Inside Irish Connection 40

On Monday, the Fighting Irish Digital Media crew posted the first Irish Connection video of the 2012 season – giving fans an inside look at Notre Dame’s trip to Dublin, where the Irish topped Navy, 50-10.

In the past, fellow Notre Dame blogger, Keith Arnold has featured second-by-second breakdowns of FIDM’s practice reports on his Inside The Irish blog.

Borrowing a page from Keith’s book, I’ve decided to do something similar for ICON. Without further ado…

0:00 – The cold open starts with an incredible angle – senior linebacker Manti Te’o getting ready for the game and amping up the ND crowd. “Let’s go!”

0:33 – The first touchdown of the 2012 season. Thank you, Theo Riddick.

0:43 – In 2011, George Atkinson III made a name for himself on kick returns, but we could be seeing much more like this over the next few seasons.

1:00 – Side note: How awesome do the uniforms look this year? I can’t wait to see the home blue jerseys along with the new pants and shining gold helmet in Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday.

1:07 – Everett Golson to Tyler Eifert for a touchdown – hopefully we see a lot more of that over the next few months.

1:18 – Riddick urging teammates to “put ‘em away” – something the Irish did when…

1:28 – …that new running back, I mean, 6-foot-6, 303-lb defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt took a fumble 77 yards to the house, giving Notre Dame a 27-0 lead.

1:56 – Fellow defensive lineman Kapron Lewis-Moore with a laugh out loud quote from this week’s ICON: “Hey Tuitt, I was tryin’ to run with you.”

2:09 – Love the intensity from KLM.

2:33 – Senior receiver Robby Toma shares a great moment with Coach Kelly, after scoring the first rushing touchdown of his career.

2:45 – Looks like Riddick has accepted Toma to “RBU” – Running Back University.

3:13 – Toma thanking his offensive linemen, as every running back should.

3:28 – “Love…thee…Notre…Dame…”

3:57 – Coach Kelly presenting game balls to the offensive and defensive lines for controlling the line of scrimmage. Captains Zack Martin and Kapron Lewis-Moore accept the honors for their respective position groups.

4:25 – “A lot of guys saw a lot of meaningful snaps.” You really can’t understate the importance of this, especially early in the season, for a team filled with young players.

5:30 – University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. says a few words about the team and overall Ireland experience. Can’t agree more with Fr. Jenkins. The Dublin trip was incredible for everyone involved.

6:20 – Fr. Mark! (He was my rector during my freshman year at Keenan Hall.) Team Chaplain Rev. Mark Thesing, C.S.C. leads the team in prayer.

6:44 – As is tradition following an Irish victory, one of the players leads the team in the Notre Dame Victory March. In this case, Robby Toma.

7:17 – The last two minutes of this ICON include a montage from the weekend, featuring the song “Forever Irish” by Ken O’Malley.

7:25 – Nice mask, Mike.

7:28 – Temple Bar was the place to be in Dublin. Amazing to see how many Notre Dame fans were roaming around the area throughout the weekend.

7:47 – Members of the Notre Dame football team got pulled up on stage to join the Irish dancers at Taylors Three Rock.

7:50 – After Friday’s walkthrough, the players toured Dublin on double decker buses.

7:58 – In partnership with The Gathering Ireland, the university hosted quite an event on Friday night at The O2 – Notre Dame: A Welcome Home

8:23 – Some great time-lapse shots of Aviva Stadium.

8:30 – The Band of the Fighting Irish marching through Dublin prior to Saturday’s game.

8:46 – Following a 50-10 victory, the Irish joined their fans for the singing of the alma mater – “Notre Dame, Our Mother.”

Stay tuned for a new Irish Connection on Sunday following the Purdue game.