http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/players/dan_fox/105707 Recent articles about Dan Fox en-us As another off season of College Football material kicks off, this year marks the third year I’ll throw my hat in the ring and look at a number of topics and categories. In the process I’ll look to do everything from predicting next year’s 25 best teams, identify the games of the year, narrow down the Heisman field, identify those replacing 2012′s stars and ultimately make predictions for each league, culminating in a national championship pick. They’ll be many things I’ll be ridiculed for. There will be a number of things that will surprise some people. Ultimately you’ll come away from the next 6 months of material as ready for the college football season as I can possibly make you. While I’ll be sure to miss on things I would like to remind the skeptics I did correctly predict the same number of bowl teams preseason as Phil Steele a year ago as well as top him in BCS Bowl participants predicted before the year. Nonetheless I’m not putting out any magazines soon so keep buying his ... Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:04:13 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/2013_tshq_cfb_preseason_top_25_11_notre_dame_fighting_irish/13288447 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/2013_tshq_cfb_preseason_top_25_11_notre_dame_fighting_irish/13288447 2013 TSHQ CFB Preseason Top 25: #11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/2013_tshq_cfb_preseason_top_25_11_notre_dame_fighting_irish/13288447 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Notre Dame begins the 2013 season looking for a new identity, eager to shed the bad taste of a BCS title game blowout loss. The Fighting Irish, coming off a 12-1 season that was the program's best in at least two decades, begin spring practice Wednesday without linebacker Manti Te'o to anchor the defense or tight end Tyler Eifert or running back Theo Riddick to bail out the offense. ''I don't know that we have the kind of singular great players that we had last year,'' Kelly said Tuesday. ''We've got a lot of really good players. I've had great teams that have had great players across the board, then I've had great teams that have had individual players. I think that's work in progress for us to figure out.'' Each season a team has a new identity, a new group of leaders, Kelly said. He's looking to see which players are ready to step forward to fill the void. ''I want to leave spring ball knowing what we have, knowing the identity of Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:17:32 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/notre_dame_heads_into_2013_seeking_new_identity/13184116 http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/notre_dame_heads_into_2013_seeking_new_identity/13184116 Notre Dame heads into 2013 seeking new identity http://www.yardbarker.com/all_sports/articles/notre_dame_heads_into_2013_seeking_new_identity/13184116 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Welcome to the 2013 State(s) of Recruiting, a study on where all of Notre Dame's scholarship football players come from and what staes are the most giving in terms of numbers for the Fighting Irish. This is the 7th annual version of this study so I will save you from the 4-7 paragraphs about the importance of national recruiting, the reasons why Notre Dame must recruit nationally, the importance of relationship... blah, blah, blah.  You already know all of this and you don't need me rehashing it all. You're welcome. I will say this very quickly; in the 7 years I have been doing this, the map has changed very little from what you see right now. There have been changes of course (Pennsylvania for one) but it has a similar theme each year. Now we can continue- BREAK OUT THAT MAP ED MCMAHON... Ribbed Color Coded for your pleasure: 5th Year Seniors= BLUE Seniors= RED Juniors= Yellow Sophomores= PURPLE Freshman= GREEN View The State of Recruiti... Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:08:27 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/the_2013_states_of_recruiting/12947857 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/the_2013_states_of_recruiting/12947857 The 2013 State(s) Of Recruiting http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/the_2013_states_of_recruiting/12947857 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- No. 1 Notre Dame allows 10.3 points per game, best in the nation. No. 2 Alabama allows 10.7. So the BCS championship should be a defensive struggle, right? First to 12 wins. Well, maybe. Those offenses are pretty good, too. A look at some of the key matchups in Monday night's BCS championship game in Miami. ------ -- Alabama center Barrett Jones vs. Notre Dame nose guard Louis Nix III. Jones is a two-time All-American who will be starting his third national championship game. Nix is a 326-pound run stuffer, a magnet for double-teams and a big reason the Fighting Irish have allowed only two rushing touchdowns. When Pittsburgh ran the ball well in the first half against Notre Dame, Nix was on the sideline with the flu. In the second half, when Nix came in, Pitt's running game was not nearly as effective. How much help Jones needs with Nix will go a long way toward determining whether the Irish can hold up against an Alabama running game that averages 5.6 yards per carry. -- Sun, 06 Jan 2013 14:19:29 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/will_defense_be_the_key_to_the_bcs_title/12591004 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/will_defense_be_the_key_to_the_bcs_title/12591004 Will defense be the key to the BCS title? http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/will_defense_be_the_key_to_the_bcs_title/12591004 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. Its been a while since the two most legendary schools in college football history have run into each other. No. 1 Notre Dame (12-0), which has won eight national titles since the poll era began in 1936, and No. 2 Alabama (12-1), which has won a record nine, havent met since 1987. They havent battled in a bowl since Jan. 1, 1975. But on Monday at Sun Life Stadium, the Fighting Irish and the Crimson Tide finally will see each other again. If the meeting is anything like their previous two bowl meetings, it will go down as a classic. On Dec. 31, 1973, No. 3 Notre Dame defeated No. 1 Alabama 24-23 to win the AP national title in the Sugar Bowl (the Crimson Tide claimed the coaches title that season since bowl games then were not included for that poll). Following the next season, on Jan. 1, 1975, the No. 9 Fighting Irish upset No. 1 Alabama 13-11 in the Orange Bowl to deny the Crimson Tide a national crown. With the teams back in South Florida 38 years later for another much-anticipated m Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:35:59 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/breaking_down_the_bcs_title_game/12585823 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/breaking_down_the_bcs_title_game/12585823 Breaking down the BCS title game http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/breaking_down_the_bcs_title_game/12585823 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png No. 1 Notre Dame allows 10.3 points per game, best in the nation. No. 2 Alabama allows 10.7. So the BCS championship should be a defensive struggle, right? First to 12 wins. Well, maybe. Those offenses are pretty good, too. A look at some of the key matchups in Monday night's BCS championship game in Miami. --- - Alabama center Barrett Jones vs. Notre Dame nose guard Louis Nix III. Jones is a two-time All-American who will be starting his third national championship game. Nix is a 326-pound run stuffer, a magnet for double-teams and a big reason the Fighting Irish have allowed only two rushing touchdowns. When Pittsburgh ran the ball well in the first half against Notre Dame, Nix was on the sideline with the flu. In the second half, when Nix came in, Pitt's running game was not nearly as effective. How much help Jones needs with Nix will go a long way toward determining whether the Irish can hold up against an Alabama running game that averages 5.6 yards per carry. --- - Notre Dame tight end Ty Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:06:11 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/bcs_championship_key_matchups/12579709 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/bcs_championship_key_matchups/12579709 BCS Championship: Key Matchups http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/bcs_championship_key_matchups/12579709 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png #3 Notre Dame (10-0) v. Wake Forest (5-5) Notre Dame Stadium - South Bend, IN - 3:30 EST on NBC First Thing - If I didn't know better, I might think Notre Dame is going to trot out it's seniors this Saturday to roaring applause from the adoring Irish faithful, take pictures with parents and loved ones, give Manti Te'o an extended "We're not worthy!!" exultation and head directly to a plane bound for BCS dreams in sunny Southern California. I can't recall an actual game getting such little attention in the Irish media sphere. Topics 1-5 this week are: BCS Standings, Kansas/Oregon's schedule, Manti's Heisman campaign and USC. The plausibility of a stumble against Wake Forest is not even entering the conversation stratosphere. Not that I am of the belief that the 2012 Demon Deacons can destroy this magnificent season, but the ACC portion of the Irish schedule has been the tail end of a super roller coaster. The part where the ride'... Thu, 15 Nov 2012 23:00:00 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/notre_dame_wake_forest_preview_primer_notes_predictions/12225853 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/notre_dame_wake_forest_preview_primer_notes_predictions/12225853 Notre Dame-Wake Forest Preview: Primer, Notes & Predictions http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/notre_dame_wake_forest_preview_primer_notes_predictions/12225853 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Yes, yes, yes... the Anti-Preview for Notre Dame and Pitt is late as ****. Oh well. It was kind of a **** week for your emperor and possibly could get much, much worse. As I sit down at 10 PM on this Friday night and write this **** out, I can at least say I'm pretty damn drunk- so this may or may not get interesting. Tolerance is both a sin and a curse.  What's not a curse is this amazing season for the Fighting Irish. 8-0 ***************. After 3 years, the Brian Kelly era is shaping up to be pretty historic. Regardless of the outcome this season sans disaster- we can all agree that the program is finally heading into the right direction, on the right horse, with the right ******* map and with our ***** riding in back. No offense to the ladies. Still, the Irish have 3 opponents to lay to waste BIBLICAL STYLE. That's right. Break out the ******* locusts, famine, and the first born male sons to be sacrificed. This **** needs to get ugly and serve purpose as THE M... Fri, 02 Nov 2012 23:52:33 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/the_anti_preview_pitt_november_3_2012/12120760 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/the_anti_preview_pitt_november_3_2012/12120760 The Anti-Preview: PITT. November 3, 2012 http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/the_anti_preview_pitt_november_3_2012/12120760 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Landry Jones and No. 8 Oklahoma couldn't have been on a much bigger roll offensively, right up until they ran into Notre Dame's defense. Everett Golson threw for 177 yards and plunged in for the decisive 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Manti Te'o bolstered his Heisman Trophy candidacy with a late interception and No. 5 Notre Dame beat the Sooners 30-13 on Saturday night to remain undefeated. Jones threw for 356 yards with no touchdowns for the Sooners (5-2), who were still clinging to hope they could get back in the national title race before the loss. ''We're better than we were at the start of the season,'' Jones said. ''We hit a bump in the road. Maybe the national championship's not in the picture, that's probably gone, but we still have the Big 12 and a bowl game up in front of us.'' Te'o and the second-ranked Irish defense frequently gave up underneath passes but prevented them from turning into big gains, making the Sooners sna Sun, 28 Oct 2012 02:33:12 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/no_8_sooners_fade_late_lose_30_13_to_no_5_irish/12073111 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/no_8_sooners_fade_late_lose_30_13_to_no_5_irish/12073111 No. 8 Sooners fade late, lose 30-13 to No. 5 Irish http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/no_8_sooners_fade_late_lose_30_13_to_no_5_irish/12073111 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Everett Golson threw for 177 yards and plunged in for the decisive 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, Manti Te'o bolstered his Heisman Trophy candidacy with a late interception and No. 5 Notre Dame beat No. 8 Oklahoma 30-13 on Saturday night to remain undefeated. Te'o, the standout linebacker who has a penchant for causing turnovers, dove when Landry Jones' pass ricocheted off of Jalen Saunders and got his gloved hands under it. Kyle Brindza tacked on his third field goal soon after, and Theo Riddick added a late touchdown run as the Fighting Irish (8-0) put it away with 20 fourth-quarter points. Jones threw for 356 yards with no touchdowns for the Sooners (5-2), who were still clinging to hope they could get back in the national title race before the loss. Saunders caught 15 passes for 181 yards. Notre Dame is off to its best start in a decade, doing so as the only team in the country with four wins against Top 25 teams - including two on the road against top 10 foes. The game revived a Sun, 28 Oct 2012 00:54:13 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/irish_beat_sooners_move_to_8_0/12072817 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/irish_beat_sooners_move_to_8_0/12072817 Irish beat Sooners, move to 8-0 http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/irish_beat_sooners_move_to_8_0/12072817 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Here we are, another season of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football. Once again, I'll be previewing the upcoming Irish season in full detail. I'll break down the team by each and every position as well as predict a few statlines I think we'll see at the end of the year. I'll end the column with my predicted record for the season as the Irish face a brutal schedule. First, let's take a quick look back at last season and breakdown what went wrong in the five losses.vs USF:Did anything go well for the Irish in this game? This one was bizarre from the beginning. After Notre Dame marched down the field, Jonas Gray fumbled at the one yard line and USF CB Kayvon Webster picked it up and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown, a bit of foreshadowing into how the rest of the season would play out. Anyway, that was a 14 point swing that the Irish never recovered from.Notre Dame again drove into a goal-to-go situation, only for Dayne Crist to throw an interception in the back o... Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:22:06 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/notre_dame_football_2012_season_preview/11555746 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/notre_dame_football_2012_season_preview/11555746 Notre Dame Football: 2012 Season Preview http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/notre_dame_football_2012_season_preview/11555746 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png The news that Tommy Rees and Carlo Calabrese were being suspended for the game against Navy in Dublin, Ireland was dropped without any real warning on Tuesday afternoon, just a few days before Brian Kelly has his annual camp press conference. Once Brian Hardin divulged the punishment issued by Brian Kelly towards the two players, Fighting Irish fans took to Twitter like thay have done on so many occasions before, and let the world know what they thought about the whole deal. Now that I have had a few hours to contemplate it all, I have a few thoughts about the impact of both suspensions. But first, what exactly are they [Carlo & Tommy] up against with these punishments? [View the story "Punished" on Storify]PunishedThe deal.Storified by The Subway Domer · Tue, Jul 31 2012 21:39:44Neither Calabrese nor Rees will travel with Notre Dame's FB team to Ireland where the Fighting Irish open the season vs. Navy on Sept. 1.Brian HardinQuote from Brian Kelly: "Ou... Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:02:38 -0400 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/the_rees_amp_calabrese_effect/11347696 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/the_rees_amp_calabrese_effect/11347696 The Rees & Calabrese Effect http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/the_rees_amp_calabrese_effect/11347696 http://www.yardbarker.com/media/9/c/9cc8a40c018793401cba7a8365cfd2573acc86c9/mini/notre-dame-usc.jpg By Phil Hecken Well, the big day is FINALLY here. The Granddaddy. Is. Today. Oregon versus Wisconsin. Today is the Rose Bowl, the ONLY bowl that, while corporately sponsored, still maintains some semblance of past glory. So traditional that you can look back on a game from decades ago and still recognize both teams. We will look back on this game decades from now and instantly recognize both teams, right? Of course not, this isn’t your granddaddy’s Rose Bowl anymore. No, we’re in the age of marketing by press release and hype. Both teams today will be wearing *special* uniforms, designed JUST for the big game. And their manufacturers are driving the hype train — Nike and Oregon, and adidas and Wisconsin. Both teams have gone in markedly (pun firmly intended) different directions for their one-offs. Let’s look at the B1G representative first. I don’t even need to do any research — Wisconsin’s Press Release does all the work for me — such is the state of journalism today: “PASA... Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:00:41 -0500 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/every_rose_has_its_thorn/9076015 http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/every_rose_has_its_thorn/9076015 Every Rose Has Its Thorn http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/every_rose_has_its_thorn/9076015 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png