Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Notre Dame's Offense -- National Rankings

It's time for our weekly look at where Notre Dame Football ranks in certain statistical categories amongst the 120 teams in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision -- AFTER NINE GAMES OF THE 2010 SEASON. In today's analysis you'll see how Notre Dame's Offense & Special Teams currently stand; on a national basis -- as compared to their final ranking for 2009 -- and the top teams in the country in each category.


OFFENSIVE TEAM STATISTICS

Total First Downs:  2010 Rank - #17 with 194 first downs -- in 2009 we had 293 first downs for the season, ranking us #13 -- TCU leads the country with 235 first downs.  

Third Down Conversions:  2010 Rank - #81 with a 37.19% conversion rate -- in 2009 we had a 39.1% conversion rate for the season, ranking us #48 -- Nevada leads the country converting 59.41% of their third downs.  

Passing Yards Per Attempt:  2010 Rank - #63 with 7.0 yards passing per attempt -- in 2009 we averaged 8.7 yards passing per attempt, ranking us #7 in the country.

Passing Yardage:  2010 Rank - #17 with 289 yards per game  (2,597 yards for the season)  -- in 2009 we passed for 323 yards per game (3,882 yards for the season), ranking us #7 -- Hawaii leads the country with 395 yards passing per game (3,559 yards for the season).  

Rushing Yards Per Attempt:  2010 Rank - #87 with 3.7 yards rushing per attempt -- in 2009 we averaged 3.8 yards rushing per attempt, ranking us #76 in the country.  

Rushing Yardage:  2010 Rank - #99 with 113 yards rushing per game (1,021 yards for the season) -- in 2009 we rushed for 127 yards per game  (1,539 yards for the season), ranking us #88 -- Georgia Tech leads the country with 317 yards rushing per game (2,612 yards for the season). 

Most QB Sacks Given Up:  2010 Rank -- #43 giving up 17 QB sacks -- in 2009 we gave up 25 QB sacks for the season, ranking us #66 -- Marshall leads the country having only given up 2 QB sacks this season.  

Fewest Pass Interceptions Thrown:  2010 Rank -- #108 having thrown 12 pass interceptions this season -- in 2009 we threw 5 interceptions for the season, raking us #5 -- Army leads the country having thrown 0 pass interceptions this season.  

Turnovers Lost:  2010 Rank - #103 with 19 turnovers lost -- in 2009 we had 14 turnovers for the season, ranking us #7 -- Oregon State leads the country with 4 turnovers lost for the season.  

Total Offense:  2010 Rank -- #50 with 402 yards per game of offense -- in 2009 we had 451 yards per game of offense, ranking us #8 -- Oregon leads the country 573 yards per game of offense. 

Points Per Game:  2010 Rank -- #70 with 26 points per game -- in 2009 we averaged 30.1 points per game for the season, ranking us #32 -- Oregon leads the country scoring 54.88 points per game.  
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TEAM STATISTICS

Fewest Penalties:  2010 Rank - #29 with 44 penalties -- in 2009 we had 75 penalties for the season, ranking us #50 -- Penn State leads the country in the fewest penalties with 26.  

Fewest Penalty Yards:  2010 Rank -- #49 with 401 total yards in penalties -- in 2009 we had 666 yards in penalties, ranking us #60 -- Penn State leads the country in fewest penalty yards with 191. 

Net Punting Yards:  2010 Rank -- #65 with an average net of 36.19 yards per punt -- in 2009 we averaged 32.1 yards per punt, ranking us #112 -- Florida leads the country with 43.82 net yards per punt.  

Field Goals -- 2010 Rank -- #16 with 13 field goals made this season.  The Irish are 13 for 13 (100%) -- one of three teams in the FBS who have not missed a field goal this season.  In 2009 we made 19 field goals, ranking us #22 -- while going 19 for 22 in the process.  Texas and Southern Miss have made 18 field goals this season,  ranking them #1 in the country.   

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS ON OFFENSE -- Ranked in top 100

Dayne Crist:
-Ranked #29 in the country with 2,033 yards passing
-Ranked #25 in the country with 15 TD passes
-Ranked #66 in the country with a 59.2% pass completion percentage
-Ranked #34 in the country for most pass interceptions thrown with 7
-Ranked #3 in the country with a 95 yard pass completion / his 80 yard pass completion to Floyd would be ranked #21 in the country

David Ruffer:
-Ranked #13 in the country in most field goals made with 13
-Ranked #2 in the country with most field goals made without a miss (13)
-Ranked #19 in the country for longest field goal made - 50 yarder

Armando Allen:
-Ranked #81 in the country with 514 yards rushing

Michael Floyd:
-Ranked #16 in the country with 72 yards receiving
-Ranked #15 in the country with 55 catches
-Ranked #12 in the country with 8 TD catches
-Ranked #21 in the country with an 80 yard catch

Kyle Rudolph:
-Ranked #3 in the country with a 95 yard catch

Theo Riddick:
-Ranked #65 in the country with 38 catches

Domer Joanna Philbin -- Releases 2nd Book

Joanna Philbin the daughter of "Live with Regis and Kelly" host, Regis Philbin released her second book today; Daughters Break the Rules.  Joanna, like her famous father -- attended Notre Dame -- earning an MFA in Creative Writing. She wrote feature and television scripts before becoming a full-time novelist - signing a three-book deal with Hachette.  Her first book; The Daughters was released in May of this year. -- she is currently working on her third title in The Daughters series, due out May 2011.  Here's a link to where you can buy the book:

LINK:  DAUGHTERS BREAK THE RULES

Notre Dame MBA's Win Competition!

The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business yesterday announced the winners of its fourth annual Mergers & Acquisitions Competition, held October 28-29. The event, organized by Smith's MBA Finance Association, challenged 10 teams of MBA students from leading business schools to craft and present M&A pitches to a panel of executive and faculty judges. The student team from the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business won the $5,000 first prize. Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business MBA students took the $2,500 second prize, and students from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business came away with the $1,000 third prize.   Congratulations Irish!  Here's a link to the University of Maryland release:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME MBA TEAM WINS $5,000 PRIZE

Brey's "Bombers" Win Exhibition Game

The Irish started four guys 6'-8" tall in last night's exhibition game against Marian University -- a Catholic university in the Indianapolis area.  And, quite often -- this starting line-up had the largest "point forward" in America -- Tyrone Nash (6'8" - 232 lbs.) up top handling the ball -- dishing to teammates who enjoy taking advantage of their height by shooting from behind the 3 point line. (I'm trying to be funny...)  Notre Dame made 63% of their three point attempts in the first half -- in their 85-52 victory at Purcell Pavillion last night.  Coach Brey and some of the players met with the media after the game - here's a link to those conversations along with the South Bend Tribune's story on the game:

LINK:  IRISH WIN EXHIBITION GAME LAST NIGHT

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE STORY