Rakes Report: A Notre Dame Podcast

Jessica Smetana joins to discuss Notre Dame's 27-13 victory over the Blue Devils. The slow start, the exciting flashes and Tony Dungy's debut in the booth.

It is one of the more random drafts in Report history as Jessica Smetana joins Chris and Matt to select things they're excited to see during this Notre Dame season.

Michael Bryan from 18 Stripes and Greg Flammang from UHND.com join to discuss one of the great mysteries of our time: What will Tommy Rees' first Irish offense look like?

Tyler James of the South Bend Tribune walks through what we might be able to expect from Clark Lea's side of the ball. Where will the pass rush come from? Who gets time at linebacker next to JOK and Drew White? What's up with the secondary shuffling? All that, and more.

Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily joins for Part Two of our look at the newest players on Notre Dame's roster, hitting on the defensive freshmen and incoming grad transfers before closing with a general look at roster health and how the pandemic will affect future recruiting. Listen to Part One on the offense.

Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily joins to discuss the very exciting newcomers to Notre Dame's offense. Can Chris Tyree, Michael Mayer and Jordan Johnson take the Irish attack to another level? List to Part Two on defense and transfers.

Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic joins to discuss how the latest virus news out of Notre Dame fits into the grand scheme of college and college football. Then Jessica Smetana walks through various emotions, almost all bad, about the situation on campus and the potential for a season. Read Nicole's Tuesday mailbag.

Carter Karels stops by to talk Notre Dame players returning to campus, the rapid rise of player empowerment in college football, Jordan Johnson, Mike Mickens and breakout candidates on defense.

Former Fighting Irish basketball player Brianna Turner joins to discuss the George Floyd protests, activism during her time at Notre Dame and what she's looking for in statements from college coaches.

Jessica Smetana and Paul Rigney join for a look at whether or not unidentified aerial phenomena might have been involved with the 2011 season opener and how that sighting fits into the United States' history with UFOs. Footage. HuffPost story. NYTimes on Pentagon videos. Chicago Tribune on O'Hare sighting. Washington Post on Roswell investigation. Wired on the Times reporting. Republic of Lies by Anna Merlan. Gerald Ford UFO papers. Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen.

A look back at a key turning point in Brian Kelly's tenure and a very special occasion: Tommy Rees' first career start.  Box score. Merch sale. All-BK-at-ND newsletter.

Our USC insider Nick Tresnowski joins along with two partisan guests to break down the points-laden evening featuring Will Fuller, Adoree Jackson, C.J. Prosise and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Full game. Box score. Newsletter.  

Jessica Smetana of Sports Illustrated drops by to review how Notre Dame fared in the 2020 NFL Draft. Sign up for the Rakes Report newsletter.

An emergency podcast with ESPN reporter Holly Rowe to discuss the surprise news: Two-time champion and Hall of Famer Muffet McGraw announcing her retirement from coaching after 33 years at the University of Notre Dame. Rowe also gives her thoughts on Muffet's replacement, two-time champ and Notre Dame alumna Niele Ivey.

A look back at perhaps the best Notre Dame win of the 21st century, including appreciating Manti Teo and Louis Nix, discussing a masterful night for Everett Golson, giving some love to the big-game stylings of Brent Musburger and a full travelogue of a weekend spent among the friendly and supremely overconfident denizens of central Oklahoma. Full replay. Box score.

Jessica Smetana and Mark Pesavento join to look back at the 2014 Michigan/Notre Dame game. Topics include: Shutouts, Everett Golson, Jaylon Smith, Dave Brandon, Brady Hoke, triangulating BVG's essence, the rivalry's roots and unnecessary unnecessary roughness penalties. The full game replay. Box score. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe to the Rakes Report newsletter.

Michael Bryan of 18 Stripes and Sam Werner discuss the Free From Ty Willingham Bowl, where first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian brought the Huskies to South Bend for a battle between Jimmy Clausen and Jake Locker. Featuring overtime, 275 yards of offense from Golden Tate and a whole bunch of goal line stands. Full game (minus final play) on YouTube. Box score. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts.

We take a trip back to Notre Dame's first win of the 2007 season, prevailing in the Rose Bowl as 21-point underdogs thanks to an epic night from Mo Crum, Trevor Laws and the defense. Also some discussion of the Shark Attack that downed UCLA the prior year as we complete a tribute to Karl Dorrell. Follow Nina on Twitter. Full game link. Boxscore. Alan Sepinwall's 2007 review of Carpoolers.

Andrew Smith and Alex Herrmann of Notre Dame Our Blogger join for a rewatch of the 2005 regular season finale, where Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and Darius Walker attempted to avoid an upset and clinch a BCS bid in Charlie Weis's first season. Note: When discussing his tough second half, we neglect to mention that D.J. Fitzpatrick was banged up after a roughing the punter the prior week. Important context! Full game on YouTube. Box score.

We're going to try something new with a shorter episode, this time covering a hypothetical question about your wishes for the 2020 season. Guests: Michael Bryan of 18 Stripes and Sam Werner.