Zack Martin '13 Earning Praise from Cowboys!

Former Notre Dame offensive tackle Zack Martin is turning heads with the Dallas Cowboys -- the right guard is earning high praise from teammates and coaches alike.  Click on the links below:

LINK:  MARTIN IS BETTER...

LINK:  MEDIA INTERVIEW

The Minnesota Vikings' "Emerging Star"

A nice story about former Notre Dame Football Captain Harrison Smith who's becoming quite a player for the Minnesota Vikings.

"One of the best in the game..."

I missed reporting on his 81 yard interception TD return -- see the video link below -- analysis provided for former Notre Dame linebacker Pete Berchich:

LINK:  HARRISON SMITH

LINK:  INTERCEPTION RETURN FOR TD

NFL Domers Bruton & Watt Visit Schools Today

A couple of former Fighting Irish student-athletes were visiting schools today (on their day off) representing their NFL teams -- and always Notre Dame.  The Denver Broncos David Bruton visited Aurora West College Prep Academy and the Charger's Chris Watt visited the King-Chavez Academy of Excellence in San Diego.

Not surprised these NFL teams select Domers for gigs like this!

Just click on the links below to learn more about Bruton's and Watt's respective visits to these two schools:

LINK:  DAVID BRUTON'S SCHOOL VISIT

LINK:  CHRIS WATT'S SCHOOL VISIT

Alabama Fan Scarborough Praises Notre Dame

The crew at NBC's The Mornin' Joe spent a great deal of time today talking about how the NFL has handled the Ray Rice matter...

Joe Scarborough -- host of the show and admitted diehard Alabama fan -- threw a huge compliment this morning to the University of Notre Dame during the discussion.

Click on the link below and fast forward the video to around the 8:45 mark...

LINK:  BAMA FAN -- SHOWS ND SOME RESPECT

Domer Hannah Storm Reacts to NFL / Ray Rice

Notre Dame alumna Hannah Storm '83, spoke out on the air this week about the NFL and their handling of the Ray Rice situation...

MUST SEE!

LINK:  HANNAH STORM

Dan Fox Put on New York Giants Active Roster!

Former Notre Dame student-athlete Dan Fox was placed on the New York Giants 53 man roster today!!!  This is great news for the 'un-drafted' free agent!

Very happy for Dan!

LINK:  FOX

Must Read: Story on Notre Dame's Coach Alford

Tony Alford is about as genuine as they come...

I just ran across this wonderful story on the UND.COM site about Coach Alford -- it's a must read!

LINK:  ALL FOR FAMILY

Irish Connection: Overcoming Adversity Part I

The first two games for the Fighting Irish this season offered zero adversity for our football team...

That changed in the 2nd quarter of Saturday night's game with Purdue.  An ejection, multiple injuries and two TD's for the Boilermakers put the IRISH behind on the scoreboard for the first time this season.

Here's an "insider's look...

LINK:  IRISH CONNECTION

Is a NFL Gig in the Future for this Domer?

Condoleezza Rice's '75, name is being thrown around as a possible candidate to come in to replace embattled NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

See the story:

LINK:  COMMISSIONER CONDI?

Notre Dame Ranked #10 in Ranking of Colleges

A story ran in USA Today last week (a ND GO IRISH BLOG regular in Utica, NY by the name of Peter Karl '75 -- President of the Notre Dame Club of Mohawk Valley -- reminded me that I missed this!) that ranked the University of Notre Dame as the 10th best college in America!

Peter, thanks for keeping me on my toes!

Here's the story:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME #10

Comparing Notre Dame's 2014 Season vs. 2012

FIRST QUARTER OF SEASON -- REPORT CARD:  I thought I'd take a look at how the 3 - 0 Fighting Irish of 2014 -- compared to the 3 - 0 Notre Dame team in 2012 -- enjoy!

Report Card Highlights:

• The 2014 offense has scored 19 MORE POINTS over the first three games
• The 2012 defense game up ONE LESS point over the first three games
• The 2014 team is beating teams by 5 MORE POINTS per game
• Each team averaged 100 MORE YARDS in offense than the opposition
• The 2014 team has had FEWER TURNOVERS and FORCED MORE TURNOVERS

2012 FIRST THREE GAMES:

• Notre Dame 50 -- Navy 10
• Notre Dame 20 -- Purdue 17
• Notre Dame 20 -- #10 Michigan State 3

-Total Points on offense:  90
-Total Points allowed on defense:  30
-Average margin of victory:  20 points per game
-Offensive Turnovers: 2
-Defensive Forced Turnovers: 7
-Total Yards Per Game:  388.7
-Total Yards Allowed Per Game:  288.7


2014 FIRST THREE GAMES: 

• Notre Dame:  48 -- Rice 17
• Notre Dame:  31 -- Michigan 0
• Notre Dame;  30 -- Purdue 14

-Total Points on offense:  109
-Total Points allowed on defense:  31
-Average margin of victory:  25.3 points per game
-Offensive Turnovers:  1
-Defensive Forced Turnovers:  9
-Total Yards Per Game:  418
-Total Allowed Yards Per Game: 318.3

49ers Domer Reunion -- Montana & Watters

The San Francisco 49ers are playing a Sunday Night NFL game tonight vs. the Chicago Bears -- and a couple of former Fighting Irish stars who've won a few Super Bowl rings in the Bay area were seen here on the sidelines...

Meet Chris Watt -- San Diego Chargers Feature

What's this "Hillary Duff" secret crush stuff...???

LINK:  CHRIS WATT

Just Passed 900,000 UNIQUE FOLLOWERS!!!

At 4:56 PM ET a Notre Dame fan from Kingston, MA became unique follower number 900,000 at the ND GO IRISH BLOG!

When I launched this blog in January of 2010 -- I never dreamed this big...  Thanks for making the ND GO IRISH BLOG one of your daily sources for positive Notre Dame news.

As has become the custom at the ND GO IRISH BLOG when we hit major milestones -- we compare the unique follower base to the populations of the largest cities in the USA.

If the ND GO IRISH BLOG was a city -- it would be the 11th largest city in America!

• #8:  San Diego, CA -- 1,355,896
• #9:  Dallas, TX -- 1,257,676
• #10:  San Jose, CA -- 998,537
• #11:  ND GO IRISH BLOG -- 900,000
• #12:  Austin, TX -- 885,400

Coach Kelly's Purdue Postgame Media Session

Here's the replay of Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly's postgame press conference after the Fighting Irish's 30 - 14 win over Purdue.

Please note - the audio does not work until the ONE MINUTE MARK...

LINK:  COACH KELLY

Notre Dame Up to #9 in AP & Coaches Polls

Notre Dame has moved up to #9 in the latest Associated Press and Coaches Poll rankings -- click on the link below:

LINK:  RANKINGS

The Mornin' After Notre Dame Beat Purdue

Took a lap around the worldwide web this morning from my hotel room in downtown Indianapolis.  What a great location / city to host an event like the Shamrock Series!

Here's what the media has to say about Notre Dame's 30 - 14 win over Purdue:

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

LINK:  FORT WAYNE JOURNAL GAZETTE

Full Game Replay: Notre Dame 30 - Purdue 14

Here's the full game replay of Notre Dame's 30 - 14 win over Purdue last night in Indianapolis at the sixth annual Shamrock Series game.

You can watch the entire game again at the link below:

LINK:  FULL GAME REPLAY

Notre Dame Players Talk Win Over Purdue

Here's what the Notre Dame players had to say about last night's 30 - 14 win over the Purdue Boilermakers...

LINK:  PLAYERS

LINK:  GOLSON

Purdue Coach & Players Talk Notre Dame Loss

Here's a look at Purdue's post game press conference -- courtesy of the Indianapolis Star:

LINK:  PURDUE