 2011 ND vs Michigan game in AA, yep, I was there in person. P-A-I-N.). </p>
<p id="D2vVbc">So Saturday felt good, it felt really good....and on an unnaturally windy day in South Bend in front of a packed house at Arlotta, our Irish took it to the Wolverines and won convincingly by a final score of 19-9. It was a similar score to last year’s 18-8 victory and it was great to see our Notre Dame squad put together a complete team performance and win going away. The sweet, sweet nectar of victory against one one our biggest rivals, that was satisfying. </p>
<p id="0oBaoa">We moved to 5-1 on the year and now have a week’s break before the ACC portion of our schedule gets underway when the <a href="https://www.nunesmagician.com">Syracuse Orange</a> come to visit South Bend on Saturday, March 30th. </p>
<p id="dfkyqS">I was lucky enough to be at Arlotta for the game against UM, it was awesome to be there in person for another Irish win and there is lots for us to get into as we get things underway here. </p>
<p id="RxjnjY">But first, the Irish were wearing green tops and bottoms with blue and gold stripes and our patented gold helmets. Looking smooth right here.</p>
<p id="X1M2lj">Okay, let’s get after it...</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">HERE COME THE IRISH!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href="https://t.co/gN63BgcpRq">pic.twitter.com/gN63BgcpRq</a></p>— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse/status/1769059534037795124?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="lE8ERV"><strong>First Quarter</strong></p>
<p id="AYo6uG">The game got underway with some good back and forth, with Michigan primarily having possession, but Notre Dame eventually went onto the man-up and as the time had just expired on the minute penalty, Devon McLane scored off a feed from Chris Kavanagh to get the Irish up 1-0. As the quarter moved on, there was an excellent save by Liam Entenmann that then led to a bad clear by ND and then a penalty on Jake Taylor to get Michigan on the man-up. There was a nice passing sequence from the Wolverines on the man-up and they got it home to tie the score at 1-1 with 6:34 left in the quarter. As we went to the TV timeout, Coach Kevin Corrigan was pretty animated in the team huddle following the goal, letting the boys know what he thought of their play up to that point. The Wolverines then went up 2-1 on a shot that went in with one second on the shot clock, a tough spot for the Irish to give up a goal there. The score remained 2-1 until Jordan Faison drove down the side and ripped it past the goalie to tie it up at 2 with 3:15 to go. Notre Dame won the ensuing faceoff, got it into the offensive zone and we called a timeout as Colin Hagstrom was being hounded by two Michigan defenders. It was a good TO call by the coaching staff as this was an important possession, and coming out of the huddle we took advantage as Pat Kavanagh came from behind X to get in front for a goal to get us up 3-2 with 2:55 to go. Michigan then won the faceoff that led to a fast break goal to get to it back even at 3-3. And that is where we would end as the first quarter came to a close. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">GOAL IRISH!<br><br>Faison gets some room and ties us up at 2 with 3 minutes to play in the 1st.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href="https://t.co/jrcXVd0W86">pic.twitter.com/jrcXVd0W86</a></p>— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse/status/1769067466485829732?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="2eRBEs"><strong>Second Quarter</strong></p>
<p id="2aC7Zh">The scoring by our Irish got started on a beautiful play where Pat Kavanagh and Devon McLane did some great pick action behind the net, Devon rolled out front and scored from in close to make it 4-3 Irish. Colin Hagstrom won the ensuing faceoff, the Irish brought out the second line midfield and Max Busenkell caught Michigan in some defensive confusion, drove down the left side and scored a top shelf goal making it 5-3. The next Irish goal came on a failed Michigan clear, there was a ground ball pick up by Pat Kavanagh, it eventually got into the stick of Eric Dobson, he made a great spin move and went upper corner with a rocket to make it 6-3 Irish. This scoring outburst caused a timeout Michigan as they looked to collect themselves. To note, I noticed here in the second quarter that Max Manyak was taking a prominent position on the faceoffs on the sidelines, sure the coaching staff was using his eyes as an extra set of them on the sidelines to monitor what was taking place across the faceoffs. </p>
<p id="wbvKFx">We then saw an insane save by Liam Entenmann to keep it at 6-3, there was a tremendous pick off of a pass by Ben Ramsey, he cleared it himself and after some good passing, Jake Taylor hit it home from in close off a feed from Eric Dobson to get to 7-3. Next we saw an awesome Pat Kavanagh feed to a cutting Jordan Faison in front to make the score 8-3 Irish (this was just a pretty play) with 6:46 to play. Chris Kavanagh would make it 9-3 Irish about 30 seconds later as he drove from the side and shot low to get it past the Michigan keeper. We then saw some more back and forth, the Irish got possession and called timeout with 4:28 to go until halftime. Faison ended up with the ball after the stop in play, did a spin move to get in front and he made it 10-3 with 4:06 to go (another hat trick for Jordan). Finally, we saw another tremendous save from Liam against Mikey Boehm before UM got one back to get it to 10-4. And that is where we would be with the quarter ending and halftime upon us. An awesome 7-1 goal advantage to our Irish in this quarter. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">McLane with his second of the day!<br><br>Irish lead 4-3. Watch on ACCN.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href="https://t.co/mnjKysEP1d">pic.twitter.com/mnjKysEP1d</a></p>— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse/status/1769071392346017805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="lXjU4e"><strong>Third Quarter</strong></p>
<p id="5zv8i8">Let’s call this the quarter the “Taylor / Kavanagh Twelve” and not sure if I have ever seen anything like this in a quarter. Jake Taylor scored six goals in the third quarter and every single one of them was assisted by either Pat or Chris Kavanagh. You heard that right, it was a 12 point quarter by our starting Irish attack across 6 goals and 6 assists:</p>
<p id="kJHv1L">Jake from Chris in front to go up 11-4. </p>
<p id="xKXlvh">Same thing, Chris to Jake in front to make it 12-4. </p>
<p id="7gkuDP">Jake inside from Pat, ridiculous pass and goal to make it 13-4. </p>
<p id="170QkS">Then the play of the game so far, just an unreal defensive effort from the Irish to cause the turnover as Michigan tried to clear, Chris scooped it to Jake in front for the goal to make it 14-4 Irish. </p>
<p id="j5QgmK">Pat to Jake Taylor in front, his sixth on the day, what a pass from Pat, Irish go up 16-5. </p>
<p id="1CFmYR">BTB from Pat Kavanagh to Jake Taylor who also went BTB. Jake’s seventh goal of the day to make it 17-5. </p>
<p id="L7eXJh">In between all that, we saw Andrew Greenspan come in for some faceoff work; we saw at least four tremendous saves from Liam on two different man-up opportunities for Michigan; we saw a nice one on one move by Will Angrick to get his first goal of the day.</p>
<p id="P7zKxJ">We once again outscored the Wolverines by a score of 7-1 in the quarter to take a commanding 17-5 lead heading into the fourth. </p>
<p id="OFKRF3">What a quarter for our Irish, absolutely our best / most complete quarter of the year by far here in 2024. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Taylor gets his hatty and Chris Kav ties his career high with his 4th assist of the day!<br><br>Watch on ACCN.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href="https://t.co/dsH2snTdcV">pic.twitter.com/dsH2snTdcV</a></p>— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse/status/1769080666136653848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pouring it on.<br><br>Chris Kav ➡️ Taylor and that's a new career high in assists for Chris!<br><br>Watch on ACCN.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href="https://t.co/mRZ9FAkFNu">pic.twitter.com/mRZ9FAkFNu</a></p>— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse/status/1769082551996383603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p lang="qme" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://t.co/XqVxRemKOq">pic.twitter.com/XqVxRemKOq</a></p>— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse/status/1769086645871996969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="Ebew39"><strong>Fourth Quarter</strong></p>
<p id="q4gb2y">Michigan started off the scoring in the quarter on a nice feed inside to make it 17-6. The Wolverines then went on the man-up, and stop me if you have heard this before, but an UNREAL save again by Liam and we then clocked off the rest of the penalty. The Wolverines got another goal to make it 17-7 and then there was some good back and forth for a few minutes before Michigan got their third in a row to make it 17-8 with 7:34 to go. The Irish stopped the scoring run as Pat Kavanagh scored from Chris Kavanagh to make it 18-8 Irish. Michigan would get the next one to make it 18-9 before Fisher Finley put one home to make it 19-9 with 2:17 to go. By this point Alex Zepf had come on in reserve and he made a nice save himself toward the end as well. </p>
<p id="9Pi12Y">That is where we would finish as the final score would be 19-9 Irish and we moved to 5-1 on the year. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">C Kav ➡️ P Kav<br><br>The Irish starting attack has now combined for 20 points today as the Irish lead 18-8.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href="https://t.co/W82xC819og">pic.twitter.com/W82xC819og</a></p>— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse/status/1769090532561588628?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">IRISH WIN!<br><br>Jake Taylor and Chris Kavanagh led the Irish with 7 points each as the Irish dominate #18 Michigan at Arlotta!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href="https://t.co/okRuibNNXq">pic.twitter.com/okRuibNNXq</a></p>— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse/status/1769095144224018784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="ztYzs6"><strong>Notes and Thoughts</strong></p>
<p id="vi7jYC">Okay, getting back into it the way we started this whole article: Liam Entenmann should be the frontrunner for the <a href="https://tewaaraton.com/">Tewaaraton Award</a> which is handed out annually to college lacrosse’s best player. Dating back to 2010, it has been nothing but attackmen that have won the award. And prior to that, from 2001 - 2010, it was either a middie or an attackman who took things home. It’s about time that the greatness that is Liam Entenmann is finally rewarded with the highest honor in all of college lacrosse. Let’s start the campaign now! And those of us who have had the chance to watch Liam for all these years, we know what type of player and leader he is for our Fighting Irish. He showed out in Philly last year as the best player across Championship weekend and he has been excellent this year, with his best game of the season this past Saturday. There were at least four or five highlight saves and four to five goals that he absolutely stole from Michigan. Coach Kevin Corrigan had this to say after the game as I asked him about Liam: “I think, you know, our guys said it in the locker room after the game, and I said it to them, that I think we are looking at one of the best goalies that’s ever played the game. And I don’t know that there is a better goalie in the world right now than Liam and I think he showed it today. He was all over the ball, he stole some from them.” </p>
<p id="jxMpq5">Let’s fire up the band, let’s shout it from the rooftops....Liam Entenmann is the best player in college lacrosse in 2024. Who’s coming with me?!?!? </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">So many awesome plays from the <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NDlacrosse</a> win today, but this one takes the cake. Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/Tewaaraton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Tewaaraton</a>, here’s the best player in the country, regardless of position. This year, it’s time for your award to be bold and recognize the greatness that is Liam Entenmann. ☘️ <a href="https://t.co/Wto1K6tF4f">https://t.co/Wto1K6tF4f</a></p>— Drew Brennan (@drewbrennan77) <a href="https://twitter.com/drewbrennan77/status/1769160708011282468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr"> <br><br>Liam Entenmann becomes the 4th goaltender in program history to reach the milestone!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href="https://t.co/vnLDmXkIGJ">pic.twitter.com/vnLDmXkIGJ</a></p>— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDlacrosse/status/1769077348379365873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a>
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<p id="0Y7htX">During the first quarter, Coach Corrigan was heated throughout and then in between quarters he really let the team know how he felt about their play in the first fifteen minutes. There were some uncommon miscues by our Irish on our clears, things were not looking crisp and the coaching staff wanted to make sure that the Irish were not sleep walking in this matchup. The Wolverines came out and were doing a great job winning faceoffs and gaining possession there during the opening stanza, and as the quarter came to an end, you could tell that Coach was unhappy about what he had seen up to that point. In our interviews after the game, here is what Coach Corrigan had to say about that opening fifteen...”We just had not played good simple lacrosse in the first quarter. We felt like in the second quarter it felt like we had the ball the whole quarter. The first quarter it felt like we didn’t because we weren’t winning faceoffs, we weren’t playing good offense. I think it is true if we go back and chart the minutes, I’m guessing we were on the negative side in the first quarter and certainly on the positive side in the second quarter. Time of possession’s a big thing, it’s important in terms of opportunity, but it’s also important in terms of rhythm and your guys feeling comfortable and all that. When you’re on the short side of that, it becomes hard. Again, a combination of factors in that we didn’t clear the ball well in the first quarter, we didn’t faceoff well and we had short possessions...the next thing you know we probably played four or five minutes of offense if we were lucky in that first quarter.”</p>
<p id="QE4HQV">Starting in the second quarter, the wing play by the Irish on the faceoffs (primarily Ben Ramsey, Carter Parlette, Ross Burgmaster and Will Donovan) really improved. Again, we asked Coach Corrigan about this after the game and he had this to say about the faceoff unit as a whole, and specifically the adjustments we made in the second quarter which changed the game: “Our faceoff coach, Coach Wellner, did a nice job of mixing up what we were doing so that they couldn’t come out there and just roll into what they were doing every single time. They had to start adjusting to us and I think that kind of put them back on their heels a little bit and our guys were able to battle and get some wins.” He added even more, “Well again, a combination of them (ND faceoff unit) really being all in sync together, knowing what we were trying to accomplish. Disappointed that we gave up a fast break on a faceoff in the first half, we hate that, we like to consider that something we don’t want to do at all for an entire season, much less starting in the first quarter of a game, giving up one like that. But from that point on, our wing play was terrific, our faceoff guys did exactly what we need them to do. Sometimes it’s not their job to win the ball, sometimes it’s their job to give us two seconds, tie them up and give us a chance to get in there and, you know, win it in another way.....and that can be disconcerting to the other team. And so, when we started working as a unit, I think everybody came out ahead.”</p>
<p id="abiB1z">Overall, our faceoff unit was 17-32 on the game (53%) and as we have said many times before in our columns, it’s great that we can rely on multiple players at the faceoff dot as Colin Hagstrom had probably his best outing of the year so far as he was 9-15 on the afternoon. </p>
<p id="w92cRa">The ND shortsticks (Ben Ramsey, Carter Parlette, Nick Harris and Christian Alacqua) came to play today, I thought this was another really strong outing from them on the afternoon, not only on the faceoff wings, but also in our regular defensive sets. Carter Parlette was particularly strong on the faceoff wing and ground balls, we talked about the great individual play by Ben Ramsey in our defensive set, and additionally, Danny Parker and Tyler Buchner got some run in the fourth quarter. I thought Danny Parker did a good job while out there which can only mean good things as we continue to add depth to that position across the rest of the season. </p>
<p id="GzVi8r">We talked about it in the third quarter, but what a show put on by Jake Taylor, Pat Kavanagh and Chris Kavanagh. I asked Coach Corrigan about the three of them after the game as they accounted for 20 points on the afternoon (10 goals and 10 assists). If you can believe it, he thinks this unit can still get even better: “Here’s the thing, Jake Taylor hasn’t played a fall until this year, right, he’s missed two falls and two preseasons. Pat Kavanagh hasn’t played in the past two falls. Chris Kavanagh didn’t play this fall, neither Pat nor Chris was playing at 100% until about a week before the season started. So, not that we expect we are going to get 20 points out of them every game, but we think there’s still growth to be had with that group. They’re still, you know for what you want to say they have been together for a while, but really when you look at the field time it’s not as much as you might imagine. So it’s nice that they’re getting that time now and really starting to flourish....and there’s still growth there.” Sign me up if there is still an opportunity for these three to get better across how they play together. </p>
<p id="riz846">Let’s give some credit where credit is due....I liked what I saw from the Michigan man-up unit. They were stymied a few times by Liam and his great goaltending, but that was a unit that had a nice set-up to it, some crisp passing and some overall great ball movement. They found seams and multiple times they hit a man open on the backside with some slick passing. Dare I say they looked eerily similar to how our Irish man-up unit moves the ball? Kudos to the Michigan coaching staff there and the players on that aspect of their squad. </p>
<p id="tFJDii">Shawn Lyght, and this was noted on the call of the game by Quint Kessenich, great work by him getting at least two run outs where the Irish were able to gain possession after a shot by Michigan. These plays can go unnoticed sometimes in games that aren’t close, but this is something that I am sure the coaching staff and keen observers of Irish lacrosse picked up on over the course of the afternoon. Awesome work by Shawn, he continues to just impress during his freshman campaign. </p>
<p id="c2DvIY">Another game where Notre Dame held a ground ball advantage. We won the ground ball battle 38-30, and when you consider that we won the faceoff battle 17-15, that means that in regular play we got to six more ground balls than the Wolverines. That right there is how and why games are won. It’s the hustle plays where players dig deep showing up on the stat sheet. </p>
<p id="J1J8ds">Michigan had seven man-up opportunities while Notre Dame had one? And ND’s chance came early in the first quarter so we spent the rest of the game either six on six or man-down. It did certainly seem like the refs were being fairly lenient on Michigan as there appeared to be more than one slash or push in the back with possession that they let go on the Wolverines. But in the end, it’s all even more impressive that in a game that we had six less man-up opportunities, we still won by ten goals. </p>
<p id="p3DhZB">Lots of subs got into the game in the fourth quarter, great to see so many of the boys out there with the game well in hand. And awesome to see the Georgia duo of Fulton Bayman and Fisher Finley get into the score sheet as Fulton fed Fisher inside for a nice goal to get our 19th and final tally on the day. </p>
<p id="MB46q7"><strong>Fred’s Pics</strong></p>
<p id="glRF3r">As always, at the bottom of this article will be some of the pics that <a href="https://twitter.com/FredsPics"><strong>Fred Assaf</strong></a> took while at the game. And yes, that first pic is Fred and me after the game meeting up on the field for a selfie. We had to hold off the paparazzi (and kids looking to get our autographs) to get this photo, they were hounding us all day to try and get this pic of the two of us! All photo credits to Fred Assaf.</p>
<p id="4FVfWS"><strong>What’s Next</strong></p>
<p id="ImCn31">The Irish get some much needed time off as we don’t have a game this upcoming weekend. This will be a good chance for the team to get some rest and for the coaching staff to do some self-scouting with the ACC part of our schedule looming. Here is how Coach Corrigan said they would spend the off week: “We have work to do. We know that. We are going to look at the film and evaluate, we know there were things we could do better and we’re going to work on those things. We also, this is a great time, kind of in the middle of the season, to evaluate what are we missing as we look at, you know, the landscape of college lacrosse and who we’re going to be playing and all that. What are we missing right now that we might need at some point in the next five weeks? So this gives us a chance to take a deep breath, evaluate what we’ve done, what we need to do, and then spend a week working on ourselves. We don’t have to prepare for a game, we don’t have to prepare for what somebody else is doing, we really just need to look at ourselves and see how we develop individually and collectively.”</p>
<p id="hrHJuM">The next matchup will be at Arlotta on Saturday, March 30th, the day before Easter. The Syracuse Orange come to town for a 2 PM EST tilt. Currently, the Cuse are 7-2 on the year and they will have matchups against Duke and Hobart prior to the game so they will come to South Bend having played eleven games compared to our six. So five more games than us which can be looked at from both sides of the coin (plusses and minuses) at this time of the season.</p>
<p id="4YGEdT">From here on out, everything ratchets up for our Fighting Irish. We have five games to go in the regular season and every single one of them will be a battle as we take on Syracuse, Duke, Cornell, North Carolina and Virginia in that order. We will be facing some serious offenses in the weeks ahead as some of the best attackmen in the country will be going up against our Irish defense. Getting this portion of our schedule off to good start with a win over Syracuse will be an absolute key to the back half of our slate. </p>
<p id="cay9pb">From what we have seen from Syracuse so far this year, it is a much improved squad led by sophomore Joey Spallina who already has 57 points (24 goals and 33 assists). It is starting to look like the Syracuse teams of old as they are loaded with skill talent and the ball moves quickly across their sticks. Both their losses have come in overtime as they lost to Maryland and then Army. Both games were winnable in the extra session as the Orange had the game winning goal disallowed due to a crease violation against the Terps and then they missed a wide open net against the Black Knights that would have ended that contest as well. Had they won both those games, they would be the #1 ranked team in the country right now. From an overall standpoint, they have a very impressive win against Johns Hopkins which took place a little over a week ago. </p>
<p id="NGVwVC">Sure the ND coaching staff and players will be looking forward to the Syracuse vs Duke game which takes place this week on Wednesday the 20th in the Dome. We will learn a lot about our future opponents that night in what promises to be an awesome matchup. </p>
<p id="BlPJb9">Be on the lookout for the next <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1WYw269v6LNRsE6osky07k">“Exit 77”</a> podcast where <a href="https://twitter.com/The_Broganator9">David Brogan</a> will join me to give our thoughts on the Michigan game, while also previewing Syracuse. Hoping to get that out early this week before spring break, and as well, check out the awesome work that our friends at <a href="https://18stripes.com/">18Stripes</a> put out as they had a <a href="https://18stripes.com/lacrosse-michigan-preview-2024/">really good write-up previewing the Michigan matchup</a>. </p>
<p id="oM03lw">Okay folks, looking forward to hopefully being back at Arlotta in person on the 30th and if I am able to get to it in the week off, will look to try and get an article written during the bye week.</p>
<p id="Z8KxCv">As always, Let’s Go Irish!! </p>
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https://www.onefootdown.com/2024/3/18/24103265/notre-dame-mens-lacrosse-irish-dominate-the-michigan-wolverines-to-the-tune-of-19-9-nd-acc-big-tenabrennan772024-03-17T20:41:20-04:002024-03-17T20:41:20-04:00NCAA TOURNAMENT: Notre Dame earns #2 seed in Albany Regional and will face #15 Kent State
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<p>Lets GOOOOOO</p> <p id="RZSCHb">The Big Dance is set for the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Niele Ivey and her <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com">Notre Dame Fighting Irish</a> women’s basketball team have already conquered the <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/acc-basketball-tournament">ACC Tournament</a>, and are looking at a run for a national championship. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">time to dance <br><br> ️ tickets available at <a href="https://t.co/4pLAvZZrgz">https://t.co/4pLAvZZrgz</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a>☘️ <a href="https://t.co/MKTzM3AUke">pic.twitter.com/MKTzM3AUke</a></p>— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) <a href="https://twitter.com/ndwbb/status/1769518485539844554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2024</a>
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<p id="apslJ3">From the ND Press Release:</p>
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<p id="wLW2CB"><strong>SOUTH BEND, Ind. —</strong> For the second consecutive season, the road to the NCAA Championship runs through South Bend. </p>
<p id="5gdz7Q">On Sunday, No. 2 Notre Dame learned it will host the first and second rounds of the 2024 NCAA Tournament and face Kent State to kick it off. It is Notre Dame’s 29 overall appearance in the Big Dance.</p>
<p id="K7SOD1">Notre Dame’s top-ranked ACC offense is led by the three-headed monster that is Sonia Citron, Hannah Hidalgo and Maddy Westbeld. During the ACC Tournament, the three combined for an average of 53.7 points, 18 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game. Their names pepper the ACC statistical rankings as well. Hidalgo leads the conference with 23.3 points per game and the nation with 4.6 steals per game. Citron has the best free throw percentage in the ACC (90.2 percent), and Westbeld is one of just four ACC players posting at least 14 points and 9 boards per contest. </p>
<p id="qm4HAk">Notre Dame is 71-26 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 24-4 in the First Round. </p>
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<p id="k2aHn4">Should the Irish win in the first round, they will face the winner of the <a href="https://www.redcuprebellion.com">Ole Miss Rebels</a> and Marquette. A HUGE red flag is that the South Carolina Gamecocks are sitting there with the #1 seed. Full brackets out in a bit...</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament bracket time. Albany 1 Regional: <a href="https://t.co/YXJ9dzLv8f">pic.twitter.com/YXJ9dzLv8f</a></p>— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanDFischer/status/1769516400559923392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2024</a>
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https://www.onefootdown.com/2024/3/17/24104406/ncaa-tournament-notre-dame-earns-2-seed-in-albany-regional-will-face-15-kent-state-bracket-nd-newsOne Foot Staff2024-03-17T13:24:07-04:002024-03-17T13:24:07-04:00EARNED 5-STAR PODCAST: The GREAT NAMING OF NAMES for Notre Dame Football in 2024
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<p>A tradition continues</p> <p id="XNc7Tm">Joshua arrives to the podcast machine with a sober mind and body on St. Patrick’s Day to continue the great tradition of THE GREAT NAMING OF NAMES for <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com">Notre Dame</a> Football. This is a tradition that only continues because Brendan loves it so very much, and if you don’t like it, you can let him know. I’m just an innocent voice.</p>
<p id="auNg5y">Please RATE and REVIEW! All reviews left on Apple Podcasts will be read on the next Earned 5-Star Podcast.</p>
<p id="yu88kH">You can listen in the podcast player below, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.</p>
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https://www.onefootdown.com/2024/3/17/24103967/earned-5-star-podcast-the-great-naming-of-names-for-notre-dame-football-in-2024-cfb-news-irish-ndJoshua Vowles2024-03-17T12:19:36-04:002024-03-17T12:19:36-04:00Georgia WR Jerome Bettis Jr. commits to Notre Dame
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<p>You might know the name</p> <p id="LZxogK">On Sunday, 2025 Georgia 3-Star wide receiver <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/jerome-bettis-jr-46134659/">Jerome Bettis Jr.</a> made his public commitment to Marcus Freeman and the <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com">Notre Dame Fighting Irish</a>.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Class of 2025 WR Jerome Bettis Jr. has Committed to Notre Dame, he tells me for <a href="https://twitter.com/On3Recruits?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@on3recruits</a><br><br>The 6’3 190 WR from Atlanta, GA chose the Fighting Irish over Texas A&M, Duke, & Ole Miss<br><br>“Success is earned, not inherited. Go Irish ☘️”<a href="https://t.co/85E6LnEkwE">https://t.co/85E6LnEkwE</a> <a href="https://t.co/BY1peIT73s">pic.twitter.com/BY1peIT73s</a></p>— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) <a href="https://twitter.com/Hayesfawcett3/status/1769347913551843363?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a>
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<p id="jSTcsD">The 6’3” 185 pounder from Woodward Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, is (of course) the son of the NFL Hall of Fame <a href="https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/">Pittsburgh Steelers</a> running back and Notre Dame legend, Jerome Bettis (so that’s Detroit blood running in those veins). Bettis chose the Irish over an offer list that included the <a href="https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com">Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets</a>, <a href="https://www.redcuprebellion.com">Ole Miss Rebels</a>, Arkansas Razorbacks, <a href="https://www.goodbullhunting.com">Texas A&M Aggies</a>, and many more.</p>
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<p lang="qme" dir="ltr">☘️☘️ <a href="https://t.co/JcZVgKctla">pic.twitter.com/JcZVgKctla</a></p>— Jerome Bettis Jr (@jeromebettisjr) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeromebettisjr/status/1769350596950188056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2024</a>
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<p id="fSAB3w"><a href="https://irishsportsdaily.com/s/22884/film-dont-lie-jerome-bettis-jr">From ISD’s Jamie Uyeyama:</a></p>
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<p id="Gzrmrj">Bettis Jr. has skills that should translate to help him be a contributor at Notre Dame. At the moment, I don’t see a prospect who can do that early on. He’ll need to develop into a stronger, twitchier athlete in order to do so.</p>
<p id="Uj4SoP">Playing against bigger, longer corners in college, who know how to play bigger, is going to be his toughest obstacle because he might be someone who has to rely on winning contested catches in man coverage to be successful.</p>
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<p id="xSXbiv">Bettis is the 18th commitment for Notre Dame’s 2025 class — which is incredibly high for mid-March. While the entire thing about Bettis being a legacy does make the narrative of his recruitment a lot different than others, getting recruits from the private schools surrounding Atlanta, Georgia, is a very important part of the Notre Dame recruiting mission.</p>
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<p id="1SFBvX">Bettis is the third wide receiver to commit to Notre Dame’s 2025 class. While there was a time when that would almost certainly mean the Irish were full at the position, they will still be looking to add at least one more (if not two more) by signing day in December.</p>
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<p id="Se0nGl">For those that don’t follow recruiting very closely, you may be celebrating this recruiting win a little too hard. For those that do follow recruiting closely, you may be shaking your head a little bit too much. This really is one of those recruitments that is somewhere in the middle. Bettis doesn’t have the speed to wow you, but I liked what Uyeyama had to say — he’d like to see him develop into a bully. Football is still an incredibly physical game, and wide receivers that can develop into guys that can make the toughest of catches in traffic and break tackles is a guy that can be very valuable to the offense and to the team.</p>
<h2 id="RHHF05">WELCOME TO ND JEROME!</h2>
https://www.onefootdown.com/notre-dame-football-recruiting-news/2024/3/17/24103865/notre-dame-football-recruiting-georgia-wr-jerome-bettis-jr-commits-to-the-irish-wide-receiver-nd-cfbJoshua Vowles2024-03-14T01:07:26-04:002024-03-14T01:07:26-04:00Throwback Thursday: Former Notre Dame Football Player, Ken MacAfee
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<figcaption>PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 10: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been shot in black and white. Color version not available.) Tight end Ken MacAfee #81 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates after scoring a touchdown on a 4-yard pass play against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers during a college football game at Pitt Stadium on September 10, 1977 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Notre Dame defeated Pitt 19-9. | Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Oral Surgeon</p> <p id="hqHmp7">Following my last story which explored the thrilling world of the Bengal Bouts, I’ve got something extra special lined up for you today. Prepare to step back in time as we delve into the pages of my second book and uncover a gripping excerpt from the legendary clash between Ken MacAfee and the formidable Ross Browner in the 1976 Bengal Bouts tournament. Get ready to witness history in the making as these two titans of the ring go head-to-head in a battle for the ages. Let’s lace up our gloves and dive right in!</p>
<p id="vJ3sNO"><em>Basically I just wanted to stay in shape during the offseason and that’s why I decided to train for the Bengal Bouts. I first got involved during my freshman year. I was supposed to fight Doug Becker but he ended up getting pleurisy in his lungs. Since we were the only two heavy weights they ended up cancelling the fight. The next year I did it again. Doug Becker beat Jim Browner for the heavy weight title and I lost to Ross Browner by a split decision in the super heavy weight title fight. It was less of a competitive thing for me and more a great way for me to stay in shape during the offseason. However, I wasn’t completely new to the sport. I had done some boxing in high school. My hometown, Brockton, Massachusetts, was also the hometown of Rocky Marciano. My head football coach in high school was married to Rocky’s sister; and so I had always been interested in boxing. But after that fight against Ross Browner I decided that was enough boxing for me. It was fun, and his win was a worthy call. Ross and I had a pretty good rumble that year in the final. Preparing for the Bengal Bouts took a lot of hard work and dedication from a lot of people.</em></p>
<p id="YzpWt3"><em>I did the worst thing you could possibly do as a boxer; I knocked him down in the first round. He got up at the count of nine and I expended too much energy attempting to finish him off. I had worn myself out. By the third round I could barely breathe because I had overdone it in the first round. He definitely got some good licks in during that fight but he didn’t knock me down. Win or lose it was helpful for keeping in shape and staying prepared for football. Boxing is such a taxing sport. In professional boxing they fight for 15 three-minute rounds. In Bengal Bouts we would fight for three two-minute rounds. I can’t imagine fighting for 45 minutes. I have a great respect for professional boxers. They are in phenomenal shape to be able to fight like that.</em></p>
<h3 id="gxvubx">More Echoes From the End Zone: Ken MacAfee</h3>
<p id="GTYPO2">Kenneth Adams MacAfee, Jr. started his journey in Brockton, Massachusetts, the hometown of Rocky Marciano. His head football coach at Brockton High School, the Brockton “Boxers,” was married to Rocky’s sister and so MacAfee not only played football but also pursued his interest in boxing. At 6’5” and 225 pounds, MacAfee had the breaking speed of a tailback and the sure hands of a wideout, and began to excel for the Brockton Boxers as a sophomore. In both his junior and senior seasons MacAfee led the Boxers to the scholastic “<a href="https://www.sbnation.com/super-bowl">Super Bowl</a>,” the state championship game, where they won two consecutive state titles. MacAfee finished his high school football career with 23 touchdown receptions and in his four years at Brockton high school, the Boxers were 33-3-1 and MacAfee was selected as a first-team All-American. And this was just the beginning of MacAfee’s tremendous football journey. He went on to play football for both Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine at the University of <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com">Notre Dame</a>, played alongside two outstanding quarterbacks in Rusty Lisch and Joe Montana, won the national title in 1977 and went on to play football in the NFL for the <a href="https://www.ninersnation.com/">San Francisco 49ers</a>. How did this outstanding football player from Brockton, Massachusetts, go on to become an oral surgeon with his own practice and also lecture at Harvard University? This is Ken MacAfee’s story.</p>
<p id="3dalXp"><em>I was recruited by quite a lot of schools. I kept a file of all the schools that were recruiting me; 205 schools in all sent me letters while I was in high school, trying to convince me that I should play football for them. And of course back then you were allowed to make unlimited college visits, which isn’t the case today. You could spend an entire year visiting schools if you wanted to. I scheduled 20 visits and ended up visiting 12 schools in total. Once I visited Notre Dame, it became the benchmark. Every school I visited before or after Notre Dame was compared to the visit to ND. Finally it occurred to me, if I’m comparing all of these schools to Notre Dame, I should just go to Notre Dame. I was using Notre Dame as my benchmark and nothing else could compare to what Notre Dame had to offer.</em></p>
<p id="cF6oYi">It did not take the Notre Dame Value Stream long to rise to the top and emerge as the clear path for MacAfee.</p>
<p id="mxWCA9"><em>Notre Dame had won the national title in 1973 and my freshman year was the following year. ND winning the national championship was certainly a factor when it came to making my decision. I knew that ND was going to win and I wanted to win in college. Academically, no other school could compare to Notre Dame. I was interested in pursuing dentistry or medicine and a lot of schools were not supportive of a football player who wanted to study premed in college. Notre Dame was in a class all its own in that respect. I looked at Notre Dame, USC, Rice, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina: a lot of schools in the SEC. I didn’t want to be at a school that had athletic dorms because you’d never get any time away from the athletic culture. Notre Dame distributed the athletes evenly in every dorm on campus as opposed to putting all of the football players in a football dorm. That was very appealing to me. USC and Rice didn’t have athletic dorms either, but they couldn’t compare to ND.</em></p>
<p id="Gfed4Y"><em>My host during my visit to ND was tight end Mike Creaney. My recruiting visit to Notre Dame was the worst trip of them all. There were 20 – 25 recruits visiting campus that weekend. A bunch of us got stranded in Chicago and couldn’t make connecting flights to South Bend because it was foggy, raining and snowing; so they put us on a bus and we got to campus around one in the morning. The coaches met us at the bus station and took us over to the Morris Inn. The next day we got to go to a Notre Dame Hockey game and ND beat Michigan Tech, who was the reigning national champion in hockey. ND beat them twice that weekend. On Saturday night we went to the ND men’s basketball game, where they beat UCLA and snapped the Bruins’ 88 game win streak; and Mike Creaney looked at me and said, “Multiply this by at least 10 and you have a Notre Dame football game.” On Sunday, all of the flights were still cancelled so we got to stay an extra night at Notre Dame. On that particular Sunday, the Notre Dame football program was holding their national championship banquet, which we got to attend since we were still there. My conversations with Ara that weekend were pretty eye opening for me. He said he’d be more than happy for me to pursue medicine or dentistry, and that he already had several football players who were pursuing similar paths. He told me that if I had to miss practice in order to complete my class work or prepare for a test that was no problem. Academics came first at Notre Dame. It was so amazing to speak to Ara like that. He was such a legend. You just wanted to fold yourself under the table.</em></p>
<h3 id="fMrJsy">The Notre Dame Years </h3>
<p id="9sdUJE">Most football players feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to play under one legendary coach during their time in college, but MacAfee had the opportunity to play under two Notre Dame legends, Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine. Although each coach had their own coaching style, the Notre Dame Value Stream showed MacAfee the benefits of each and allowed him to grow and learn under each man’s guidance.</p>
<p id="XddJlX"><em>My roommate freshman year was Harry Woebkenberg from Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati. He ended up leaving after our sophomore year. When we were freshmen, Ara announced that he was going to retire. Our first inclination was that we should transfer. Then we thought, what are we talking about?! This is Notre Dame. We’re not going to transfer anywhere better than this! We didn’t know much about Dan Devine when he came in. We knew he had been a head coach with the </em><a href="https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/"><em>Green Bay Packers</em></a><em> and the University of Missouri, but we also knew that he hadn’t had much success at Green Bay so no one really knew what to expect out of him.</em></p>
<p id="aWhJ2U"><em>Parseghian was a very forceful head coach who had control of everything. Devine was a very soft-spoken guy who deferred a great deal of the day-to-day coaching to his assistants. Parseghian called all of the offensive plays and was very much involved in the week’s preparation while Devine sat in his tower and watched practice from above. But in the end they both won national championships. Parseghian had an infectious personality and the guys really enjoyed being around him. Devine was reserved and soft spoken and wasn’t very popular among the players but his assistant coaches were great and we responded very well to them.</em></p>
<p id="13kzY5">Part of what draws you to play a sport like football is the competition. There is the competition that occurs against other teams, and then there is also the competition that occurs within the team to win a starting position in the various positions. The latter can either bond you as a team, or it can become divisive as it did during MacAfee’s time at Notre Dame. But no matter what challenge the game threw at them, the Notre Dame Value Stream was always there to help them work through it and overcome adversity.</p>
<p id="nm9VRy"><em>There was a great deal of separation among the team. A lot of guys thought Joe Montana should be the starter and some thought Rusty Lisch should be the starter. There was a great deal of controversy around the quarterback position, even within the team. Joe came in on three separate occasions during his sophomore year when we were losing in the fourth quarter and we won each one of those games. Most notable was the Air Force game; we were down 30- 10 with 10 minutes left in the game and he brought us back to win 31-30. Then against North Carolina, we were losing 14-3 and Montana threw an 80-yard touchdown pass with a minute left. Everyone knew what his abilities were, unfortunately he got hurt in spring practice (before his junior year season) and had to sit out a year.</em></p>
<p id="ijJQrT"><em>When he came back everyone was confident in his ability but the coaches were unsure as he had been out a year. Instead of giving him an opportunity they started Rusty Lisch. Lisch was a great athlete but he was not a good quarterback. He ended up playing for the </em><a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/"><em>St. Louis Cardinals</em></a><em> as a defensive back. Montana was just a better quarterback and most people were of this same opinion, but Devine thought Lisch should get the starting nod. When we were losing 10-0 to Purdue in the first quarter, Devine put in Gary Forystek. Forystek was known for his passing game and so he came out passing. Then he took this really awful hit that ended up breaking his neck. It was the first time I had ever seen an ambulance come out onto the field. After they took Forystek off the field Devine put Lisch back in but we were still in the same quandary that we were in before and so then he went to Montana. Montana’s first pass was to me. He threw this wounded duck of a ball to me. A Purdue linebacker stepped in front of me with 60 yards of green grass in front of him and snatched the ball but he ended up dropping the ball. After that Joe settled down. We came back to beat Purdue by a score of 31-24 with 17 unanswered Notre Dame points in the fourth quarter. After that win, the rest is history; we didn’t lose another game the rest of the year. He proved his abilities that year, which gave him great opportunities moving forward into the NFL.</em></p>
<p id="RxjPL4">If you’d like to continue reading Ken’s story, pick up a copy of my book The Men We Became: MORE Echoes From the End Zone. You can grab a signed copy from <a href="https://www.echoesfromnotredamebooks.com/product-page/the-men-we-became-more-echoes-from-the-end-zone">my website</a>, or it’s also available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Men-We-Became-More-Echoes/dp/1735348813/?tag=sbnation-20" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and most major book retailer sites.</p>
<p id="NrrAFD">Cheers & GO IRISH!</p>
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https://www.onefootdown.com/2024/3/14/24076762/throwback-thursday-former-notre-dame-football-player-ken-macafee-nd-history-tight-end-te-irishLisa Kelly