Nick McCloud with an interceptions for the Giants.

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I'll have more context and tidbits later in my analysis, but wanted to share some fun/interesting stats with you, starting with Notre Dame's defense.

Not only have the Irish improved in each of these defensive stat categories nationally from last year (pass-efficiency d, scoring d, total d, turnovers gained, red zone d, and third-down d -- and some dramatically so -- and tied in rush d, the 2023 defense is ahead of the pace of the 2012 shutdown defense in some of those categories ... here's a quick look:

The first column is 2023, then 2022, then 2012

Rush Defense 36 36 7
Pass-Eff. Def. 2 42 16
Total Defense 6 21 7
Scoring Def. 7 38 2
3rd down D 44 47 35
TOs Gained 10 98 46
Red Zone D 2 109 7

The last time an Irish team finished as high as sixth in total defense was 1980, when ND was fourth. Ara was the defense king, with seven of his 11 teams finished in the top six nationally in total defense.

Also Howard Cross III leads all Power 5 defensive linemen in tackles (63) after amassing a team-high 9 Saturday against Wake. Among all FBS D-linemen he's tied with Michael Moore of UAB.

Some other key stats ... Sam Hartman's 158.8 pass-efficiency rating for this season is 16th best this week nationally and third-best in a single season at Notre Dame behind a first-place tie of Jimmy Clausen (2009) and Bob Williams (1949) at 161.4.

Rico Flores, with 26 receptions, has the most for any freshman WR in the Brian Kelly/Marcus Freeman Era (2010-present). There are four other Irish freshmen with more since freshmen eligibility was permanently restored in 1972 by the NCAA. Can you name those four?

Audric Estimé ranks 16th this week in rushing yards per game (100.3), is tied for seventh in rushing TDs (14) and is 27th in rushing yards per carry (5.96).

Irish did not crack the FWAA-NFF Super 16 ... technically at No. 18.

Irish move up one spot in coaches poll, three in the AP poll.

I'm keeping my eye on the women's basketball game in the press box as we wait for Senior Day in Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish will take on Wake Forest at 3:30 p.m. EST on NBC.

Let's get the game thread rolling.

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Notre Dame is debuting a new victory celebration tonight. @Eric Hansen has the story.

Four good plays and one bad moment made up my list of five defining plays from ND's win over Wake.

1. Javontae Jean-Baptiste’s blocked field goal
2. Notre Dame’s wasted last timeout of first half
3. JD Bertrand’s strip sack of Michael Kern
4. Sam Hartman’s touchdown pass to Eli Raridon
5. Jaden Greathouse’s 48-yard touchdown catch

What did I miss?

@Eric Hansen and I discuss the biggest takeaways from No. 19 Notre Dame's 45-7 win over Wake Forest.

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Anyone watching the Florida State game?? The QB took a hit and his leg looks as bad as Joe Theisman's leg when Laurence Taylor tackled him. It will be on college football final for sure.
I don't like to see any kid hurt and this one is horrible.

I tried to ask this in the Chip Kelly thread, but people can't seem to be derailed from discussing something that has a .0001% chance of happening. So...if we move on from Parker, who should be under consideration. I don't really have any thoughts about someone that I've seen that I love offensively that has any chance of coming here, so just wondering who others see as potential candidates. Most of the teams that I've seen this year that are explosive offensively have head coaches who were OCs so I'm not sure the OC at those spots is really the one doing the work or are capable of repeating the success without the HC influence.

Other than Weis at times with Quinn and Clausen, I can't remember a time since Holtz that we put up big numbers and I'm pretty sure we're not going back to the triple option. So what coordinators are out there that would see this as a promotion? I'm not sure I'm excited about guys that aren't currently coordinators since that doesn't seem to work out great in the long run.

Notre Dame has ruled starting center Zeke Corell out for its game against Wake Forest on Saturday.

Corell has been in concussion protocol after suffering the injury at Clemson two weeks ago.

Story:


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Here's what Marcus Freeman said in his postgame press conference tonight.

Inside ND Sports will have updates in this thread of head coach Marcus Freeman’s postgame press conference after Notre Dame’s 45-7 win vs. Wake Forest on Saturday.

We are also expected to hear from multiple players.

You can also watch live below:

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I am. He has had the chance to develop in the program and system. He has tools. He will continue to develop this offseason and with more reps in the spring and summer. He was a winner in HS. In every chance has had on the ND field, he has looked the part. He won the BG game two years ago on a scramble and dive for a TD. If ND has a chance for a Hartman level QB, ND should get him, but I don’t think he’s out there. And I don’t think you should risk losing Angeli and making Minchy, Carr, and others question the QB development process at ND for equal or lesser talent. I don’t know enough about Cam Rising or others, but I would ride with Angeli.

Apologies we didn't have this set up this morning. A miscommunication on our end.

Notre Dame women's basketball is currently in the second quarter against Illinois (2-1) in the Citi Shamrock Classic in Washington, D.C.

The game is on NBC.

Notre Dame leads 28-21 with 5:18 left in the half.

Five and a half hours back to back! I'm looking for two big wins.

This is for Tyler etc., but assuming Estime is a Day 3 pick, and given how young he is (doesn't turn 21 until next September), is there a chance he stays? He would make 7 figures in NMIL money as opposed to rookie deal and practice squad. Any thoughts?

Story by Bill Bilinski

Head coach Micah Shrewsberry took part of the blame in slowing down the offense as Notre Dame blew its second half lead. But the Irish recovered to win in overtime by a clutch performance by freshman Markus Burton.

“I got the brakes on a little too fast,” he said. “But I didn't know how much we had left in the tank. So I tried to shorten the game a little bit. I slowed them down a little too much. And we got stagnant.”

“... But then to come back and fight and guys were out there — Konieczney was playing so hard he was cramping up and all those guys are tired but you know, I think we grew from this and we're going to keep growing from this — every small victory or thing like this just gives us more confidence.”

Game story from Bill Bilinski: