Notre Dame has flipped the script at the Blue-Gold game
Notre Dame struggled to find the end zone early in the Blue-Gold game, but it's starting to get untracked as the afternoon wears on.
Penalties and sacks stalled early drives on the cusp of the red zone, but after CJ Carr found Elijah Burress for a short touchdown pass, Kenny Minchey, who is battling Carr and Steve Angeli for the starting quarterback job, used his legs for a touchdown, which he punctuated with a perfectly executed back flip.
Minchey is probably the best running quarterback of the three.
The offense (Team Blue) has opened up a big lead over the defense (Team Gold). It's 61-31 as of this writing, following another Irish touchdown.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.
Follow Tim on X: @tehealey
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Big Ten commish makes it clear: When it comes to College Football Playoff expansion, his No. 1 priority is inventory
Remember all the thrilling games of the 2024-25 College Football Playoff? Texas' two-overtime victory against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl! Notre Dame's walkoff field goal to defeat Penn State in the Orange Bowl! And … and … hey, how about that Peach Bowl? The sad truth about the debut of the expanded College Football Playoff was that from a competitive standpoint, it was pretty much a wet firework. Only two of the 11 games — those two above — finished with a one-possession margin of victory. Five of the games were decided by a margin of two touchdowns or more, and three were 20-plus-point blowouts. (Thanks for stopping by, SMU, Tennessee and Oregon.) More, in other words, didn't come anywhere near better. Yes, these were college football playoff games … but more importantly, they were inventory created to meet demand. And if people are going to buy as much of the product as you put on the shelves, what's the incentive to limit that product? Why worry about quality when quantity is your overall goal? College power conference leaders know this, which is why they're angling so hard for representation in the CFP's bracket — now at 12, almost certain to expand to 16. If — no, let's be honest, when — that expansion comes, most conferences favor a 5+11 bracket. That would comprise five conference champions, 11 at-large teams, and would seem to be as meritocratic as possible: Play well and you're in. (Win those winnable games, Alabama.) But meritocracy isn't the endgame here, aristocracy is. And so now you have Tony Petitti, Big Ten commissioner, backing a '4-4-2-2-1-3' idea, which would give the Big Ten and the SEC four automatic bids apiece, the Big 12 and the ACC two apiece, and the remaining conferences a single bid, with three more at-larges. (It's like one of those ridiculous old word problems — 'If the Big Ten gets four automatic berths in the playoffs, and the SEC gets four automatic berths … how can they screw the ACC and the Big 12 out of three more?') 'At the end of the day, I think there's been a lot of concern about how [the playoff selections] are made. I focus on that piece,' Petitti explained. 'How are we differentiating from teams that don't have head-to-head play, teams that don't play common schedules across leagues that do different things? I think that's a really hard, tall order.' It's quite the rhetorical trick Pettiti is playing there, saying that because his conference is so big, you can't adequately determine strength by head-to-head matchups alone. And whose fault is that? It wasn't the selection committee that expanded the Big 'Ten' to 18 teams. Petitti isn't interested in creating a more equitable playoff, or in creating the conditions for better competition. He wants to pack the bracket with his schools, damn the optics or the on-field results. (Worth noting: the talent dropped off fast in the Big Ten after the top four last year. Would Iowa or Illinois, with their 6-3 conference records, be more deserving of an at-large spot than a whole range of other options? No.) Petitti understands that there are spots that need to be filled — both now and in the 16-team playoff to come — and he wants those guaranteed for his conference, not subject to the whims of a playoff selection committee. But guaranteed bids are the very antithesis of 'settle it on the field,' and run counter to literally every 'you gotta earn it!' mantra preached by every coach from the beginning of time. It's no surprise why the ACC and Big 12 hate the idea, and it's also no surprise what's driving the Big Ten's push to claim as much inventory as possible. We're not exactly breaking news here to note that money trumps tradition at every single level of college sports now. Tradition only has value for universities, and especially for broadcast partners, to the extent it can be monetized. Yes, it's wonderful that you can hum along to your alma mater's fight song … but maybe you can kick in a few bucks to the ol' athletic capital campaign while you're at it? That rivalry you enjoyed your entire life … well, your rival just didn't have deep enough pockets to join a new conference. Shame to lose that, really, but how about a replacement conference game against a school from halfway across the country? That's almost as good, right? Tradition has no place in the College Football Playoff. This is about inventory, plain and simple, and every business wants to create enough inventory to meet demand. Except here, instead of cereal boxes on a grocery shelf or burgers on a restaurant warming tray, the inventory in question is college football playoff games. Broadcasters want more inventory because each playoff game is a highly monetizable asset. Universities want more inventory because each nationally televised game means more exposure, more alumni goodwill, more broadcast dollars. Fans might want more inventory because … well, more football is good football, right? Yeah, not so much. Sure, there's always the chance that a Cinderella will knock out a Goliath, to mix literary metaphors, but given the wide variance between college football haves and have-lesses, the more likely outcome is what we saw last year: the big dogs carving right through the happy-to-be-here teams. You know the best way to ensure competitive playoff games? Narrow the field down to the best four and let them have at it. Wild idea, right? We're never going back there, meaning college football fans are now living a truth that plagues everything from pizza to music to Marvel movies: As quantity goes up, quality goes down.
New York Post
18 minutes ago
- New York Post
Parent of rival NJ team backs little leaguer suspended for bat flipping: ‘These umpires aren't very good'
Even the enemy is going to bat for this little leaguer! A parent at a rival New Jersey team is backing the Little League player who was suspended from a state finals game for joyfully flipping his bat — saying the 'horseplay' rule is unclear and most players don't even know it exists. 'These umpires aren't very good. It doesn't warrant a game suspicion,' said Chris Heenan, whose son plays for a team in the Harrison Township Little League organization, whose 12-year-old squad gave up the home run that led to Haddonfield Little League player Marco Rocco's now-infamous bat-flipping celebration. 4 The bat flip got Rocco ejected along with a one-game suspension. X / @Spicoli_____ 4 Rocco's father, Joe, filed court papers to have the suspension overturned. X / @Spicoli_____ Rocco, 12, was facing off against Harrison Thursday when he tossed his bat in the air to celebrate hitting a home run, which made the game an 8-0 blowout and prompted the umpire to eject him from the game. The move also earned him a one-game suspension and barred him from competing in the New Jersey Little League State Tournament final this coming Thursday — outraging his dad, Joe Rocco, who filed court papers Tuesday to have the suspension overturned. But even Heenan — whose son plays for a rival Harrison team in the 11-year-old division — called the punishment off base. 'I don't believe it is common knowledge in Little League that you aren't supposed to flip a bat,' he said. 4 Joe and Marco Rocco are pictured in an undated Facebook photo. Facebook/Liz Rocco He also said the 'no horseplay' rule reportedly cited by the umpire of the game in question is overly vague. 'You can call almost anything 'horseplay,'' he said. 'If there's no rule specifically against bat flipping in the handbook, how would you know?' The elder Rocco insists the league sends kids mixed messages by posting videos of celebratory bat flipping on its social media accounts — and Heenan agreed. 4 If the suspension stands, Rocco would be barred from playing in the Little League state finals. Facebook/Liz Rocco While Heenan acknowledged that tossing a bat in the air could be dangerous, he said the league should stay consistent with its messaging. 'If that's what they're promoting on social media, and that's what kids are seeing, that's what they're gonna do,' he said. 'It sucks,' he added. 'You live and you learn.' On Tuesday, Rocco filed an emergency temporary restraining order in the Gloucester County Chancery Division court in an attempt to have his son's suspension overturned. He'll learn in a hearing Wednesday afternoon whether his kid can play in the big game, Rocco told The Post. Little League International didn't immediately return a request for comment from The Post Wednesday.
USA Today
18 minutes ago
- USA Today
Omar Khan shuts down Steelers free agent pursuit at training camp
Steelers fans shouldn't hold their breath if they're waiting on another high-profile signing or two — as GM Omar Khan shared why pursuing more free agents isn't in the cards. As players began to report for training camp, Khan told reporters that he's confident in the players on the Steelers roster — shooting down any notion that Pittsburgh is actively seeking out another playmaker. "I'll be honest with you, we made a lot of moves this year," Khan said at Wednesday's press conference. "I feel really good about where our team is right now. So, to say that we're out there trying to find someone, that's not the case. If the opportunity becomes available, we'll look at it. But I honestly feel good about our team." Many fans were hopeful that another wide receiver or safety could be signed before the season began — but it looks like the Steelers are going to move forward with Calvin Austin III at WR2 and Juan Thornhill at FS. Training camp will ultimately serve as the proving grounds for several players looking to secure starting roles — and there are more than a few positional battles for fans to keep an eye on. For up-to-date Steelers coverage, follow us on X @TheSteelersWire and give our Facebook page a like.
