Back on the Soapbox -- Wear Green at Fiesta!

 

I was at the last Fiesta Bowl that Notre Dame played against Ohio State -- their fans (all dressed in red) and our fans were in blue, gold, green, black, yellow and white...

Those who were at that game will tell you -- it looked like Ohio State was playing a home game -- because their RED STOOD OUT.

Look at the fans in the photos above -- from that game...

It's time -- Notre Dame fans need to don their FIGHTING IRISH GREEN for the Battlefrog Fiesta Bowl!

Domer Golden Tate Visited Sports Center

The Lions' wide receiver apparently spent his off weekend in Bristol, CT.  Here's the proof -- including a Taylor Swift Christmas Stocking!

Notre Dame to Take on Ohio State in Fiesta

It's on...

The #8 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame have been selected to play in the Battlefrog Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day against that #7 ranked school in Columbus, OH.

As we all know -- Ohio State is coached by FOUR former Notre Dame assistant coaches;  Urban Meyer, Tony Alford, Ed Warriner and Tim Hinton.  The Buckeyes Director of Athletics is a Domer and former football player Gene Smith -- and their Assistant AD for Football Sports Performance, Micky Marotti is a former ND football staffer as well.

This is a great bowl opponent for our IRISH!

LINK:  BUY FIESTA BOWL TICKETS

Bowl Pairings Announced Around 3:00 PM ET

The College Football Playoff Committee will make the call today as to what Bowl Notre Dame will play in and who their opponent will be.

The Selection Show will begin at 12:30 PM ET on ESPN -- and it runs to 3 PM ET.  It's expected they'll announce Notre Dame's bowl and opponent in the last hour of the show.

Here's what the media thinks this AM:

LINK:  CBS SPORTS -- PEACH BOWL vs. FLORIDA STATE

LINK:  FOX SPORTS -- FIESTA BOWL vs. OHIO STATE

LINK:  ESPN -- FIESTA BOWL vs. IOWA

#3 Notre Dame Falls to #1 UCONN 91 - 81

Samardzija: No ND Athlete Has Been Paid More

If you ever catch someone questioning Jeff Samardzija's decision to choose baseball over football -- just point this out:

With the guaranteed contract Jeff Samardzija just signed today with the San Francisco Giants he will -- have been and will be -- paid $133,795,000 to play the game of baseball! 

He has made $43,795,000 in his career so far...

No other former Notre Dame athlete has been paid more to play a professional sport -- and it's not even close!

Muffet: "We Don't Play UCONN Enough..."

#3 Notre Dame Takes on #1 UCONN on ESPN

Muffet's Fighting Irish take on that team from Storrs, CT today on ESPN at 5:30 PM ET -- not at full strength -- for the third time in the last four games of this series.

Notre Dame's top two forwards; Brianna Turner and Taya Reimer are not expected to play for the #3 ranked Irish against the nation's top team.

These two teams played for the National Championship back in April. 

The Opponents Notre Dame Will Face In 2016

I decided to look at Notre Dame's opponents next season, their head coaches, returners at QB and the team's record in 2015.  Here's some of the highlights:

• ND plays against three teams with head coaches that are former ND assistants in their first four games
• ND will play half of their games in 2016 against teams with a new starting QB
• ND's opponents' returning starting QB's threw 66 TD's and 29 INT's
• ND will play against three teams in 2016 who have new head coaches -- four if you want to count USC
• ND's opponents' record in 2015:  82 - 57

@ TEXAS -- September 3

• Head Coach Charlie Strong -- former ND assistant
• QB:  Jerome Heard -- 5 TD / 5 INT
• 2015 record:  5 - 7

NEVADA -- September 10

• Head Coach Brian Polian -- former ND assistant
• QB:  Tyler Stewart -- 15 TD / 7 INT
• 2015 record:  6 - 6

MICHIGAN STATE -- September 17

• Head Coach Mark Dantonio
• QB:  New starter in 2016
• 2015 record:  12 - 1

DUKE -- September 24

• Head Coach David Cutcliffe -- former ND assistant
• QB:  Thomas Sirk -- 15 TD / 6 INT
• 2015 record:  7 - 5

@ SYRACUSE -- October 1

• Head Coach Dino Babers (just hired)
• QB:  Eric Dungey -- 11 TD / 5 INT
• 2015 record:  4 - 8

@ NORTH CAROLINA STATE -- October 8

• Head Coach Dave Doeren
• QB:  New starter in 2016
• 2015 record:  7 - 5

STANFORD -- October 15

• Head Coach David Shaw
• QB:  New starter in 2016
• 2015 record:  11 - 2

MIAMI -- October 29

• Head Coach Mark Richt (just hired) 
• QB:  Brad Kaaya 15 TD / 4 INT
• 2015 record:  8 - 4

@ NAVY -- November 5

• Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo
• QB:  New starter in 2016
• 2015 record:  9 - 2

ARMY (Shamrock Series Game) -- November 12

• Head Coach Jeff Monken
• QB:  Ahmad Bradshaw 5 TD / 2 INT
• 2015 record:  2 - 9

VIRGINIA TECH -- November 19

• Head Coach Justin Fuente (just hired)
• QB:  New starter in 2016
• 2015 record:  6 - 6

@ USC -- November 26

• Head Coach Clay Helton (just named)
• QB:  New starter in 2016
• 2015 record:  8 - 5

Should Stanford's Last TD Have Counted?

You're going to want to watch this / read this...

On Stanford's last TD of the game -- a pass to a wide-open TE in the left flat -- you'll notice that the TE is lined up on the right side of the line (third lineman over from the center -- photo below) like an offensive tackle.  I'll let the article take it from here...

No matter what you think -- this is a "brilliant" formation and play call in the redzone.

LINK:  ILLEGAL PLAY?

Muffet Plays "Small Ball" to Beat the Buckeyes

Domer's At It Again: "Re-elect Iowa Speedway"

Just last month Notre Dame alum Jimmy Small '08 -- was trying out for the Iowa Barnstormers...

Well, yesterday -- he announced Iowa Speedway's re-election campaign.  Here is his stump speech.

Latest Bowl Projections for Notre Dame

Took a lap around the worldwide web to see where the media prognosticators are predicting Notre Dame will play in a bowl game -- and who they will play...

LINK:  CBS SPORTS -- PEACH BOWL vs. FLORIDA STATE

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED -- FIESTA BOWL vs. IOWA

LINK:  FOX SPORTS -- FIESTA BOWL vs. OHIO STATE

LINK:  ESPN -- FIESTA BOWL vs. IOWA or HOUSTON

Inside Notre Dame's Loss to Stanford Saturday

Brian Kelly Talks Loss to Stanford w/ Don Criqui

Notre Dame's "Class of 2029" at Stanford...

You'll want to read this story about Taylor Leadership Academy's 3rd Grade Class' trip to see Notre Dame take on Stanford...

LINK:  "NOW I BELIEVE"

OT: Greatest Helmet / Uniform Story -- EVER!

I am absolutely jazzed with what Under Armour has come up with for the Naval Academy and their annual game next Saturday with Army...

WOW !!!

You're going to want to read the STORY tied to the helmets and uniform design...

I'm now thinking -- maybe we should do Notre Dame tribute helmets -- these next five Shamrock Series games to our five National Championship coaches and their eleven teams.

What do you think?

USC Hires Clay Helton as Head Football Coach

The "interim" tag has been removed from the title.

LINK:  HELTON GETS GIG

Coach Kelly With Media After Loss to Stanford

"Tight End U" Became "Tight End FEW" in 2015

As in few catches (17), few yards (204) and ONE TOUCHDOWN for the entire 2015 season. 

What happened to the home of; Casper, MacAfee, Bavaro, Mastzak, Hunter, Brown, Holohan, Fasano, Smith, Carlson, Rudolph, Eifert, etc. ???

Notre Dame never sees this type of production -- for the season -- from the Tight End position:

• Alize Jones:  11 catches for 166 yards 
• Nic Weishar:  3 catches for 19 yards
• Durham Smythe:  2 catches for 13 yards and 1 TD (fake field goal)
• Chase Hounshell 1 catch for 6 yards

Here's Stanford's production out of their Tight End position (last night) against Notre Dame:

• 9 catches for 174 yards and 2 TD's

If you want to point to a telling stat for the season -- especially when you look at Notre Dame's inability to score TD's in the Red Zone -- it was SIX total points out of the TE position (which came on a fake field goal).