Michael Floyd Ranked 19th in Receiving Yards

This might surprise many Notre Dame fans, but Michael Floyd is currently 19th in the country in total receiving yards.  After five games, Floyd has 28 catches for 408 yards and 2 TD's.  The top two receivers in the country both play for Hawaii -- one has 682 yards the other has 602 yards.  Here's a link to the receiver rankings:

LINK:  TOP RECEIVERS IN THE COUNTRY

Irish Walk On Kicker -- Ranked 17th!

Notre Dame field goal kicker, David Ruffer, who last year at this time was playing "interhall football" for his dorm team at Notre Dame is now ranked amongst the top twenty kickers in college football!  Could be a movie here some day!!!  Ruffer has been perfect hitting all eight of his field goals with a long of 46 yards.  Sure hope I didn't just jinx him!  Here's a link to the rankings of field goal kicking:

LINK:  FIELD GOAL KICKING

Irish Ranked 14th in Fewest Penalties!

The Notre Dame Football team is the 14th least penalized team in college football this season after the first five games.  The Irish have been flagged for 21 penalties for 200 yards.  The most penalized team in college football is Troy with 55 penalties for 480 yards.  The second most is Arizona State with 46 penalties for 426 yards.  The least penalized team in the country is Indiana with 14 penalties for 121 yards. Again, a good sign for what's going on with our football program!  Here's a link to the rankings:

LINK:  MOST PENALIZED TEAMS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Notre Dame Ranked 19th in Total Sacks of QB's

Believe it or not, but our Fighting Irish defense is ranked in the top twenty in total number of QB sacks this season with 13!  As a point of reference, last year's "blitz happy" defense of John Tenuta finished 92nd in the country in total QB sacks with 19 for the season.  We have 13 after five games!  That's improvement folks!  Here's a link to the QB Sack Rankings of college football teams this season:

LINK:  TOTAL QB SACKS

Irish Football Ranked 8th in Two Categories...

The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish popped up in 8th in two national rankings this week -- one was for strength of schedule, where their schedule is ranked 8th toughest in the country.  And, the second is in Passing Offense, where the Irish are 8th in total passing yards with 1,465 -- in the country.  The schedule ranking is not surprising -- though if you asked us how tough our schedule was six months ago, most Irish fans would have said it was one of our "easier schedules" in some time.  And, Dayne Crist has had some big games, yardage wise, throwing the ball.  Here's a link to the Sagarin Rankings and a link to the ranking of teams by total passing yards:

LINK:  SAGARIN RATINGS

LINK:  PASSING OFFENSE

ND Football Update -- Tuesday Interviews

The folks at UND.COM have done a wonderful job this year covering Notre Dame Football.  Can't thank them enough!  Here's a link to Brian Kelly's Pittsburgh press conference along with a link to an interview, after yesterday's practice, with Notre Dame's Defensive Coordinator, Bob Diaco (pictured) -- enjoy!

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  BOB DIACO INTERVIEW

Father Jenkins to Attend Canonization in Rome

A member of the Congregation of Holy Cross order -- Brother Andre Bessette, C.S.C. (pictured) will be canonized for sainthood on October 17th in the Vatican's St. Peter's Square.  The Congregation of Holy Cross is the order that founded Notre Dame and Blessed Andre is their first member to be granted sainthood.  University of Notre Dame president -- Rev. John I.  Jenkins will lead a delegation from Notre Dame who will be attending this  ceremony.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune article as well as a link to a story about the "Miracle Man from Montrel" -- Brother Andre Bessette.

LINK:  NOTRE DAME DELEGATION TO ATTEND CANONIZATION

LINK:  THE MIRACLE MAN FROM MONTREAL

What a Week for ND's Skylar Diggins!

In the past seven days, University of Notre Dame women's basketball star, Skylar Diggins, was invited to be a panelist at ESPN's W. Retreat at The Lodge at Torrey Pines (three days in San Diego) -- joining some of the biggest female sports stars in America.  And, upon her return to the Notre Dame campus she learns that she's one of the thirty named to the John R. Wooden Women's Award Watch List for their player of the year award -- not a bad week!  In August, Skylar was named to the Watch List for the Wade Trophy which is the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's award for the top player in women's college basketball.  Diggins and her Fighting Irish teammates kick-off the 2010-2011 season with their first official practice tomorrow.  Here's a link to a Fox28TV report on Skylar's trip to the ESPN W. Retreat, a link to the Retreat's website and a link to the Wooden Award's website:

LINK:  A GREAT HONOR FOR SKYLAR

LINK:  ESPN W RETREAT

LINK:  WOODEN AWARD'S WATCH LIST