Looks Like Brady Quinn Will Start for Chiefs!

It's been a long time coming...

Brady Quinn had not seen the field in his last 38 regular season NFL football games -- think about that.

This past Sunday, Quinn came in for the Chiefs injured starter Matt Cassell and completed all three of his passes for 32 yards.  Cassell, who was knocked out on a vicious hit -- is not expected to be able to play this Sunday, clearing a starting role for Quinn.  Stay tuned!

LINK:  QUINN, LIKELY TO START SUNDAY

FBS National Statistical Rankings: Notre Dame

National Rankings -- here's a quick look at where Notre Dame players, offensive, defensive and special team units stack up amongst the 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision after their 41 - 3 win over Miami Saturday:


OFFENSIVE PLAYERS:

Everett Golson

• 70th in completion rate:  60.4%
• 85th in QB rating:  126.5
• 92nd in yards passing:  827 yards
• 98th in Total Offense:  867 yards

George Atkinson III

• 96th in yards rushing per attempt:  9.3 yards 
• 147th in yards rushing:  269 yards

DEFENSIVE PLAYERS:

Stephon Tuitt

• 7th in total QB sacks:  1.2 sacks per game

Bennett Jackson

•  9th in interceptions:  3 interceptions

Manti Teo

• 6th in fumbles recovered per game:  0.4 per game
• 9th in interceptions:  3 interceptions
• 25th in tackles per game:  9.6 per game

OFFENSIVE TEAM RANKINGS:

• 9th in turnovers lost:  4 this season 
• 15th in time of possession;  32.52 minutes per game
• 40th in rushing offense per game:  187.4 yards per game
• 43rd in 3rd down efficiency:  42.86%
• 51st in first downs:  22.0 first downs per game
• 61st in scoring offense:  29 points per game
• 83rd in passing offense per game:  211 yards per game

DEFENSIVE TEAM RANKINGS:

• 2nd in scoring defense:  7.8 points per game 
• 5th in red zone defense:  Teams score only 58% of the time
• 13th in first downs allowed:  16.0 per game
• 13th in total offense allowed:  290 yards per game
• 16th in turnovers gained:  13 turnovers gained
• 16th in passes intercepted:  8 interceptions
• 17th in rushing defense:  106.8 yards per game
• 20th in QB sacks:  2.8 sacks per game
• 43rd in passing defense:  195 yards per game

TEAM RANKINGS:

• 7th in turnover margin:  +1.8 per game
• 23rd in fewest penalty yards per game:  39.17 yards
• 26th in net punting:  39.7 yards per punt
• 41st in fewest penalties per game:  5.4 penalties 
• 84th in kick off return yards:  19.83 per kick-off return
• 100th in kick off return defense:  24.11 yards per kick-off return
• 104th in punt return yards:  3.5 yards per punt return

Irish Move Up to #7 in the National Rankings

Notre Dame's 41 - 3 victory last night over Miami moved up the IRISH to #7 in the Associated Press rankings this week.

The link below shows all of the AP writers and who they voted for.


LINK:  AP POLL -- HOW THE WRITERS VOTED

College Gameday's Interview of Manti Teo

Folks, if this doesn't move you to tears...

LINK:  MANTI TEO INTERVIEW


FYI:  ESPN's College Gameday will be at Notre Dame next weekend -- first time in a long time.

Post Game Locker Room: ND Beats Miami!

The gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media outdid themselves this evening -- knocking out this video of Notre Dame's post game celebration after the 41 - 3 win over Miami.  You'll enjoy seeing Manti hugging Jack Swarbrick and Fr. John Jenkins...

Good stuff here!

LINK:  IRISH CONNECTION -- NOTRE DAME LOCKER ROOM

Quick Reaction: Notre Dame Rolls Miami!

41 to 3...

Didn't see this coming.

• 12 Quarters of football against Michigan State, Michigan and Miami and NO TD's given up!
• Almost 400 yards of rushing - 376 to be exact -- the most in 12 seasons!
• 587 yards of total offense
• No punts in the second half
• DOMINATION!

Here's a quick look at what the media has to say about Notre Dame's convincing win over the Miami Hurricanes -- along with links to coverage of Coach Kelly and Coach Golden's post game press conferences:

LINK:  COACH KELLY:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  MIKE MAYOCK TALKS IRISH

LINK:  COACH KELLY WITH ALEX FLANAGAN

LINK:  NBC SPORTS -- NOTRE DAME CENTRAL

LINK:  ESPN -- ND BLOG

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  POST GAME WITH BRAXSTON CAVE

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN TIMES

LINK:  SUN SENTINEL #1

LINK:  MIAMI COACH PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  MIAMI HERALD

LINK:  MIAMI HERALD #2

LINK:  ESPN BLOG 

Charlie Weis '78 Talks Manti Teo Recruitment

University of Kansas head football coach Charlie Weis '78, was interviewed recently about his recruitment of Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Teo.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  CHARLIE'S TRIPS TO HAWAII

Notre Dame Football Takes on Chicago...

The gang at UND.COM produced their first video last night -- of DAY ONE for Notre Dame football in Chicago.  You'll enjoy this!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME TAKES ON CHICAGO

Did You Know? Soldier Field & Notre Dame

I learned something this evening -- the largest crowd ever to attend a college football game was held at Chicago's Soldier Field -- when 123,000 people watched Notre Dame beat USC; 7 to 6 on November 26, 1927.   

FYI:  Soldier Field now only seats 61,000 -- the smallest football stadium in the National Football League.

Notre Dame has played eleven games at Soldier Field and the Irish are unbeaten!  The IRISH have given up only 72 points in eleven games at Soldier Field -- pitching three shutouts.   Offensively, Notre Dame scored 88 points in their first 9 games at Soldier Field and 84 in the last 2 games...

 Here's the scores of the previous eleven games:

• 1924:  Notre Dame 13 -- Northwestern 6
• 1927:  Notre Dame 7 -- USC 6
• 1928:  Notre Dame 7 -- Navy 0
• 1929:  Notre Dame 19 -- Wisconsin 0
• 1929:  Notre Dame 19 -- Drake 7
• 1929:  Notre Dame 13 -- USC 12
• 1930:  Notre Dame 7 -- Army 6
• 1931:  Notre Dame 0 -- Northwestern 0
• 1942:  Notre Dame 13 -- Great Lakes 13
• 1952:  Notre Dame 42 -- Northwestern 7
• 1994:  Notre Dame 42 -- Northwestern 15

Tim Brown to Meet ND Fans on Saturday!

Former Notre Dame All-American Tim Brown -- will be located just east of Chicago's Field Museum from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM CT tomorrow (Saturday) with his HEISMAN TROPHY.  It's the 25th Anniversary of Tim's Heisman season at Notre Dame -- and the folks at Sports Illustrated and Nissan are putting on this event.

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S HEISMAN TOUR

Notre Dame's Soldier Field Makeover: PHOTO!

Here's the first photo I've seen "tweeted" of Notre Dame's Soldier Field!  I like what we've done to the walls of the Stadium -- AWESOME!

Notre Dame's Chicago Pep Rally -- PHOTO!

Thousands of Notre Dame fans took over the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park this evening for the traditional Friday Pep Rally.  Here's a photo of The Band of the Fighting Irish on the stage.

This Video Will Fire You Up for MIAMI !!!

Notre Dame fans -- it's our time!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME VIDEO

Chicago Weather: Notre Dame vs. Miami

The weather's looking pretty good for this weekend in Chicago!

The latest forecast has partly sunny skies with a very little chance for rain.  Here's the forecast for the big events this weekend:

• Friday's Pep Rally:  51 degrees -- mostly cloudy
• Saturday's Kick-Off:  47 degrees -- ZERO CHANCE OF RAIN

LINK:  CHICAGO -- WEATHER CHANNEL FORECAST

Miami Week: Coach Kelly With Media Thursday

The University of Notre Dame's head football coach Brian Kelly -- met with the media after practice yesterday for the last time before Saturday night's game with Miami.  Take a look!

LINK:  COACH KELLY WITH MEDIA

Manti Inteview: College Gameday Saturday

University of Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Teo was interviewed this week for a segment that will air Saturday morning on ESPN's College Gameday.  Here's a photo of ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski with Manti during the interview.

Notre Dame Football Players Talk Miami

The University of Notre Dame football team will be heading "just up the road" tomorrow for the Shamrock Series game at Soldier Field against the Miami Hurricanes Saturday night.  This will the third PRIME TIME appearance in a row for the IRISH!

Here's a link to a UND.COM interview with a number of the IRISH players:

LINK:  ND FOOTBALL TALKS MIAMI

Saint Mary's Creates Their Own "Animal House"

Senior students at Saint Mary's College (Notre Dame, IN) were given the option this fall semester to bring their dog or cat to school -- to LIVE with them -- in their dorm room.  It was a marketing effort to get more seniors to live in the dorms -- and it worked!

I've been meaning to share this story for sometime.  Click on the links below:

LINK:  ANIMAL HOUSE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY

Notre Dame Connection to MLB's Triple Crown!

This evening -- some time after 10 PM ET -- Miguel Cabrera will become the 15th player in the history of Major League Baseball to win the "Triple Crown."

And, the first to win it in the last 45 years -- when a former Notre Dame student by the name of Carl Yastrzemski (photo) won the Triple Crown in 1967 playing for the Boston Red Sox.

As a fan of the Detroit Tigers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish I just had to make this connection!

LINK:  YAZ TALKS ABOUT CABRERA

"Save Jimmy Johnson's ___ For Me" -- Holtz

It's been 24 years since these words were said in the Notre Dame locker room prior to the game against Miami in 1988...

This story will be told forever.

The gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media caught up with Coach Holtz, Pat Terrell, Steve Belles, Tony Rice and Scott Kowalkowski to talk about that moment.

LINK: SAVE JIMMY JOHNSON FOR ME...