Here are tonight's Lucky Charms...

*** No folks, the FutureCast pick isn't for Donovan Edwards or Ceyair Wright as I'm continuing to monitor both of those recruitments. This pick is for Evanston (Ill.) High class of 2022 linebacker Sebastian Cheeks.. Back in August I wrote that I was very close to putting this pick in, and his self-guided tour visit of Notre Dame this past weekend really put the Irish over the top for me. Not only did Cheeks enjoy the visit, but his parents were really into it, and his grandfather and one of his high school coaches are huge Notre Dame fans. Cheeks loves Notre Dame too.

*** The only reason I'm not much more confident in this pick is because I'm told Ohio State would be a monstrous offer for Cheeks, and he wants to take his recruitment well into the spring. Cheeks has racked up big-time scholarship offers but has only played four games, and he really wants to prove that he's worth some of the offers that he's received, while also performing at a high level to receive some more. There's some early confidence on the Notre Dame side of things that the Irish will win this recruitment. He 100% strikes me as a Notre Dame type kid.

*** Notre Dame is still working on Donovan Edwards, who will announce his decision next Wednesday afternoon. Logan Diggs appears to be sticking with his Notre Dame commitment despite landing a big offer from LSU on Wednesday night. If you missed Sam Spiegelman's update, click here. And of course, there' still Audric Estime, who my sources have told me is being recruited by Notre Dame just as hard as anyone else on the 2021 board. With Devin Aupiu's flip yesterday, it's pretty much just the running back situation and that is left to be sorted out by NSD on 12/16. The Ceyair Wright saga will drag into late December. That's the quick rundown on 2021 recruiting for the Irish.

*** Notre Dame fans, it's time to get familiar with Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith safety Sherrod Covil. He told me today that Notre Dame is a top three school for him and that he's looking to get up to campus very soon, potentially even this weekend. His main contact with Notre Dame has been chats with defensive analyst Nick Lezynski and graduate assistant Chris O'Leary. He also messages with head coach Brian Kelly from time to time too.

*** I'm hearing that Covil and the Irish staff will have a Zoom call in the near future as the Irish turn up the heat in this recruitment. The Irish may see Covil as a rover down the line. Whether he's a safety or linebacker doesn't matter at this point; he fits the profile of a Notre Dame defensive recruit with his versatility.

Several starters on offense and defense have either already achieved been the recipient or are finalists or semifinalists for various accolades.
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/notre-dame-representation-for-awards-growing

Cincy - #2!!

Great hire by BK..m

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Starting center as a redshirt freshmen. Wow. And so it begins

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Here are tonight's Lucky Charms....

*** The news of the night is that LSU has offered Metairie (La.) Rummel running back and Notre Dame commit Logan Diggs. This is a big offer that Diggs has wanted for quite some time. The Tigers were previously interested in him as a linebacker, which Diggs wasn't excited about, so the offer didn't go out before Diggs committed to the Irish in July. But LSU liked what Diggs did as a senior at Rummel and want a second back in the 2021 cycle. There's another back they're pursuing, but he's waiting until February, and the Tigers want someone next week.

*** This is obviously something to follow moving forward. The timing is actually good for Notre Dame as it's just a week until the first day of the early signing period and Diggs is coming off a fantastic self-guided tour of South Bend. It really comes down to whether he wants to play at the in-state school or stick with the school that has been on him hard since early May.

*** From the Notre Dame perspective, it would sting if Diggs flips to LSU, but would not be the end of the world. I was actually speaking with a source last week about the possibility that Diggs signing elsewhere if he wasn't able to visit Notre Dame, and my source felt like the Irish were still in a good spot. It would be a heck of a coup to land Audric Estime and Donovan Edwards next week if Diggs flips to LSU. But if Edwards picks elsewhere and the Irish add Estime next week, then the staff would go after Byron Cardwell, consider expanding the running backboard in January and/or consider taking a transfer running back in January.

As I am writing this post, Diggs received the offer 45 minutes ago. Let's all take a deep breath and let things play out a bit. Diggs is excited about the offer and will let it soak in as it's a big offer to receive as a Louisiana kid, but we'll see if he makes the late flip or sticks with the school that has been on him for much longer.

Is anyone worried he might have the case of the yips?

For my $$, it's the Italian Christmas Donkey song. I mean, that IS a mystifyingly amazing level of specificity. On the other hand, I DO enjoy my annual gift of Hungarian Arbour Day Paperclips....

Hours after making his commitment to Notre Dame, 2022 offensive lineman Ty Chan has been invited to the 2022 All-American Bowl.

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After being named a Manning Award Star of the Week, Notre Dame graduate student quarterback Ian Book has been selected as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week for his performance in the 45-21 win over Syracuse, in which he became the winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history (30 wins as a starter).

He was selected as the quarterback of the week from a group of eight FBS quarterbacks: Justin Fields (No. 4 Ohio State), Layne Hatcher (Arkansas State), Preston Hutchinson (Eastern Michigan), Mac Jones (No. 1 Alabama), Drew Plitt (Ball State), Brock Purdy (No. 7 Iowa State) and Kyle Trask (No. 6 Florida)

Book completed a perfect record as a starting quarterback in Notre Dame Stadium going 15-0 as a starter at home, tying the most wins at home by a Notre Dame starting passer.

Book went 24-of-37 for 285 yards and three touchdowns, adding eight rushes for 53 yards and two touchdowns. He accounted for five touchdowns vs. Syracuse, the most by any Power 5 player (any position) on the weekend. No FBS player accounted for more touchdowns on the week than Book’s five, which tied his career-high and was the most by an Irish player since he passed for five touchdowns vs. Navy in 2019.

With eight rushing touchdowns (including two Saturday) this season, Book ranks third among all Power 5 quarterbacks in season rushing touchdowns. With his rushing touchdowns, Book moved into fourth all-time in Notre Dame quarterback rushing touchdowns with 14. His eight rushing touchdowns in 2020 tie for fifth all-time among Irish QBs in a single season.

Entering Saturday, Syracuse’s defense allowed an average of 251.8 passing yards per game. Book surpassed that mark in the first half alone with 252 passing yards. With an interception vs. Syracuse, Book capped the longest streak by an Irish QB in program history with 266 attempts without a pick. It was the longest active streak in the FBS.

Book was responsible for 19 of Notre Dame’s 27 first downs on the day (15 passing, four rushing), and all but one of the Irish’s 15 first downs in the first half (the only other Notre Dame first down in the first half was by penalty).

The Irish return to the field Saturday, Dec. 19 for the ACC Championship game, the first conference championship game in Notre Dame’s one-year history of playing as a conference team.

Apparently ND has interest. Was a borderline 5* in hs, 3 year starter at fsu, excellent student in HS and in college . Would be another stud safety to pair with Hamilton next year.

Brey said Nik Djogo won't play Saturday at Kentucky and are targeting Wednesday. Still hoping for a vote next week that would make Trey Wertz eligible.

On Cormac Ryan's big first half, quiet second half:

“He wasn’t involved as much, but he made a great point. He said, ‘Coach, I’m not going to force anything. We were kind of in a good rhythm. There’s a fine line between will you run something for him or will you play basketball and take the best decision. There was a maturity about him. For me, it’s on me a little bit. On an out-of-bounds under, you can run something for a guy to jump-start him.”

“Overall, his body is getting conditioned into extended minutes. Prentiss, Dane and Nate can play extended minutes physically. They have been trained that way. It’s very new territory for Cormac. His body, how we steal a rest for him, how we practice him between games, how we can get his body fresh. I’d also say it’s the same for Juwan.

On Matt Zona

“The one thing we’ve seen from him in practice is he’s tough, he’s physical, he’s not afraid, he’s smart. I thought he came in and was active, lying around and using his body. He has remade his body. He’s 6-8, 250. I want him to feel good and built on it."

"I had a long talk with Tony Sanders. You just experienced college basketball. You were the toast of the town on Sunday. You were back in the gutter on Wednesday. Now we’re going to find a middle ground. Relax. It’s a long journey here as a young guy. We still need him.”

commit story: https://notredame.rivals.com/news/2021-de-devin-aupiu-flips-from-ucla-to-notre-dame

Commit impact: https://notredame.rivals.com/news/commit-impact-what-landing-devin-aupiu-means-for-notre-dame

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Curious to see other's takes on these recruitments

Jaylon Smith (Cowboys) and Isaac Rochell (Chargers) nominated by their respective teams. Always great to see the service work players do while at ND often carries on in their NFL careers.

Javon McKinley added a Notre Dame offer. Check out the tweet below from his mother. So cool, and Javon has a shot at the pros based on his play this season.

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Anyone been following the Rivals feature about current 5*s in college? Some interesting grades and definitely some surprises...

Here's a couple.

Safeties..
Johnson at OSU- D
Sterns at Texas-C
Stevens at LSU-A

CBs
J Jones transferred from USC to ASU-B
Wade at PSU-B
Wade at OSU-A-

DEs
Clayton transferred from UF to GT-F
Kandioh at FSU- C-
Phillips transferred from UCLA to Mia-B+
Thomas at Clem- C
Henry at Clem-C
Anderson at UGA-C

Lastly on a quick note....there were five 5*s WRs in the class of 2020. Of those five only 1 has made a significant contribution and that is Jarrett at Maryland.

That leaves Johnson (ND), Fleming (OSU), Demas (TAMU) Smith-Njigba (OSU) as the others with all incomplete grades.

Here's a link to one of the columns and you should be able to access the other categories like RB, QB etc.

https://n.rivals.com/news/grading-the-active-5-star-des-in-college-football

39-59
**** The Irish pre Covid schedule had our opponents at 40-46 (with this year's game results). And I forget the 12th game, was it a Mac team?*****

Duke 2-8
USF 1-8
F$U 2-6
L-Ville 3-7
Pitt 5-5
GT 3-6
Clemson 9-1
BC 6-5
UNC 7-3
Cuse 1-10

Bama 35-43
Mizzo 5-3
aTm 7-1
Ole Miss 4-4
UGA 6-2
Tenn 2-6
Miss St 2-6
UK 4-6
AU 5-4
LSU 3-5
Ark 3-6

Clemson 46-44
WF 4-3
Cit 0-4
UVA 5-4
Miami 8-1
GT 3-6
Cuse 1-10
BC 6-5
ND 10-0
Pitt 5-5
VT 4-6

O$U 14-19
Neb 2-4
Pedo 2-5
Rut 2-5
Indiana 6-1
Sparty 2-4

Clemson has 10-0 ND and 8-1 Miami propping it up

Bama has 7-1 aTm and 6-2 UGA propping it up

O$U has Indiana, the rest is trash.

U$C at 4-0 has a opponent record of 2-10. Cancelled vs Colorado who is also undefeated, but my lose a tie breaker to the condoms because of one less win. The game U$C cancelled.

Not sure what, if anything this means, just thought it was interesting.

The conference that can't count now has eliminated the number of games threshold to play in the championship game...

Is anyone really surprised that they kowtow to THE Ohio State University?

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Way to represent Isaac and Jaylon!

He posted on his Instagram page that he was shot while putting air in his tires.

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