The Notre Dame football team took a break from preparations for the ND-FSU matchup in the Champs Sports Bowl to visit some special kids - then were able to act like kids during a visit to Universal Orlando.
The Thanksgiving week ICON has a feature on the Irish Guard and asked a number of Irish players and coaches about their Thanksgiving family traditions and more...
Tommy Rees passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns to Michael Floyd, as Notre Dame sprinted to a 30-3 advantage.
CAREER: Has played in 25 career games, including eight starts in 2010 ... has totaled 62 tackles, 36 solo stops, two tackles for loss, one-half sack, two pass breakups, one fumble recovery and one interception ... talented, young player enrolled early in 2009 and spent the spring of 2010 practicing at linebacker before moving to safety in fall ... utilized more towards middle and end of freshman season as extra rusher in box ... carved out major contributing role on special teams in first year with Irish ... starts 2011 as potential starter alongside Harrison Smith at safety.
2010 (SOPHOMORE): Played in all 13 games for the Irish, starting against Michigan, Michigan State, Western Michigan, Navy, Tulsa, Utah, USC and Miami (Fla.) ... totaled 50 tackles ... recorded 30 solo and 20 assisted stops ... ranked seventh on the team in tackles ... added one and a half tackles for loss (one yard), one fumble recovery, one interception and two pass breakups ... tallied three tackles, including two solo stops against Purdue ... registered four tackles and a pass breakup against Michigan ... registered career-highs in total tackles (11), solo stops (five) and assisted tackles (six) against Michigan State ... added a half tackle for loss and interception against the Spartans ... registered three solo stops and four tackles overall against Stanford and three total stops (all solo tackles) against Pittsburgh ... added a tackle for loss against the Panthers ... registered four tackles, two solo, in the victory over Western Michigan ... totaled six tackles, five assisted stops, against Navy ... collected three tackles, two solo stops, against Utah ... totaled four solo tackles in the regular season finale at USC ... recorded four tackles, three solos, in the Hyundai Sun Bowl victory over Miami (Fla.) ... totaled 553 snaps on defense, the fourth most of any Irish defensive back and the second most of any safety.
2009 (FRESHMAN): One of three freshmen to play in every game ... contributed primarily on special teams and also moved back and forth between outside linebacker and safety ... participated on four special teams units and was standout performer on kickoff coverage where he was credited with eight tackles ... ranked fourth on the team in special-teams tackles with eight and tied for second on squad in kickoff return tackles ... finished season with 12 tackles including one-half sack and one-half tackle for loss ... registered four tackles, including half a sack, against Washington State at San Antonio's Alamodome ... notched three stops against Michigan State ... earned 11:06 of playing time and ranked fifth on team with 166 appearances on special teams.
HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Participated in 2009 U.S. Army All-American Game in San Antonio ... selected to play in Hawaii Football Prep Classic, featuring all-star team from the U.S. mainland against all-star team from Hawaii ... Rivals.com ranked him 54th in Rivals100 rankings ... rated the eighth-best overall prospect in Florida according to Rivals.com's postseason prospect rankings by state ... rated the 168th overall prospect in SI/TAKKLE Top 200 ... ranked 179th overall player according to Scout.com ... member of Florida Varsity Top 100 ... named Class 6A first-team all-state in Florida in 2007 and first-team academic all-state in 2008 for Florida Class 6A football ... named District 17 Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008 ... named Super- Prep All-American as 25th-best linebacker nationally ... ranked 13th among Florida's best players according to SuperPrep's Florida 110 ... selected to the Jacksonville Times-Union's Florida Super 75 squad ... tabbed the second-best outside linebacker in Florida by the Times-Union ... named first-team Class 6A all-state as a senior ... tallied 137 tackles including eight tackles for a loss and three sacks during senior campaign at Vero Beach High School... one of three early enrollees at Notre Dame, joining E.J. Banks and Tyler Stockton ... played for head coach Gary Coggin at Vero Beach High School...bornMay14, 1990 ... full name is Ezekiel Edward Motta ... son of Bill Motta, who was the defensive coordinator at Vero Beach High School ... enrolled in College of Arts and Letters as an industrial design major.
