Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Muffet McGraw "Re-Loads" Her Fighting Irish!


It was "Early-Signing" Period Day in the country and Notre Dame Women's Basketball inked three of the top guards in America!

Here's how ESPN ranked them individually amongst all of the players in the country:

LINK:  SIGNING DAY PRESS CONFERENCE 

LINK:  MUFFET TALKS ABOUT HER RECRUITS

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Veteran's Day Salute: Domer Blue Angel!


You'll enjoy this Fighting Irish Digital Media story on Notre Dame alum John Hiltz '02 who's been flying with the Navy's BLUE ANGELS since 2012.

John is a former basketball walk-on for the Fighting Irish!

LINK:  JOHN HILTZ

A Reality Check for Notre Dame -- RANKINGS


Let's look at how the College Football Playoff Committee looks at the teams with 2 losses in their latest rankings -- specifically Auburn, Ole Miss, UCLA, Michigan State, Kansas State, Georgia and Arizona -- compared to Notre Dame.

Frankly, if we're being honest -- looking at our quality wins (we don't have a single win right now versus a team currently ranked in the TOP 25).  And, if you look at our point differential in our two losses -- we have the highest point differential amongst all of the two-loss teams ahead of us...

We deserve to be ranked #18. Michigan State and Kansas State are over ranked... LSU, even with three losses, is still probably where they should be -- based on their two quality wins -- and two close losses (sans the game with Auburn).


#9 AUBURN:
  • Wins Over Ranked Teams: #17 LSU, #10 Ole Miss
  • Losses: #1 Mississippi State (15 point loss), #23 Texas A&M (3 point loss)

#10 OLE MISS:
  • Wins Over Ranked Teams: #5 Alabama, #23 Texas A&M
  • Losses: #17 LSU (3 point loss), # Auburn (4 points)

#11 UCLA:
  • Wins Over Ranked Teams:  #6 Arizona State, #12 Arizona
  • Losses: Utah (2 points) , #2 Oregon (12 points)

#12 MICHIGAN STATE:
  • Wins Over Ranked Teams:  #16 Nebraska
  • Losses:  #3 Oregon (16 point loss), #8 Ohio State (12 point loss)

#13 KANSAS STATE:
  • Wins Over Ranked Teams: NONE
  • Losses:  #9 Auburn (6 point loss), #4 TCU (21 point loss)

#14 ARIZONA:
  • Wins Over Ranked Teams: #3 Oregon
  • Losses:  #11 UCLA (10 point loss), USC (2 point loss)

#15 GEORGIA:
  • Wins Over Ranked Teams:  #19 Clemson
  • Losses:  South Carolina (3 point loss), Florida (18 point loss)

#17 LSU: 
  • Wins Over Ranked Teams:  #25 Wisconsin, #10 Ole Miss
  • Losses:  #1 Mississippi State (5 point loss), #5 Alabama (7 point OT loss), #9 Auburn (34 point loss)

#18 NOTRE DAME:
  • Wins Over Ranked Teams: NONE
  • Losses:  #3 Florida State (4 point loss), #6 Arizona State (24 point loss) 

LINK:  RANKINGS

Northwestern Week: Brian Kelly Presser


Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly met with the media today to talk about the lingering effects of the "Debacle in the Desert" and this week's game with Northwestern...

LINK:  COACH KELLY

Veteran's Day Salute: Rocky Bleier '68


Former Notre Dame running back and Super Bowl Champion Rocky Bleier was recently back in his home state of Wisconsin and was interviewed by a local TV station...

LINK:  BLEIER

Monday, November 10, 2014

Notre Dame's 2015 National Title Run


ESPN's Notre Dame beat writer Matt Fortuna -- penned this story today...

LINK:  2015

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Taylor Swift at Notre Dame Today!


Seven-time Grammy Award winning artist and "Notre Dame sister" -- Taylor Swift -- was on campus today to see her brother Austin (he's wearing the red tie in the photo above) perform in the play "Six Characters in Search of an Author."

The top photo that was just "tweeted" from just outside Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center by @ShaunGalWNDU

WNDU-TV's video of Taylor Swift waving at her fans -- is linked below:

LINK:  VIDEO OF SWIFT

Riddick's Game Winning Catch Today for Lions!


Former Notre Dame student-athlete Theo Riddick '13 (photo above), is making quite a name for himself in his sophomore season with the Detroit Lions...

Today, it was a game-winning catch with 29 seconds left!  Here's a link to the replay below.

Former Notre Dame All-American Golden Tate had another big day for the Lions catching 11 passed for 109 yards!

LINK:  GAME WINNER!

Notre Dame Dropped to #16 in Coaches Poll


The Amway Coaches Poll was just released and Notre Dame was dealt the biggest blow among the Top 25 teams -- dropping eight spots to #16 in their poll.

LINK:  COACHES POLL

Notre Dame Plays #1 Minnesota on ESPNU


Jeff Jackson's Fighting Irish take on the #1 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers today at 5 PM ET on ESPNU.  #14 Notre Dame was shutout by the Gophers 5 - 0 in Friday night's game...

Minnesota is coached by Notre Dame alum Don Lucia '81 -- who's also the father of Irish hockey star Mario Lucia.

LINK:  NOTRE DAME vs. MINNESOTA

Golson's Post Game Media Session After ASU


Notre Dame QB Everett Golson met with the media after Arizona State's 55 - 41 win over the Irish...

LINK:  GOLSON

Coach Brian Kelly's Post Game Media Session


Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly met with the media after yesterday's 55 - 31 loss to Arizona State...

LINK:  POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

An Awful 11 Minutes in Notre Dame FB History...


In just 10 minutes, 44 seconds of game time -- Arizona State outscored Notre Dame 49 - 0.

The all-time record for most points ever scored against Notre Dame in a full 60 minute football game is 59 -- Army did this in 1944 when they beat the Irish 59 - 0.

Arizona State's 49 points were scored on five offensive possessions totaling 183 yards -- and two "pick six" interceptions (a total of 20 plays from scrimmage / in a game that had 152 total plays) -- think about that.

Oh, by the way -- the other 49 minutes and 16 seconds of game time (132 offensive & defensive snaps) -- Notre Dame outscored Arizona State 31 - 6.


LINK:  SCORING CHART

Saturday, November 8, 2014

A Closer Look at the Impact of IRISH Mistakes


Here's a close look at the major mistakes Notre Dame made today and the associated consequences -- a negative swing of as many as 38 points!!!

Turnover #1 -- on second offensive possession:
  • Everett is tripped up and he loses the ball falling down
  • ASU recovers on Notre Dame's 13 yard line
  • They score the next play -- 7 POINTS

Turnover #2 -- on third offensive possession:
  • Everett is intercepted on first offensive play
  • Left tackle didn't cut the defensive end -- he tips the ball
  • ASU intercepts and takes over on Notre Dame's 23 yard line
  • They score three plays later -- 7 POINTS

Turnover #3 -- on fourth offensive possession:
  • Everett is intercepted on first offensive play
  • Another tipped ball for an interception
  • ASU takes the ball into the endzone for a TD -- 7 POINTS 

Turnover #4 -- on first offensive possession of second half:
  • Everett leads Notre Dame from their own 25 to the ASU 5
  • Everett gets intercepted in the endzone
  • ASU thwarts Notre Dame's momentum -- ND loses 3 to 7 POINTS

Turnover on downs -- botched field goal snap:
  • Notre Dame was on a roll - scoring 2 TD's with a chance to close the gap to 14
  • Field goal snap was dropped
  • Notre Dame loses 3 POINTS

Turnover #5 -- Irish are down 10 points with 4 minutes left in the game:
  • Golson fires a perfect pass to an open Corey Robinson
  • Robinson attempts to catch the pass with his hands and it deflects up and behind him
  • ASU intercepts the deflection and returns for a TD -- 7 POINTS

FINAL STATISTICS:
  • ASU:  One turnover
  • ND:  Five turnovers and a botched field goal snap
  • ASU:  412 total yards (224 passing / 188 rushing)
  • ND:  487 total yards (446 passing / 41 rushing)

UGH, What Could Go Wrong -- Did Go Wrong!


This was as ugly as it gets -- as the Irish erased a 31 point deficit -- only to give up 21 points in three minutes late in the game to give ASU a 55 - 31 win.

Here's what went wrong:
  • Four interceptions
  • 3 fumbles (one on a botched field goal)
  • Five total turnovers
  • Four of the five turnovers led to 28 points for Arizona State
  • MANY, MANY SACKS given up on offense

LINK:  BOX SCORE

OT: Former Tarheel Files Lawsuit



This story is not going away anytime soon...

LINK:  CNN STORY

Photos of Notre Dame's Walk Through at ASU


Here's a few photos taken by @NDFootball of the team's walk through at Arizona State's Sun Devils Stadium...

The Media Makes Their Picks: ND vs. ASU


Took a lap around the worldwide web this morning to see what the "pundits" are saying about this afternoon's game between #10 Notre Dame and #9 Arizona State -- just click on the links below:

LINK:  ARIZONA REPUBLIC

LINK:  SPORTING NEWS

LINK:  LOU HOLTZ

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

LINK:  CBS SPORTS

Notre Dame Fans in Tempe -- Friday Night!


Here's a look at South Bend's ABC57's coverage last night from Tempe, AZ as the Notre Dame Nation get's ready for today's big game...

LINK:  THE IRISH INVASION

LINK:  PEP RALLY -- FRIDAY NIGHT

LINK:  PRE-GAME CELEBRATION

Friday, November 7, 2014