Notre Dame crawls up the Rankings

After losing the first 2 games of the season, ND were always pushing the season uphill.

They then went to win 4 in a row followed by a tough loss to USC and they are now on a another 4 game winning streak. The Fighting Irish find themselves with an 8 -3 with 1 game to go and are now climbing the rankings.

They are 22 on both the BSC rankings and AP Top 25.

This weekend they face their toughest opponent yet in the 6th ranked Stanford Cardinals. The Cards are led by media sensation Andrew Luck. He has been embroiled in the "Suck for Luck" campaign where the bottom NFL teams are seemingly vying to get the #1 pick in the draft and land QB Luck.

The Irish boast 8 wins so far on the back of smart QB play by Tommy Rees and the tandem rushing machine of Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood. Wood has eclipsed the 100 yard mark with 9 TD's and Gray has an impressive 6.9 average for 741 yards and 12 touchdowns. Oh and WR Michael Floyd has 87 receptions for 1014 yards and 7 scores.

Until then hail to Fortuna!

Notre Dame puts Wake Forest to Sleep!

Saturday's win for the Irish moved their record to 6-3 and they have won 6 out of the last 7.

With Bowl aspirations drowned for the year it's all about pride. And the 24-17 win over the previously 5-3 Demon Deacons give ND a fantastic chance at a winning season.

Wake took and early lead but a perfect pass from QB Tommy Rees to Tyler Eifert tied the scores at 10-10. Again Wake took a 7 point lead on a 2 yard touchdown run but again ND answered!! This time a 1 yard touchdown punch from Jonas Gray again levelling the scores. A poised Tommy Rees hit Michael Floyd in the corner of the end zone for the lead and eventual win 24-17.

Twice in the 2nd half the Demons had the ball inside the ND 10 yard line but came away with no points. Wake was able to pile up yards but the NDefense held garmy strong when it counted stopping WF from scoring at all in the 2nd half.

The passing game had its moments but it was the running back tandem of Jonas Gray (92 yards, 1td) and Cierre Wood (87 yards) that kept the chain gang moving. Although ND were the favourites and only managed to eek out a 7 point win they would also be buoyed by the determination and strength under adversity and will be looking to continue their winning ways this Saturday against the 2-7 Maryland Terrapins.

Until then hail to the Excito!

Notre Dame attacks Air Force for 4th straight win!

So stats that matter. Yes I'm a big stats man but now is bigger than a W and the Fighting Irish had this in the bag before half time. The final score was 59 - 33.

Yeah Air Force had more Time of Possession and total yards but that is deceiving as the Falcons turned the ball over twice and had many long drives that resulted in no points or a field goal. The Falcons offense was always going to be tricky to stop with Tim Jefferson and his multi faceted attack. Although they piled on the yards on the ground (363 yards) they were unable to open up the defense in the air passing for 202 yards. The Falcons tried a lots of different things with a fake punt, onside kick, and an effective no-huddle offense. They also converted 4-4 on 4th down. The Falcons scored a respectacle 33 points but 17 (more than half) were in the last quarter after the game was wrapped up in a gold guiled bow.

The Fighting Irish knew they would need to get the pigskin in the End zone early and often to be a chance and they came out all guns blazing. 3 touchdowns in the 1st quarter was matched by another 3 in the 2nd giving ND a 42 to 16 lead. Notre Dame scored a touchdown on the first 6 offensive possessions. The running game held up their end of the bargain and ran well but Quarterback Tommy Rees had a stellar first half throwing for 208 yards and 4 touchdowns. And most importantly ZERO turnovers. The offence ran the ball a little more in the second half but Rees still finished with strong numbers: 23 off 32 and 261 yards and 4 touchdowns. Most impressive for Rees was his ability to spread the ball around hitting 3 different receivers for 6+ 70 yard+ games. Theo Riddick caught 8 for 83 yards and a score. Tyler Eifert also caught 8 for 81 yards and a score and school record setter Michael Floyd continued a strong season with 6 for 78 yards and also a score. The runners had 3 strong contributors, Cierre Wood backed up from a 195 yard game last week to total 66 yards and a score. Jonas Gray was strong early running for 69 yards off 7 attempts at a 9.9 yard average and a score. Andrew Hendrix came in for the last quarter for Rees to chew up the clock and instead had bird stew on a 78 yard run to the 2 yard line and had the only 100 yard game for the Irish amassing 111 at an 18.5 average. He also completed 4 for 4 passing.

Notre Dame go into next weeks game on a 4 game tear and will look to advance to 5-2 with a win over major rival USC.

NOTES: This marked the most combined points scored in a game at Notre Dame Stadium. 92 points

Until then hail to the Pieces!

Notre Dame beats Pittsburgh Panthers - 2nd Straight Win!

Although Pitt aren't a Top 25 ranked team (Either are ND ATM) they came into the game win a 2-1 record and the sole loss last week came after after a 21 point 4th quarter capitulation against Iowa.

The Pitt defence pushed Notre Dame around for 3 quarters and would have them scoreless if not for RB Jonas Gray scoring his career touchdown ripping off a 79 yard run down the sideline in the 2nd quarter.

The last quarter started with a 12-7 lead for the Panthers but QB Tommy Rees had other ideas. Relatively ineffectual for 3 quarters he started to find his rhythm culminating with an extremely impressive 8 for 8 record on the game winning drive including 4 to WR Tyler Eifert including the score. Rees finished with average numbers of 24 for 41 for 216 yard and a touchdown and interception. ND offence continued it's turnover conundrum with another 2 for the game. Record holder WR Michael Floyd was held to 4 receptions but the running game more than picked up the slack.

RB Cierre Wood kept the offence rumbling with 96 yards from 23 carries and Jonas Gray had 84 yards from 3 carries including his long touchdown run.

Pitt QB Tino Suneri was very accurate but occasionally held onto the ball to long going down for 5 sacks including 2 on the final drive ending any hopes of a Pitt come from behind win. Suneri went 22 from 30 but couldn't find any targets down throwing for only 165 yards and the longest being only 18 yards.

In the end ND did enough to resurrect their season taking their record to 2-2 with an important game against Purdue next week. The 2-2 record is all the more impressive when you look at the 2 losses. The 1st loss was an upset to Florida State by 3 points and the 2nd was to #22 ranked Michigan Wolverines in a shock last minute score in a game the Fighting Irish should have won!

Until then hail to the Grayman!