NBC Replay of Notre Dame's Win over Air Force

Here is NBC's full game replay of Notre Dame's 59 - 33 win over Air Force on Saturday.  The Irish played their finest first half of offensive football in a long, long time -- it was a PERFECT half.  Here's the link:

LINK:  FULL GAME REPLAY OF NOTRE DAME OVER AIR FORCE

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Devine Gets His Statue!

Former Notre Dame football coach Dan Devine's legacy was honored Saturday before kick-off, as a statue outside Notre Dame  Stadium was unveiled.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune's photo gallery of the event:

LINK:  COACH DEVINE HONORED

The Mornin' After the Irish Put 59 on Air Force

Took my weekly lap around the world wide web to take the media's temperature as to our IRISH and their performance yesterday against Air Force.  Before kick-off a US Air Force STEALTH Bomber flew over Notre Dame Stadium -- see the photo.  Here's some of the media coverage:

LINK:  ESPN BLOG

LINK:  DENVER POST

LINK:  NBC SPORTS

LINK:  COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES BLOG

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- BRIAN HAMILTON

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- TOM MOOR

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- ERIC HANSON

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE -- AL LESAR

LINK:  WNDU-TV

Big Time Hockey Recruit Commits To ND!

His name is Mario Lucia, he's one of the top young hockey talents in the world and he picked the Irish over playing for his DAD at the University of Minnesota.  Mario's Dad, Don Lucia is the head coach of the Gophers and a 1981 graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

Here's a link to a NHL.COM story about Lucia's commitment to ND and links to a couple of other stories about Mario.

LINK:  BIG TIME IRISH HOCKEY COMMIT!

LINK:  LUCIA PICKS HIS DAD'S ALMA MATER

LINK:  LUCIA'S NHL DRAFT INTERVIEW

Big Win For Irish -- Post Game Video

The Irish played a perfect half of offensive football -- six drives, six touchdowns 42 points...  The second half, not so perfect -- but, we did see a "Brian Kelly type QB" for the first time running his offense and Mr. Hendrix ran for 111 yards!  Here's a few links from UND.COM's post game coverage of Notre Dame's 59 - 33 win over Air Force:

LINK:  POST GAME LOCKER ROOM CELEBRATION

LINK:  COACH KELLY POST GAME MEDIA SESSION

LINK:  PLAYER INTERVIEWS

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Domer Alan Page Featured in NCAA Promotion

The NCAA and Buick teamed up to produce a video series called the "HUMAN HIGHLIGHT REEL" -- which features former NCAA athletes who've gone on to do great things for the human race.  One of the first subjects -- is one Alan Page, the former Notre Dame All-American defensive end and NFL Hall of Famer.  Page, a Supreme Court Justice in the state of Minnesota, is one of the all-time greats on and off the field...

LINK:  HUMAN HIGHLIGHT REEL -- ALAN PAGE

Notre Dame Football Pep Rally -- Last Night!

Football weekend at Notre Dame always includes the PEP RALLY.  Here's the video of last night's pep rally for today's game against Air Force.  Here's the UND.COM link:

LINK:  ND FOOTBALL PEP RALLY

Florida's Top HS Athlete @ Notre Dame Today!

Nelson Agholor, widely considered the best prep athlete in the state of Florida, is taking an "official visit" this weekend to Notre Dame.  Agholor, who could play multiple positions for the Irish -- is ranked among the top 25 players in the nation.  Here's the South Bend Tribune story about Nelson and this weekend's recruiting visitors.

LINK:  TOP ATHLETE

Brewer's Winning Pitcher a Domer!

Former Notre Dame baseball player John Axford blew his first save in nearly six months-- but, he came back the next inning to get the Diamondbacks out one-two-three and got the win!!!  You're going to love his story -- see below.  Congrats John!

LINK:  AXFORD GETS THE WIN!

LINK:  JOHN AXFORD'S STORY

Air Force Week -- Thursday ND Update

It's less than 48 hours to what I'm calling "the most pivotal game" of the season for the Fighting Irish.  This game could be over at half -- or, it could go to the last possession.  A win and ND goes into the game against Stanford 9 - 2 with a chance to earn a spot in a BCS game.  BIG BIG GAME for our Irish!  Here's what's being said tonight about ND and Saturday's game:

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY RADIO SHOW

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY AFTER THURSDAY'S PRACTICE

LINK:  COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

He's Rockne, Edison, Ford, Walton...

Steve Jobs, the Founder and former CEO of Apple died today after a long battle with cancer.  The 56 year old did for technology -- what Rockne did for college football, Edison for inventors, Ford for manufacturers and Walton for retailers.

I'm using a MAC -- the best computing platform on the planet -- to write this blog, which is linked to the internet via a hubspot on my iPhone.

Thank you MR. JOBS!  You did good -- real good.

I leave you with one of the greatest speeches ever made at a commencement ceremony -- Steve Jobs at Stanford in 2005 -- you need to watch this!

LINK:  STEVE JOBS RIP

A Weekly "Power Hour" of Notre Dame Football

Notre Dame fans -- if you haven't tuned in to Mike Frank's weekly Power Hour you're missing out.  Mike, who owns IRISH SPORTS DAILY produces a live-weekly PODCAST every Monday night at 7 PM ET during the football season.  You'll find it informative, entertaining and something you need to do before Monday Night Football!  Here's a link to Mike's Power Hour site where you can listen to the previous shows.  TUNE IN!

LINK:  MIKE FRANK'S POWER HOUR

Irish Go East To Play Hockey in 2013 - 2014

The University of Notre Dame announced this afternoon that it would be taking its "#1 ranked hockey road show" to the east coast in the fall of 2013 -- when the Irish join Hockey East.  While I was selfishly hoping Notre Dame would join "THE NATIONAL" -- I can see the benefits associated with heading east to play the likes of Boston College, Boston U and others.

Frankly, I believe this league will provide a much easier path for ND to make the NCAA Tournament each year.  And, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Hockey East (now that it has Notre Dame) will hold it's annual conference championship at Madison Square Garden...  Here's a link to today's announcement:

LINK:  IRISH JOIN HOCKEY EAST

LINK:  COACH JACKSON -- TALKIN' HOCKEY EAST

LINK:  COLLEGE HOCKEY NEWS

LINK:  NHL

LINK:  ESPN BLOG

Swarbrick Talks Changing College Landscape

University of Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick talked with UND.COM's Jack Nolan this morning about the ever changing landscape of college athletics in America.  He spent a great amount of time talking about the BIG EAST and Notre Dame's desire to see it remain strong.  Click on the link below.

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S DESIRE

Air Force Week -- ND Football Tuesday Update

The Irish are preparing for Air Force's option attack -- as are all ND fans -- who still have nightmares from the Navy game of last season...  The photo above is of the Air Force Falcon "YETI" who can exceed speeds of 200 mph on a dive.  Here's a link to today's talk about ND vs. Air Force:

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY PRESSER

LINK:  AIR FORCE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH

LINK:  COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

LINK:  DENVER POST

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  NOTRE DAME CENTRAL -- MSNBC

Air Force Week: Irish Football Monday Update

Here's what I've found today that will entertain the Irish fans as we get ready to take on the "triple option" attack of the Air Force Academy this Saturday.  Here's a few links:

LINK:  IRISH CONNECTION

LINK:  INSIDE NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

USC Football -- Just Had To Point This Out!

Lane Kiffin's Trojans have given up more than 40 points in each of their last two games against teams from the state of Arizona.  It is the first time in the 123 year history of USC Football that they have given up 40 points in "back-to-back" games.  Can't wait to see what we do to them in three weeks!!!

LINK:  STATS I LIKE!

ND's "D" - MOVING UP THE NATIONAL RANKS!

Here's a look at where Notre Dame's "D BOYS" are ranked among their peers in college football after Week 5 of the 2011 season.  Here's the STAT OF THE YEAR FOR OUR DEFENSE -- WE'VE ONLY GIVEN UP ONE RUSHING TD THIS SEASON, WHICH WAS D-ROB PICKING UP A FUMBLE for Michigan.

Once again, you'll see how we fared in 2010 and 2009 -- and the 2011 NCAA Leader in every defensive category:

NOTRE DAME DEFENSE -- 2011 TEAM STATISTICS

Quarterback Sacks:  2011 after game #5:  13 sacks, ranked #19 in the country.  2010 Rank #45 with 26 QB sacks -- in 2009 we had 19 QB sacks for the season, ranking us #92.  2011 NCAA Leader:  Colorado State and Hawaii with 19 sacks.

Tackles for Loss:  2011 after game #5:  6.2 average tackles for loss per game, ranked #50 in the country.  2010 Rank #65 with an average of 5.63 tackles for loss per game -- in 2009 we averaged 6.0 tackles for loss per game, ranking us #48 in the country.  2011 NCAA Leader:  Louisville averaging 9 tackles for loss per game.

Interceptions:  2011 after game #5:  5 interceptions, ranked #35 in the country.  2010 Rank #32 with 14 interceptions -- in 2009 we had 12 interceptions for the season, ranking us #50.  2011 NCAA Leader:  Vanderbilt leads with 14 interceptions.

First Downs:  2011 after game #5:  18.6 first downs allowed per game, ranked #46 in the country.  2010 Rank - #30 allowing an average of 17.92 first downs per game -- in 2009 we gave up an average of 19.67 first downs per game, ranking us #72.  2011 NCAA Leader:  Alabama allowing only 11.2 first downs per game.

Third Down Conversion Rate:  2011 after game #5:  allowed a 30.99% conversion rate on third down, ranked #19 in the country.  2010 Rank #22 allowing only 35.08% conversion rate on third down -- in 2009 we allowed a 39.5% conversion rate, ranking us #67.  2011 NCAA Leader: Arizona State allowing only 24.24% conversion rate on third down.

Red Zone Efficiency:  2011 after game #5:  allowed opponents to score 80% of the time, ranked #45 in the country.  2010 Rank #53 allowing the team to score 81% of the time -- in 2009 we allowed teams to score 75% of the time, ranking us #15.  2011 NCAA Leader:  Michigan allowing opponents to score 45% of the time in the red zone.

Turnovers Gained:  2011 after game #5:  6 turnovers gained, ranked #80 in the country.  2010 Rank - #54 with 21 turnovers gained -- in 2009 we gained 19 turnovers for the season, ranking us #80.  2011 NCAA Leader:  Cincinnati and Rutgers with 18 turnovers gained this season.

Rushing Yards:  2011 after game #5:  91.2 rushing yards per game given up, ranked #19 in the country.  2010 Rank #57 giving up an average of 147 yards rushing per game -- in 2009 we gave up an average of 170 yards rushing per game, ranking us #89.  2011 NCAA Leader:  Alabama giving up an average of 39.6 yards rushing per game.

Passing Yards:  2011 after game #5:  230.4 passing yards per game given up, ranked #72 in the country.  2010 Rank #44 giving up an average of 206 yards passing per game -- in 2009 we gave up an average of 227 yards passing per game, ranking us #76 in the country.  2011 NCAA Leader:  UCF giving up an average of 103.5 passing yards per game.

Total Yards:  2011 after game #5:  321.6 yards of total offense per game given up, ranked #31 in the country.  2010 Rank #49 giving up 353 yards per game -- in 2009 we gave up an average of 397 yards per game, ranking us #86.  2011 NCAA Leader:  Michigan State giving up an average of 173.4 yards per game in total offense.


Points Allowed Per Game:  2011 after game #5:  18.6 points allowed per game, ranked #26 in the country.  2010 Rank #29 giving up 20.5 points per game -- in 2009 we gave up 25.3 points per game, ranking us #63.  2011 NCAA Leader:  Alabama allowing 8.4 points per game.

Irish Ranked 30th in Associated Press Poll

Three wins and TWO LOSSES against the fifth toughest schedule in college football gets you a #30 ranking in the latest AP Poll and a #36 ranking in the USA Today Coaches Poll.  Surprisingly, a team the Irish manhandled two weeks ago, Michigan State, is ranked ahead of the Irish in both polls.  Here's a link to both polls:

LINK:  COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS -- WEEK 5

Game Highlights: Notre Dame vs. Purdue

The good folks at UND.COM posted highlights from Notre Dame's 38 - 10 convincing win over Purdue last night.  Here's the link:

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS -- ND OVER PURDUE