Notre Dame impact players can be ranked and sorted in all kinds of different ways. Going through and ranking them on some standardized scale of how much they\u2019ve impacted the Irish felt boring. And it is. But how about a new, timely and seasonal approach? Comparing some of Notre Dame\u2019s biggest impact players down the stretch to Thanksgiving dinner options. Every player has their own role, much like every dish on Thanksgiving plays its own role in satisfying your palate. And tacking on some holiday weight.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how the top Notre Dame impact players line up as a Thanksgiving meal.<\/p>\n
The centerpiece of the offense. Thanksgiving isn\u2019t Thanksgiving without turkey, and Notre Dame\u2019s offense doesn\u2019t run right without Kyren Williams.<\/a> The Irish\u2019s offensive attack hinges on the success of their junior running back. It has greatly improved since Williams got untracked this year. He averages 115 all-purpose yards per game and has notched 15 touchdowns. If a turkey isn\u2019t the main dish at your Thanksgiving dinner for some reason, then substitute whatever primary option sits in the middle of the table. When considering Notre Dame impact players, Williams has to be the first to come to mind \u2013 he\u2019s the most important player on this offense.<\/p>\n You simply have to have some gravy with your turkey, and Logan Diggs<\/strong> has stepped up as a reliable second running back. The true freshman has upped his game in a big way, running for 5.2 yards per carry and four all-purpose touchdowns. He\u2019s also allowed Williams\u2019 workload to be reduced. After 25 and 22 carries a game versus USC and UNC, Williams has averaged 14 carries per game over the last three contests. Partially this is the game script, but it also is the result of such a reliable secondary back. Like gravy to turkey, Diggs is a fantastic complement to Williams.<\/p>\n One of the best dishes at every Thanksgiving dinner, this Notre Dame impact player honor could not go to just one player. Graduate students Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa<\/a> and Kurt Hinish<\/strong> have been lynchpins of Notre Dame\u2019s stellar defense. Hinish has received multiple game-balls for his leadership and dominance in the trenches, and Tagovailoa-Amosa is an absolute force. Just last week, he returned a strip-sack for a touchdown and blocked a field goal to preserve a shutout. As the offense struggled to gel in the early going, these two captains stepped up for the defense. So if the turkey is overcooked\u2026look to the stuffing because it\u2019s a classic favorite and a must-have on the table.<\/p>\n This just feels right. Bo Bauer<\/strong>\u2019s contribution just always feels bigger than his stats. Bauer doesn\u2019t receive a ton of attention in the defense, with Tagovailoa-Amosa and Hinish starring on the defensive line, captain Drew White<\/strong> leading the linebacker corps, and All-American safety Kyle Hamilton captaining the secondary. But whether it\u2019s hyping up the crowd after a big play, his key presence in third-down packages, or his timely tackles and takeaways \u2013 Bauer is always there. When listing off those seasonal Thanksgiving food items you can\u2019t wait for, mashed potatoes are not necessarily atop the list, but it\u2019s present on almost every table and dinner would be far worse without them.<\/p>\n To be clear, this is a compliment \u2013 canned cranberry sauce is the superior cranberry sauce. Canned cranberry sauce has possibly the best preparation time to taste ratio on the table. It’s store bought – much like the Irish swooped in and landed Jack Coan<\/a> from the transfer portal. Coan has adapted rapidly to a tempo offense and led the Irish to five straight games of 28+ points since returning as the starter. They\u2019re averaging 39.4 over the past three contests.<\/p>\n Cranberry sauce also feels right for what the quarterback position has been for the Irish. It\u2019s not been the centerpiece \u2013 Coan has won the Irish some games with the two-minute drill offense. But, for the most part, he\u2019s asked to not lose their games. Whereas the defense may need to win the Irish games, or Kyren Williams has to be the biggest Notre Dame impact player in several games, Coan just needs to be dependable. With efficient play and veteran leadership, Coan is deserving of one of the more classic Thanksgiving menu items.<\/p>\n The Irish run deep in the quarterback room, with three signal-callers who could get the job done. And really, all three have at some point or another. Drew Pyne<\/strong> stepped in against Wisconsin and led a critical scoring drive in the big fourth quarter comeback. He then nearly resurrected the Irish against Cincinnati. Tyler Buchner<\/a> has played key roles in several games, and he handled most of the snaps against Virginia Tech.<\/p>\n Both Pyne and Buchner have handled an unorthodox quarterback situation with the utmost professionalism, and the Irish quarterback room is in good shape for the future. Coan\u2019s the guy, which is why he gets the canned cranberry sauce designation. But you would rather have some cranberry sauce than no cranberry sauce, and there\u2019s no question that both Pyne and Buchner could get the job done, if for some reason you can\u2019t your favorite store-bought cranberry sauce.<\/p>\n Green bean casserole. It\u2019s there. Rarely is it considered anyone\u2019s favorite dish. But you also won\u2019t frequently hear anyone passionately professing their dislike for it either. A steady presence across America on Thanksgiving, green bean casserole is simply always there. It plays a crucial role in your dietary fulfillment but doesn’t receive standout recognition as a Thanksgiving classic.<\/p>\n Jayson Ademilola<\/a> has been a force on the defensive line. Hinish gets a lot of credit for his run defense, Tagovailoa-Amosa is a fearsome pass-rusher. But Ademilola is a versatile asset, with 3 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss, but also a pass breakup and a forced fumble this year. He\u2019s stepped up in a big way for the Irish defensive line, filling in one of those preseason question marks on Notre Dame\u2019s defense. What would one do without green bean casserole on Thanksgiving Day? The Irish can ask themselves the same question about where they would be without Ademilola.<\/p>\n No one ever says \u2018no\u2019 to one of those warm, buttery dinner rolls. They\u2019re so good, so dependable, and honestly, you could probably eat like a dozen if it wasn\u2019t for all the other great food. The same can be said for Michael Mayer<\/a>. The sophomore tight end has looked the part of a veteran this year, one of the top Notre Dame impact players. He\u2019s a fearsome blocker, and he\u2019s the Irish\u2019s leading receiver with 663 yards and five touchdowns. When it\u2019s third down, Mayer is the go-to guy to move the chains, and he\u2019s a big red zone target. When all else fails, that buttery dinner roll is never going to disappoint, and you\u2019ll probably want more than one. No matter how many targets Mayer gets, it doesn\u2019t feel like enough.<\/p>\n It was hard to find the right food item to quantify \u2013 in a culinary sense \u2013 Isaiah Foskey<\/strong>\u2019s massive contributions. The team leader in sacks (9) and tackles for loss (8.5), Foskey is an absolute monster. He brings together the defense in the way that pumpkin pie does. However you eat it – with whipped cream, plain, or some vanilla ice cream, pumpkin pie is the perfect, classic ending to your Thanksgiving indulgences. You could substitute apple pie here if that\u2019s your preferred crusted delicacy. For the purposes of this article, pumpkin felt like the all-time classic and the right designation for Foskey.<\/p>\n There were other considerations, but there\u2019s only so many thanksgiving foods. Wide receiver Lorenzo Styles<\/strong> and safety DJ Brown<\/strong> get shoutouts as apple pie \u2013 the perfect, filling finish to a day of feasting. Both Styles and Brown have stepped up in major ways for the offense and defense, respectively. Neither were starters at the beginning of the year, but they\u2019ve elevated the Notre Dame squad in a way that apple pie really elevates your experience on Thanksgiving day.<\/p>\n Wide receiver Kevin Austin<\/strong>, who has been the best deep threat, but also used as a runner on the Irish\u2019s handoff sweep play, or a lead blocker, has been by far the most dependable wide receiver. Maybe sweet potatoes fit Austin\u2019s role? There\u2019s plenty to consider, but as the Irish head to their final game, they\u2019ll hope that this well-assembled Thanksgiving meal has enough to power Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NOTRE DAME Image Courtesy Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Notre Dame impact players can be ranked and sorted in all kinds of different ways. Going through and ranking them on some standardized scale of how much they\u2019ve impacted the Irish felt boring. And it is. But how about a new, timely and seasonal approach? Comparing some of Notre Dame\u2019s biggest impact players down the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3929,"featured_media":41370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,11],"tags":[8257,8349,7944,7980,8195,7866,6869,8327,8347,259,8380,1047],"class_list":["post-41367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-fbs","category-independents","tag-bo-bauer","tag-dj-brown","tag-drew-pyne","tag-drew-white","tag-isaiah-foskey","tag-kevin-austin","tag-kurt-hinish","tag-logan-diggs","tag-lorenzo-styles","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-thanksgiving","tag-thanksgiving-football"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3929"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Logan Diggs: Gravy<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Kurt Hinish: Stuffing<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Bo Bauer: Mashed Potatoes<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jack Coan: Canned Cranberry Sauce<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner: Homemade Cranberry Sauce<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jayson Ademilola: Green Bean Casserole <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Michael Mayer: Dinner Roll<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Isaiah Foskey: Pumpkin Pie<\/strong><\/h3>\n