Playing Like Champions | Notre Dame Dynasty

[RussellBird]

BREAKING NEWS: Notre Dame Meets With Several Conference Commisioners


Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick addresses the rumors of Notre Dame moving to a conference.

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - On a week with no Notre Dame football events, a lot of rumors and news involving the football team, and the rest of Notre Dame athletics, has surfaced. On Monday, September 24th it was reported that Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick had met with James Delany, commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. The following day, there were reports that Swarbrick was meeting with yet another conference commissioner. This time it was John Swofford of the ACC who talked with him. Then, finally, on Thursday, Swarbrick met with commissioner Joseph Bailey of the Big East. While it was believed that Notre Dame was going to stay independent over the next few years, the plethora of teams changing conferences has made the Irish a bit curious in finally joining a conference. Currently, Notre Dame is in the Big East for several other sports but not football. Many coaches and athletic directors in that conference have credited Notre Dame for aiding in the "collapse" of the Big East

On Saturday, Swarbrick stood in front of several reporters and answered questions about the future of Notre Dame football. The reporters started chronologically and asked him about the meeting with the Big Ten. "Yes, I did meet with Mr. Delany regarding Notre Dame potentially expanding to the Big Ten. No, we did not approach them first. I was contacted by Mr. Delany shortly after our victory over Michigan. He asked if I would possible be interested in bringing our athletics to the Big Ten. There are many good and bad outcomes of joining the Big Ten. No, we have no reached an agreement to join that conference."

Then, Swarbrick was grilled on the Irish potentially joining the ACC, a conference in which they have no big rivals in. Unlike the Big 10, where they have rivals in Michigan, Purdue, and Michigan State. "I did not meet with Mr. John Swofford on Tuesday. We did talk over the phone for a brief few minutes shortly after I talked with the Big Ten commissioner. I can not say what exactly we talked about, as it would really be of no importance. Notre Dame, at this moment, has no interest in joining the ACC as they appear to have no interest in having Notre Dame join their conference. That is the way it appeared to me in the phone call."

Finally, Swarbrick talked about the meeting with the Big East commissioner. This conference was believed to be falling apart last year with the announcement that West Virginia, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh would be leaving the conference. Several teams were still interested in joining an AQ BCS Conference, and it was soon reported that UCF, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Temple, Boise State, San Diego State, and Navy would soon be joining their ranks. "While Notre Dame does currently play several sports in the Big East, at this moment, I can't say whether or not we will be joining them full-time anytime soon. Joseph [Bailey] and I discussed many things that I am not at liberty to tell the public about. Don't expect any more announcements anytime soon regarding a potential move to a conference. Thank you."

[RussellBird]

HEADLINES OF THE WEEK:
Horned Frogs Humbled - Mustangs shock the #8 Horned Frogs in rivalry upset. [35-24]
Big SEC Win - #3 Arkansas notches a conference win against #24 Texas A&M behind the arm of Wilson. [28-21]
Fight for Survival - #19 Auburn should handle #3 Arkansas in their SEC match-up this week.
SEC Foes Clash - #4 Bulldogs seek to take control of the SEC against the #6 Gamecocks.
The Way to Play - Nittany Lions win their conference opener against Illinois. [31-21]
Over Before it Started - The Hurricanes KO NC State in Conference Play. [56-20]
Rowdy Bulldogs - Offense helps #4 Georgia defend their turn against Tennessee. [51-40]
Golden Bears Find a Way! - #22 Cal triumphs over Arizona State in a Pac-12 riot. [21-13]

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Sep 30, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Oklahoma Sooners (34)	3	0	1498
2	2	USC Trojans (24)	4	0	1437
3	3	Arkansas Razorbacks (2)	5	0	1419
4	4	Georgia Bulldogs (1)	5	0	1319
5	5	West Virginia Mountaineers	4	0	1261
6	6	South Carolina Gamecocks	5	0	1221
7	7	Wisconsin Badgers	5	0	1194
8	9	Michigan Wolverines	3	1	1012
9	10	Boise State Broncos	4	0	1002
10	11	Alabama Crimson Tide	3	2	892
11	12	Kansas State Wildcats	3	1	856
12	13	Florida State Seminoles	4	1	826
13	16	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	4	0	684
14	19	Oklahoma State Cowboys	4	0	657
15	17	Clemson Tigers	4	1	632
16	8	TCU Horned Frogs	3	1	560
17	18	LSU Tigers	3	2	554
18	15	Texas Longhorns	3	1	418
19	21	Auburn Tigers	2	2	415
20	--	Michigan State Spartans	3	2	314
21	25	California Golden Bears	4	1	276
22	--	Mississippi State Bulldogs	4	0	215
23	--	SMU Mustangs	3	1	192
24	24	Texas A&M Aggies	4	1	187
25	--	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	4	1	162

Dropped Out - #14 Arkansas State, #20 Washington, #22 Ohio State, #23 Nebraska
Others Receiving Votes - Nebraska (160), Washington (139), Arkansas State (124), Ohio State (92), Stanford (46), Iowa (37), North Carolina (4), Tennessee (3)

Heisman Watch - Updated: Sep 30, 2012
NAME	POS	SCHOOL		SEASON STATS
Montee Ball	HB	Wisconsin		99 att, 607 yards, 10 TDs
Marcus Lattimore	HB	South Carolina		77 att, 507 yards, 7 TDs
Matt Barkley	QB	USC		99-142, 1582 yards, 15 TDs
Denard Robinson	QB	Michigan		62-92, 848 yards, 9 TDs, 57 att, 352 yards, 5 TDs
James Vandenberg	QB	Iowa		98-133, 1547 yards, 20 TDs

Matchup Preview *|* October 6, 2012
	@
Miami (FL) Hurricanes (3-2, 1-2 Away)		#13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0, 2-0 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 34.4 (#26) Points Per Game 39.2 (#10) 406.8 (#48) Total Offensive Yards 434.7 (#32) 197.0 (#33) Rushing Yards 88.7 (#117) 209.8 (#65) Passing Yards 346.0 (#3) Defensive Stats Comparison 298.8 (#32) Total Yards Allowed 310.0 (#41) 165.2 (#96) Rushing Yards Allowed 121.5 (#28) 133.6 (#7) Passing Yards Allowed 188.5 (#6) Injury Report SS [79] Deon Bush Strained ACL - Probable LG [82] Jon Feliciano Strained Back - 3 weeks HB [86] Mike James Foot stress fracture - 1 week Game Notes These two teams come into this game looking like polar opposites. Notre Dame has a dominant passing game and a weak rushing game, while the flip could be said for the Hurricanes. Notre Dame has won four straight and is looking to continue their dominance. Miami has lost to such teams as Boston College and Kansas State. They have beaten Bethune-Cookman, Georgia Tech, and NC State. All of there victories have been won by more than ten points.

[RussellBird]

Way Too Close, Notre Dame Slips by Miami


Davonte Neal would rise up and come down with the ball. A few short seconds later, and he would be in the end zone clinching the win for Notre Dame

Miami (FL) Hurricanes at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Oct 6, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Miami (FL) Hurricanes (3-2)	0	0	0	28	28
#13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0)	7	10	3	12	32

Team Stats Comparison
	MIA	ND
Total Offense	343	401
Rushing Yards	151	40
Passing Yards	192	401
First Downs	13	13
Punt Return Yards	21	57
Kick Return Yards	49	74
Total Yards	413	572
Turnovers	1	2
3rd Down Converstion	3-15	5-15
4th Down Conversion	1-3	0-2
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-2
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4/2-0	5/1-2
Penalties	12-120	5-54
Posession Time	28:10	16:27

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		MIA	ND
2:43	(ND) TD: R. Toma, 17 yard pass from E. Golson (N. Tausch kick)	0	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MIA	ND
6:09	(ND) FG: N. Tausch, 20 yard FG	0	10
1:40	(ND) TD: R. Toma, 50 yard pass from E. Golson	0	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		MIA	ND
4:20	(ND) FG: N. Tausch, 25 yard FG	0	20
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MIA	ND
8:35	(MIA) TD: D. Johnson, 7 yard run (J. Wieclaw kick)	7	20
7:56	(MIA) TD: V. Telemaque, returned INT 10 yards (J. Wieclaw kick)	14	20
7:45	(MIA) TD: B. McGee, returned INT 34 yards (J. Wieclaw kick)	21	20
5:37	(MIA) TD: P.Dorsett, 5 yard pass from S. Morris (J. Wieclaw kick)	28	20
5:16	(ND) TD: T. Jones, 51 yard pass from E. Golson (2-pt failed)	28	26
3:22	(ND) TD: D. Neal, 59 yard pass from E. Golson (2-pt failed)	28	32

Notre Dame Fighting Irish PASSING C/A YDS TD INT E. Golson 21/41 401 4 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD C. Wood 18 87 4.8 0 E. Golson 8 -46 -5.7 0 C. Robertson 1 -1 -1.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD T. Jones 4 85 21.2 1 T. Eifert 4 56 14.0 0 R. Toma 4 108 27.0 2 J. Goodman 3 43 14.3 0 T. Riddick 2 29 14.5 0 B. Koyack 1 11 11.0 0 C. Robertson 1 10 10.0 0 D. Neal 1 59 59.0 1 C. Wood 1 0 0.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK T. Eifert 7 0 B. Koyack 4 0 N. Martin 3 1 C. Watt 2 2 C. Lombard 2 2 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD J. Slaughter 12 0.0 0 0 D. Fox 7 0.0 0 0 M. Te'o 6 1.0 0 0 Z. Motta 6 0.0 0 0 L. Wood 5 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG N. Tausch 2/2 2/2 8 26 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 B. Turk 5 185 37.0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD T. Riddick 3 74 24.6 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD T. Riddick 9 57 6.3 0

Miami Hurricanes PASSING C/A YDS TD INT S. Morris 17/30 186 1 0 A. Chickillo 1/1 6 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD D. Johnson 18 151 8.3 1 S. Morris 8 -31 -4.2 0 E. Clements 4 23 5.7 0 M. Hagens 2 5 2.5 0 A. Hurns 1 2 2.0 0 P. Dorsett 1 4 4.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD R. Scott 5 73 14.6 0 A. Hurns 3 66 22.0 0 P. Dorsett 3 16 5.3 1 D. Johnson 1 8 7.0 0 A. Cleveland 1 10.0 10.0 0 S. Green 1 6 6.0 0 K. Thompkins 1 1 1.0 0 M. Lewis 1 9 9.0 0 E. Clements 1 -4 -4.0 0 M. Hagnes 1 7 7.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK B. Linder 2 0 C. Walford 2 0 S. McDermott 1 1 M. Bunche 1 0 M. Hagens 1 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD R. Buchanan 11 2.0 0 0 D. Perryman 8 2.0 0 0 B. McGee 7 0.0 1 1 T. Finnie 5 0.0 0 0 L. Gunterr 5 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG J. Wieclaw 0/0 4/4 4 -- PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 D. Bolts 9 330 36.6 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD B. McGee 1 26 26.0 0 D. Johnson 1 23 23.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD B. McGee 3 21 7.0 0

CHICAGO, Illinois - In what was a very winnable game for the Irish, they almost did not pull the win off going down the stretch. Even despite Miami's 28 points in the game, the Irish defense still looked amazing. Had there been fewer miscues by the offense, it's likely that the Irish would have won this won handily. Only fourteen points were scored against Notre Dame's defense. The quarterback for Miami could barely get anything done and would find himself on the ground several times. The offensive land had no clue had to defend blitzing linebackers nor a defensive end.

Miami would be able to run all over the Notre Dame defense even with their second string in. Every time the Irish would try to wrap him up, Johnson would merely shove them to the ground. All-American Te'o would find himself on the bad end of a broke tackles, even though Te'o is much bigger than the runningback When it came down to it, though, the Irish would stop pretty much every attempt to run after they would reach the center of the field. Notre Dame's defense turned into an even better one, if that's possible, once Miami would cross the fifty mark.

Once again, Robby Toma would be the recipient of an Everett Golson touchdown pass.

The crowd appeared to be rooting for the Irish, despite playing at neutral grounds in Chicago. The relative closeness of Chicago to Indiana most likely had several Irish fans flocking to see the renewal of a huge rivalry. For the most part, they got to see the Irish leading the game for most of the way. The Hurricanes were unable to get anything done on offense, and, while they were struggling, the Irish managed to get a few points onto the board. Heading into the third, Notre Dame had a 20-0 lead. With the amount of skill on the defensive side for the Irish, there was no doubt in anyone's mind. The Irish were going to win five straight.

Miami had other plans for this game, as they marched up the field and ran the ball in for a touchdown. After the ensuing kick-off, Golson would toss an interception put Miami within six points. We have seen the Irish get overconfident before, and it has nearly cost them games. Once again,on the next drive, Golson would throw another pick to a man in a different colored uniform then his own. In just under a minute, Miami managed to overcome a 20 point deficit and take the lead. The Hurricanes would once again score. This time on a pass from an under-performing Morris. That would be Miami's last score of the day, and, finally, the Irish would find a way to turn the ball over. He would connect with T.J. Jones for a huge touchdown, but a missed two-point conversion would keep them down. Almost two minutes would pass by before any team could score. A touchdown by Miami would likely win it, but the Irish made a huge stop, and Golson would chuck the ball to Neal at the 25. He would then run the rest of the way to give the Irish the lead and the win.

The Irish look to continue their winning streak by taking on another rival in Stanford. The Cardinal have struggled all year without Andrew Luck and find themselves struggling to move the ball through the air. Just like their rivalry against Michigan, the Irish have failed to win the Legends Trophy for the past three years. Despite their recent struggles, the Irish hold the rivalry series lead at 17-9. It is very likely that Notre Dame will make it win number 18, since they have looked like a much better team than last year while Stanford has looked terrible.

[RussellBird]

HEADLINES OF THE WEEK:
Easy Time in the Swamp - #17 LSU fails to be intimidated by the Swamp. [59-7]
In the Zone... - Brown and #18 Texas knock off Big 12 opponent #5 West Virginia 28-18.
Cornhuskers Romp Through Columbus - Nebraska wins big in Columbus. [27-10]
Overtime Shocker! - Fans in Boise are mourning #9 Boise State's OT loss to Southern Miss. [27-30]
6-0! - #7 Badgers remain undefeated following their conference victory over Illinois. [35-14]
When It Counts! - #6 South Carolina notches a conference win behind the arm of Shaw. [35-UGA 10]
SEC Foes Clash - The big SEC match-up this week is the battle between #17 LSU and #4 South Carolina.
Midshipmen Win, Lose Star - Navy's Green out at least 9 weeks after rivalry win over Air Foce.

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Oct 7, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Oklahoma Sooners (37)	4	0	1501
2	2	USC Trojans (21)	5	0	1454
3	3	Arkansas Razorbacks (2)	6	0	1444
4	6	South Carolina Gamecocks (1)	6	0	1371
5	7	Wisconsin Badgers	6	0	1213
6	14	Oklahoma State Cowboys	4	0	952
7	13	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	5	0	952
8	8	Michigan Wolverines	4	1	946
9	10	Alabama Crimson Tide	3	2	1002
10	4	Georgia Bulldogs	5	1	834
11	11	Kansas State Wildcats	4	1	856
12	12	Florida State Seminoles	5	1	826
13	5	West Virginia Mountaineers	4	1	767
14	15	Clemson Tigers	5	1	653
15	18	Texas Longhorns	4	1	644
16	16	TCU Horned Frogs	4	1	609
17	17	LSU Tigers	4	2	605
18	22	Mississippi State Buldogs	5	0	599
19	20	Michigan State Spartans	4	2	457
20	9	Boise State Broncos	4	1	356
21	23	SMU Mustangs	4	1	356
22	24	Texas A&M Aggies	5	1	322
23	--	Iowa Hawkeyes	5	0	289
24	--	Nebraska Cornhuskers	4	2	271
25	19	Auburn Tigers	2	3	214

Dropped Out - #21 California, #25 Georgia
Others Receiving Votes - Arkansas State (180), Fresno State (167), Temple (127), Georgia Tech (83), Cal (20)

Heisman Watch - Updated: Oct 7, 2012
NAME	POS	SCHOOL		SEASON STATS
Montee Ball	HB	Wisconsin		126 att, 786 yards, 10 TDs
Marcus Lattimore	HB	South Carolina		94 att, 635 yards, 8 TDs
Matt Barkley	QB	USC		118-173, 2026 yards, 19 TDs
Denard Robinson	QB	Michigan		75-121, 1009 yards, 11 TDs, 70 att, 442 yards, 7 TDs
Knile Davis	HB	Arkansas		112 att, 578 yards, 7 TDs

Matchup Preview *|* October 13, 2012
	@
Stanford Cardinal (2-3, 1-0 Away)		#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0, 2-0 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 30.6 (#42) Points Per Game 37.8 (#11) 397.0 (#66) Total Offensive Yards 436.0 (#23 159.2 (#66) Rushing Yards 79.0 (#120) 237.8 (#29) Passing Yards 357.0 (#2) Defensive Stats Comparison 334.0 (#59) Total Yards Allowed 316.6 (#35) 99.4 (#4) Rushing Yards Allowed 127.4 (#29) 234.6 (#109) Passing Yards Allowed 189.2 (#58) Game Notes The roles have reversed for Notre Dame and Stanford in this annual rivalry game. Last year, Stanford was highly ranked going into this game. Now, they find themselves in a 2-3 hole with loses to San Jose State, USC, and Arizona. The Irish have pretty much rolled through the schedule and are looking to recover from a near-upset last week against Miami. Once again, Notre Dame is picked to win this one.

[RussellBird]

What a Difference a Year Makes, Notre Dame dominates Cardinal

Stanford Cardinal at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Oct 13, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Stanford Cardinal (2-3)	7	0	3	0	10
#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0)	7	24	14	7	52

Team Stats Comparison
	STAN	ND
Total Offense	331	427
Rushing Yards	65	134
Passing Yards	266	293
First Downs	15	14
Punt Return Yards	20	32
Kick Return Yards	90	57
Total Yards	441	516
Turnovers	4	2
3rd Down Converstion	5-15	7-14
4th Down Conversion	1-3	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	2/0-1	3/2-1
Penalties	9-65	3-25
Posession Time	18:03	17:57

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		STAN	ND
3:23	(STAN) TD: D. Terrell, 58 yard pass from B. Nottingham (J. Williamson kick)	7	0
0:52	(ND) TD: T. Eifert, 13 yard from E. Golson (N. Tausch kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		STAN	ND
6:41	(ND) TD: R. Toma, 35 yard pass from E. Golson (N. Tausch kick)	7	14
4:01	(ND) FG: N. Tausch, 20 yard FG	7	17
0:16	(ND) TD: T. Jones, 23 yard pass from E. Golson (N. Tausch kick)	7	24
0:00	(ND) TD: M. Te'o, returned INT 42 yards (N. Tausch kick)	7	31
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		STAN	ND
8:20	(ND) TD: D. Spond, returned INT 47 yards (N. Tausch kick)	7	38
6:53	(ND) TD: D. Neal, 41 yard pass from E. Golson (N. Tausch kick)	7	45
3:10	(STAN) FG: J. Williamson, 33 yard FG	10	45
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		STAN	ND
8:30	(ND) TD: C. Wood, 10 yard run (N. Tausch kick(	10	52

Stanford Cardinal PASSING C/A YDS TD INT B. Nottingham 21/43 266 1 4 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD S. Taylor 19 84 4.4 0 B. Nottingham 5 -30 -6.0 0 A. Wilkerson 2 11 5.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD J. Paterson 7 64 9.1 0 D. Terrell 5 99 19.8 1 Z. Ertz 4 40 10.0 0 T. Montgomery 2 19 9.5 0 S. Taylor 2 35 17.5 0 M. Rector 1 9 9.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK R. Hewitt 4 0 L. Toilolo 4 0 K. Danser 2 0 C. Fleming 2 1 Z. Ertz 1 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD A. Tarpley 8 0.0 0 0 S. Skov 8 0.0 0 0 B. Browning 7 0.0 0 0 E. Reynolds 6 0.0 0 0 D. Carrington 6 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG J. Williamson 1/1 1/1 4 33 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 D. Zychlinski 6 216 36.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD T. Montgomery 3 81 27.0 0 R. Hewitt 1 9 9.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD D. Terrell 2 9 4.5 0 U. Amanam 11 11.0

Notre Dame Fighting Irish PASSING C/A YDS TD INT E. Golson 17/22 293 4 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD C. Wood 24 126 5.2 1 E. Golson 10 8 0.8 0 T. Riddick 1 0 0.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD T. Eifert 5 68 13.6 1 D. Neal 3 56 18.6 1 T. Jones 3 68 22.6 1 B. Koyack 2 54 27.0 0 C. Wood 2 7 3.5 0 C. Robertson 1 5 5.0 0 R. Toma 1 35 35.0 1 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK C. Watt 4 0 B. Cave 4 1 N. Martin 3 0 T. Eifert 3 0 Z. Martin 2 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD M. Te'o 8 1.0 1 1 Z. Motta 8 0.0 0 0 B. Jackson 7 0.0 1 0 P. Shembo 6 0.0 0 0 L. Wood 5 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG N. Tausch 1/1 7/7 10 21 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 B. Turk 4 182 45.5 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD T. Riddick 3 57 19.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD T. Riddick 5 32 6.4 0

SOUTH BEND, Indiana - In what was likely their best game this year, the Irish absolutely stomped Stanford. This doesn't come as a surprise, as Stanford has struggled all year. Without Luck, the Cardinal have just not looked good. New quarterback Nottingham has struggled through most of his games. The man has thrown more interceptions than touchdown, and last night did not help him regain composure at all. Nottingham is only a sophomore, so we may see him get much better. It's not like there's much worse than losing to San Jose State.

Nottingham tossed four picks against a strong Irish defense. They just looked unstoppable out there. Occasionally, Nottingham would get a nice throw for a chunk of yardage. It's a pretty good day for a defense when they manage to outscore the opposing team's offense. Stanford could only muster up a measly ten points, while Notre Dame's defense picked two balls off and returned them for touchdowns. Those picks would never have happened if it wasn't for the defensive line constantly pressuring the quarterback into a terrible pass.

The Irish have been an unbelievable team this year. Exceeding many people's expectations. Who would have thought that the Irish would be undefeated playing one of the hardest schedules with a quarterback who had never started in a college game before. Things are on the climb for Notre Dame. It seems that many recruits have that same opinion. It was announced this morning that two five star recruited had committed to the school. Jordan Petty, an athlete from Ohio, was the first to sign his letter of intent. It's highly liking that he'll play a defensive role on the team due to his skills in zone and man coverage. Joe Stephens, an outside linebackers, from Louisiana was the next to make it known where he'd be playing college football. In order to get Stephens, the Irish had to beat Ohio State and Nebraska. Shockingly, LSU was sixth on his interest list. Two five star recruits will go a long way, especially since Alabama has signed five already.

For their next game, the Irish will stay in South Bend to take on fellow Independent BYU who currently sit at 5-2. This will be the first time all season that the Irish are not playing a rival. This will be the seventh time these two team meet, and the Irish have taken four of the six. BYU has beat the Irish at home before, but they only won by a single touchdown. That was way back in 1994. The last time these two teams played against each other was in 2005, where Irish quarterback Brady Quinn threw over 467 yards and a school record six touchdowns. This will be the first of many meetings between these two Independent schools, and it's likely to be good. Once again, Notre Dame is predicted to win this game.

[RussellBird]

HEADLINES OF THE WEEK:
Still Unbeaten! - #2 USC takes out conference opponent Washington 41-28.
Sooners Improve to 5-0 - Led by Colvin and Crew, #1 Oklahoma knocks off Big 12 opponent #15 Texas. [24-14]
Key Conference Game - The big SEC match-up this week is the battle between #23 LSU and #20 Texas A&M.
Answering the Call - #9 Alabama squeaks by Missouri in conference play. [20-16]
Pasted! - UCF plows over Southern Miss in a convincing conference victory. [24-3]
Building Momentum - Cardinals win their Big East opener 35-21 against Pittsburgh.
Tough First Setback - Toledo (6-1) suffers their first blemish as Eastern Michigan edges them 24-19.
Undefeated No More - Fresno State's undefeated season is over as they fall to the #20 Broncos, 37-28.

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Oct 14, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Oklahoma Sooners (40)	5	0	1504
2	4	South Carolina Gamecocks (21)	7	0	1397
3	3	Arkansas Razorbacks	7	0	1381
4	2	USC Trojans	6	0	1334
5	5	Wisconsin Badgers	7	0	1299
6	6	Oklahoma State Cowboys	5	0	1251
7	7	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	6	0	1191
8	8	Michigan Wolverines	5	1	905
9	9	Alabama Crimson Tide	4	2	862
10	10	Georgia Bulldogs	5	1	822
11	11	Kansas State Wildcats	5	1	794
12	12	Florida State Seminoles	6	1	744
13	18	Mississippi State Bulldogs	6	0	722
14	14	Clemson Tigers	5	1	665
15	16	TCU Horned Frogs	5	1	601
16	19	Michigan State Spartans	5	2	479
17	20	Boise State Broncos	5	1	449
18	15	Texas Longhorns	4	2	446
19	21	SMU Mustangs	5	1	425
20	22	Texas A&M Aggies	5	1	382
21	13	West Virginia Mountaineers	4	2	342
22	24	Nebraska Cornhuskers	4	2	322
23	17	LSU Tigers	4	3	305
24	25	Auburn Tigers	3	3	275
25	--	Arkansas State Red Wolves	6	1	258

Dropped Out - #23 Iowa
Others Receiving Votes - Iowa (190), Georgia Tech (159), Fresno State (95), Texas Tech (95), Army (94), Utah (38)

Heisman Watch - Updated: Oct 14, 2012
NAME	POS	SCHOOL		SEASON STATS
Montee Ball	HB	Wisconsin		131 att, 808 yards, 11 TDs
Marcus Lattimore	HB	South Carolina		111 att, 717 yards, 10 TDs
Matt Barkley	QB	USC		133-202, 2267 yards, 13 TDs
Knile Davis	HB	Arkansas		128 att, 723 yards, 8 TDs
Denard Robinson	QB	Michigan		80-131, 1055 yards, 11 TDs, 82 att, 522 yards, 8 TDs

Matchup Preview *|* October 20, 2012
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Brigham Young Cougars (5-2, 1-1 Away)		#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-0, 3-0 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 28.2 (#53) Points Per Game 40.1 (#2) 387.8 (#53 Total Offensive Yards 424.5 (#22) 126.7 (#96) Rushing Yards 88.1 (#118) 261.1 (#21) Passing Yards 346.3 (#3 Defensive Stats Comparison 336.1 (#57) Total Yards Allowed 319.0 (#44) 119.2 (#19) Rushing Yards Allowed 117.0 (#14) 216.8 (#94) Passing Yards Allowed 202.0 (#75) Injury Report WR [83] J. Falslev Dislocated Elbow - 9 weeks Game Notes BYU has looked surprisingly good this season with wins over Utah, Hawai'i, Utah State, and Oregon State. Nelson, BYU's starting quarterback, has thrown 18 touchdowns so far this season. That is only one less than Irish quarterback Everett Golson, who is only third in passing yards. While Notre Dame is the favorite in this game, they will make sure not to get overconfident.

[RussellBird]

Alright, so, as some of you may have noticed, I may be moving Notre Dame to a conference next year. Since I'm a fairly indecisive person when it comes to this, I will allow the readers of this dynasty to help me! At the moment, I've really only thought of the Irish heading to the Big East, Big 10, or ACC, but I could possibly see them heading to another AQ Conference. I'll list the possibilities below and just PM me your vote. I'll announce where ND will be heading after the bowl games.

A. ND Moves to Big East
B. ND Moves to Big 10
C. ND Moves to ACC
D. ND Stays Independent
E. Other (please specify)

[RussellBird]

Those Lucky Greens, Irish Barely Come Away with Victory


Golson somehow gets the ball to T.J. Jones, who uses his speed to burn passed the BYU defenders.

SOUTH BEND, Indiana - For the second time in Kelly's tenure as Notre Dame head coach, the Fighting Irish donned the green jerseys once again. These jerseys have been considered unlucky too many Irish fans, and, when the Cougars jumped out to an early lead, Irish loyals had every reason to groan about them wearing the jerseys. For the first time all year, the Irish actually trailed heading into halftime. Everything just did not look right. The team only managed 99 yards total with 84 of those being through the air.

Fortunately, the Irish defense played well throughout the entire game. Sure, they gave up plenty of yards, but they did not allow them to score very many touchdowns. The Cougars had over 20 minutes of time with the ball. They only managed to get into the endzone once. Regarding his team's defense, Coach Brian Kelly had a few words to say, "As long as the other team isn't constantly getting into the endzone, I'm happy. Our offense is talented enough to find ways to move down field and score. If my defense allows field goals, I'm fine with that. Touchdowns kill us. Field goals don't."

That defense played a key role in the second half. Actually, both defenses were excellent in the third quarter. Neither offense was able to move the ball well at all. Much to Irish fans chagrin, the running game continued to look poor. Golson managed to scramble for a couple yards on his feet, but that lasted a very short time as Golson soon was on the ground with an injury. Sure, he was only out two plays, but it kept the Irish quarterback from ever crossing the line of scrimmage. Wood has not looked well running the ball this year, and there was been rumors that Riddick may take the starting job from the junior. The senior Riddick, formerly a wide receiver, is known to be slightly faster and agile than Wood. While Wood is much stronger than the current backup running back.

The fourth quarter proved to be the most exciting. More and more people continued to tune into NBC to watch a possible upset courtesy of Brigham Young. The Irish would finally tie the game early in the fourth with a short field goal. Many critics believe that they could have scored a touchdown, but Kelly felt the need to tie the game now to give his players some composure. More field goals would be traded, and BYU would have a three point lead with just over 2 minutes left. That was far too much time to give the Irish, as, in just a few plays, Golson managed to get the ball to T.J. Jones who would turn on the jets and speed into the endzone. BYU would have two separate drives to score on, but they were unable to get anything done.

After four straight games at home, Notre Dame will finally play outside of Notre Dame stadium. They will head to Norman, Oklahoma to take on the top ranked Sooners team. If Notre Dame wishes to eliminate any doubts about them not being a powerhouse, they will have to put up a good performance against this great Sooners squad. Notre Dame has only lost once, and that loss was in South Bend. Yes, Notre Dame is undefeated in Norman. Still, this is likely to be their most difficult opponent this year, with the exception of the Trojans, and they may lose their first game in Norman and in the season.

McCarthy somehow manages to pick a Hail Mary pass off to seal the win for the Irish.


Finally, the Irish manage to score on a short pass to Robby Toma.

Brigham Young Cougars at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Oct 20, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Brigham Young Cougars (5-2)	10	0	0	6	16
#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-0)	0	7	0	13	20

Team Stats Comparison
	BYU	ND
Total Offense	426	324
Rushing Yards	86	55
Passing Yards	340	269
First Downs	20	11
Punt Return Yards	19	23
Kick Return Yards	0	75
Total Yards	445	422
Turnovers	2	0
3rd Down Converstion	6-15	4-15
4th Down Conversion	1-3	1-1
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3/0-2	3/1-2
Penalties	7-47	3-30
Posession Time	20:24	15:36

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		BYU	ND
6:50	(BYU) TD: R. Apo, 54 yard pass from R. Nelson (J. Sorenson kick)	7	0
1:41	(BYU) FG: J. Sorenson, 32 yard FG	10	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		BYU	ND
0:03	(ND) TD: R. Toma, 10 yard pass from E. Golson (N. Tausch kick)	10	7
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		BYU	ND
8:39	(ND) FG: N. Tausch, 17 yard FG	10	10
6:44	(BYU) FG: J. Sorenson, 36 yard FG	13	10
5:27	(ND) FG: N, Tausch, 36 yard FG	13	13
2:03	(BYU) FG: J. Sorenson, 41 yard FG	16	13
1:39	(ND) TD: T. Jones, 70 yard pass from E. Golson	16	20

Brigham Young Cougars PASSING C/A YDS TD INT E. Golson 16/28 244 2 0 T. Rees 2/3 25 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD C. Wood 18 40 2.2 0 E. Golson 7 1 0.1 0 T. Riddick 2 11 5.5 0 T. Rees 1 3 3.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD T. Jones 6 124 20.6 1 D. Neal 3 64 21.3 0 T. Eifert 3 39 13.0 0 R. Toma 3 20 6.6 1 J. Goodman 1 3 3.0 0 B. Koyack 1 17 17.0 0 C. Wood 1 2 2.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Z. Martin 3 0 N. Martin 2 0 C. Lombard 1 2 C. Watt 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD J. Slaughter 12 0.0 0 0 B. Jackson 8 0.0 0 0 D. Spond 7 0.0 0 0 J. Atkinson 7 0.0 0 0 M. Te'o 6 0.0 1 0 D. McCarthy 1 0.0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG N. Tausch 2/2 2/2 8 34 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 B. Turk 7 293 33.4 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD T. Riddick 3 75 25.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD T. Riddick 2 23 11.5 0

Notre Dame Fighting Irish PASSING C/A YDS TD INT R. Nelson 29/43 340 1 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD M. Alisa 18 102 5.6 0 R. Nelson 6 -28 -4.6 0 A. Hine 6 12 2.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD B. Thompson 8 89 11.1 0 C. Hoffman 5 90 18.0 0 R. Apo 5 110 22.0 1 Z. Mendenhall 4 21 5.2 0 D. Cutler 2 7 3.5 0 M. Matthews 1 5 5.0 0 A. Holt 1 12 12.0 0 A. Hine 1 2 2.0 0 R. Wilson 1 6 6.0 0 M. Alisa 1 -2 -2.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD B. Ogletree 10 0.0 0 0 D. Sorensen 8 0.0 0 0 R. Fuga 6 1.0 0 0 P. Hadley 6 0.0 0 0 D. Everett 5 0.0 0 0